Special thanks to NetGalley and Neem Tree Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not for me. It was definitely unique and will have its avid supporters. What led to me giving it a lower rated review was the writing and tone. This book has very dark themes and messages, but the writing was almost humorous and juvenile. I personally hate the use of exclamation points and this book used quite a few of them.

I give props to the writer of the story for telling such a unique story in an unusual way, unfortunately it just did not work for me.

To be honest, I loved the premise of this book, I felt the characters were well written, the plot flowed relatively well throughout and I was mostly invested for the entirety of the book. However, the clunkiness of the writing made this an awkward read. Not on the author, more an editors' fault, but it really did let me down. Again, I loved the concept, but the writing style made this unbearable.

This title was a DNF for me. I thought I was up to it, but I have several close friends who are trans, and I was deeply uncomfortable reading this title. The forced gender changes in a world where gender change is being denied to those who need it—and the idea that becoming a woman is a form of punishment—didn't sit well with me.

This book was such a fun ride. This was a rollercoaster ride and I had so many ups and down while reading it. I didn't know what was going to happen next. It was very long, I will say that but give this a chance.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think my biggest issue with this book is that I have no idea who the book is for.

Minor spoilers ahead

First of all this novel was written by a trans woman so she had every right to write about transness. And yet as a nonbinary trans person I was utterly confused by the premise. I'm still dumbfounded at the idea that the whole scheme is a reform operation kidnapping men and turning them into women and that it works. I did not get satire from this so I'm taking it as it is. How do none of the newly made women experience dysphoria? They all accept their fate so easily I'm just baffled.

And at the same time the main character's dysphoria is handled and described with such care it's like whiplash. Stef's struggle with his own gender (using he/him as that is what he uses in the novel) is masterfully described. The denial, the how can I ever be sure, guess that's my life now, it is on point.

So I'm confused because I feel that transness in this book is both represented well and terribly.

As for the bulk of the story it was mostly enjoyable but it was simply too long and some elements repetitivr. The Christine chapters felt very repetitive and boring. I get establishing connections etc but they are a lot of characters and it's just too much. The Stef chapters were the most interesting to me because it felt like we were moving forward with the story.

So yeah I don't think I will be reading the second book in the series but I also don't think it was a terrible book. Lots of mixed feelings.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Find my reviews on Goodreads, the Storygraph, or Fable

Thank you Netgalley & Neem Tree Press for an eARC ♥️

I'll never forget the gut-wrenching feeling that gripped me as I dove into Stefan Riley's world. His heartbreaking story left me breathless and questioning everything. Stefan's life was shattered when Mark Vogel, his protector and confidant, vanished without a trace. The agony of losing his closest friend still lingers, fueling Stefan's relentless pursuit of truth.
One year later, Stefan's search leads him to the esteemed Royal College of Saint Almsworth, where he uncovers a dark web of secrets and lies. Dozens of troubled boys have disappeared, leaving behind only whispers and warnings. Then, he sees her - a girl who's the uncanny doppelganger of Mark. Stefan's obsession ignites, driving him to unravel the mystery, no matter the cost.
As I turned the pages, I was drawn into Stefan's desperate quest. His pain, determination, and vulnerability resonated deeply. I couldn't help but wonder: What happened to Mark? What secrets lie within Dorley Hall's walls? The more Stefan discovers, the more chilling the truth becomes - a pattern of disappearances, women on campus who eerily resemble the missing boys, and Dorley Hall's sinister connection.
Reading this story was a crazy experience! The twists and turns kept me up late, my mind racing with possibilities. I had to know what happened next.
Content Note: This story explores dark themes, including torture, manipulation, dysphoria, nonconsensual surgery, and kidnapping. Please be aware that these topics may be triggering for some readers.
And now... I'm hooked! I desperately need to know what's next for Stefan and the mysterious world of Saint Almsworth. I'm eagerly awaiting the second installment in this series - please, Alyson Greaves , hurry!
Five stars aren't enough; I'd give it ten if I could. This story has left an indelible mark on my heart and mind.
Waiting anxiously for Book 2..

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book, but it’s just not capturing my attention enough. I haven’t been able to get into it, so it’s a DNF for me.

I do appreciate the eARC from Netgalley and Neem Tree Press.

⭐⭐/5
🔥.5/5 (a couple kinda explicit scenes)

[Thanks Neem Tree Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.] Ugh. I really thought I would love this, which makes this rating even more sad.

This book is ambitious, and I could maybe see the vision the author was trying to go for. But for me, it really didn't feel like the execution was there at all. I know this story was originally from AO3; but I still expected it to be tightened up more and less rambling and confused (and, oftentimes, unserious) with its narrative and characters than it was.

