medini_l's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Sexual content, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization
michaelat21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Spoiler
I did have many questions and thoughts after reading the ending. For one did Theo really turn on her and did her real friends know that he did. I think he turned on her and used her starting when he got rid of his music. Also at the end it makes a clear point that the footsteps did not have a limp and glo did. Do you think she got out? I’d like to think it was Yaya welcoming her friend and meeting her at the spot glow and her mentioned but that may be too hopeful. Third do you think the Victoria was brainwashed by m. Neptune and that is why she acts the way she does. Is he the real evil on or do you think she had Inez going in for testing planed the whole time and that’s why she was even accepted. So many questions I just wanna talk about it ahhhh so good <\spoiler>Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse
kaitplusbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Torture, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Alcohol, Confinement, Body horror, and Forced institutionalization
gondorgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Confinement and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Death, Medical content, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal death
leighwilliams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Confinement, and Mental illness
Minor: Medical content, Sexual content, Blood, Suicide, Grief, and Car accident
jupitermond's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, and Drug use
Moderate: Sexual content and Animal death
Minor: Vomit
magpie_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
minimicropup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
- A student of Catherine House through their first, second, and third (final) year of the program. Just before admission they were involved in an incident where they witnessed a traumatic event, leaving them oscillating between catatonic mania and indifference.
- Set at a secretive, elite academic institution in a remote area of rural Pennsylvania
- Selective description of people, places, and things – lots of room for rich imaginings
- Captures the angst and undertones of academia – jumping through hoops, uncomfortable limbo of being a "new adult", peers that are both moral support and a competitive threat, the whole maze of pretension, pressure, and potential
- Secretive sci-fi feeling that seems purposefully underdeveloped, even magical. We don’t understand the science/magic exactly, how being a graduate allows for power and prestige, or how final the consequences of “failure” may be
- I get how this could be boring or too weird. Not much happens and yet a lot happens? It isn’t repetitive but also isn’t rooted in any specific plot.
- The characters are strange…it isn’t that they aren’t well developed, but it’s that they seem like ghosts. They are likeable and I could identify with them sometimes, but they also seem slightly “off” somehow. I loved it, but if you aren’t in the mood or a fan of that type of read, then it could be disconnecting.
- Dosing could make a big diff in the reading experience. I read it all one cold, rainy day. If I had to take extended breaks I can imagine being confused or forgetting where we left off.
- Character-driven studies in isolated settings
- Mash up of absurdist, magical realism, dark academia
- Mad scientist sci-fi / witchy soft fantasy energy
- Subjective commentary on academic institutions, education, and student experience
- Speculative fiction filled with symbolism, similes, metaphors
- No plot, only vibes
PS. 😍 In the running for our Fav Book of 2023
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Vomit, Confinement, and Suicidal thoughts
homebodywitch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Confinement, Death, and Grief
hue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, and Animal cruelty