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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have a weakness for dark academia novels, though they only work for me roughly half the time. In recent years I’ve read books in this subgenre that have become lifetime favorites, and those that left me so disappointed it veered into anger. More than one of these disappointments came through books I requested via NetGalley, and yet I keep trying. Books like The World Cannot Give are why. I was almost as enamored by it as I was by Tartt’s The Secret Historyand Hopen’s The Orchard, both of which I absolutely adore.
I’ve read dark academia novels set around groups of classics students, but never around a choir. The addition of music as an important element of the novel evoked in me a taste of that joy Laura pursues so fervently. As did the religiosity early on in the novel. I think the last book I read with this level of spiritual depth was The Orchard by David Hopen. (Which I highly recommend, by the way.) It was fascinating watching as these students changed, for better or worse, and how those changes impacted their passions. And it was devastating to watch everything fall apart, even though I was expecting it.
Laura, our perspective character, is a girl completely infatuated with big emotions and anything that can produce them. She yearns for nothing more than a “shipwreck of the soul,” as defined by Samuel Webster, the writer of her favorite novel. When her family finally agrees to let her attend St. Durstan’s, the alma mater of her aforementioned favorite novelist who died at the tender age of nineteen, Laura is ecstatic. On campus she attends her first mandatory Evensong service and is immediately overwhelmed by the beauty of the music. After a few rocky attempts, Laura manages to introduce herself to Virginia, the lone girl in the choir and its unequivocal leader. Laura is immediately transfixed and gives Virginia every ounce of loyalty and devotion within her, which over the course of the novel seems like a nearly bottomless well. Laura finds herself becoming the second female member of the choir, an entrenched part of their select and secretive group, and loving every minute of it.
I loved the addition of Bonnie as someone who was obsessed with the dark academia aesthetic without having any understanding of depths it could hide. She serves as a brilliant counterpoint to Laura’s shy but wholehearted embracing of those depths, which itself serves as a brilliant counterpoint to Virginia’s fierce, fiery devotion and personality that either entrances or more often repels with no middle ground. Virginia has another counterpart in Isobel and her relentless tirade against God and tradition. Their personalities are similar in their surety of their own rightness and their willingness to stand for that belief no matter what it might cost them. I found Virginia endlessly fascinating, with her Crusader mentality and her firm belief in her own unerring rightness and her unusual, repellant charisma. There were even points later in the novel where she reminded me of Jay Gatsby as she grew more jaded.
These characters have such wild, larger-than-life plans but are so easily bogged down and distracted by the minutia of their everyday campus lives. Not to say that adults are any better about keeping our eyes on whatever prize we set before ourselves instead of getting lost in our routines. But Virginia and her cadre of choir boys and Laura all yearn to be World-Historical, a term coined by Samuel Webster, their hero and idol, in his one and only novel, All Before Them. Being a World-Historical person requires living with intentionality instead of floating through life, and seeking to do great things even when those things are difficult and painful and possibly fatal, if they mean changing the world in some way. These are big aspirations for teens, put before them by another teen who lived out what he preached by dying young for a cause he believed in. If that cause happen to be on the wrong side of history and morality, does that even matter when compared to his fervor? Virginia and Laura and the boys don’t think so.
Burton’s writing is excellent. I’m usually slightly weirded out by novels told in present tense, but it worked really well here. I felt like some hidden, parasitic secondary awareness within Laura’s mind, experiencing her life with her while also seeing some things she in her naivety didn’t catch. The discussions of religion and music came from a different worldview than my own, and thus gave me a lot of food for thought even as I disagreed with them, especially the religious views. What’s even more interesting to me is that Burton herself holds a doctorate in theology and, while this is only her second novel, she has been widely published in the academic and journalism worlds. I could feel some of that prior writing here, as every single facet of this book, every scene and diatribe, felt incredibly necessary to the story. No words were wasted, while at the same time never feeling terse. I was also impressed by the fact that, after reading this book, I have no idea what Burton’s personal beliefs are. It would have been so easy for her to use a story so religious in natural as a pulpit, but she never did. I did not once feel as if she were preaching or trying to draw opinions toward any specific beliefs or tenets.
