Sarah B. (caffeinegirl) reviewed on 12/11/2020 + 114 more book reviews

I had no expectations going into this book, and I was so happily surprised. As other reviewers have noticed, it's a slow burner, and for most of the book the horror is so subtle that the reader is not sure if anything awry is happening or if it's just how the main character is struggling with the culture of the school.

There were some odd details in the book that had me (wrongly) convinced that the author isn't American. The tea trays! Actually, all the food was so odd. And the fact that the school provides wine like running water had me suspecting that the wine was part of the plot -- but no, I guess the school just rolls out 50 barrels every night. Why would students make moonshine when the school provides free wine every night? Ha ha ha. But the school is so idiosyncratic that the weird food just fit right in and even added to the mood.

My favorite part of the book was the ambiguity. The mystery isn't just what is *really* happening at the school, it's also whether Ines is going to get her act together, whether her imposter syndrome is real or just her personality, and whether the school's methods are going to work on her. Right up to the end (staying up late, racing through the final chapters), I did not know how this story was going to end. What a delight of a book this turned out to be. Highly recommended.

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