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klabenak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Sexual assault
ghostcoffeeshop's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, and Alcohol
Moderate: Gore, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
beucleral's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Sexual assault
amarks's review against another edition
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, and Murder
klsreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Starting with cons: Due to the setting at Yale, this book runs the high risk of making its readers feel dumb sometimes. Leigh Bardugo went to Yale for undergrad, was in Wolf's Head, and also researched the h e l l out of Yale's history to make a cohesive, believable backstory. The depth of information fell flat to me as someone who doesn't care about the architecture and alumni of Ivy Leagues. It was a good plot device to show Darlington's intelligence, but occasionally read as, "Look at how much I thought this out and how smart I am!" She toes the line between knowing how grating academics can be and becoming an insufferable know-it-all herself (I understand this bc I am a huge nerd, currently in grad school, and can be academically insufferable). There are probably a ton of references I didn't understand (I'm sure some of it was written for English buffs and Yale students). This makes the book a bit too long, imo. Also, the chapters skip around in time and I don't think that was necessary, though it wasn't too hard to follow.
To be fair, Bardugo's world building ability is unbelievable, and I thought all of her main characters were unique, real, and multifaceted.
Pros: Pretty much everything else. Fun magic system, spooky dark academia, ghosts, sentient houses, whodunit, powerful misfits, revenge, a bi (?) female lead, extremely developed world, and a twisty-turny plot.
Important to note - this book is DARK. Like, graphically dark, and sometimes very gross, and often sad. Check the TWs/CWs.
Leigh Bardugo is an excellent writer and I highly recommend this if you like second chances, dark academia, and magical murder mysteries. It feels like this book was set up to knock the next one out of the park - I can't wait to start the sequel!
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Xenophobia
ta2dlibrarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use and Rape
andrewav's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore and Grief
Minor: Vomit
riz715zo's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Excrement
cataquack's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I had a really good time with this one, but it's definitely an "add a star if you've ever lived in New Haven, Connecticut" situation. Extraordinary sense of place, both in the "wow, Alex is eating at Mamoun's Falafel! She's shopping at Good Nature Market! She's dropping lore about Yorkside Pizza!" sense and the "I can follow the exact route Alex is taking in my mind's eye" sense.
I really enjoyed the Magical Realism of it all, and the book oozes personality and flavor, but the actual plot is fairly workmanlike—the murder mystery at the core of the story just isn't that gripping, and some of the investigation and deduction really started to blur together.
And it's hard to say whether I actually like Alex; her personality is (by design, I think) really grating at times, but she's a really interesting choice of POV character. This book could have easily followed a more generic Yalie-type character, who gets to be a fish out of water just by virtue of being a Normal Girl discovering a secret magical underbelly. Instead, Bardugo uses Alex's marginalized identities to explore the divide between Towns and Gowns, a divide that might be the defining conflict of New Haven, in a way that feels naturally interwoven with the plot.
I don't know that I'm going to drop everything to pick up the sequel, and I didn't find the button it ends on to be an especially compelling hook, but I'm interested to see if it can build on this premise in an interesting way. All in all, a perfectly fun time!
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
Moderate: Drug use and Murder
krista_timm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.5
Graphic: Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual assault