I picked up this book fully expecting magic. Not necessarily “everyone dies in candlelight while spilling magical blood” dark academia, but at least something atmospheric. An academy. A cool magic system. Maybe morally grey professors. Maybe some forbidden spellcasting in dusty libraries. You know. Vibes.
The synopsis absolutely sold it that way. It hinted at tension, hinted at romance, hinted at complicated dynamics. There was mention of a love triangle, sure, but I wasn’t panicking. I can tolerate a love triangle. I’ve survived worse. I’ve read enough YA to know the drill. A likes B, B likes C, C likes A. Classic. Slightly juvenile, yes, but manageable. I went in prepared.
What I was not prepared for was… whatever this was.
Because very quickly, it stopped being “A likes B, B likes C” and turned into “actually everyone is attracted to everyone and no one can keep their lips to themselves.” A likes B but then kisses C. B likes C but then kisses A. C apparently just exists to rotate between them. At some point I genuinely lost track of who was longing for whom because it felt like the answer was: all of them. All the time.
And it wasn’t even done in an emotionally complex, messy, character-driven way. It was just… hormonal chaos. Three eighteen-year-olds aggressively orbiting each other and making increasingly questionable decisions. I did not pick up a fantasy novel expecting to feel like I’d stumbled into someone’s overly enthusiastic Wattpad draft from 2014. I was here for magic. I was here for world-building. Why am I reading what feels like the prelude to an orgy?
And listen, I’m not a prude. I’m not anti-romance. I love romance when it’s done well. I like romance in my books. I like yearning the tension, the pining. But this wasn’t yearning. This was just… swapping.
There was a point where I genuinely thought, “Can they just get it over with and have a threesome so we can move on to the actual plot?” And the fact that I was thinking that halfway through a supposed fantasy novel says everything.
The worst part? The book is short. By the time I realized this was the primary direction of the story, I was already 150 pages in. And when you’re halfway through something that’s barely 300 pages, you kind of go, “Fine. I’ll stick it out. How much worse can it get?”
Answer: wayyyy worse.
Because instead of deepening the magic system or exploring the academy or giving us actual stakes, it just doubled down on the relationship chaos. And that’s what frustrates me the most. The magic system had potential. Genuinely. There were hints of something interesting. Rules, consequences, power structures. The academy setting could have been rich and layered. There was so much room for political tension, rivalries, ambition.
But it was all background noise to the kissing carousel.
If the author wanted to write a teenage romance about a complicated throuple situation, that’s fine. Truly. There is an audience for that. People eat that up. But then market it that way. Don’t sell me a fantasy with a promising magical premise and then barely develop it. It felt like the fantasy elements were just aesthetic wallpaper.
And yes, maybe this is on me. I know I’ve kind of outgrown a lot of YA. I know I crave depth now. I want morally complex characters and emotional nuance. I want themes that make me sit back and stare at the ceiling. But even within YA, you can have substance. This just… didn’t.
What really sealed it for me was checking a few reviews and finding out that there’s an explicit scene later on involving the three of them. At that point I had to pause and ask myself: do I, a fully grown adult, want to read a detailed scene involving three eighteen-year-olds in that context?
No. Absolutely not.
If these characters had been adults—like mid-twenties, at least, I might have rolled my eyes and continued, ignoring the romance for the sake of the magic. But making them barely legal teens just made everything feel uncomfortable. It’s marketed as YA, which means younger readers are a huge part of the audience. And I genuinely do not understand who this book is for. Younger teens? Adults? People specifically seeking that dynamic? It feels confused.
And yes, I stopped. I didn’t finish it. Life is too short and my TBR is too long to force myself through something that feels like a fetish novel. So technically this is a half-read review. But I read enough. Half the book is more than generous, to know it wasn’t going to suddenly transform into the layered fantasy I was promised.
There wasn’t a single element strong enough to redeem it. Not the characters, obviously not the so=called "romance", not the world-building. It just felt shallow and oddly inappropriate.
If you’re looking for a rich fantasy with a well-developed magic system and academy intrigue, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for emotionally complex romance, also not it. If you’re looking for something that feels like it belongs on a late-night fanfiction forum rather than a bookstore shelf… maybe?
For me, it was a hard pass. And next time, I’m trusting my instincts the second the kissing starts multiplying. 😭