3.75 stars

tw: rape; murder; child molestation; physical and emotional abuse from partner; grooming; gore; possession; drug abuse; overdose; death of a friend

Me last year would not have been able to read this book, and here I am. This book does have a number of triggers, as listed above, many of which happen to our protagonist. However, to me, this was not gratuitous or done for shock value and was more about the trauma this character has endured.

The dark academia setting of the school and the magical societies was one of the best parts. The book did start out rather slow with setting all of this up, and that is one of the things that docked points for me. But the later half of the book builds on not only the setting but a series of entwined mysteries. This plot made me so nostalgic for the urban fantasy genre, which this definitely took inspiration from. Another piece I really enjoyed was that although this was very much fantastical/paranormal, it felt rooted in humanity. The villains were so human in their atrocities, and the interpersonal dynamics were all so real, even with this backdrop of magic. It shows the effects of power in the wrong hands.

The characters grew on me towards the end, but did take some time. I ultimately did enjoy our protagonist by the end, and appreciated how empowered she was. Her power within the story was actually what made content that would normally be triggering for me be bearable in this case.

This was a solid enough start to a series for me and I'm intrigued enough to continue. I did film a reading vlog for this book with all of my spoiler-y thoughts as well!