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!

I received this book from NetGalley!

This book is going to stay with me for quite a while I think. The first few days after reading it I really got a bit of anxiety looking at mirrors and I think that says something about the book! I really really enjoyed this! It was dark and twisty and felt a bit like a fever dream the entire time. There were so many moments when I thought I knew what was going to happen and then was completely wrong and shocked. I did not want to put this book down the entire time I was reading it. I cannot wait until this is out in the world so I can pick up a physical copy and recommend it to everyone around me!

ARC REVIEW

1.5 stars

I had such high hopes for this book based on the cover and synopsis. However the cover was the best part of the book.

I don't really understand the "sharp teeth" aspect because none of these boys had "sharp teeth". Also this story was not believable from the start.

I don't think I would recommend this unfortunately