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jenwestpfahl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This novel is dripping with mood. It envelopes the reader. I almost felt like I was there.
The plot was intriguing but moved along rather slowly. I was always ready for the next development long before it came along but had to wait through more descriptions of what the characters were eating, how much wine they were drinking, and who they were sleeping with today before it happened. A lot of questions remained unanswered or murky.
The relationships between Ines and the other characters developed in a natural and satisfying way.
The plot was intriguing but moved along rather slowly. I was always ready for the next development long before it came along but had to wait through more descriptions of what the characters were eating, how much wine they were drinking, and who they were sleeping with today before it happened. A lot of questions remained unanswered or murky.
The relationships between Ines and the other characters developed in a natural and satisfying way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
lighterthaneyre's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Call Your Dad, You're In a Cult
Honestly this is the sort of book that you need to read and then talk about for a while. Or think about for just a really long time.
Like, how so many behaviors of the students strike me as "yeah college kids do that" (igloo, stupid sex, drinking, all nighters) and an overlapping subset of behaviors scream Cult (chanting, alcohol literally always available, group think like consensus over house issues).
Or how the gothic theme of the house Decaying gets dropped after the first real batch of brain washing and is replaced with the sense of the house not decaying after death but Watching and Trapping students like a living thing.
Or how Yaya rules.
Or how clearly the school is filtering for people who would be vulnerable to high control groups but still manages to have such a prestigious reputation.
Or why the repairing magic isn't used to fix the house.
Or how timeless this feels even though this is set in 96-99, and feels very fluid in the timeline as we go. Dreamy, disassociated.
Or how we never see Theo's interior motivations- when did his love turn to something that wanted to kill/freeze his beloved? When did he Turn?
Or how the main character's feelings and motivations change so drastically from semester to semester without alarm from the narrator- her attitude towards attending sessions, towards class work, towards connecting emotionally with other students. It clearly coincidences with the stint in the Tower and the brain washing, but it's like even with clearer hindsight the magnitude doesn't hit. Like the narration is disassociating from the story.
Or how Ines's strongest defense was her disassociation and when she lost that (clearly damaging, bad) habit, she was left vulnerable to being taken over by the House.
Or what made Ines such a good candidate- her thesis was apparently "incomprehensible" and she thought "sideways"- I don't quite get what that means.
Or how intimate it is to refer to the place, the mentality, the Whole simply as Catherine. And how other colleges/orgs have similar intimacy.
There's more but yeah- it's the sort of book you need to mull over
I would honestly read analysis essays about this just because the story feels like a hazy surface over depths that we can just barely reach.
Honestly this is the sort of book that you need to read and then talk about for a while. Or think about for just a really long time.
Or how the gothic theme of the house Decaying gets dropped after the first real batch of brain washing and is replaced with the sense of the house not decaying after death but Watching and Trapping students like a living thing.
Or how Yaya rules.
Or how clearly the school is filtering for people who would be vulnerable to high control groups but still manages to have such a prestigious reputation.
Or why the repairing magic isn't used to fix the house.
Or how timeless this feels even though this is set in 96-99, and feels very fluid in the timeline as we go. Dreamy, disassociated.
Or how we never see Theo's interior motivations- when did his love turn to something that wanted to kill/freeze his beloved? When did he Turn?
Or how the main character's feelings and motivations change so drastically from semester to semester without alarm from the narrator- her attitude towards attending sessions, towards class work, towards connecting emotionally with other students. It clearly coincidences with the stint in the Tower and the brain washing, but it's like even with clearer hindsight the magnitude doesn't hit. Like the narration is disassociating from the story.
Or how Ines's strongest defense was her disassociation and when she lost that (clearly damaging, bad) habit, she was left vulnerable to being taken over by the House.
Or what made Ines such a good candidate- her thesis was apparently "incomprehensible" and she thought "sideways"- I don't quite get what that means.
