This was one of my most anticipated releases this year, and it lived up. I overall haven’t read a lot of horror nor dark academia, though I have extremely enjoyed what I’ve read of either genre. This book is just another to add to the list of reasons I should explore those genres further!

I was at first a bit put off by how young the main characters were (high schoolers, junior and senior), as for some reason I expected college aged characters, but it ended up working really well still. The setting itself still felt college-esque due to it being a fancy high school where students usually stay on campus, and since it was summer, the main characters weren’t dragged down by high school class schedules. The school itself was also so far removed from normal high schools, that it didn’t even feel like a high school story at all. The library setting is what really set the book apart, however, and I loved how the uniqueness of this set up (closed stacks only accessed by people working at the library) played such a large role in the horror that was to come. It was dark, quiet, and terrifying at moments, and I loved it.

The monster/demon/devil didn’t fully click with me at first, as while I found the scenes and dreams he was in terrifying, the missing background and reasoning for his malevolent acts made it hard for me to get fully invested. However, once this story started unraveling more and more, I was hooked. What really sold this story to me overall, and made me rate it 5 stars in the end, had to be the ending itself. I really love how this story was wrapped up, both in terms of this plot/monster and for the characters themselves.

The characters were a consistent favorite of mine, however. I loved them quickly, and throughout the whole book this love remained. Even when one of them acted weirdly, it was usually well enough explained in their respective POV that it didn’t feel off, even if it was frustrating for plot/romance progression. I also liked the slow unfurling of the romance, and how this seemed to go hand in hand with the unraveling of their selves and thoughts regarding the devil. I also really liked how the side characters were used in the book overall, and for a fairly short, stand-alone book, I felt like we got quite detailed relationships between the MCs and their respective side characters. Additionally, most of these side characters were flawed, especially when it came to family dynamics, and I like how the relationships with these flawed characters were written, and how they weren’t just set as good or bad. It made the story overall feel a lot more complex.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, from the ink imagery it employed to incite terror in the reader to the strength of both of our main characters. I loved watching this story shape them, and I can’t wait to see what this author does next!