readergrl37's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
briannareadsbooks's review against another edition
2.0
ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
This book was so, so promising at the beginning and became increasingly so confusing and seemingly pointless towards the end that I was almost thankful it was over. I'm not interested in philosophy at all, so I didn't care about all the philosophical themes. If you're interested in philosophy, wonderful! I just felt plain stupid reading all of their philosophical conversations. Small thing to nitpick: but I absolutely hated how an androgynous student was referred to as "she/he," considering how politically aware the book was in other areas. I was also struggling to understand what the plot was, and I realized I was 50% into the novel and still had no idea what the plot was and I still kind of don't. I don't like how the character's struggles were revealed and none of them "paid off." The reasoning behind why Tosh hated his nickname "Tech" was so anti-climatic it was almost impossible to think that was a real plot device at all. I hated the fact that Tosh spoke in the second person when referring to Zippa because she didn't seem that special to me at all. I also hated the fact that a lot of the plot later on in the story was about avenging the death of a person they all felt was so important, but they rarely interacted with that character at all, so it was hard for me to understand why they would go to such lengths to avenge their death for someone they only interacted with a small handful of times! The whole storyline with Tosh's father and sister was so pointless and was never resolved or even really spoken about. The relationship between Zippa and Tosh was too much of a stretch for me. I don't even know how to explain in a new way how pointless so many scenes seemed to me. I spent the majority of the book thinking "What the hell is going on?" and "Does this actually happen at Harvard?"
The book wasn't all bad, and I'd hate to focus on the negatives. I was interested in this book because I, too, am a first-year university student who's a person of colour. Also, it seemed like a new YA dark academia book. Also, Boston is one of my favourite cities and it's proximity to Havard is one of the reasons why. Harvard Yard is so beautiful, and beginning introduction to Havard Yard brought back all my memories of all the times I've visited the campus and taken pictures of the statues and bookstores and architecture. Another thing I loved is learning so much more about Harvard culture. Some of the stuff in the book seemed absolutely crazy and I'm not sure if that actually happens at Harvard but I wouldn't be surprised if it does. Learning about the real Crimson, Lampoon, and Final Clubs were all interesting to me. But the whole seriousness of the membership to the clubs was so wild, I would be scared to join any club at Harvard if they're as serious as in this novel. Also learning about the Secret Court was so interesting!!!! Honestly, I just want a whole book about the Secret Court lol. I also love how political the students were. It was such an accurate representation of students going into college and coming out political activists, talking about capitalism and intersectionality! While the things I loved were definitely perks, they weren't good enough to make me like the overall book, which is unfortunate because the story is so promising.
This book was so, so promising at the beginning and became increasingly so confusing and seemingly pointless towards the end that I was almost thankful it was over. I'm not interested in philosophy at all, so I didn't care about all the philosophical themes. If you're interested in philosophy, wonderful! I just felt plain stupid reading all of their philosophical conversations. Small thing to nitpick: but I absolutely hated how an androgynous student was referred to as "she/he," considering how politically aware the book was in other areas. I was also struggling to understand what the plot was, and I realized I was 50% into the novel and still had no idea what the plot was and I still kind of don't. I don't like how the character's struggles were revealed and none of them "paid off." The reasoning behind why Tosh hated his nickname "Tech" was so anti-climatic it was almost impossible to think that was a real plot device at all. I hated the fact that Tosh spoke in the second person when referring to Zippa because she didn't seem that special to me at all. I also hated the fact that a lot of the plot later on in the story was about avenging the death of a person they all felt was so important, but they rarely interacted with that character at all, so it was hard for me to understand why they would go to such lengths to avenge their death for someone they only interacted with a small handful of times! The whole storyline with Tosh's father and sister was so pointless and was never resolved or even really spoken about. The relationship between Zippa and Tosh was too much of a stretch for me. I don't even know how to explain in a new way how pointless so many scenes seemed to me. I spent the majority of the book thinking "What the hell is going on?" and "Does this actually happen at Harvard?"
The book wasn't all bad, and I'd hate to focus on the negatives. I was interested in this book because I, too, am a first-year university student who's a person of colour. Also, it seemed like a new YA dark academia book. Also, Boston is one of my favourite cities and it's proximity to Havard is one of the reasons why. Harvard Yard is so beautiful, and beginning introduction to Havard Yard brought back all my memories of all the times I've visited the campus and taken pictures of the statues and bookstores and architecture. Another thing I loved is learning so much more about Harvard culture. Some of the stuff in the book seemed absolutely crazy and I'm not sure if that actually happens at Harvard but I wouldn't be surprised if it does. Learning about the real Crimson, Lampoon, and Final Clubs were all interesting to me. But the whole seriousness of the membership to the clubs was so wild, I would be scared to join any club at Harvard if they're as serious as in this novel. Also learning about the Secret Court was so interesting!!!! Honestly, I just want a whole book about the Secret Court lol. I also love how political the students were. It was such an accurate representation of students going into college and coming out political activists, talking about capitalism and intersectionality! While the things I loved were definitely perks, they weren't good enough to make me like the overall book, which is unfortunate because the story is so promising.
ktreadsnm's review against another edition
4.0
This was funny and smart. The metaphors were great. I'm not sure how it ended, though! And I didn't get even half of the references and in jokes. Still, an enjoyable read, if occasionally heavy-handed.
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