by: Kate Weinberg
Release: January 28, 2020
This book was a slow burn.
Absolutely beautifully written and so often I lost myself in the scenery and the details of the moody campus and the Norfolk shore, but then I’d set it down in boredom.
Jess’ coming-of-age story on a college campus under the tutelage of a professor & author she idolized was an intriguing concept and I was initially sucked in. And I absolutely fell in love with her roommate Georgie and their mismatched, fast friendship. But some of the “shockers” seemed pretty obvious to me, took a really long time to get to, and weren’t really that exciting at all.
This book had so many great things going for it, that it was almost too much to tackle. As slow as it felt, all the minor topics kind of jumbled my mind on what was important. Jess’ demons were addressed, as were Georgie’s and Lorna’s, but I’m not sure the issues went deep enough and I was left feeling frustrated by what was neatly wrapped up and what was pushed aside.
This one’s hard to rate for me. It was genuinely beautiful and incredibly well-written, but just not as exciting as I’d hoped.
I will certainly read more from this author.
I’d recommend it to anyone who loves college campuses, coming-of-age, and Agatha Christie. If you’re hoping for the described “tragedy that strikes the group” to really wake the book up, I don’t think it will, but it’s still all interesting and worth digging into.
Trigger warning: suicide.
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