I found a new book for dark academia lovers.

You know that kind of book that you want to read as fast as possible because you are curious about what's going to happen, but you also want to savor every moment, taste every word, and you wish this emotion would stick with you for a long time and, on top of that, you had a need to stop and stare at the empty ceiling to process.

Well, this book was that to me. Did I expect it to be that good? No. And that made me fall for the world even harder.

The plot:

In the book we are following Laurel Turner's story. Struggling to keep her head above water, one day, during her shift, Laurel sees what she shouldn't have seen. What appears to be a brutal murder turns out to be a "part" of the secret society named The Order. The Order rules the world for generations. Pure blood. No impostors. Before Laurel. Now she's a prisoner in the brutal world of The Order in Ashford House, where people obey or die. The only way out is to learn how the structure of society is working.

Carrson Ashford — the leader of Ashford House. He is a deadly weapon with a beating heart. He's not only Laurel's captor; Carrson bonded her under the rules of The Order. To make Laurel his. Body, mind and soul. Only ever so often can a fresh look (aka Laurel) turn the world upside down.

Here we are getting: dark academia, secret society, dark romance, dual POV, discovering dark psychological traumas, forced proximity.

First of all, I want to give the prize for the astonishing writing. You do not read the book, you live in it. You will want to savor every word. It was beautiful, emotional, expressive and just enough metaphorical.

The characters are complex. Partly I felt this way because of the writing, but also because the author put her soul in the characters, had a strong vision of them and, overall, made a huge work. Ever so often, I see characters in the books that I want to punch in the face, but as the story progresses, I actually start to feel something besides the hate towards them. I had it here. There were characters that you're going to actually hate, though. Keep in mind that this was quite a short book. That leads me to my second thought.

So, secondly, world building, character' development and flashbacks. The book was so diverse and everything was happening so fast, but I didn't have a feeling that there were insta-something. Everything came together logically on time with just enough drama and I can't wait to read the second book.

Some specific things I loved.

Flashbacks.

I liked how the author showed us those past moments without interrupting the main storyline. They were actually important for the story and not at all boring.

Two worlds coincide.

I always had a soft spot for secret societies in books and movies and I especially love it when the two worlds are meeting. And here, in the face of Laurel and Carrson, the dynamic was created brilliantly.

Dark romance.

I don't know if it is just me, but I appreciate when the main couple in this genre are not crazy or have an extra drama in the relationship, but rather, they are together in spite of their personal drama and together against the world, showing the readers what it takes to stay together. But they still have incredible tension, just enough when they finally kiss I can say "F*cking finally!" (Note: in this book they lived together due to circumstances and still the tension could cut like a knife). Does it make sense? I hope it does.

The secret society.

As I said, I have a special spot in my heart for books about secret (not-so-secret) societies for as long as I can remember my reading journey (Dan Brown, thank you very much for that). It was created very well in the book. Dark and believable (I mean if there were a secret society that ruled the world and thought they were gods, I would imagine them exactly like that).

My favorite quote from this book: "Maybe we can only really see ourselves in the reflection of someone else's eyes." I've been thinking about it recently. I've read a similar idea somewhere but couldn't put it into words. Here it was said perfectly.

Going to read more of the author's works and hope to see her books in the bookstores soon.

And special thanks to NetGalley for sending me an ARC!