Language: R (0 swears, 7 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG (kissing); Violence: PG-13 (stabbing, serious injury)
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
Being an Alarie girl opens doors. 17yo Isla and her 20yo sister Renata live with their Abuela, who has recently come into a fortune. Aware that new money won’t earn them respect in a world obsessed with legacy, Abuela enrolls the girls in an elite finishing school. Isla lasts only a day. Something about the school feels off—dangerously so. Renata, always the bold and fearless one, decides to stay. But when she returns home a few months later, she’s different. Her spark is gone. And then, without warning, she disappears. To uncover what happened to her sister, Isla must return to Alarie House. But the deeper she digs, the stranger things become. Why are the walls covered in gemstones? Why do the girls behave so recklessly after dark? What’s behind their bizarre transformations? Is it the teachers? The school? The house itself?
As Isla searches for the truth about Renata, she begins to uncover truths about herself—learning to step into her identity as an intersex girl and discovering strength she never knew she had."
I appreciated the central message about what happens to women when they’re expected to split themselves—only showing the polished, acceptable parts while hiding the rest. The story’s encouragement for women to embrace their whole selves, rather than conforming to others’ expectations, resonated with me. The metaphor of women as gemstones and diamonds was thoughtful and layered, reinforcing the theme in creative ways. However, it started to feel overused, appearing so frequently that it lost some of its impact. While some of the eerie events at the house were eventually explained, others were left unresolved, which made the ending feel a bit incomplete. The book had a lot to say, and while its themes were compelling, I felt the overall execution and resolution didn’t quite live up to their potential.
Renata and Isla are Latina
Reviewer: A. Snow, Librarian
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