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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Minor: Eating disorder
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this was a tiktok recommendation, and i didn't really like it. all of the characters seemed really flat, and I didn't feel like the plot had much of a clear direction
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The best word I can use to sum up this book is probably 'mediocre'. There were some parts that were interesting, but they were almost immediately followed by the most boring things ever, as if the writer had some word limit they had to fulfill. I found the ending interesting (if a little cliche) but the pages and pages after the plot twist where Laura is talking to different people about the final plot twist sort of watered down the impact of that also and near the end I couldn't wait for the book to finish
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was so... dull. For me personally, as someone who is predisposed to falling for pretentious, melodramatic dark academia with aesthetically-pleasing covers that usually feature things like Greek and Roman statues or some meaningfully cropped work of classical art (and usually comes away at least liking most of them), this did nothing for me whatsoever. I felt like it had no life or spark and just plodded dutifully along the whole time, which is not the feeling you want to be left with for a book that ends in arson, murder, and a double suicide . Even this macabre grand finale could not force a single gasp or tear out of me.
For me, this book seemed confused about where and when it wanted to take place. It's supposed to be set in a private prep school, but there is hardly any sense that these characters care about academics or even attend classes at all. It's also supposed to be set in the present, but it feels like a story that wants to exist in the past, as obsessed as its characters are with choir practice and gathering in churches... except for that part of the plot that requires cell phones and Instagram, that is. I suppose this aspect makes sense when you consider the main characters are obsessed with a book written by a man who used to attend the school in the early 20th century and, thus, are obsessed with living exactly like him and shunning the "sclerotic modern world," but that brings us to what I believe is the main problem with this book, which is the fact that... I simply do not believe in these characters as real people who could ever possibly exist.
Even the most realistic fiction requires at some level that you suspend your disbelief as a reader. Of course, the people in books don't talk or act exactly like people in real life do. That would be endlessly boring to read. But a good author writes characters who are layered and interesting and whose actions largely make sense in accordance with how they've been written. I found this book's characters to be flat as a board, dreadfully boring, and annoyingly illogical. The main character, Laura, is a doormat, an observer and a follower who doesn't seem capable of thinking for herself. The character she comes to worship the moment she lays eyes on her, Virginia, is a horrific megalomaniac with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. She is not commanding or mesmerizing enough to work as an all-out cult leader style villain, but she also lacks the complexity to work as a good-at-heart woefully misguided soul.
Virginia believes she has been wronged and misunderstood by the entire world and thus everyone must be punished for daring not to bow at her feet. Laura just blandly goes along with all of it until Virginia grows bored of her. Then she spends the rest of the book moping while she watches Virginia manipulate another girl instead. There are a handful of half-hearted attempts at self-reflection, but Laura isn't changed enough as a person (or at least that change isn't conveyed well enough) for me to be left feeling like her entire experience served any purpose at all. The supporting cast are just there as plot devices and pithy dialogue machines. Speaking of, I can't say I have much experience with prep school teenagers specifically, but every character in this book speaks like no teenager I've ever met - and possibly no human I've ever met. It's all just so stilted and dour and formal and so obsessed with purity and morality and religion. Then there will suddenly be an awkward reminder that they do, in fact, live in the 21st century, like the one choirboy whose only defining characteristic is that he describes everything and everyone as "cringe."
Anyway, I think I've ranted enough now, and I don't mean to disrespect the author or any readers who did enjoy this book. I'm sure she worked very hard on it, and I'm sure there are readers who will love it. It just decidedly was not for me. I generally reserve true one-star ratings for books that invoke actual visceral rage in me, and this book wasn't even interesting enough to do that. It didn't really stir up any strong feelings in me one way or the other, but it's still probably my least favorite book I've read so far this year, which is unfortunate considering I was tempted by the cover into buying the hardcover at full price instead of sticking with the e-book. :/
For me, this book seemed confused about where and when it wanted to take place. It's supposed to be set in a private prep school, but there is hardly any sense that these characters care about academics or even attend classes at all. It's also supposed to be set in the present, but it feels like a story that wants to exist in the past, as obsessed as its characters are with choir practice and gathering in churches... except for that part of the plot that requires cell phones and Instagram, that is. I suppose this aspect makes sense when you consider the main characters are obsessed with a book written by a man who used to attend the school in the early 20th century and, thus, are obsessed with living exactly like him and shunning the "sclerotic modern world," but that brings us to what I believe is the main problem with this book, which is the fact that... I simply do not believe in these characters as real people who could ever possibly exist.
Even the most realistic fiction requires at some level that you suspend your disbelief as a reader. Of course, the people in books don't talk or act exactly like people in real life do. That would be endlessly boring to read. But a good author writes characters who are layered and interesting and whose actions largely make sense in accordance with how they've been written. I found this book's characters to be flat as a board, dreadfully boring, and annoyingly illogical. The main character, Laura, is a doormat, an observer and a follower who doesn't seem capable of thinking for herself. The character she comes to worship the moment she lays eyes on her, Virginia, is a horrific megalomaniac with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. She is not commanding or mesmerizing enough to work as an all-out cult leader style villain, but she also lacks the complexity to work as a good-at-heart woefully misguided soul.
Virginia believes she has been wronged and misunderstood by the entire world and thus everyone must be punished for daring not to bow at her feet. Laura just blandly goes along with all of it until Virginia grows bored of her. Then she spends the rest of the book moping while she watches Virginia manipulate another girl instead. There are a handful of half-hearted attempts at self-reflection, but Laura isn't changed enough as a person (or at least that change isn't conveyed well enough) for me to be left feeling like her entire experience served any purpose at all. The supporting cast are just there as plot devices and pithy dialogue machines. Speaking of, I can't say I have much experience with prep school teenagers specifically, but every character in this book speaks like no teenager I've ever met - and possibly no human I've ever met. It's all just so stilted and dour and formal and so obsessed with purity and morality and religion. Then there will suddenly be an awkward reminder that they do, in fact, live in the 21st century, like the one choirboy whose only defining characteristic is that he describes everything and everyone as "cringe."
Anyway, I think I've ranted enough now, and I don't mean to disrespect the author or any readers who did enjoy this book. I'm sure she worked very hard on it, and I'm sure there are readers who will love it. It just decidedly was not for me. I generally reserve true one-star ratings for books that invoke actual visceral rage in me, and this book wasn't even interesting enough to do that. It didn't really stir up any strong feelings in me one way or the other, but it's still probably my least favorite book I've read so far this year, which is unfortunate considering I was tempted by the cover into buying the hardcover at full price instead of sticking with the e-book. :/
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced