Three teens infiltrate the magical ivy league in this heart-stopping dark academia romantasy, the first in a young adult duology from #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz.
Raven, Atticus, and Dorian have dreamed of attending Sibylline for as long as they can remember. But when the magical ivy league rejects them, the friends’ plans of a future together studying the arcane begin crashing down.
Until they decide to steal an education.
Getting jobs on campus, they sneak into lectures and swipe forbidden texts, dodging the administration’s watchful eye. In the quiet of night, in the thrill of secrecy, their magic awakens. And so do long-buried attractions that turn their friendship into something more.
But like magic, love can create, and it can destroy. As unrequited feelings and resentment threaten to fracture their bond, the trio discovers an insidious magic that has sunk its claws into Sibylline, killing students and corroding the very bones of the university. Now the three intruders may be the key to saving the institution from wreckage . . . if they don’t wreck one another first.
Raven, Atticus, and Dorian have dreamed of attending Sibylline for as long as they can remember. But when the magical ivy league rejects them, the friends’ plans of a future together studying the arcane begin crashing down.
Until they decide to steal an education.
Getting jobs on campus, they sneak into lectures and swipe forbidden texts, dodging the administration’s watchful eye. In the quiet of night, in the thrill of secrecy, their magic awakens. And so do long-buried attractions that turn their friendship into something more.
But like magic, love can create, and it can destroy. As unrequited feelings and resentment threaten to fracture their bond, the trio discovers an insidious magic that has sunk its claws into Sibylline, killing students and corroding the very bones of the university. Now the three intruders may be the key to saving the institution from wreckage . . . if they don’t wreck one another first.
Title: Sybylline
Author: Melissa De La Cruz
Publisher:
Expected Publication Date:
Review:
Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
What drew me in initially was the cover of this book, it is EXQUISITE. This is definitely a case where I judged the book by it's cover. It's what drew me in to read the blurb to see if I'd like it. Then I read the blurb and it was magic and dark academia and mystery and I was sold. Melissa De La Cruz has been hit or miss with me with her books but I really felt like I connected to the theme of this one and needed to see where it would lead,
The book started out strong. I was really liking the relationship between the three main characters: Raven, Atticus, and Dorian. I loved their close friendship and was excited to see them grow and develop throughout the book. I was waiting for the background or maybe some flashbacks to show how their tight friendships developed. Unfortunately this did not happen and they were all very flat, generic, and uninteresting. Much of the book is focused on how each character has a thing for the other character creating a throuple type situation that felt forced. They go from A liking B who likes C to all of a sudden being polyamorous without the journey of really getting there. Zero chemistry between the characters or development of the romance between them. And, while I'm all about letting characters explore who they are, since there's barely any development it was hard to really connect with the characters or feel for them in any way. Throw in the fact the characters are college age but certainly do not act as such and it made it even harder to try and find any depth to them. I'm all about people experimenting and finding themselves. I love to see diversity in books. But there was so much focus on each of the characters being obsessed with another it got in the way of the plot and story line. It was messy and totally frustrating to read on the page.
The premise of the magic system was interesting at the beginning. I was excited to watch the world build and see how the system was created. But, honestly, that development never really happened and it remained shallow throughout. There was zero background as to how the magic evolved/came to be. Why the world was the way it was. Who was important. And so much more. The pacing was fast but because the plot was lacking, I never really saw where the story was going or why it was getting where it was going. The story was bogged down by the romance. It's a shame because underneath all that romantic fluff lies a plot that could be quite intriguing and fun but remained one-dimensional. Add to this the fact that there is a ton of telling and barely any showing and it just drew the short straw when it came to remaining interesting. I pushed through in the hopes it would maybe evolve and get better but it, sadly, did not.
Then there is one scene where the three are together creating a threesome. This seemed so out of place for a YA book. Not only was it out of place, but one of the characters was barely conscious when it happened! I was actually shocked to read it and totally uncomfortable with the content. It was totally jarring. And it's not that I don't like spice, I actually love it and read it often. But I was literally shocked when it happened on the page and was not closed door at all. I know upper YA can be more racey, but there wasn't even a lead up, it just kind of happened. I feel like had this been edited appropriately, we would have never seen such a descriptive scene in the book. Was it put in for the shock factor? I'm not really sure but it just didn't fit for me. And my rating quickly dropped a star because of it.
I can see the ending leads to another installment but I do not think I will be moving forward with reading it. This book started out as a solid 4 stars for me and I was hoping it would continue to become a 5 star read but it slowly deteriorated down to 3 and ultimately ended up at a 2.5. This book could have been so much more than it was. Such a great premise of magic and interesting dark academia overshadowed by too much worry about who loves who and how they will never have that love returned.
2.5 stars rounded to 3
Author:
Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat.
Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.
She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.
Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!).
She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter.
Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.
She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.
Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!).
She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter.
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