I requested this book because of its cover. I was surprised to learn, after reading it, that it is a Dorian Gray retelling! Though, personally, I am not well acquainted with the original Dorian Gray story; I thought this was an interesting retelling that made me want to pick up the literary classic.

This was dark and gritty. The main character, Marin, was not scared to do what it takes for her revenge and I fully respect that!I also think Adrian and Henry were really interesting characters to discover as the story went on.

The writing was beautiful and dark. Admitedly, I got lost a bit 60% through before it picked back up again towards the end so I would love to pick this back up again and see what little details I had missed!

Genuinely not sure why this is shelved as queer (codependency != queerness, though if that is what you’re looking for, I definitely recommend The Wicker King by K Ancrum). The cover and synopsis do the book a major disservice by omitting Baz because she is what holds the story together and anchors everything beyond the thin veneer of the dark academia aesthetic.

I think I would have liked this book less if I’d read anything but the audiobook - the narration style is visceral, really highlighting the snappy rhythm of the dialogue (the rest of the writing is okay but nothing special; the dialogue is where the teeth are).

I also think we could have dived so much deeper. Again, something we really could have used Baz for. Intellect not just as a prop for pretentiousness (seriously the most annoying part of dark academia) but as armor and weapon. There’s the briefest brush of an examination of privilege, but overall it barely warrants a mention.