I read this sometime in high school and remember really liking it. Then this summer I read the prequel novella as a part of a reading challenge to fulfill the oldest book on my TBR. I really enjoyed the novella and it kind of had me itching for more soft academia mystery vibes, so I started the audiobook. I was disappointed. I hated Clay’s first person narration, especially when he was thirsting over the nerdy tech girl - major incel energy. Kinda hated Kat, too, honestly. Who the fuck wants to live forever? And the fact that his best friend was rich from making CGI boobs was just the cherry on top. It’s a bummer because the concept of the secret society and codes and old books and libraries and fonts was awesome, but the cast of characters gave me the ick.