Two things. I did not know this is part of a series and I thought it was YA (I must have just assumed from the cover). It ends on a “cliffhanger”, but that explains why the B plot was so thin and inconsequential until the last six chapters. No buildup at all, all tell and no show. And if this is suppose to be giving dark academia vibes, I think it missed the mark. Also, while the MCs are young (19/21), this is not YA, there is spice lol. So many times I wanted to DNF’d this book and if I wasn’t listening on audio, I would have. I picked it up because of the Black lead characters, but unless it plays a part in the next book, there was no discernible traits or actions shown that made me think they were Black characters. And I know all Black people are different, but they could’ve been changed out for any race of characters, so kind of pointless for me. Anyways, the writing was fine, but I am not invested in the “mystery” set up in this book and all characters are flat, especially the secondary characters. I did like the male narrator though lol