Rating: 3/5
Book Blurb: The Honeys meets The Secret History in a work of dark academia like no other -- a boarding school thriller about a queer teen from Mississippi who finds himself swept into a world of old money, privilege, and the secret society at the heart of it all.
When Cal Ware wins a scholarship to an elite New England boarding school, he's thrilled to leave his past behind. Back home in Mississippi, he was the poor, queer kid who never fit in. But at Essex Academy, he'll be able to reinvent himself. Or so he hopes...
But at Essex, Cal's classmates only see his cheap clothes and old iPhone. They mock his accent, and can't believe he's never left the country, or heard of The Hamptons. Cal, at his breaking point, is about to give up and return to Mississippi when he learns about a secret society on campus -- the key to becoming Essex royalty.
Cal knows he's not exactly secret society material, but to his surprise, he finds an unlikely champion in the handsome, charismatic, and slightly dangerous Luke Kim. As they get swept up in the mystery and glamour of the Rush process, Cal finds himself falling in love for the first time.
But as the initiation rituals grow riskier -- and increasingly nefarious -- Cal must decide how far he's willing to go, and how much of himself he's willing to sacrifice, to save everything and everyone he cherishes most. Because nothing at Essex -- not even Cal's first love -- is quite what it seems.
Review:
A fresh chance to start at an elite New England boarding school turns into something much darker as one boy is pulled into the school's secret society, twisted games, and and a doomed romance. Cal Ware has won a scholarship to an elite boarding school, it's the opportunity that he's been waiting for, to leave behind his past and escape "the incident." Yet he's a fish out of water and compared to all the other wealthy privileged students, he's seen as a hick and an outsider...until he is invited into to join the secret society on campus. if he passes all the tests and manages to win a spot he'll be royalty on campus... but everything has a price and the deeper he gets entangled in the society the more he is beginning to realize that they will ask things of him that might be impossible... and that he might not be an initiate but a sacrifice. All the while he meets Luke, a handsome jock who has his own secrets and reasons for being part of the society... but has begun a relationship with Cal... but when Cal discovers his secrets it might destroy everything. First secret society, first love, and most of all an endless lists of betrayal and devastation await Cal. This book was definitely a book that leaned heavy on the dark academia secret society and queer romance, which is fantastic, however the things that happened and the actual characters were a bit of a miss for me. I really started off enjoying the book but the further we got in it the less I actually liked it. Not to say it wasnt an interesting read overall and that I would definitely recommend it for anyone who likes dark academia queer romance novels with a bit of a thriller aspect to it though. The relationships in the book were twisted and the actual ending left me wanting for more and I just kind of felt meh with it all. However, yes i would say that it is a book for anyone who enjoys dark academia to at least give it a go. I think it should be added onto people's tbr who enjoy dark academia, twisted romances, and queer romances!
Purchase Links: amazon
Tour Schedule: tbrbeyond
Author Info: Goodreads