The World Cannot Give is a deeply thoughtful addition to the dark academia subgenre. It does unsurprisingly go to some dark places, so be aware of that going in. But I found it insightful without proselytizing, raw without veering into emotional manipulation. The World Cannot Give is a well-balanced novel that I’ll be contemplating for a long time.
I’ve read dark academia novels set around groups of classics students, but never around a choir. The addition of music as an important element of the novel evoked in me a taste of that joy Laura pursues so fervently. As did the religiosity early on in the novel. I think the last book I read with this level of spiritual depth was The Orchard by David Hopen. (Which I highly recommend, by the way.) It was fascinating watching as these students changed, for better or worse, and how those changes impacted their passions. And it was devastating to watch everything fall apart, even though I was expecting it.
Laura, our perspective character, is a girl completely infatuated with big emotions and anything that can produce them. She yearns for nothing more than a “shipwreck of the soul,” as defined by Samuel Webster, the writer of her favorite novel. When her family finally agrees to let her attend St. Durstan’s, the alma mater of her aforementioned favorite novelist who died at the tender age of nineteen, Laura is ecstatic. On campus she attends her first mandatory Evensong service and is immediately overwhelmed by the beauty of the music. After a few rocky attempts, Laura manages to introduce herself to Virginia, the lone girl in the choir and its unequivocal leader. Laura is immediately transfixed and gives Virginia every ounce of loyalty and devotion within her, which over the course of the novel seems like a nearly bottomless well. Laura finds herself becoming the second female member of the choir, an entrenched part of their select and secretive group, and loving every minute of it.
I loved the addition of Bonnie as someone who was obsessed with the dark academia aesthetic without having any understanding of depths it could hide. She serves as a brilliant counterpoint to Laura’s shy but wholehearted embracing of those depths, which itself serves as a brilliant counterpoint to Virginia’s fierce, fiery devotion and personality that either entrances or more often repels with no middle ground. Virginia has another counterpart in Isobel and her relentless tirade against God and tradition. Their personalities are similar in their surety of their own rightness and their willingness to stand for that belief no matter what it might cost them. I found Virginia endlessly fascinating, with her Crusader mentality and her firm belief in her own unerring rightness and her unusual, repellant charisma. There were even points later in the novel where she reminded me of Jay Gatsby as she grew more jaded.
These characters have such wild, larger-than-life plans but are so easily bogged down and distracted by the minutia of their everyday campus lives. Not to say that adults are any better about keeping our eyes on whatever prize we set before ourselves instead of getting lost in our routines. But Virginia and her cadre of choir boys and Laura all yearn to be World-Historical, a term coined by Samuel Webster, their hero and idol, in his one and only novel, All Before Them. Being a World-Historical person requires living with intentionality instead of floating through life, and seeking to do great things even when those things are difficult and painful and possibly fatal, if they mean changing the world in some way. These are big aspirations for teens, put before them by another teen who lived out what he preached by dying young for a cause he believed in. If that cause happen to be on the wrong side of history and morality, does that even matter when compared to his fervor? Virginia and Laura and the boys don’t think so.
Burton’s writing is excellent. I’m usually slightly weirded out by novels told in present tense, but it worked really well here. I felt like some hidden, parasitic secondary awareness within Laura’s mind, experiencing her life with her while also seeing some things she in her naivety didn’t catch. The discussions of religion and music came from a different worldview than my own, and thus gave me a lot of food for thought even as I disagreed with them, especially the religious views. What’s even more interesting to me is that Burton herself holds a doctorate in theology and, while this is only her second novel, she has been widely published in the academic and journalism worlds. I could feel some of that prior writing here, as every single facet of this book, every scene and diatribe, felt incredibly necessary to the story. No words were wasted, while at the same time never feeling terse. I was also impressed by the fact that, after reading this book, I have no idea what Burton’s personal beliefs are. It would have been so easy for her to use a story so religious in natural as a pulpit, but she never did. I did not once feel as if she were preaching or trying to draw opinions toward any specific beliefs or tenets.
