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lateromantic's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Great dark academia read! I don't normally like thrillers, but when it's tarot and old books giving you hints? I'm into it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism
jescasreading's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The initial premise really pulled me in! Tarot and dark academia?? Sign me up!! But I found the storyline quite predictable? And sadly a little boring. I was intrigued by the history of Rachel, and even though she seemed very dodgy I quite liked her character. I found the others a little boring? Overall it was an ok book! But it wouldn't be a book I'll reread in the future.
I did like the academia setting and I imagined the grounds and garden were stunning! I liked the mentioned of tarot and knowing the meaning behind the cards, there was a very useful section in the back of the book telling infomation about tarot.
I did like the mystery of who could have unalived Patrick even though I predicted pretty early on who it was.
I did like how Rachel did it in the best interests for Ann, I could tell that she had a lot of love for Ann and I feel she didn't want Ann to go down the same journey that she went down.
I did like the academia setting and I imagined the grounds and garden were stunning! I liked the mentioned of tarot and knowing the meaning behind the cards, there was a very useful section in the back of the book telling infomation about tarot.
I did like how Rachel did it in the best interests for Ann, I could tell that she had a lot of love for Ann and I feel she didn't want Ann to go down the same journey that she went down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Drug use
Moderate: Death of parent
abiyy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I’ll admit that I wasn’t initially sold. Especially in the beginning, the plot is a bit slow and the character exposition feels onerous. But it lays critical groundwork for a spectacularly told story that leans into how the choices we make shape our path. The characters are complex and you truly come to understand their motivations and desires. I was surprised by some of the plot twists later on, except also not at all because wow they made SO much sense. Reading the final few chapters felt like finishing a puzzle and realizing you’ve got pieces in the wrong spots but now seeing where they actually go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Abandonment
Minor: Eating disorder, Blood, Car accident, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
amhud1030's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
bookmaddie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
A quick read that loses steam once a death occurs, making the lack of characterization obvious.
I found the artistic/tarot card mystery more compelling than the who-dunnit mystery that takes up most of the latter half of the book. The art history aspects shined in this story, and as we got away from that, the writing felt rote and unsurprising.
My main gripe is with characterization. The main character, Ann, is drawn with barely any personality, only developing some sense of agency (and cynicism) at the very very end. This comes as a shock, as almost no time is spent in any serious way developing Ann’s personality or showing how she changes because of her whirlwind summer. It all felt very surface-level and unsatisfying. The writing about NYC felt so naive, too.
Admittedly, I skimmed the last third of the novel, just wanting it to be done by that point.
More of a 2.5 star, really. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced digital copy. Sorry it took me so long to get to it!
I found the artistic/tarot card mystery more compelling than the who-dunnit mystery that takes up most of the latter half of the book. The art history aspects shined in this story, and as we got away from that, the writing felt rote and unsurprising.
My main gripe is with characterization. The main character, Ann, is drawn with barely any personality, only developing some sense of agency (and cynicism) at the very very end. This comes as a shock, as almost no time is spent in any serious way developing Ann’s personality or showing how she changes because of her whirlwind summer. It all felt very surface-level and unsatisfying. The writing about NYC felt so naive, too.
Admittedly, I skimmed the last third of the novel, just wanting it to be done by that point.
More of a 2.5 star, really. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced digital copy. Sorry it took me so long to get to it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, and Death of parent
j_emerson18's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
..damn ..just damn
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Suicide and Fire/Fire injury
victoriav_93's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Death of parent, and Murder
issamay's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Grief, and Car accident
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
queenbee6's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use
gracescanlon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This just didn’t hit for me.
Strike one: The story was odd, as was the main character. Also, the narrative voice continually switched from conversational to more lofty prose, often from one sentence to the next and back again. Many of the more conversational ones were actually dependent clauses, which brought the immediate shift in tone from literary fiction-esque sentences to non-sentences into even sharper contrast.
Strike two: The book touched on issues around those who grew up with money and those who didn’t, but didn’t delve deeply into them. This was fine, actually, as the MC idolized the old-money characters for most of it. However, her shift in opinion of those types of characters neglected to address topics like entitlement and never knowing financial struggle or hardship. She did, however, shift her thinking on theft from such people. So to see one side of her opinion about the “haves and have-nots” change, but not the other (at least not on the page), rang insincere.
Strike three: The entire book was so predictable that when it met the tired tropes and twists without deviation, I was truly in disbelief — disbelief that anyone could be that unoriginal.
Strike one: The story was odd, as was the main character. Also, the narrative voice continually switched from conversational to more lofty prose, often from one sentence to the next and back again. Many of the more conversational ones were actually dependent clauses, which brought the immediate shift in tone from literary fiction-esque sentences to non-sentences into even sharper contrast.
Strike two: The book touched on issues around those who grew up with money and those who didn’t, but didn’t delve deeply into them. This was fine, actually, as the MC idolized the old-money characters for most of it. However, her shift in opinion of those types of characters neglected to address topics like entitlement and never knowing financial struggle or hardship. She did, however, shift her thinking on theft from such people. So to see one side of her opinion about the “haves and have-nots” change, but not the other (at least not on the page), rang insincere.
Strike three: The entire book was so predictable that when it met the tired tropes and twists without deviation, I was truly in disbelief — disbelief that anyone could be that unoriginal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism