All That Consumes Us by Erica WatersMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I fully admit that I was drawn to this book by its very eerie cover. I did not research much about it, but I was intrigued by the mention of a gothic story set at a college. I guess I was hoping for something supernatural along the lines of Harry Potter or The Magicians, with a mystery element, but that was unfortunately not what I got.
The story follows a freshman girl named Tara, who is struggling to find her place at school. After some curious events, she is invited into the prominent, extremely selective and secretive academic society on campus called Magni Viri. This opportunity is everything Tara could ever dream of, but she soon discovers a darker side to the organization, as her fellow students seem to be all consumed in their independent studies to a potentially deadly degree.
The premise of the story is captivating, but overall I found the writing to be lacking. There is a definitive atmospheric feel to the book, a general foreboding that puts you on edge throughout. I kept trying to figure out exactly what kind of book I was reading as I was reading it. Is it a mystery? A crime novel? A ghost story? I guess you can say that the constant questioning plays into the gothic style, but it was a distraction for me. I also did not really like the characters, particularly the main character Tara, which made it difficult for me to have a vested interest in her story. The book does have diverse representation, including LGBTQ+ characters and romance.
๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ. ๐ ๐ก๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ข-๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐๐๐ค ๐ง๐๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐ (๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ ๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ค๐ง๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐). ๐๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ค๐ '๐จ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ, ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ.
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