*Big thank you to the publisher for providing me with a physical copy for review!*

A YA book with a mystery aspect and political intrigue, set in a boarding school with a fun and diverse cast of characters? Sign me up.

This book didn’t feel like 400+ pages, it was so engaging I literally ended up flying through it. The narrative is really quick paced with a plot I’ve never really seen tackled in a book before, which made it an interesting read. For a book with subtle perspective changes, I actually found myself caring about both perspectives in the book - it actually had side characters I was interested in and was rooting for. I enjoyed the side plotlines just as well as the main focus of the story, which is rarely the case for me.

The characters in here were so lovely and funny - the dialogue and chats they have in here was definitely a highlight. Though a lot of the book was quite serious and a bit darker, there were some real moments of lightheartedness and witty banter which I thought made for a good balance and made me laugh several times. I loved them all and their interactions were really fun to read.

I think because of the nature of the subject matter and how the danger of the situation is explored in here, that the PTSD could’ve been a bit more pronounced. It’s brought up quite a bit in the beginning but we never properly explore it with Gray which I would’ve loved as it’s clearly a big part of how she is and the way she acts. I liked the inclusion of it though - a lot of books put their characters through a lot and then forget it probably has long lasting effects on them so it’s nice to see it acknowledged.

Another aspect I adored was the female friendships in and how they developed throughout the story. Having characters mature enough to speak to each other and sort their differences out in order to work together and have a positive relationship? Hell yeah. And if you want a book with romance but not romance-focused, I think this has that balance perfected. It was super sweet and I liked watching the development, despite the fact I would’ve loved more scenes between just the two of them so we could really see that develop.

It gives me STAGS vibes if STAGS was more blatantly political and had more impending danger. I liked it.

Definitiv besser als der erste Teil. Außerdem merkt man, dass die Autorin generell besser geworden ist, die Charaktere fühlen sich nicht mehr so kindisch und klischeehaft an. Dennoch finde ich oft die Dialoge zwischen den Teenagern dezent cringe, weil man merkt, dass es geschrieben wurde von einer etwas älteren Frau, die versucht wie ein Teenager zu klingen lol. Was mich abfuckt ist, dass der nächste Teil vermutlich erst in 1-2 Jahren rauskommt