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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
2.5, rounding it to 3 out of...me being nice, I guess.
Intriguing premise.Lazy and mediocre execution. Not sure what this book was trying to be. And whatever that was...was just not for me. At All.
Intriguing premise.Lazy and mediocre execution. Not sure what this book was trying to be. And whatever that was...was just not for me. At All.
I generally enjoy dark academia, and I definitely liked that aspect of this book. However, it fell a little flat for me. I kept waiting for the big twist or dark secret, but it never materialized.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a good book to start the year off with. I would recommend it if you liked The Secret History.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A strange story of toxic friendships, the main thing I have to say about it is when I had to put it down, I didn’t care that much about picking it back up.
Clare has started at a university in Scotland determined to reinvent herself. Her roommates are nice enough but not particularly interesting to her. When she does meet a group of interesting people, the hijinks they get up to aren’t your usual college-partying-too-much-type antics but turn into something far more consequential and sinister. Clare seems to have a fairly good sense of these new friends in the way she describes their interactions and her not always understanding because she doesn’t have their history. These new friends aren’t particularly good people, but then, neither is Clare.
NetGalley provided an advance reader copy of this book, which RELEASES JANUARY 10, 2023.
Clare has started at a university in Scotland determined to reinvent herself. Her roommates are nice enough but not particularly interesting to her. When she does meet a group of interesting people, the hijinks they get up to aren’t your usual college-partying-too-much-type antics but turn into something far more consequential and sinister. Clare seems to have a fairly good sense of these new friends in the way she describes their interactions and her not always understanding because she doesn’t have their history. These new friends aren’t particularly good people, but then, neither is Clare.
NetGalley provided an advance reader copy of this book, which RELEASES JANUARY 10, 2023.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 rating for me but I rounded up to 3
I had hopes that this would have been so much more. Instead, it fell flat as a look into a friend group, the individuals' short comings and some questionable acts that they completed while under each other's influence. There was nothing there that really grabbed me and made me want to care. I read the entire book thinking there is going to be more to this. But I never got more. The development of the characters and relationships were substantial but there really was no plot, especially to consider this book a horror/thriller story.
At best it is a literary fiction delving into the young minds of early adults.
I had hopes that this would have been so much more. Instead, it fell flat as a look into a friend group, the individuals' short comings and some questionable acts that they completed while under each other's influence. There was nothing there that really grabbed me and made me want to care. I read the entire book thinking there is going to be more to this. But I never got more. The development of the characters and relationships were substantial but there really was no plot, especially to consider this book a horror/thriller story.
At best it is a literary fiction delving into the young minds of early adults.