Or how intimate it is to refer to the place, the mentality, the Whole simply as Catherine. And how other colleges/orgs have similar intimacy.
There's more but yeah- it's the sort of book you need to mull over
I would honestly read analysis essays about this just because the story feels like a hazy surface over depths that we can just barely reach.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol
ellenwilberg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Car accident
momo916's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
This book sort of lost the plot while it was off creating AmbianceTM. Perhaps it's part of the point, but there are huge swaths of the book that are largely unmemorable as they just involve Ines wandering around the house as other students are doing random, unimportant things or Ines herself doing random, unimportant things. The protagonist is fairly boring as she has absolutely no motivations for doing anything other than a little bit towards the end, and the resulting actions result in her being completely removed and preclude her taking any further action . If any of the revelations in this book were meant to be twists, they were very easy to spot in advance and were therefore not at all surprising.
Something this book failed to convince me of was that the antagonists' motives were bad.Obviously the main thing is that Ines didn't want to become part of the experiment and so their desire to keep her prisoner was bad, but the parts about human experimentation and the extension of life were painted as part of Catherine's innate twisted wrongness despite the fact that the previous subjects were willing. I suppose it could be up for debate whether they knew what they were getting themselves into, but for Baby any potential complications were likely to have been immaterial. It isn't clear if it is inevitable that anyone they experiment on is doomed to become an empty shell or if further experimentation could yield something closer to true immortality. My feeling is that the author meant for us to assume the former, but from what is on the page I am less sure.
My favorite things about this book were the worldbuilding around the house. Thomas did a very good job of creating a place that was simultaneously blooming and rotting, beautiful and abhorrent. Something that looks perfect, but ever so slightly akilter. I also appeciate the very casual existence of a bisexual protagonist.
Something this book failed to convince me of was that the antagonists' motives were bad.
My favorite things about this book were the worldbuilding around the house. Thomas did a very good job of creating a place that was simultaneously blooming and rotting, beautiful and abhorrent. Something that looks perfect, but ever so slightly akilter. I also appeciate the very casual existence of a bisexual protagonist.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement and Sexual content
victoriousbookworm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, and Sexual content
readsandsuch's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
the girls that get it, get and the girls that don’t, don’t
I absolutely loved this book. I liked the moodiness, the meandering story, the characters, the imagery, and the house itself. It reminded me of my own college experience, despite some major differing aspects of course. After reading the author’s interview, I think that I was exactly the type of reader this was written for/about.
I often see this marketed as a dark academia thriller, but to me it was more an atmospheric gothic literary novel. It explores ideas, relationships and the self through its plot rather than using those elements to support the plot.
I absolutely loved this book. I liked the moodiness, the meandering story, the characters, the imagery, and the house itself. It reminded me of my own college experience, despite some major differing aspects of course. After reading the author’s interview, I think that I was exactly the type of reader this was written for/about.
I often see this marketed as a dark academia thriller, but to me it was more an atmospheric gothic literary novel. It explores ideas, relationships and the self through its plot rather than using those elements to support the plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Confinement
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
purplatypus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident
penofpossibilities's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping
jenny_d's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When I first heard about this book, and read reviews that people were disappointed and bored by this book, I decided to go in with zero expectations and preconceptions. I'm very glad that I did. Don't go into this expecting a thriller. This is gothic lit.
I enjoyed the prose style. Not overwhelming, quite simple and to-the-point. It reminded me a lot of my first two years in university. Very surreal.
I enjoyed the prose style. Not overwhelming, quite simple and to-the-point. It reminded me a lot of my first two years in university. Very surreal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content
aseel_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I don't really understand this book... it reminds of this dark academia/fantasy/translated East European book I read, the plasma (if that's the right spelling) was just werid as. the pacing was a bit off and I felt like the short snippets of everything made it really hard to understand the characters. I was interested in the mental state of the characters likes ines or baby but mm, done pretty poorly. the ending was just like 'ah okay then'.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content and Vomit