The best aspect, in my opinion, was Stefan's character and POV. The complexity of emotion, the inner turmoil, the navigation of masculinity and femininity as an actual trans woman were all a lot more impactful and emotional and eye-opening for me than pretty much every other part or character.

I'm not sure how we're supposed to feel about Christine's POV and the other characters (maybe the author purposely tried to leave that for the audience to decide), but I personally could not really stand them. I could see some bits shining through as they worked through their struggles and trauma together and tried to find their identity and confidence again... But as a whole, I found most of the people in this book beside Stef either completely terrible, not of sound mind, woefully abused, selfish and self righteous, and/or disturbing perpetuators of psychological abuse and trauma.

But wait! It's ok because they have funny dialogue and wholesome ladies' nights out and are happy, shallow girls now. JK. This did not work for me. I guess the author might have been going for positivity and comic relief to balance out the absolute horrors and brainwashing being inflicted on these people. I did find some of the dialogue and interactions mildly humorous, but I mostly found myself skimming through long, vapid conversations and meaningless banter, mixed with repetitive thoughts and character details. The character backstories and times they actually grappled with identify were sometimes engaging and effective. But a lot just felt unnecessary or strangely cutesy.

It also feels wrong to me for the author to paint pretty much every Dorley grad as generally happy, healthy, and improved. You're telling me people who were forcibly mutilated and brainwashed are better off; better versions of themselves; better contributors to the world? That people who are not actually trans women are so much happier now that the female gender has been forced upon them?

I'm still confused if this book was meant to condone the actions of Dorley or not, or maybe to convince us this was the only solution. Whatever the author's motive was, I ended up finding MEN least at fault and most abused in this story, which was NOT something I was expecting or desiring out of this. What goes on in these halls is straight horror, but the author makes it convoluted and confused and not as serious or deep as it warrants in many cases.

I suppose the moral of the story might be, trauma and abuse begets trauma and abuse, but I thought this book would be more about breaking that cycle. About how trans women actually deserve the happiness and rights to a full gender transition; and non-trans people who are forced to undergo the same = the abuse trans people often endure, in reverse, and as a result they are scarred and traumatized and unhealthy. That's not what I got. (I'm honestly still not sure what I got.)

Idk y'all. I think it's great to have trans representation in media, and I know this author is trans and likely intimately familiar with a lot of Stef's troubles and thoughts (and that's why THOSE parts worked so well). But the rest was just not it for me.

Dark academia is one of my favorite tropes. What's better than a school with 'secrets'! Welcome to Dorley Hall is dark academia, dark society, dark sexual torture?, dark everything.

Stefan is a lonely university student whose only friend is an older boy named Mark. One day, Mark disappears. Just...vanished. Stefan tries to move along with his life. A year later, Stefan sees a face at the supermarket that bears a striking resemblance to Mark, but this time, it's a woman named Melissa.

Before Stefan can ask too many questions, Melissa runs away and Stefan starts his look into Mark's disappearance and Melissa's appearance.
-----
Yo....this book is WILD. Problematic men attending university being kidnapped, imprisoned and FORCED TO BECOME WOMEN??? This is beyond dark academia, and more into forced feminization. This....is veering into torture, yet Alyson Greaves is able to take this VERY sensitive topic and write out a masterpiece.

Being that this is the first of a series, I'm already anxious about the next story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Welcome to Dorley Hall is a debut novel with a premise I don't think I've read before. I love it when books delve into important topics while also telling a story at the same time and as I've always been intrigued by how people explore and portray gender no matter the media, this one was a good read for me.

Unsure if I will carry on when the next releases, but only time can tell.

Welcome to Dorley Hall is an electrifying debut that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. Alyson Greaves has crafted a story that is both a gripping mystery and a deep exploration of gender and society. The novel’s unique premise, combined with its well-drawn characters and intense atmosphere, makes it a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and speculative fiction. I found myself completely absorbed in the world of Dorley Hall and highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a page-turner that challenges conventional thinking.

First of all, not only does this book have an amazing, fresh plot, but the characters are pretty fabulous as well! I absolutely flew through this book and loved every minute of what one would call a fever dream. This was unhinged and exciting! I would definitely recommend this to people who love thrillers with queer representation!

