An engaging dark academia, coming of age story set at an elite prep school in the Northeastern USA. The story centers around an exclusive clique of kids who are part of the school choir that sings in chapel. This is one of the historical aspects of the school and is controlled by a girl who is controlling of others and herself. The leader of the choir is Virginia, and she is untouchable. She holds herself to the highest standards and works ruthlessly to obtain her goals. A new girl, Laura, who is enamored with the founder, Webster, and all that he stood for, becomes entranced by the power of Virginia. She wants to be Virginia and since she cannot, she settles for the next best thing, and that is to become involved in all of the same activities and interests. She essentially becomes the righthand person to Virginia. This works out well in Laura's mind until it doesn't. Virginia is a complicated character and is figuring out what she stands for and who she is as a person, including her sexuality.
This is a story that gives a voice to how teens view their circumstances during those difficult years. As they tend to put an over-emphasis on every event as a life-changing one, it makes navigating this time difficult. The story has interesting relationships and some inevitable consequences.
This is a book for those that enjoy teenage angst and the boarding school setting.
#TheWorldCannotGive #Netgalley #Simon&Schuster

I love books about teenagers, especially at boarding school. A Secret History, Belzhar, Wilder Girls, A Separate Peace, Truly Devious, Catherine House... but what those books don't have is a built-in soundtrack of choral music, and they don't have Virginia.

Laura is mesmerized by both the singing and Virginia, two experiences she's never had before. She becomes obsessed with the labyrinthine drama of the tiny population at St Dunstans, a respite from the "whole sclerotic modern world". Laura is so sensitive to emotions and has been driven to come to St Dunstans because of its most famous alumni. Sebastian Webster wrote a single novel about his time at the school before being tragically cut down in his youth on the battlefield. Magnetic Virginia has a thing for Webster's view and takes Laura under her wing.

You know it doesn't end well, but who comes out ahead?

4.3/5

A deeply compelling exploration of adolescence, identity, community, and that lonely, desperate, unhealthy, thoroughly teenage hunger to matter - to be special. I was absorbed throughout, recognizing just a little too much of my own teen years in multiple characters. Simultaneously dissects the dark academia aesthetic/ideology and thoroughly indulges in it, and I loved it for that. Intimate, raw, and captivating.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love/like this book but it was not for me. Here is my reasoning:

1. The main characters were supposed to be in high school, yet they spoke nothing like most high schoolers; reminded me of how the characters on Dawson's Creek spoke. It did not matter if it was thoughts to themselves or to another character; I found this irritating.

2. Characters did not have much of a back story so it was hard to relate to them

3. About halfway through this book, I stopped caring but pushed on because I wanted to know what happened with Virginia and Laura; they are the only reason I came back to this book.

This book was obviously not for someone like me but I was drawn to the beautiful cover and the premise. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

Can I recommend this? Eh.

Thanks to Netgalley, Tara Isabella Burton and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already Available!

The premise was really interesting to me but wasn't executed in a satisfying way. The characters felt really one-dimensional and I felt like I couldn't root for or cheer against anyone. That being said, I was really interested in how the book was going to turn out. There's something about it that makes you want to finish it. I thought the prose was a little bit clunky and I couldn't determine if that was an artistic choice to show how earnest the main character was (the stakes are always SO high for her) or if it was just how the author writes. I think this book is for some people, but it definitely wasn't for me.

I really wanted to like this, but I really did not. It was boring and just kind of a mess. The characters felt fake, the language forced, the plot a disaster. This is a small thing - there was extreme overuse of the word “sclerotic”… like characters used the word frequently when speaking - over and over. There’s nothing terrible about this, but nothing all that great either - sadly, just not for me.

This book had no right to be this good! I really didn’t know for sure what I was getting into with this book: I just knew it was about a prep school, involved queer themes, and involved something that sounded like dark academia. (Shush, I happen to love dark academia).

