Short Review

I feel like dark academic thrillers really aren't done that well mainly because they forget what makes them interesting is interesting characters. The characters in this book just weren't interesting and lackluster and didn't ever really seem to grow, except possibly Clare. Tons of infodumping towards the end for explanations. Also,

Spoiler

really don't like female characters getting attacked, by men, for character growth.

. I do think the writing is pretty good, that's not my beef but really the lack of tension for a thriller. It was pretty anti-climatic for back half of the book. Maybe the author will write something better than this, since it's a debut. I'd be interested, but I hope she doesn't continue writing these kinds of stories because it's a filled field of bland stories and characters. Not every dark academic book is Donna Tart's "The Secret History."