You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I really wanted to enjoy this book. However, the characters are just young enough so that the entire premise doesn’t read smoothly. Had everyone in the book been aged up a decade and this had taken place at a fancy graduate school? Absolutely. But teenagers? And what was that ending?
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
A disappointing drop in quality since the The Fever King/Electric Heir duology, which was an absolutely riveting debut. I really wanted to chalk it up to darkacademia not being for me, since the plot sounds compelling in summary, but the dialogue, flat and unmemorable characters who felt like fanfic tropes, and slow pace were too much to overlook. There was an interesting twist around chapter NINE that honestly should have maybe been stretched out a little more but it drops off again afterwards :( and again the ending is interesting. The direction is fairly predictable from the beginning and again the best intrigue is over too fast after a bunch of slow filler. I really wanted to love this!
A mystery. A school full of girls, poorly supervised. A tale in which we slowly learn of the main character's past to better understand her present.
I liked the book. I just couldn't make myself give it more stars because I found so many things in this plot were rewrites of books I have read before. Previously overdone; girls school, lesbians, evil or witchy school founder, and more. The main plot and twists are original and well written. I did find the pages turned quickly too.
I liked the book. I just couldn't make myself give it more stars because I found so many things in this plot were rewrites of books I have read before. Previously overdone; girls school, lesbians, evil or witchy school founder, and more. The main plot and twists are original and well written. I did find the pages turned quickly too.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Not a proper review because I didn't finish it so ignore me but I had to drop it. I just couldn't force myself to keep reading, it felt so fake and pretentious. I couldn't get behind any of the characters either. Didn't care for any of them.
Star rating: 3.5 stars |
Felicity needs to finish her senior year of high school. Which is easier said than done, considering you’re returning the very same boarding school where your ex girlfriend died in mysterious circumstances.
It becomes even more complex when you factor in a possible witches curse plus new roommate and published author, Ellis who that insists on dragging up the past with the help of Felicity.
Ellis claims that she needs to research the history of their school and the mysteries surrounding it for her new book. She wants to examine the way mental health impacts the behaviours and motivations of the characters in her books. She claims this can only be done by investigating the very real deaths that happened at the school.
Since felicity has researched Elvis insists she is the only person that can help her finish her book.
As time goes on and the pair grow closer, Felicity starts to the think the pain of last year is behind her. But that doesn’t last… and as Felicity approaches her final winter at Dalloway school, it becomes harder and harder to distinguish fact, from fiction.
Aghhhhh this book had so much potential. The atmospheric writing builds up the tension brilliantly.
You really are transported to Dalloway, and start questioning the rules of the world created.
This book is let down by its last 20 pages, which says something in itself. The fact that the book can be rapped up in 20 pages. It was such an anticlimactic ending.
I’m guessing what the author was going for was character introspection, like what Ellis was trying to accomplish in the first place. But we never really learn anything about the motivations of either Ellis or Felicity in the last 20 pages either? I get it felicity is a unreliable narrator, that is quite clear, but before the last 20 pages we know what she’s feeling, even if she’s lying or remembering wrong. This is absent from the last 20 pages.
Also the side characters kind of just disappear throughout the second half of the book. I think this is part of the reason why things start to feel so distant and disconnected from the rest of the book. Where were the rest of the cast during the search for Clara? We’re told that they’ve all been worried about Felicity, but we never see them? Unlike in the first half, where an almost co-dependant dynamic was developing between the main and side characters.
(And I’m just gonna say it, I wanted more Leonie. Why was she only there to confirm that the school is institutionally racist? She was such a cool character and you just reduce her to a teaching moment for the white rich lead character, no thank you)
Overall the world building and Atmospheric writing is brilliant but is let down by a inconsistent plot
Felicity needs to finish her senior year of high school. Which is easier said than done, considering you’re returning the very same boarding school where your ex girlfriend died in mysterious circumstances.
It becomes even more complex when you factor in a possible witches curse plus new roommate and published author, Ellis who that insists on dragging up the past with the help of Felicity.
Ellis claims that she needs to research the history of their school and the mysteries surrounding it for her new book. She wants to examine the way mental health impacts the behaviours and motivations of the characters in her books. She claims this can only be done by investigating the very real deaths that happened at the school.
Since felicity has researched Elvis insists she is the only person that can help her finish her book.
As time goes on and the pair grow closer, Felicity starts to the think the pain of last year is behind her. But that doesn’t last… and as Felicity approaches her final winter at Dalloway school, it becomes harder and harder to distinguish fact, from fiction.
Aghhhhh this book had so much potential. The atmospheric writing builds up the tension brilliantly.
You really are transported to Dalloway, and start questioning the rules of the world created.
This book is let down by its last 20 pages, which says something in itself. The fact that the book can be rapped up in 20 pages. It was such an anticlimactic ending.
I’m guessing what the author was going for was character introspection, like what Ellis was trying to accomplish in the first place. But we never really learn anything about the motivations of either Ellis or Felicity in the last 20 pages either? I get it felicity is a unreliable narrator, that is quite clear, but before the last 20 pages we know what she’s feeling, even if she’s lying or remembering wrong. This is absent from the last 20 pages.
Also the side characters kind of just disappear throughout the second half of the book. I think this is part of the reason why things start to feel so distant and disconnected from the rest of the book. Where were the rest of the cast during the search for Clara? We’re told that they’ve all been worried about Felicity, but we never see them? Unlike in the first half, where an almost co-dependant dynamic was developing between the main and side characters.
(And I’m just gonna say it, I wanted more Leonie. Why was she only there to confirm that the school is institutionally racist? She was such a cool character and you just reduce her to a teaching moment for the white rich lead character, no thank you)
Overall the world building and Atmospheric writing is brilliant but is let down by a inconsistent plot
Horrible. Did not like. Would not recommend. So happy to be done with this book!
An incredible read I couldn’t put down. The possibility of an unreliable narrator was an exciting twist that left me questioning every twist and turn in this novel.
Perfect for a passionate creative Queer; who grew up reading things like Nancy Drew, and daydreamed about witches, covens, and books that smelled of dust & binding glue.
Perfect for a passionate creative Queer; who grew up reading things like Nancy Drew, and daydreamed about witches, covens, and books that smelled of dust & binding glue.