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A review by mxdegroot
In These Hallowed Halls by Marie O'Regan, Paul Kane
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
- 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
2.5
Went from horrible to great to horrible to great.
I adored some of the stories in this anthology, and I hated others. I guess that makes sense, but I wished there were more good stories in it. The star rating I've given this book is the average of all the individual ratings, and I wished it was higher.
1000 ships (2/5 stars): I probably would have read this and enjoyed it more if it was a full book. While it worked within the genre of dark academia, I'm definitely not a fan of student x teacher romantic!relationships that are not handled at all. This story made it seem like it's okay, especially since it was written from the student's perspective. And yes, it's made clear that the teacher is not a good guy, but more in a he's-an-attractive-morally-grey-genius kind of way. It was just not addressed how fundamentally problematic the relationship was.
Pythia (1/5 stars): I will start by saying no, I'm not a fan of Olivie Blake. I really wanted to rate this story higher, but I can't. There's a good idea and some potential in it somewhere, but it just felt like one big infodump without a point that doesn't even explain anything. Open endings are great, but this just didn't work, because the plot was all over the place, so you're just left with a pile of information that doesn't make sense.
Sabbatical (2/5 stars): This was an amazing story and had an amazing set-up, and then the end ruined it all. It was so abrupt and, again, made zero sense.
The Hare and the Hound (5/5 stars): Absolute perfection. Dark, magical realism, open ending that perfectly tied up the story, perfectly dark academia. Might just pick up one or more of Andrew's books sometime.
X House (4/5 stars): I almost rated this five stars. This was perfectly dark, culty, half-resolved half-open ending. Just- yes.
The Ravages (3/5 stars): I was disappointed thatthere turned out to not be any ghosts , but I loved the revenge plot.
Four Funerals (5/5 stars): First of all, ouch. Especially in our current time and in America, this is such an important story to tell. The only reason I didn't cry was because I was in public transport.
The Unknowable Pleasures (1/5 stars): There was no plot and it was just a disgusting story. Again, student x teacher relationship that wasn't handled well at all.
Weekend at Bertie's (2/5 stars): Other reviews I read before I started this book kinda scared me but I still held my hopes high. I was unfortunately disappointed. There wasn't much of a plot and it wasn't really dark academia. Rio's writing style never fails to disappoint though. I'm sad to rate this story so low, since If We Were Villains remains my favorite book of all time.
The Professor of Onthology (2/5): The plot started on the last page, which was really sad, because the writing and the set-up of the story were great. It read more like the first page/teaser of a book than a short story. This would've worked so well as a full book.
Phobos (4/5 stars): TEA. Loved it. This is what dark academia is about. It felt a little stretched out though, as if there was a minimum amount of pages/words to reach and Bovalino was struggling to meet it.
Playing (4/5 stars): A perfect example of what dark academia should be. Deliciously dark. The writing was a bit hard to follow from time to time though.
February 8th, 2024 - February 14th, 2024.
I adored some of the stories in this anthology, and I hated others. I guess that makes sense, but I wished there were more good stories in it. The star rating I've given this book is the average of all the individual ratings, and I wished it was higher.
1000 ships (2/5 stars): I probably would have read this and enjoyed it more if it was a full book. While it worked within the genre of dark academia, I'm definitely not a fan of student x teacher romantic!relationships that are not handled at all. This story made it seem like it's okay, especially since it was written from the student's perspective. And yes, it's made clear that the teacher is not a good guy, but more in a he's-an-attractive-morally-grey-genius kind of way. It was just not addressed how fundamentally problematic the relationship was.
Pythia (1/5 stars): I will start by saying no, I'm not a fan of Olivie Blake. I really wanted to rate this story higher, but I can't. There's a good idea and some potential in it somewhere, but it just felt like one big infodump without a point that doesn't even explain anything. Open endings are great, but this just didn't work, because the plot was all over the place, so you're just left with a pile of information that doesn't make sense.
Sabbatical (2/5 stars): This was an amazing story and had an amazing set-up, and then the end ruined it all. It was so abrupt and, again, made zero sense.
The Hare and the Hound (5/5 stars): Absolute perfection. Dark, magical realism, open ending that perfectly tied up the story, perfectly dark academia. Might just pick up one or more of Andrew's books sometime.
X House (4/5 stars): I almost rated this five stars. This was perfectly dark, culty, half-resolved half-open ending. Just- yes.
The Ravages (3/5 stars): I was disappointed that
Four Funerals (5/5 stars): First of all, ouch. Especially in our current time and in America, this is such an important story to tell. The only reason I didn't cry was because I was in public transport.
The Unknowable Pleasures (1/5 stars): There was no plot and it was just a disgusting story. Again, student x teacher relationship that wasn't handled well at all.
Weekend at Bertie's (2/5 stars): Other reviews I read before I started this book kinda scared me but I still held my hopes high. I was unfortunately disappointed. There wasn't much of a plot and it wasn't really dark academia. Rio's writing style never fails to disappoint though. I'm sad to rate this story so low, since If We Were Villains remains my favorite book of all time.
The Professor of Onthology (2/5): The plot started on the last page, which was really sad, because the writing and the set-up of the story were great. It read more like the first page/teaser of a book than a short story. This would've worked so well as a full book.
Phobos (4/5 stars): TEA. Loved it. This is what dark academia is about. It felt a little stretched out though, as if there was a minimum amount of pages/words to reach and Bovalino was struggling to meet it.
Playing (4/5 stars): A perfect example of what dark academia should be. Deliciously dark. The writing was a bit hard to follow from time to time though.
February 8th, 2024 - February 14th, 2024.
"Do you think it's okay that I remember him as a young boy, when he was happy, and not like he was the last few years?"
"You should remember him however you want." - Four Funerals.
"We all burn ourselves up," he said. "We consume ourselves, constantly. And for what? I'm no better a scholar than you are. Proctor - fuck Proctor - is probably no better thanthe poor freshman he killed . It doesn't matter. None of it's good, none of it's right." - Phobos.
It's amazing what you could get used to, she thought, how automatic terrible things can become. - Playing.