Admittedly, I did rate this slightly higher based on the fact that it is an initial book in a series. I gave it credit for the setup work that was needed. Otherwise, it would really be more of a 3-star experience. I was really looking forward to this dark academia style premise, but there were some lacking pieces.

The idea of this book is fantastic and I'm really hoping that it starts to shine more in the second installment. The magic system is fun and a bit more grown up than some of the other dark academia series out there. I enjoy the scientific background of it. I wish there was a bit more to the atmosphere, but the setting up of the system was interesting and has great potential.

There were a lot of pieces to put together here and there are a lot of characters to get to know. I did get a little tripped up in who was who on occasion. I can definitely see how their strengths and weaknesses can play together and I enjoyed seeing the different relationships build and add layers of complexity. Because of the underlying need for an establishment of structure and history, the pacing was a bit slow and there were some moments that I considered putting it down for a while.

However, the ending does start to pick up speed once the stage is set and the characters are starting to become their own. The interactions are good and the tensions are high, so there is a lot of interest in where things could go from here. This is one where I feel like the initial struggle may be worth the payoff for the series as a whole. Here's hoping I'm right and book 2 takes all this that has been developed and runs wildly with it.