The World Cannot Give is a deeply thoughtful addition to the dark academia subgenre. It does unsurprisingly go to some dark places, so be aware of that going in. But I found it insightful without proselytizing, raw without veering into emotional manipulation. The World Cannot Give is a well-balanced novel that I’ll be contemplating for a long time.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
a haunting tale of religion, power, desire, and longing to be someone worth remembering.
i went into this book not knowing what to expect; i was pleasantly surprised. for a book leaning heavily on christian imagery and ritual, it has a wonderfully diverse cast of characters including a lesbian anarchist punk, a jewish girl who wants to be baptized, a scorned influencer, and a girl who’s just along for the ride. where “the secret history” lost me, this book completely ensnared my attention; perhaps this is the queer “the secret history” that i’ve been looking for. i look forward to revisiting this book in audio format.
thank you to netgalley and simon & schuster for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
i went into this book not knowing what to expect; i was pleasantly surprised. for a book leaning heavily on christian imagery and ritual, it has a wonderfully diverse cast of characters including a lesbian anarchist punk, a jewish girl who wants to be baptized, a scorned influencer, and a girl who’s just along for the ride. where “the secret history” lost me, this book completely ensnared my attention; perhaps this is the queer “the secret history” that i’ve been looking for. i look forward to revisiting this book in audio format.
thank you to netgalley and simon & schuster for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Moderate: Lesbophobia
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When it comes to dark academia, The World Cannot Give is an excellent example of the obsessive nature of teens who want nothing more than to be a part of something great. Obsession turns to toxicity turns to the spilling of secrets that once kept an entire group of teens at a girl's beck and call.
I was just as obsessed with this book as the characters were, and I found the religious focus quite interesting as it provided a very real guide into Laura's ultimate devotion to Virginia. The author did a superb job keeping the plot almost hidden until about 70% of the way in where I questioned the direction the book was about to go.
I did find the beginning--and most of the dialogue--to be quite repetitive, but upon finishing the book I wonder if it was intentional all along: Virginia's rhetoric had to be repeated over and over until Laura, and the boys, believed in it, too. In a way I believe the reader is a part of Virginia's inner circle, slowly being indoctrinated until the end.
I was pleasantly surprised by The World Cannot Give and wish I could have read about Laura and Virginia's relationship until I began to question my own reliability as a reader.
Thank you Simon & Schuster, Tara Isabella Burton, and NetGalley for allowing me access this advance copy in exchange for an honest review!
I was just as obsessed with this book as the characters were, and I found the religious focus quite interesting as it provided a very real guide into Laura's ultimate devotion to Virginia. The author did a superb job keeping the plot almost hidden until about 70% of the way in where I questioned the direction the book was about to go.
I did find the beginning--and most of the dialogue--to be quite repetitive, but upon finishing the book I wonder if it was intentional all along: Virginia's rhetoric had to be repeated over and over until Laura, and the boys, believed in it, too. In a way I believe the reader is a part of Virginia's inner circle, slowly being indoctrinated until the end.
I was pleasantly surprised by The World Cannot Give and wish I could have read about Laura and Virginia's relationship until I began to question my own reliability as a reader.
Thank you Simon & Schuster, Tara Isabella Burton, and NetGalley for allowing me access this advance copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Eating disorder
slow-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
This is quite a generic dark academia tale filled with vapid characters and with heavy Christian faith rhetoric. However, none of this bothered me terribly, and in the end I enjoyed reading this quite a lot. Halfway through, the narrative progressed with many great, thoughtful ideas. It also had some pretty cool twists.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So many books are given the dark academia label right now, but this is maybe the first book I've read with that pitch that gives me the feeling I've been chasing since The Secret History. I absolutely flew through this and couldn't put it down--the buildup throughout is great and the ending genuinely surprised me in a way I wasn't expecting. I do think some readers will be put off since this is less "adult" than other dark academia titles, but this is one of the few instances where I feel like the new adult categorization is perfect for this book, and will be enjoyed by teens and adult readers alike. It focuses on teenagers without making them seem unbelievably mature or too sterilized, and I found the characters and the dynamics between them to ring really true. I definitely don't think this is a book for everyone, but I think if elements of cults and religion and unlikable characters and boarding school drama appeal to you, this is definitely worth checking out. I can't wait for this title to come out so I can talk about it more and recommend it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Murder
dark
inspiring
mysterious
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 World Cannot Give" is a beautiful, immersive read. It so perfectly captures the infatuation, toxicity and eccentricities of adolescence. It's "The Secret History" meets "Catcher in the Rye" with a little "Looking for Alaska" and "Heathers" thrown in.
