I love magic. It's what drew me into the Harry Potter books and kept me loving the series until the very end. That's why I had to pick this book up. The description sat right in my heart with a special school just for magic. I had such high hopes and was excited to jump in and begin a new series that would take me to that place I love. Plus, the blurb talks about Bardugo, and how could I not want to read something that was geared towards her fans.
Unfortunately, I stopped reading this book at 60% of the way through. I tried, I really did. I wanted to love it. But nothing was drawing me back in. Nothing was pulling at me to keep going.
The good...
The concept of this book is great. Dark academia. I love the idea of the different types of magic, of weilding magic, of learning to hone magic. Who doesn't want to have such abilities. And a character who has to hide her true self to survive is one I often can truly connect with. Plus a forbidden love or enemies to lovers is always a great little tidbit to throw on the plate.
But besides the concept, nothing really kept me in the story.
The Bad:
I just could not connect with the main character, Quill or her story. Nothing she did or said made me have any empathy for her. I found her whiney and annoying. She repeated the same thing with each chapter. She let her darkness consume her, but not in a good way where she was learning to utilize it in a way to overcome her predicament. Maybe that happens later, but nothing changed by 60% and I can't stick with a character who has no true development by that point in the book.
The plot seemed like it would be good, but it's really just the main character complaining about hiding her dark side in every single chapter. It was non-stop. We didn't need to be reminded constantly. She's kept in the dark, or so it seems, but at the same time kind of knows about the magic, but we don't get any sense of the before. There's no real background to make me want to stay and find out what will happen in the end. Plus I was confused by the world building, or lack there of. I had zero suspension of disbelief. Plus I felt like the story lacked clarity . So much potential unfulfilled.
The pacing of the book was another issue for me. It was just so slow. There was no action to help me turn the pages. Nothing to look forward to. I was honestly just bored.
I'm sure there are others who will like this book (and the series that follow) but I was just not a fan.