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Here I am in another adventure to the faery world of books.
I have no expectations when reading this book but I find the plot very interesting. I find the first 2/3 of books very slow maybe because it still building the setting and the atmosphere of story, it only leaves you so much question but the last 1/3 was phenomenal for making everything piece together while making sense.
I also love the portrayal of the discrimination women in the literary world experiences. The romance is also a good subplot of the story which is the only comfort from this heavy atmosphere book.
Overall, a good read.
Highly recommended!
This story was so beautifully written and poetic. I loved the hauntingly eerie atmosphere and gothic fairytale vibes. A dreary, gray, rainy day would be the perfect reading ambiance for this book. There were strong themes of sexism, inequality, and fighting for your voice to be heard that I feel the author handled really well. I loved how Effy felt real and how her character grew from beginning to end. The only thing that keeps me from giving this a full 5 stars is that it took the first half of the book to really understand anything that was going on. So much was not well defined in the beginning… things were being stated as if I should already know what was being talked about in regards to the politics and lore of the world…. like the author wanted to keep the mystery of the story but was so vague that I just felt lost. I’m also still confused to what sort of time period this was taking place in but with its fairy tale vibe, I can let that slide. The romance was a little off for me too. I love them together when it finally happens, but getting there felt weird. Slow and awkward, but rushed at the same time. I wasn’t sure there WAS a romance until it happens. It’s an “academic rivalry” but without any real rivalry or the tension and banter that normally accompanies the trope. I really liked this one, overall, and would definitely recommend. I rarely want to reread books but this has that classic fairytale feel that I could see myself reading over and over again and get more from each time.
¡Qué libro más bueno! Súper entretenido, atrapante y emocionante. Me encantó la historia, los personajes y la forma de escribir de la autora.
From a struggling academic who no one had taken seriously, to the confidence the main character grew to be is inspiring in more ways than one. The stories we read stay with us, some more than others, when it relates to our life events; relieving the feeling of loneliness. Effy and Preston’s dynamic challenges ideals of an old system in which society challenges. Creating a dynamic growth in character and creating confidence in fitting into a society built against them.
everything about this book screamed “caleigh, you’ll love this!!!” so i was beyond excited to finally get around to it. i mean, dark academia? fantasy? rivals to lovers? gothic atmosphere? YES PLEASE 🫡but now i’m sitting here ... disappointed. not because it was bad, but because when you feel so indifferent towards an anticipated read, it’s simply disappointing. a 2.5, i think.let me get this out of the way – why didn’t we have a map!!!! if you write a fantasy novel, especially one in which there’s politics between different areas and/or our characters travel to different places, it’s a given that we GET A MAP!!!! i was so fucking confused about the geography which bothers me so bad.okay. now. i know a lot of people who love this book love it so much because they find effy relatable, they like her character, all that.me? i found effy almost unbearably naive. it feels so wrong to say because her fears ended up being valid to some extent, but her character read like she was a thirteen year old she was eighteen. also girlie was always crying, on the verge of crying, or thinking about crying. yes be sad, cry, go for it!! but not to the point where i have to read about it every other page!!and the fantasy aspects of this were just so ... bland? confusing? idk it all kind of just went in one ear and out the other for me. or whatever the equivalent of that phrase is in reading.i think it was the blend of reality and imagination that threw me off the most here. for a good chunk of the book, effy’s a sort of unreliable narrator who believes in all the fairytales and apparently sees things that aren’t really there. combine that with the fact that what her and preston are researching is the same thing as what’s going on in effy’s brain?i mean, see how i can’t even describe it correctly? if you were confused reading that, you know how i felt nearly the entire book! sat here like 🤨the ending also didn’t work for me. it was very predictable and anticlimactic. it was rushed. and the very ending, with preston’s question? WHAT DOES IT MEAN? i hate ambiguous endings with a deep passion.other than those things, i liked this enough. by that i mean – i liked preston’s character, the concept of the story, the themes of misogyny and fighting it. the romance was cute! a little instalove-y but preston wrote her name in the margins of a paper and if that doesn’t give jess mariano and make me swoon, idk what does!i also REALLY loved the dark academia vibes.like ...“‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ Ianto said.‘It’s terrifying,’ Effy confessed.‘Most beautiful things are.’”TELL ME THAT DOESN’T GIVE ...“‘Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.’”as a complete, utter, unapologetic STAN of the secret history, that parallel had me screaming. and by screaming, i mean screaming.anyway if you’re looking for a fun little dark academia, rivals to lovers, gothic/suspenseful atmosphere, or all of those combined – read this! also the cover is so chef’s kiss i need to personally give my praises to the illustrator!!!