The quick cut: A girl recently left an orphan finds herself starting a new at a boarding school and quickly ends up embroiled in dark secrets.
A real review:
Growing up as a teen and trying to figure out what you want in a future is hard enough, but it's only made harder by the pressure to succeed. What would you do to succeed? Would you ignore the injustices around you to get what you need? This is an issue at the Alfred Nobel Academy.
Sade is the new girl at Alfred Nobel Academy, starting a few weeks into the term. Having recently been orphaned and starting at a new school after being homeschooled, she's learning how to find her place. That gets complicated when her roommate disappears without a trace. Then a different student is found dead. What's happening at this school?
This story is dark, twisted, and filled with a lot of difficult topics like rape, abuse, and drugs. The way the author approaches the topic while pushing the character development forward is brilliant and well balanced. It makes me want to read her other books!
The book is definitely a slow paced story and definitely a complex world build, but it's worth it for the final result. It impressed me how well it came together, including how details that seemed unimportant played a role. It still took me a while to really get into the story though because I'm a face paced story kind of reader.
I couldn't relate at all to Sades life, but still found myself wanting to see her succeed. She cares about others while trying to figure out how to live in her new reality. That's not easy when your entire life has been upended.
A dark tale that is worth it for the strong ending.
My rating: 4.5 out of 5