I started reading this stunning and tragic coming-of-age drama and got immediately sucked into it. The story of soft, impressionable Laura and her obsession with a long-dead author and his book both made me sad and fearful from the start. Moving high schools just so you can go to the alma mater of your literary hero? Moving away from your family just so you can live, breathe, eat, sleep, and learn in the same hallowed halls? That’s not a healthy thing for a teenager to do, but somehow Laura managed to convince her parents to let her attend. So she sets out to walk in his footsteps, looking for somewhere to belong, looking for something beautiful and transcendent, and she ends up becoming enmeshed with the school’s choir both due to her attraction to Virginia, their intense and charismatic leader, and because all of the choir’s members are just as obsessed with the same author as she is.

This book isn’t subtle about what it’s trying to be. It’d be kind of hard to pretend like you’re not somewhat reminiscent of “The Secret History” when you’re a mysterious, dark, and philosophical novel with queer themes set in a isolated prep school on the East Coast. But Burton was definitely more overt with the queer themes and upped the ante with a hefty dose of young white men who feel entitled to the women around them.

There is a lot of interesting discourse about the Madonna/Wh (putting the rest of the words there will get me in trouble) Complex, with two women in the story going through that dichotomy. Neither one of them can fully escape being both worshiped by men only to turn around and have those same men blaspheme them. There’s also a healthy dose of both questioning one’s sexuality and some internalized homophobia. All of it makes for an aching angst-fest that could remind some people of what it was like when they didn’t know who they fully were or what they fully wanted out of life.

In the end, all I can really say solidly is that I really enjoyed it. Like, would buy it and read it again.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A dark and compelling account of striving and obsession at an isolated boarding school that feels like a small nod to The Secret History.

Heavily character driven and slow burning, The World Cannot Give follows protagonist Laura, an awkward, thoughtful prep school student who suffers the hard lesson of failure to create meaning, to truly belong, and for the world to be something greater than it is.

Her fixation on choir leader Virginia is a mix of sapphic and idol-worshiping, but neither of those things is what makes the situation so compelling. It’s really Burton’s subtle nuance, her description of tiny but personally monumental victories and, conversely, tiny but personally monumental failures that gives this story life.

I enjoyed Social Creature for its entertainment value and for the fact that it was far better written than most thrillers, but this book is far better, with transcendent writing and a unique story built on well-known themes.

The Secret History (esoteric academia obsessions) meets Heathers (hell hath no fury like a teenage girl) with a dash of Jennifer's Body (see previous) and A Great and Terrible Beauty (sapphic boarding school vibes). While I think The Secret History is superior, Burton has come close to evocating Tartt's shimmery prose, at once spare and voluptious. (Although I do wonder if the frequent repetition of certain phrases is a stylistic choice or just editorial negligence. I'm leaning towards stylistic choice, but the repetition is a bit too frequent to truly be impactful, crossing from rhythmic into superfluous.)

The lens into the world of St Dunstan's, Laura, is a blank slate upon which magnetic, zealous Virginia projects her fiery vision for the world - and a clear mirror through which the reader witnesses Virginia's obsessiveness. Laura's lack of a personality reads as beyond belief at times - how can someone be so <i>empty?</i> - but I've read other reviews from readers to whom this sponginess is painstakingly familiar, so I'll allow it. Virginia herself is a tough sell, an unforgiving zealot clinging to control, preaching fire-and-brimstone in a desperate bid to make herself interesting, important, <i>serious</i>. She's not likable - not by a long shot, and she admits it herself - and it's difficult at times to see what draws Laura and the choir boys to her, other than a desire to be interesting, <i>serious</i> by association.

If there isn't much of a sense of place beyond the tight sphere of Virginia's influence, it's intentional. Virginia is Laura's entire world, and so we barely get glimpses of St Dunstan's around them, the other students mere shadows moving nebulously around them, with the exception of Bonnie whose greatest crime is desperately wanting to be liked, interesting, important (the yang to Virginia's yin) and Isobel, Virginia's foil.

This is a character-driven story, and the plot veers at times towards histrionic. Actions don't have consequences here until they do, and when they do they are terrible, spiraling out of Virginia's tight control into a dissolution of the worst sort. It's a bit over the top, yet all the more engaging for it. The characters are <i>characters</i>; the story is a fable. Dramatic, yet relatable, I greatly enjoyed this swing into Virginia's sphere.

A dark and intriguing look at students-gone-bad, Tara Isabella Burton's THE WORLD CANNOT GIVE is an intense look at academe, with strong pacing and a rich atmosphere. It's hard to develop empathy for the cast of characters--but the writing is strong and insightful: this is a talented writer whose future novels I will seek out.