I got 40% through and will be dnf-ing unfortunately. The concept is intriguing, and the plot is solid enough that I could describe what happened to someone else. I felt I could tell where this was going early on, and was ready to go on this journey, but the journey is far too long. So much has happened already, but I still don't feel like we're really at the crux of the story, and I just want the plot points without having to read to get there. What made me to 100% give up was finding out this was the first book in a trilogy, so I wasn't going to find a definitive ending by finishing this book alone. So unfortunately its a 1 star dnf from me.

I initially requested this book because the premise sounded interesting.
However, when I started reading this, I didn't like what was happening in the book. Therefore, I did not finish.
I think if you enjoy reading about mind control and changing bodies, this might be the book for you.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loooooved this book. It had adventure, love, hope, and an ending that left an opening for sequels! Stefan Riley's surrogate big brother, Mark Vogel, vanished from the Royal Collage of St Almsworth seven years ago. Two years after that Stefan sees a girl who looks exactly like Mark and starts wondering. Now he's documented over two dozen boys who've mysteriously vanished from St. All sorry and found d girls who physically match 6 of them. The girls share one other thing. They all live in Dorley Hall on the edge of campus. Stefan thinks Dorley is a shadowy charity organization that helps closeted trans girls with hostile families. Girls like Stef. He's wrong. That is NOT what it is! But, Stefan mentions what he knows to a pretty girl who lives in Dorley, Christine Hale. Not a good move. Now he's sitting in a cell underneath Dorley with a bunch of vile bastards waiting to be feminized. And from there things get very complicated. It takes a couple of chapters to really get going but the plot generally hangs together, the multitude of characters are all well written and parts of it sooooo funny. And the women of Dorley are the best sisters you ever want to have. I loved the ending and how each character is slowly revealed for who and what they are! The book brings up some really complex issues of what male and female gender actually is.

Welcome to Dorley Hall was a book I wanted to read for a long time and it did not disappoint my expectations, but far exceeded them. I don’t really know which genre I would put this book in, honestly, because there is mystery surrounding the whole Dorley Hall project, where it came from, how is it functioning, there’s the sheer angst the characters are going through, there are day-to-day troubles the girls who exited the program are facing, but this book has genuinely funny parts where the writing is extremely witty and charming.
Stef was such an interesting character, a deeply closeted trans woman who decided to go through a forced feminization program, and the way he was written made me care so much for him. Stef was literally at the wrong place in the wrong time, but it was clear from his point of view that this was the only choice he could make. I deeply sympathized with the way he decided to embrace his situation, and really loved his characterization of a deeply closeted trans woman – not just the way he viewed himself and his body, but also the way he saw himself undeserving of she/her pronouns and how he viewed his potential transition and the program.
Christine was also such a great character, as it added so much depth to the story to see the whole Dorley program from the point of view of someone who was in the later phases of it, but not being a trans woman. I think the whole conversation Christine and the others had about the differences between being a trans woman and transitioning versus the girls who went through Dorley Hall was such a great addition. Christine’s guilt and empathy makes her such a well developed character and her parts in the book were really nice as they added so much context to Stef’s story.
Overall, this book is really good and I think it serves perfectly as the first one in a trilogy. It establishes characters and the whole setting of Dorley, while also leaving so many things for the next books to uncover.

This is unlike anything I’ve read before. A deep dive into gender dysphoria, transitioning and (literally) breaking down toxic masculinity. Dark academia with brilliant trans characters and a mysterious, thrilling plot. Stef was such an incredible character, Christine too. There was a kindness in this that you don’t typically get with dark academia, and I really enjoyed it. A great exploration of gender and sexual identity that I haven’t experienced in fiction before and am now thirsty for more!

If you like dark academia, trans rep (by a trans author), and phenomenal characters — this one’s for you!

this fueled my dark gothic heart. SUCH a deeply enthralling read with writing that captivates you until suddenly it’s 3 am and you can’t put the book down. highly recommend for lovers of jane eyre, with a modern touch of mexican gothic

I have no reason to give this anything other than 5 stars. 😭 Transbian dark academia?? Written by a trans woman?? Thank the stars, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can’t wait to read the next one. I did request this through NetGalley and am eternally grateful to the publisher and author for allowing me to read this FOR FREE. I will absolutely be getting a physical copy, so it comes full circle. I can’t believe more people haven’t found this gem?? Pride month isn’t over yet, y’all get on it. The writing is enthralling, I adored the characters and the way they’re so thoughtfully written. This author gives her all when writing and it absolutely shows.

*this review is also posted on Goodreads

An interesting premise that deals with some hard topics. I feel like the initial idea was interesting but it felt underdeveloped and disjointed. The scenes felt too episodic and separate from each other at times, which made the characters seem unimportant.