3,5

1.75?? Not sure. I'll try to make this brief: (not spoiler-free) (... okay and in hindsight this is a rant and not a brief review) ________________________________________________ The building blocks were all there, but what to build with it? To me, the author seemed to have lost interest in building a story anything more than 'slightly interesting' after writing one third of the book. Up to that point, I was quite invested in Lennon's story and her academic future in Dreyton, a secret magic university focusing on the brutal craft of coersion. The concept is still incredibly fascinating to me, which makes it even more disappointing that overall it fell flat and didn't live up to those high expectations. In the beginning, I liked Lennon (the main character), and I also had an inkling that I was going to root for her relationship with Dante. But I quickly had to realize that this relationship isn't as complex as it could have been because the characters don't actually have any chemistry, which (in my opinion) is because the characters themselves are not fleshed out properly. They just never grow out of that beginning stage of being a little mysterious and hidden from the narrator - somehow every character, EVEN our protagonist Lennon, stays ominous, out of focus, and 'poorly lit'. No interesting characteristics are pulled to the forefront. Every twist of a character's intentions was at least an educated guess away, which just does not make for an interesting reading experience. I just wish the author would have spent more time exploring the characters in depth, therefore elevating them from their cardboard cut-out status. Another thing I disliked about the characters was not only how they acted always according to how the story needed them to, even if it felt contrived or just plain stupid, but also how major details were strewn in by the author, like moments that have happened or mannerisms that a character supposedly has, without it ever being referenced or *shown* beforehand. For instance: When Lennon visits her family in Florida, her sister scolds her because Lennon has picked up smoking again, and Lennon silently agrees and confirms that suspicion - but that she smokes more heavily than before isn't shown or talked about anywhere at all (different characters smoke more often, Lennon seemed to do it very casually once or twice, not enough to warrant a scolding as if she's lighting one up every twenty minutes). It is completely irrelevant information that we as readers perceive to be untrue because it is not actually happening ON THE PAGE even though it should be. This thing happens a few times: the author puts an important detail or clever idea into the story, but instead of going back and properly *showing* oder *foreshadowing* it, they just gloss over it. Adding to this, the emotional connection to the characters in this book just isn't there. Lennon even lost my sympathy halfway through the book because of her -1000 character growth. How Dante is supposed to be a teacher without ever explaining anything and keeping Lennon in the dark and then getting frustrated when Lennon doesn't do exactly what he wants her to do, is absolutely beyond me. Keeping Lennon in the dark for 75% of the book therefore seemed to be the only tool of suspense the author had at their disposal. Many parts in the story just didn't make any sense at all. I was incredibly puzzled by Lennon's brief visit in Florida - why write it in at all if it only lasts for like two short chapters? Her family also wasn't spared from the shallowness all the other characters suffer from. When Dante came to ... what ... mope (??) at Lennon, I was outright confused. He didn't have anything to say, changes his mind way too easily (and Lennon keeps pushing without any logic whatsoever for him to be her advisor, even though she also "wants him", like, pick a theme? He clearly said that he can't, and you guessed correctly it's BECAUSE of the fucked up student/counselor dynamic, so why are you not jumping at the opportunity of evening the plainfield?? .............. ich hab Bluthochdruck Junge). That she has to return to Dreyton this instant also doesn't make any sense and only seemed to have been put in there by the author out of sheer convenience - Florida served its purpose, I guess, and Lennon's poor family, too! I know, I've shat on this book so far, but there *were* parts I liked. The magic in it is interesting and could have been even better if explored with a more curious narrator. Lennon is incredibly singular when it comes to her view of this new world: it is made clear from the beginning that she's a person who likes to escape, and therefore she's the perfect dark academia victim. But for me as a reader this is highly frustrating because she never asks the interesting questions, and because she herself is a shallow character, she also *experiences* the world only at surface level. There were a few times I got excited because of possible questions and theories being raised, especially those of morality, the politics of this secret and yet incredibly influencal university, but also the scaryness and broadness of the student's skillset/powers. Those questions were never even outright asked though, they kept lying dormant underneath, all I wanted to do was break down that barrier and pull those questions out and ACTUALLY explore some interesting topics. Instead, the story is deadfast centered on Lennon's personal politics, that never reach farther than: Is Dante good? Is he bad? Am I going to turn bad? No, let's return to Dante! He's good? He's bad? It's motherfucking exhausting. There are more plotpoints not making sense, especially when it comes to characters acting out of character or for the benefit of being a tiny bump in Lennon's road (for example: Nadine ... I was sort of counting on her being a victim of Ian's coersion, but no, she was just plainly in love with him and put in Lennon's way at the last second to hinder too easy of a conclusion). I also never actually understood the "friend group" that helped Lennon out in the end. They were never the focus. But even the focus (Dante) wasn't fleshed out properly, his past being sort of something that gets brushed over and never fully talked about (at least not by Dante and Lennon). It all stayed extremely ambiguous, which hindered me from actually emotionally connecting to these characters. I'm not gonna talk about the ending with her getting this powerful and everybody just going along with it - or the fact that she have second year students she was friends with tenure as professors. Be fucking forreal, that was just plain ridiculous and highly questionable. Overall, I'm extremely disappointed by this book, especially *because* it had so much potential in the beginning. Man, hate when that happens :/