3.5 star

This story started off perfectly. Quirky and crooked academy house full of rich dark history. Then halfway through it was clear that the story was missing a few things here and there. The Dolloway house which I thought sounded like it could be a character in the book later turned out was just a backdrop. I was surprised the author didn't use its charms more to further the story.

This book was right there on the cusp of something great. The tethers of the five girls, I felt, was not delved into enough. It began to feel like the sisters of The Craft but then turned out they didn't have much of a connection at all. So mostly the plot only centered around two girls which I think fell short of the dark academia genre. The literary theme was pulled off quite nicely, though bordered on pretentiousness.

The old school dark academia vibes with bourbon, white collars, and tweed shirts, had a great atmosphere about it. Although again bordered on the edge. There was quite a bit of underage drinking, drugs and sex. Which saying it sounds silly, they are teenagers everyone does it. But the way it was written made me feel uneasy and I'm unsure why. Maybe because at one point Felicity does it to impress someone and then she feels gratified because it works. So I would say this is closer to New Adult rather than Young Adult.

Still the story was quirky and had so much character I honestly thought the book itself should have been lopsided with too short pages and scuffs on the side. Another downside to me was I wished the author would have played more off the fever dream, what is real, what is not, aspect. With the world thinking Felicity was crazy it would feel more on par if she was worried about that herself. She seemed to not remember things and make up her own story but Felicity was pretty stable minded. In the end I still enjoyed myself though the halfway mark started going a little down hill. Even so I liked the ending.

-Quotes-

I don't know why she's here early. I don't know why she won't tell me her name. I don't know why she never speaks to me, or who she is.
But I want to find a lose thread on the her collar of her shirt and tug.
I want to unravel her.

But all at once I feel as if she has knotted her fingers in the threads that hold me together, pulling them taut and close to breaking.

Every spell is a pomegranate seed on your tongue, binding you to the underworld.

A Lesson in Vengeance - Likewise Book Reviews

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