This was god awful. I don't recommend it in the slightest.

I spent so much of my reading time wondering, "What in the ever loving fuck is going on?" The prose feels so forced. It feels like the descriptions were trying too hard to give atmosphere to the story, to drive the story, to make the story more than it actually was. The dramatics of teenagers never ceases to amaze me (in a bad way). I think if I was 15 years younger I would've eaten this up, but I think I'm just too old or too skeptical of the language and behaviour presented here. I know teens are angsty and moody, but man, have a brain.

Howell wrote the main character with massive main character syndrome, which shouldn't ever be as obvious as it was. It just reeks of I'm-not-like-other-main-characters plus some incredibly immature thoughts provided to us from said main character. The main character is too aggravating for me. One moment she's at a loss, the next moment she's doing something that feels out of character for her. It doesn't feel as though the author has who she is locked in enough. I am aware of our pov and main character's limits here though.

The character interactions are either so blase they work against the story, or they're leaning in too hard with the dramatics. I often find myself much too distracted with the smallest things the characters end up doing or saying because a lot of it doesn't feel natural. The diaglogue feels so forced as well. It feels like the author is using that as a means to explain the character rather than other descriptors or actions. It's weak writing. There's entirely too much telling and not enough showing.

The relationship between the main character and the other three is not genuine. It is point blank forced for the plot. And I get that she's there to solve a mystery (she's a terrible detective) so she doesn't really need a real relationship with the trio, but she's not getting very far without it. The author does very little in trying to develop their relationship and make it help progress the plot. There's either too much focus on the characters or too much focus on the plot and not enough of a mix of both working well together. There's also very little, if any, character development on anyone's part.

It's entirely too bold of the main character to go to this school with like a very half-baked (if that) plan that starts with having no plan when she arrives. I find it incredibly absurd to swing from the death in one week to being like, "Yeah, I'm going to chase this mourning period with finding out what happened to him." ????? like girl your plan is non-existent and you're already shoving your foot in your mouth. The school setting was also not the best idea, it really hindered the story, whatever the story is.

The writing is too eager to explain and tell things the main character is thinking or assuming and it's entirely too obvious. It leads to poor writing. The scene transitions were also lacking. Much of the time it was too much description or the lack of description. Sure we can imply she got on the bike, but a lot of the choices the author made for stuff left me wondering what the hell.

The comparison to The Raven Boys is a little insane, besides the whole latin usage, and at best that's not even a good comparison. The Latin being used in here also feels rather.....bad? Poor? Weak? It's being used to move the plot along but not in a sufficient enough way where you NEED it. You could easily remove it and the plot seems to function just the same. I think this is reaching too hard to be like TRC.

Halfway through and I still had no idea what the plot was about. There wasn't even a slow reveal of parts of the plot really. Yes, mirrors scary, but okay? Not enough of it was in the plot. While I understand the main character is oblivious to what happened and how the school functions and the other three's relationship to one another, there is far too much time spent dancing around trying to get the plot to progress. Way too much of said plot progression is spent on dialogue.

If this wasn't an ARC I would've DNF'd this earlier on.

The only good thing about this book is its cover! The artist did such a wonderful job.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the eARC!

2025 reads: 79/300

i received a complimentary audio copy from the publisher as part of their influencer program. this did not affect my rating.

when her cousin’s body is found in a creek on huntsworth academy’s property, marin james knows exactly who’s to blame, and will stop at nothing to get justice. she infiltrates the school and worms her way into the lives of adrian hargreeves and henry wu, the two boys she’s sure are responsible for her cousin’s demise. as she carries on this ruse, though, the lines between right and wrong and revenge and attraction begin to blur.

this book reminded me of the girl you know, in that a girl sneaks into an elite school to find answers—and revenge—for her dead family member. there were plenty of differences, but still, i would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed that one, and vice versa!

boys with sharp teeth was such a captivating story. we have the murder mystery at the forefront, which was interesting enough to keep my attention, but on top of that we have the complex relationships between marin and the two boys, which made the story even more thrilling. this is a story i can absolutely see myself returning to at some point, and i’m looking forward to whatever’s next from jenni howell!

narration: jennifer pickens narrated this audiobook. while her voice didn’t quite emulate a teenager’s (at least in my opinion), i thought it was fitting for the mood of the book, so i enjoyed it overall!

~~Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!~~

I went into this really wanting to like it, but the longer it went on, the more bored and confused I felt. By the end, I was just glad it was over.

Look, I'm a girlie who loves character-driven, dialogue heavy stories, but this book did not fit my standards of that. The characters, all four of them (Because there's no one else worth mentioning at this school besides a couple teachers and the principal), are pretentious in such a stilted, shallow manner. I was especially cringing when when the romance came into play; I was very glad Jennifer Pickens', the narrator, delivery made listening more tolerable and managed to keep my attention despite how bored I was.

I thought the fantasy elements were Marin hallucinating the ghost of her dead cousin until the last twenty percent or so when the magic is shown to be real?? I felt lost once the mirror became the magic item to blame for the whole plot, and the ending we got because of it rung so hollow to me.

Also, you really have to suspend your disbelief that an ultra rich private school would let a bounced-back enrollment check slide until the end of the semester, not in this day and age. Marin should've gotten caught a whole lot sooner, considering how bad of a con and detective she was throughout this whole book.

All in all, this was a disappointing read, but I'm glad I was able to finish it, at the very least.