A student will find that the hardest lessons sometimes come from outside the classroom in this stunning dark academia novel from the acclaimed author of The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger.
Lennon Carter’s life is falling apart.
Then she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to take the entrance exam for Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah. Lennon has been chosen because—like everyone else at the school—she has the innate gift of persuasion, the ability to wield her will like a weapon, using it to control others and, in rare cases, matter itself.
After passing the test, Lennon begins to learn how to master her devastating and unsettling power. But despite persuasion’s heavy toll on her body and mind, she is wholly captivated by her studies, by Drayton’s lush, moss-draped campus, and by her brilliant classmates. But even more captivating is her charismatic adviser, Dante, who both intimidates and enthralls her.
As Lennon continues in her studies, her control grows, and she starts to uncover more about the secret world she has entered into, including the disquieting history of Drayton College. She is increasingly disturbed by what she learns, for it seems that the ultimate test is to embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption...and it’s a test she’s terrified she’s going to fail.
Love it or Hate it
"I'm not going to lie, trying to wrap my head around this novel after finishing reading it is enough to give myself a headache. It was just. . . a lot. None of which I expected. I will say that there IS an audience for this novel and I'm sure many will love it for a variety of reasons. I personally loved the atmosphere of the book. When it came to the settings and the details, it was the dark academia of my dreams. However, when it came to the plot and the overall story, that's where I have mixed feelings. I can't help but have the thought, 'HOW DID WE GET HERE?!' when it comes to the ending. Was this the ending the author originally planned right from the start? Did it change along the way? Was this a ""plotter"" versus ""pantser"" situation? I don't even know. I would not consider many Fantasy novels ""light"" and that would definitely be the case with this one. It's not a book that you can just read in the background, lose focus on, and come back to the story later. This world, although sharing parts of our own, is incredibly complex and the 'magic system' (if you can call it that) even more so. This is going to be a book that I'll have to sit on when it comes to my thoughts and I could see how they could fluctuate. This isn't a novel that I'm able to say decisively that it was a great read or a bad one. It's somewhere in the middle."
