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Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
That was what Lethe and the societies demanded. Secrecy. Loyalty. Well, fuck them. In Hell Bent, the long-awaited sequel to the high-octane Ninth House, we are reunited with the danger-prone and dangerous Alex Stern. Still recovering from her several near-death experiences, and attempting to keep up with her coursework and maintain the facade of being…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, academia, Adult, adventure, alex stern, alex stern #2, ambiguous protagonist, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, autumn, California, campus, Contemporary, curses, dark academia, dark fantasy, DEATH, DEMONS, FANTASY, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, ghosts/spirits, gritty aesthetics, hell, Hell Bent, HORROR, it’s about the *aesthetics*, it’s about the *yearning*, Leigh Bardugo, lgbtq+ side, MAGIC, morality, MURDER, MYSTERY, NEW ADULT, New Haven, Ninth House, occult, PARANORMAL, place as character, PRIVILEGE, published in 2023, quests, read in 2023, rich people, secret societies, secretiveness, she is dangerous, strong sense of place, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, VAMPIRES, violence, Yale -
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang
“Languages aren’t just made of words. They’re modes of looking at the world. They’re the keys to civilization. And that’s knowledge worth killing for.” Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution is an fierce indictment against colonialism. Within this superbly written slow-burner of a bildungsroman, R.F. Kuang presents her…
1820s, 1830s, 19TH CENTURY, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, abuse, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, alternate history, anxiety-inducing reads, atmospheric, babel, Babel or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution, belonging, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brothers, child abuse, CHILDHOOD, China, chinese american author, class, cliques, colonialism, coming of age, cultural dissonance, dark academia, DEATH, england, FANTASY, fathers & sons, female authors, friendships, great storytelling, growing up, GUILT, HISTORICAL FICTION, history, identity, India, language, lgbtq+, LONDON, loneliness, Longing, MAGIC, morality, MURDER, muslim side characters, My reviews, MYSTERY, orphans, oxford, philosophical, politics, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 2022, queer undercurrents, R.F. Kuang, RACE, read in 2022, reading, revenge, secret societies, secretiveness, ship, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, strong sense of place, SUSPENSE, teachers, terrific prose, tragedy, travel, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, war -
The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton
this is my fault. i should know by now that titles claiming to have dark academia or sapphic vibes should be approached with extreme caution. DISCLAIMER: I did not like this book and my review reflects of that. I will be brutally honest about my thoughts on this novel so if you want to read…
1 STAR, 3rd pov, academia, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANGST, boarding/private school, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about writers, cheesy, Christianity, cliques, Contemporary, dark academia, drama, eating disorders, f/f side, female authors, horrible friends, lesbian side characters, Longing, maine, MELODRAMA, music, My reviews, MYSTERY, obsession, philosophical, published in 2022, queer, read in 2022, reading, Religion, sex, SEXUALITY, SUSPENSE, Tara Isabella Burton, teen angst, The World Cannot Give, toxic relationships, unrequited love, weak prose, weak worldbuilding -
Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy
Sweet Days of Discipline is a slim dagger of a novel. Written in a prose so sharp it will cut you, Sweet Days of Discipline is a work of startling and enigmatic beauty, a study in contradictions: order and chaos, sublimity and abjection, clarity and obfuscation, illusion and reality. Fleur Jaeggy is in absolute command…
1950s, 1st pov, 20th century, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, all girls school, ambiguous protagonist, atmospheric, beauty, bildungsroman, boarding/private school, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, CLASSICS, cold tone, dark academia, Dreams, existentialism, favourite authors, female authors, first love, Fleur Jaeggy, girlhood, HISTORICAL FICTION, Italian classics, Italy, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, melancholy, modern classics, My reviews, nostalgic reads, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, obsession, psychological, published in 1989, queer, re-reads, read in 2018, read in 2021, reading, sapphic, SEXUALITY, Sweet Days of Discipline, swiss italian author, Switzerland, terrific prose, unnamed narrator, unreliable narrators, unrequited love -
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
And so my latest TRC re-read has come to an end. What an outstanding series. Truly. I cannot even begin to articulate how much this series means to me and how much I love it. In this finale, the stakes are higher than ever and a lot of things Stiefvater has hinted at in the…
3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, adventure, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, boarding/private school, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, class, cliques, coming of age, Contemporary, curses, dark academia, DEATH, DEMONS, dreamers, Dreams, fairytalesque prose, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, friendships, gay, ghosts/spirits, growing up, henrietta, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, loneliness, Longing, m/m, Maggie Stiefvater, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, My reviews, nature, occult, PRIVILEGE, queer, reading, rich people, SMALL TOWN, tarots, terrific prose, the raven cycle, the raven king, virginia, YOUNG ADULT -