Many thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for the opportunity of an early read.

This book was intense. The writing created the perfect eery atmosphere and I was waiting for something bad to happen the entire time I was reading. Even though I knew something terrible was going to happen the ending still surprised me though looking back honestly makes the most sense. I won't spoil it but wow.

The book follows Laura Stearns a junior transfer student at the elite and eery St. Dunstants Academy, who chose the school because of a boy. The boy in question is alumn and writer Sebastian Webster who wrote a novel on the prep school experience before dying in the Spanish Civil War (uh oh). Webster and his novel play an important part in the book with Laura (and others) remaining faithfully obsessed with it and him. The book quickly introduces Virginia Strauss and her gang of merry men, the chapel choir boys who are all probably in love with her. Unfortunately for everyone Virginia is heavily repressed and refuses to date or experience human emotion. I loved Virginia and her style (all black, black lace gloves, perfection in everything no matter what). Obviously that much repression and drive to be "world-historical" is not good for a person and ends catastrophically with Laura left to pick up the pieces. The novel ends kind of ambiguously in terms of Laura's future but I don't feel like I need to know more. This book makes me wish I'd gone to boarding school, could sing, and actually loved A Separate Peace way more than I did.

I was provided a free copy of this book through NetGalley.

Nothing wrong with the book itself, I think It’s more of a personal preference and this just isn’t my type of book. I’m also getting tired of dark academia so it reminded me of a few other books which is okay but it wasn’t giving me anything new either. Thanks so much for the ARC regardless!

The World Cannot Give first grabbed my attention because of a blurb that compared it to Fight Club, one of my all-time favorite movies. There is only one aspect of this story that you could maybe compare to Fight Club, and it's such a weak link that I really don't think the two should be compared.

The synopsis definitely intrigued me (I typically go in blind with books, but when I'm considering an e-arc, I will often read the synopsis to be sure it appeals to me), and I thought that a boarding school with a cult-like group of students sounded like a dark but interesting read.

While I didn't totally dislike the book, I found myself not desiring to pick it up or finish it. The characters were pretty under-developed. Even though the plot was hyper-focused on the characters, we didn't get a lot of backstory or depth with any of them. It was hard to understand how or why Virginia had a hold on everyone, and there really weren't any likable characters in the book.

I found the plot very far-fetched so be prepared to suspend your disbelief when reading. The characters were unusual, and didn't really behave or talk like high-school kids, which made the story that much less believable. All in all, it really wasn't for me. I do think there are people that will love it and be totally drawn into the story, so don't let my review dissuade you. But if you like your characters more well-developed and believable, it might not be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The World Cannot Give is a dark-ish academia story of obsession and infatuation that really surprised me. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect going into this book, but I was surprised by the many different elements that were at play–the friendship obsession and manner in which it developed, the religious components, and so much more about the dynamics between many of the different characters. I personally found that Burton's prose was one of the best parts of this book, as I found her writing lyrical in quality and flowed really effortlessly, regardless of what was being written about on the page. Definitely one to pick up if you like some complicated relationships and obsessive relationships set in a school setting!

Thanks #netgallery for this book in exchange for an honest review. I struggled for the first third of this book but I kept reading because it has such positive praise. I was able to get hooked after that. The main character was so drab to me, with no real thoughts of her own, but overall I enjoyed this book. I just wanted more from Laura.

The World Cannot Give is a dark campus novel, where the main characters struggle with what it means to have devotion. The protagonist Laura is drawn to the boarding school in rural Maine for its historical significance, but soon encounters a group of choir students and their cult-like devotion to their leader Virginia. Laura struggles throughout the book with her identity and her place in the world. There is suspense in the second half of the book, with an ending that is surprising, but where the book has been leading all along.
I thoroughly enjoyed Tara Burton's writing, and never felt like the storyline was predictable.
As a former boarding school student myself, I can relate to the isolation such living can give you, and how it can make you susceptible to group-think and others' influence.
I would recommend this to any lovers of Donna Tartt's "The Secret History," Curtis Sittenfeld's "Prep," or the classic campus novel, John Knowles' "A Separate Peace."

