Thank you to Netgalley for the arc. This was such a delicious book for any fans of dark academia. The writing was superb, the twists and turns had me gasping, and the suspense was killing me. I loved it so much. It was also very atmospheric and the characters were well crafted. Good read.

3.5★ I really like the premise of this one, the social commentary on the lack of justice surrounding rape and our rape culture as a whole, and the dark academia vibes this book gives off in droves. However, something seems to be missing in its execution and that prevented this from being a win for me.

First and foremost the pacing was off during the second 2/3 of the book after a great intro. It is a very slow moving story and as a result, it seems to drag quite a bit during the middle portion. It does pick back up, but at a point you then need to suspend a bit of disbelief.

I have seen criticism that this book shows why victims don’t feel they can come forward but i think that’s inaccurate. This book illustrates the severity of what happens when a culture embraces victim shaming and is more often than not, apt to believe an attacker over the attacked. And yet this important message seems to get a bit lost in the weeds.

ʀ ᴇ ᴀ ᴅ ɪ ғ ʏ ᴏ ᴜ ʟ ɪ ᴋ ᴇ :
• stories of revenge
• social commentary
• strong protagonists
• dark academia vibes

Thank you HTP Books and Harper Audio for my gifted copies in exchange for my honest review.

This book is going to be a hit. It draws you in from the first chapter and is compelling throughout. I couldn't put this book down. The suspense and mystery, with the twists, will keep your head spinning like in the Exorcist. Top notch suspense and thriller. I am def buying this book when it comes out.

This was wild! Simmering with revenge and twists that were unexpected! I loved the story and how it unfolded. Don't mess with Family! New Author for me and I will reach for more by her! Brilliant Book.

A true page turner! Dark academia at it's finest, and perfect for fans of My Dark Vanessa and The Secret History. Loved it!

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Jessie Mooney travels from Ireland to Philadelphia to enroll in a graduate law program at Franklin University. She is thrilled to have been accepted into a very competitive Law and Literature class there not because of its cachet but because of its professor, Jay Crane. She wants to become one of his infamous “favorites” because she blames him for her sister’s death and has a plan.

Set during the 2016 election and the very beginning of the #MeToo movement, there are important issues here: questions of the nature of justice, retribution, right vs legal, male power, consent, sexual predators, injustice, victimization, the inadequacies of the legal system, and is stalking ever justified?. This is a very slow burn…and maybe more a fizzle than a burn. For fans of dark academia, there is much grist for a book group discussion, including the ending.

I wanted to enjoy this book & did at times. But such a large part of it seemed like a political dissertation that just wasn’t my business. Parts of it gripped me & others made me yawn. I enjoy fiction, maybe even escapism. But truly, when I look for a read in my downtime, I just want something so interesting it keeps me up @ night. Not sure this is placed in the appropriate market.

I honestly don’t even know where to start with this review! I absolutely loved this book and read it in less than 24 hours after being in a reading slump for a month and a half. I’m back baby #

For fans of dark academia, this one's for you. There’s also quite a bit of Greek mythology mentioned in the first third, which I LOVED, however you don’t need to know about Greek mythology to understand what’s going on.

Our main character, Jessie, is objectively pretty unhinged, however I was constantly rooting for her. She is constantly making bad and reckless decisions and yet I was like “you go girl, you ruin that man's life”

I would highly recommend this one if you like dark academia!!

I have to be honest, I didn’t love this book. I love books on college campuses and usually really love them. However I just couldn’t get into this book. It’s very well written, and the story is good. I think I just didn’t like the subject or how it was handled. Overall it’s. Good book and I know. Lot of people will love it, but for me it was mostly a miss. I’d give this a 3.5, but wanted to round up.

Parts of this book I really liked, wanted more revenge and more justice for her sister. It was slow at times but also raised issues/questions to think about, which I liked. 3.5 rounded up, if it was tightened up I would have liked it better

Beautiful cover, very interesting description which is what caught my eye. Sadly the pacing was super off for me and I feel like nothing happened for the majority of the book. I didn’t enjoy reading this due to the pacing and it was difficult to understand the main character and their motives.

Great Read!

