Рецензия на книгу

• 

  Jocelyn_Phoenix6 января 2025 г.

  This is a really good book, but a few things about it were a tiny bit disappointing.

  For instance, I wanted more Julian. There are moments with him at the beginning of the book where, although I so don't agree with what he is saying, he seems quite charismatic, influential, and deliciously culty. I was looking forward to watching his views influence his students - but after the one class with them we are shown he largely disappears from the story. He is then revealed to be rather pretentious and silly, as well.

  Then, and this is kind of my own fault (but this is also a subjective review, so I'm putting it here), I expected more "atmosphere and vibes" from it. However, this is much less "dark academia" and more just "dumb college kids".

  Also, there's SO much drinking, handovers, falling asleep drunk, drunken fights, drugs... A lot of it is somewhat justified when we see the characters falling apart. But some of it is just ... there.

  Another thing is not really a disappointment but an observation. We only get Richard's perspective, and through that, we lose a lot of the story and character's perspectives that could be really interesting - and some of the momentum, too. I understand that some of it might be the point of the book being written from his POV only, but we spend so much time wandering about with Richard, waiting for his "friends" to deign to spend time with him, wondering what is really going on, being used as a buffer/mediator in their drama, etc.

  Having said all that, I enjoyed reading this book a lot. It is very well-written and engaging, despite being somewhat slow at times. It is an interesting study of obsession with surface-level and aesthetic things and what it can lead to if there's no solid substance to add to it.

  It happens in many thrillers that a character kills to cover up something - and is then pretty much fine. It works sometimes, but often this seems very psychopathic and not in line with the character's normalish personality. I really like how in this book the characters fall apart in the aftermath of what they did - both individually, and as a "friend" group (using inverted commas here because they don't really behave like friends towards one another). It is very realistic and fascinating to watch, although quite dark.

  Well worth the read.

  1

  91