Burton is a singular talent. I can't remember the last time I devoured something so quickly. Her sentences are magic. But it's her keen observations of (teenage) emotion that really catapult this novel. It is a work about characters, first and foremost. Though there's plenty of story, it's the tension that Burton teases among all of these young characters that is most fascinating, especially when it comes to sex/queerness. This is such a special novel. Raw, full of feeling. Gah, I can't wait to read it again.

Thank you for the e-galley!

Tara Isabella Burton has followed up "Social Creatures" with a different story of obsession. It wasn't what I was expecting but I have no regrets.

FIRST SENTENCE: "Laura cries easily."

THE STORY: Laura has convinced her parents to let her attend a Maine boarding school. It's the setting for her favorite book "All Before Them" by Sebastian Webster. He is St. Dunstan's most famous alum and died at nineteen fighting in the Spanish Civil War. She seems to have found what she hoped for when the neurotic and demanding Virginia invites her to audition for the Chapel Choir. The small group begins to fall apart when a new school chaplain challenges Virginia hold on the 'family' she has created. Determined not to give up, unpleasant things escalate leading to a shocking ending.

WHAT I THOUGHT: "The World Cannot Give" was a rather slow read for me with esoteric language and mentions of Church ritual. I'm not sure that I have gathered my feelings about it even now. Tara Isabella Burton's writing is beautiful, sometimes poetic, clean and concise. I kept hoping for Laura to break free, but Virginia's hold on the choir spirals out of control.

Much of what is described is the passion of youth. There are overtones of LGBTQIA yearning and the coming of age.

This is a book I would consider reading a second time and spending time pondering the ideas and listening to the music on YouTube.

BOTTOM LINE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for readers of literate mysteries like Donna Tart's "The Secret History".

DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-copy of "The World Cannot Give" by Tara Isabella Burton from NetGalley/Simon & Schuster for my honest review.

It is my fault. I cannot resist requesting any Dark Academia book or anything compared to The Secret History and it is my downfall. My expectations are always high!

For me, this one was just a little too out-there. I know teenage girls are dramatic but I struggled to connect with these girls. Is this YA? Is it NA? Is it adult? I don't know. I think some readers will LOVE this and I am sincerely sorry I am not one of them!

When Laura Stearns begins attending St. Dunstan’s Academy, the school her favorite writer went to, she immediately falls under the charismatic spell of Virginia Strauss, the leader of the chapel choir. The more Laura’s devotion grows and the more Virginia fights for power, things begin to spiral dangerously out of control. This book is everything I could possibly want: a boarding school story featuring toxic friendships and queer women. I adored it. However, I was still quite aware of it’s flaws, and I can see why some people wouldn’t like it. The majority of the characters are quite shallow, more stereotypes than actual characters, and they don’t feel especially realistic. This is particularly true for Bonnie, Laura’s Instagram-obsessed roommate, who plays a large roll in the plot. Even while I was completely engrossed, I could recognize how little real development there was for the characters.

However, none of that mattered to me for one reason: Virginia. She is one of the most compelling characters I’ve come across in a while. As Laura gets closer with her and the story unfolds, we slowly start to see a full picture of her character. She’s not likeable by any stretch of the imagination; she’s not supposed to be. But she feels incredibly real. Her public persona–extremely devout, traditional, and seeking to be “World-Historical”–isn’t, which is the whole point. But what we find underneath is real and raw, and we can see why she would become the way she is. I was just as mesmerized as Laura.

Laura is an interesting character as well because of how little there is to her. She’s immature, naïve, and easily influenced. She even states at one point that she wants someone to tell her the correct way to think. And, of course, she’s obsessive in her devotion, whether it’s to Virginia or her favorite author, Sebastian Webster. Other than that, she has very little personality; she’s more of a blank slate. I know that’s something a lot of people tend to not like, and generally I wouldn’t either. But it worked for me here. Being in her point of view makes it so easy to fall into the story and fall in love with Virginia. Maybe it worked so well for me because I have been that girl, though I do think it was Burton’s intention that for the reader to become enamored with Virginia along with Laura.

Overall, The World Cannot Give is a captivating campus novel that deals with obsession, religion, love, lust, and the perils of being a modern teenager. It has flaws, but I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend it.