I don't know if I missed something at the beginning while listening to this on audiobook because I zoned out, (I obviously need to stop listening to audiobooks that jump back and forth in the timeline) but I just wasn't compelled by this book. I found the MC to be kind of a brat. I wanted to sympathize with her, but she made it hard with her constant visions of "proving her worth" by wanting superficial titles, etc. Honestly, I feel like almost ALL of the characters embodied "brat".

That being said, it did pick up after the first half, and I was moderately intrigued by solving the murder mystery. Other than that, eh.. it was just ok. ( )

This is a good mystery “who dunnit” with a cast of interesting characters. It made me want to go back to college and be a part of the East House Seven. Four stars because it kept me riveted and guessing until the last page. ( )

this book described the main characters so vividly that i could picture them all so clearly as individuals. the ending had so much going on, and i definitely did not see any of it coming. ( )

So...this was a library request for months and it happened to come on the heels of The Fortune Seller, which happens to be another dark academia book. I love the title and I'd heard great things about this author. As others have done a good job of summarizing, I'll skip that and go right to my reactions:

1) Seriously, have flawed, very unlikeable characters become a thematic element in dark academia? I didn't like any of them individually, I couldn't see what supposedly made them friends, and I definitely didn't buy any of the couplings among them. None of the characters develop over time or as the story unfolds, which I think was intentional on the author's part.

2) The plot was interesting enough in concept: someone in the friend group killed someone in their friend group, but there never seems to be much interest by the supposed friends to figure out who and why. I read the whole book, but I never much cared either. For me, the execution wasn't particularly compelling (although I did finish it, so there's that).

3) The setting while technically a college campus, didn't really lend a strong, atmospheric vibe. It's basically a backdrop and that's it. It could have been any campus or no campus at all. The setting wasn't essential to the story like it was in, say, Babel (and others).

4) Rope-a-trope.

5) I kept thinking this book has the vibe of Melrose Place or PLL (or the like) - sorta soapy. sometimes unintentionally campy, low on substance, but a shiny pretty cast.

I would try again with the author, but this one...meh...just wasn't feeling it. ( )

I am so sad that I did not love this book as much as so many other people did! i WANTED to love it. I will say this it kept me reading and it was hard to to put down but the unlikablenss of the all the characters really killed the book for me overall. I really struglled not only to care about the characters but also to care what happen. I also felt like all the characters pov felt super simialr it made me it hard to conenct to them!! This book def did not wow me! ( )