Publishing Date: October 8, 2019
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Pages: 480
New Adult / Adult Fantasy / Supernatural / Occult Fiction
The Premise from the Publisher: "Galaxy "Alex" Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale''s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she''s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world''s most prestigious universities on a full ride. What''s the catch, and why her? Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale''s secret societies. Their eight windowless "tombs" are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street''s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living" (Flatiron).
*Warning: there are instances of rape, sexual assault, abuse, self-harm, suicide, murder, violence, and drug related content.*
My overall thoughts and review: I'm not as familiar with her writing as a fan would be (I've only read one book by her and it was the Wonder Woman book), and honestly, after I read this, I wonder if perhaps this book wasn't simply for me. This book has made all the splash in the book community because it is Bardugo's departure from YA, and this book lives in New Adult / Adult Fantasy and Sci-Fi. It was described as really dark, but as more reviews came out for it, more alluded to various trigger warnings of dark content. Basically, whatever you can think of that might be a trigger, is probably in this book. Still, that did not deter me since I was insanely curious. More on that later.
The story follows Galaxy/Alex, who gets a sort of "second chance" at life after something traumatic happens to her, and she's sent to Yale University (yes, THE Yale) as a student. While she had to drop out of highschool, this new role for her at Yale includes her pretending to be a freshman student, but by 'night' she is to follow up on any illicit activities that may happen at the university with some secret societies. You are thrown right into it in the beginning of the book when she has to witness a prognostication. You see her balance this student life and also get entangled with Bonesmen, ghosts, and more. It felt like the first 100 pages was a bit slow, even though I understand that it was needed to lay the foundation of the text. I really liked Darlington from the moment we got his chapter with his POV. You get to hear about him from Alex's perspective, but I just knew he was my kind of character. It definitely ramps up after that as we start to learn more and more about this world, and also what really happened with Alex prior to these Yale adventures.
I mentioned above the warnings/triggers associated with the text. While Bardugo's writing is truly captivating and she actually makes the reader feel like they are right there while all of this is unraveling, I had to put the book down a few times and just walk away. I knew it was dark, but it was easy to just say it was dark, rather than experience those particular scenes on the page. I do think being in the right headspace is needed for a book like this, and knowing that yes, you can go into it knowing that it's "dark" but be prepared for a lot more. I believe there will be more in this series to come, so that's exciting because it does end in a way that doesn't feel satisfying. I am more intrigued now to pick up Bardugo's other books, especially Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. I really love her writing and how she's able to build the eerie atmosphere. While I really loved getting to know the characters, and learning more about this world, for me as a reader today, I found this to be too dark for me, hence my rating. I think fans of Bardugo will enjoy seeing the writer demonstrate her flexibility and brevity, and just seeing this new side to her writing. If you feel you can handle the dark content, then I do think this would be the perfect time of year to read this with the month of Halloween.
My rating of the book: ✮✮✮½ - 3.5/5 stars
Available for purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo, Kobo Books, Amazon, and Book Depository
Disclaimer: An advanced reader's copy of the book was provided by Raincoast Books for participation in the book tour. All opinions of the book are my own.
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