This book makes me question can one ever get JUSTICE. Is revenge sweeter?

This novel checks all the boxes of a thriller. I read this book in 2 days. My first from this author but definitely will be looking for more titles from her.

I highly recommend this book to readers that like twist and surprises.

I received an e-arc of this from Harlequin Trade Publishing and Graydon House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was half dark revenge scheme, half discussion on the philosophy around justice (and whether or not our legal system is capable of bringing about justice for victims-- particularly those that happen to also be women). It has shades of <I>The Secret History</i> but with a more palatable and less pretentious circle of students at the core. A more apt comparison might be <i>Promising Young Woman</i>. While our main character has enough dedication to get into a master's program and cross an ocean solely for the purpose of revenge, Jessie doesn't have quite the same bite as Cassandra.

I found this to be a compulsive read but found the ending to be a bit of a letdown (despite the fact that it was probably the most realistic conclusion this story could have had).

Thank you to the Publisher for the Arc!

I didn't realize i needed a book that reminds you of Promising Young Woman until i read the favorites. It has a similar premise with a girl getting revenge for someone they loved. but this took more of a literary fiction approach rather than a thriller. I kept waiting to be surprised and thrilled but that didn't come. This story felt like it was missing depth and could've been so much more in terms of Jess and her relationship with her sister as well as more "stalking." But we didn't really get that. I did enjoy this but just wanted a tiny bit more from the story.

I hate leaving anything negative on here, but I just didn’t really enjoy this one. It sucked me in hard until around the 70% mark, then… it’s the kinda thing that makes it hard for REAL victims (like me) to get justice. And it made me feel all kinds of emotions. Just no. No.

Jessie is a law student from Dublin, Ireland, who travels to an elite Philadelphia law school to complete her studies. She's been enrolled in a prestigious by-invitation-only class, Law and Literature, taught by legendary professor Jay Crane, who hand picks his students and always chooses one to the "the favorite." Jessie is determined to be the favorite -- not for her career, but so that she can get close enough to him to get revenge for what he did to her older sister, Audrey. Audrey was a "favorite" and Jessie believes that Jay Crane is responsible for a series of events that ultimately led to her death. Jessie hatches a series of elaborate plans to destroy this professor, resulting in a page-turning thriller that is entertaining, but also will inspire thoughtful conversations about sexual abuse, toxic relationships, and the imbalance of power between professors and students.

This book was fine, I just couldn’t get into it

~This was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Dark academia fans put this one at the top of your TBR's! Though it's got much more going for it as well. I loved the authors writing style. She has an assured voice and a way of drawing you in with her visceral use of language and keeping you held within the story with perfectly paced tension building. I loved Jessie . She was a sympathetic character and I held my breath as she skirted the line between justice and revenge for her sister. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC

3.5

if "promising young woman" was set at a law school during the 2016 election, and given a fizzle ending rather than a bang. i mostly enjoyed this, and i don't think it was bad by any means, but it was lacking in a few departments.

the pacing was veeeeeery slow. nothing happened for the entire first half of this 300 page book. but simultaneously, i felt like there was a lot missing from jessie's internal world. the whole premise of the book is based off of her grief following her sister's death, but every time she talked about her sister, the author employed a lot of cliches. it just didn't feel like real grief. the final passage of the book (not a spoiler) is basically just like, "my sister is always with me, forever <3333"

frankly, the other big problem was that i did not believe in the exclusivity of this "elite" cohort. we're supposed to think that this is a prestigious law school, and that the students are all in fierce competition to get into the law and literature class. so why is the class so boring and basic???
the first day is spent talking about atticus finch and if he's a good lawyer. did we not all cover this in ninth grade? then later on, they spend a class discussing paradise lost and debating which figure truly represents justice, between god and the serpent. i had more or less the same discussion in my sophomore year brit lit class at state school.
i honestly was shocked when i reached the acknowledgements and discovered that the author is actually a lawyer and based the academic parts of the book on discussions with her law professor husband. the material is giving literature 101, not super elite exclusive cohort at law school.

i did like the book overall, but i'm not jumping to recommend it to anyone.

thank you for an arc.