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Secret History lives rent free in my head. It is a masterpiece. A thing of rare beauty. A tour de force. A literary triumph. “One likes to think there’s something in it, that old platitude amor vincit omnia. But if I’ve learned one thing in my short sad life, it is that that particular…
1980s, 1st pov, 20th century, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, addiction, Adult, ALIENATION, AMERICAN AUTHOR, anxiety, beautiful prose, beauty, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, California, campus, class, cliques, Contemporary, CRIME, dark, dark academia, DEATH, donna tartt, ennui, existentialism, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, GUILT, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, incest, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, MEMORY, modern classics, morality, MURDER, My reviews, MYSTERY, obsession, philosophical, PRIVILEGE, psychological, Psychological thriller, published in 1992, queer undercurrents, re-reads, read in 2016, read in 2021, reading, rich people, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, the secret history, THRILLER, toxic relationships, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unrequited love, Vermont, whydunnit, WINTER -
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
“I used to believe the house was haunted. Really, it was the other way around; the house haunted me.” 3 re-read: I once again loved this. The novel’s gothic ambience is truly hypnotic and Thomas really manages to suffuse Ines’ experiences at Catherine House with a dreamlike quality. There is a vagueness, a haze, one…
1990s, 1st pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, campus, Catherine House, cliques, cold tone, Contemporary, creepy setting, dark, dark academia, dreamlike quality, Elisabeth Thomas, existentialism, FANTASY, female authors, feverish, gay side characters, GOTHIC, GRIEF, GUILT, haunted house, hauntings, HORROR, it’s about the *aesthetics*, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, loneliness, Longing, modern gothic, morality, My reviews, MYSTERY, NEW ADULT, no plot just vibes, obsession, otherness, Pennsylvania, published in 2020, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, reading, secretiveness, strong sense of place, surreal, terrific prose, the female malaise, trauma -
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
re-re-read: what can i say, whatever this book has going on, i here for it. re-read: it hasn’t even been a year and I have already re-read this. This book slaps. Ninth House can be best described as: “talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done…
3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, abuse, academia, addiction, adrenaline fuelled reads, Adult, alex stern, Alex Stern #1, all of the trigger warnings, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, California, campus, Contemporary, dark, dark academia, dark fantasy, DEATH, FANTASY, female authors, ghosts/spirits, graphic content, it’s about the *aesthetics*, Leigh Bardugo, MAGIC, mental health, MURDER, MYSTERY, NEW ADULT, New Haven, Ninth House, occult, PARANORMAL, Pedophelia, place as character, published in 2019, rape, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2021, read in 2022, rich people, secret societies, sexual assault/abuse/rape, social issues, strong sense of place, SUPERNATURAL, terrific prose, THRILLER, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, violence, violence against women, Yale -
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
Heavenly Creatures by way of Patricia Highsmith, plus a sprinkle of Like Minds, and with the kind of teenage morbidity one could find in Hangsaman or Stoker. Adroit and gripping, These Violent Delights is a superlative debut novel. Being the self-proclaimed connoisseur of academia fiction that I am, I was drawn by the comparisons to…
1970s, 3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANGST, anxiety, anxiety-inducing reads, bad love, class, dark, dark academia, drama, family, first love, gay, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, Jewish, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, m/m, mental health, Micah Nemerever, morality, MYSTERY, obsession, Pennsylvania, philosophical, psychological, Psychological thriller, published in 2020, queer, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2022, rich people, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, These Violent Delights, THRILLER, toxic relationships, tragedy, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, whydunnit -
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
“This thing they were doing. This thing. Gansey’s heart was a gaping chasm of possibilities, fearful and breathless and awed.” Blue Lily, Lily Blue is probably my second favourite book in TRC series. Bittersweet and magical Blue Lily, Lily Blue is a truly enchanting novel. Like its predecessors, this instalment in TRC series is characterized…
3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, adventure, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, blue lily lily blue, boarding/private school, class, cliques, Contemporary, curses, dark academia, dreamers, Dreams, fairytalesque prose, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, friendships, gay, ghosts/spirits, great storytelling, henrietta, HIGH SCHOOL, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, loneliness, Longing, m/m, Maggie Stiefvater, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, MYSTERY, PARANORMAL, published in 2014, queer, re-reads, read in 2016, read in 2020, read in 2021, rich people, ROMANCE, SMALL TOWN, strong sense of place, tarots, terrific prose, the raven cycle, TRC, YOUNG ADULT
luce [is reading] 