There's writing an aesthetic, there's emulating an aesthetic, and then there's worshipping an aesthetic. This book is solely the latter. It doesn't seem to understand its purpose other than to be a VIBE. It is repetitive without building tension. It is slow-paced without mystery. It is painful without having been broken. This isn't dark academia- this is a dark author insert that happens to be set at a school.

I appreciate that it understood that this was a story about women, and written solely from a female gaze, without input of male characters or references. But it still feels rushed and incomplete, while being overproduced and verbose to the point of folly.