Author Tara Isabella Burton does a fantastic job at ensnaring the reader in the New England boarding school, St. Dunstan's right along with Laura Stearns. Laura comes to the school in search of a life worth living, following the steps of alumni Sebastian Oliver, who authored her favorite book. She soon finds a spot in the school's church choir and within the snare of its leader, Virginia Strauss. Laura is a passive witness caught in the whiplash of Virginia's descent. It's a captivating story of obsession — from multiple parties — that takes a dark turn about halfway through the book that I never anticipated. The ending itself is unexpectedly dark, and yet so beautifully fitting.
As always, thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.
4.25/5
Author Tara Isabella Burton does a fantastic job at ensnaring the reader in the New England boarding school, St. Dunstan's right along with Laura Stearns. Laura comes to the school in search of a life worth living, following the steps of alumni Sebastian Oliver, who authored her favorite book. She soon finds a spot in the school's church choir and within the snare of its leader, Virginia Strauss. Laura is a passive witness caught in the whiplash of Virginia's descent. It's a captivating story of obsession — from multiple parties — that takes a dark turn about halfway through the book that I never anticipated. The ending itself is unexpectedly dark, and yet so beautifully fitting.
As always, thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.
4.25/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Vomit
Genre: new adult, dark academia
Pub date: March 8, 2022
In one sentence: Laura's obsession with prep school classmate Virginia changes her life, and she has to decide how far she''ll go for her friend.
Dark academia is one of my favorite subgenres, and I'm loving all the novels coming out recently. Tara Isabella Burton is a theologian as well as an author - who better to write about Christian faith at an insular prep school? This book combines teenage drama with deep questions about life, and I was hooked from the beginning. There are echoes of books like The Secret History here, and I'd recommend this book to fans of that one. Laura was a great set of eyes for the reader to explore this environments and get to know the enigmatic Virginia. There were plenty of plot twists to keep me interested, and I did not see the ending coming.
This book is somewhat in between a slow burn and a fast-paced thriller - I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy dark academia and coming of age stories.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review posted to Goodreads 9/19/21; to be posted to Instagram closer to pub date.
Pub date: March 8, 2022
In one sentence: Laura's obsession with prep school classmate Virginia changes her life, and she has to decide how far she''ll go for her friend.
Dark academia is one of my favorite subgenres, and I'm loving all the novels coming out recently. Tara Isabella Burton is a theologian as well as an author - who better to write about Christian faith at an insular prep school? This book combines teenage drama with deep questions about life, and I was hooked from the beginning. There are echoes of books like The Secret History here, and I'd recommend this book to fans of that one. Laura was a great set of eyes for the reader to explore this environments and get to know the enigmatic Virginia. There were plenty of plot twists to keep me interested, and I did not see the ending coming.
This book is somewhat in between a slow burn and a fast-paced thriller - I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy dark academia and coming of age stories.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review posted to Goodreads 9/19/21; to be posted to Instagram closer to pub date.
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
propulsive and haunting. i absolutely adored this book and loved the time i was able to spend in laura's head. she's not exactly a thrilling protagonist — quite fretful and passive and highly strung — but i loved getting to see all her thoughts and becoming enmeshed in her obsession with virginia and the choir. the relationship between her and virginia is the most fascinating part of this book; i loved all the obsession and repression and cultishness and the religious and spiritual undercurrents and the eventual turning of all this religiosity on its head in a way that i won't spoil but i thought was quite a punch to the gut and very well-done. really good, quite liked this one