Language: R (20 swears, 16 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13 (romantic kissing, mention of consensual sexual relations, sexual assault alluded to);Violence: R (on page: detailed bloody injury, stabbing, detailed description of people being killed by monsters, stabbing deaths, death by frostbite, violence to animals)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: SOME
Page Whittaker is from Florida and has attended many schools as she has always struggled to fit in because of the strange and dangerous events that seem to happen when she is around. After one of these events, Page receives a scholarship offer from a boarding school in the Highlands of Scotland that caters to rich, intellectually gifted, troubled youngsters. This seems like the answer Page has been looking for. A place she can fit in with her love of reading and academics and with the strict discipline the school emphasizes, perhaps she can manage to control the darkness within. However, not long after arriving, Page starts to realize that her new school is full of secrets and the reason she has been brought there may be more about unleashing her darkness rather than controlling it.
Intriguing premise that steadily devolves in the second half. A world with magic, but no clear magic system. Too little world building with too much frenzied action. Lack of character development leaves the reader feeling as though they are being held at a distance and left unable to connect with anyone in the story. Many scenes with bizarre and convoluted happenings that are hard to follow or feel invested in.
Reviewer: AEB
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