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georgie_rose_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
things I liked:
• the setting was beautiful, High Realms (the school) was so vivid in my mind - I loved the vibes of the first 20%
• audio narration was good - it was read by Ellie’s friend Ell Potter and they have an interesting chat/interview at the end
• lgbt rep
• the ‘four’ characters themselves were fleshed out imo - although some of the other characters were confusing
• as this is a debut I’m excited to read more Ellie Keel in the future!
things I didn’t:
• it was quite long and lacked direction at times
• it seemed like the author grabbed a thesaurus and threw in big words in for the sake of it where they didn’t make sense and to make it sound ‘academic’ and pretentious
• romantic relationships were so random / out of nowhere and not well explored
• an ‘event’ (no spoilers) happens about 20% in that is the focus of the rest of the plot. this was not the direction I expected the book to go in and I enjoyed it much less
• it was too much? it’s so sad and lowkey traumatising from then onwards!!
I’m here for the dark academia vibes, but the plot was a little too harrowing once the setting is taken away.
⚠️⚠️⚠️
please check the trigger warnings - it’s pretty intense
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for providing me an audiobook ARC
• the setting was beautiful, High Realms (the school) was so vivid in my mind - I loved the vibes of the first 20%
• audio narration was good - it was read by Ellie’s friend Ell Potter and they have an interesting chat/interview at the end
• lgbt rep
• the ‘four’ characters themselves were fleshed out imo - although some of the other characters were confusing
• as this is a debut I’m excited to read more Ellie Keel in the future!
things I didn’t:
• it was quite long and lacked direction at times
• it seemed like the author grabbed a thesaurus and threw in big words in for the sake of it where they didn’t make sense and to make it sound ‘academic’ and pretentious
• romantic relationships were so random / out of nowhere and not well explored
• an ‘event’ (no spoilers) happens about 20% in that is the focus of the rest of the plot. this was not the direction I expected the book to go in and I enjoyed it much less
• it was too much? it’s so sad and lowkey traumatising from then onwards!!
I’m here for the dark academia vibes, but the plot was a little too harrowing once the setting is taken away.
⚠️⚠️⚠️
please check the trigger warnings - it’s pretty intense
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for providing me an audiobook ARC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Mental illness, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Suicide, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Incest, Eating disorder, Death, and Confinement
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