{4.5/5}

Read via NetGalley.

A little confusing and slow to start, but then a really interesting read.

Quell has only ever known a life on the run. With just 3 weeks left before she graduates, just 3 weeks until she and her mom can settle down somewhere and hide permanently, everything comes crashing down. Separated from her mother and hunted by men who can wield shadows, Quell seeks refuge with her grandmother. Finding herself at the equivalent of a magical boarding school, Quell devises a plan. A plan that hinges solely on one thing—Quell’s ability to hide her curse.

I should clarify my initial statement— the story starts off with some confusion, but it makes sense for the character. Quell knows nothing about this world, she really doesn’t even know anything about her own curse, and she gets a crash course in the history, structure, and culture of an entire group of people she didn’t even know existed. If you can overlook one relatively minor instance of info dumping and just go with the flow, learning alongside the character, the story rapidly evolves into something really magical and fun. The lack of more information isn’t so bad that it impedes the story, and by the end of the book there’s enough relevant content to sort through the events.

With all of that in mind, it’s also fair to note that the world building is deceptively immense. At first glance it seems like we’ve just got a secret magical society doing their own thing and that’s all there is to it, but that would be a false impression. The further you go and the more you discover, the more it becomes apparent that the author has done a *lot* of behind the scenes development. Between the depth and the actual descriptions, the whole setting just feels magical and sort of ‘other’ in an almost creepy way. It’s something I’m really hoping to see more of in book 2.

Quell as a character is an odd blend of traits. She’s mature for her age, presumably since she’s had to be hyper vigilant and overly responsible for basically her entire life, but, at the end of the day, she’s also only 17. She makes some really questionable decisions and takes some really big risks that sometimes make you cringe just a little bit. Interpersonally, she’s both incredibly stunted (because it’s kind of hard to get a good foundation for friends when you keep moving all the time) and really aware (because when you need to blend in all the time you get really good at it), and it makes for an interesting, if sometimes frustrating, set of interactions. Fortunately for our character, she’s likable and clever, so it’s easy enough to root for her and overlook some traits that would be borderline unforgivable in an older character.

The plot itself was an odd mix of character growth and action, so I don’t really know what to label it, but it held my attention pretty solidly the whole way through. This is definitely one of those books where you’re just going to have to be willing to go along for the ride and see where it takes you, but it’s got some intriguing twists along the way that I felt made up for the end goal being a little abstract at times.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It’s definitely in that upper-YA/lower-NA age category, and we can see that reflected in our MC and in some of the depth of interactions. Keeping that in mind, it still manages to present a plotline that gave plenty of fun twists and surprises with a subtly creepy undertone. I’d call it ‘high society magic’ crossed with ‘dark academia’ and sprinkled with just a smidge of ‘creepy groups that feel almost like a cult.’ If that sounds like a good time to you, then you’d probably enjoy this book

House of Marionne - Likewise Book Reviews

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