From the first time my parents decided that getting their next hit mattered more than keeping me fed, I learned I couldn’t trust anyone—until Cade. My foster brother took me under his wing and sheltered me from the worst of the crap thrown at us.

So when he heads off on an exclusive scholarship and everyone around me starts denying he ever existed, Roseborne College has some explaining to do. I’m not leaving until I get answers.

The school I barge into isn’t what I pictured. The staff claim Cade’s never been here. The students glare like just looking at me offends them. The classes involve more torment than teaching, while sobs and howls fill the night. And three very different, unnervingly appealing guys—one of them a teacher—act way too invested in my arrival.

Some unnatural power holds this place in its grip. The more I dig, the more horrors I uncover. Finding Cade might not be my biggest problem after all. It’s looking like none of us, me included, will escape this place alive.

You know, I started reading this, predictably on my lunch break and I spent the majority of the read thinking Yes, the place is cursed, everything is cursed, BUT WHAT IS THE POINT!

I got this series as the ‘box set’ on kindle unlimited. So, I almost started reading the second book before I realised, I’d finished the first.

I have mixed feelings about this book because there was promise of a very good plot and more mystery than I expected but I still found the book lacking in some way. I wanted more answers to the mystery – which was very vague and not at all explained.

I suppose with the way this book ended, the next book should run with the theme of knowledge and uncovering answers to the mysteries surrounding the place. But not my favourite Eva Chase book. I think I’ve just read enough of her work to put her on a high standard in my mind and this was lacking.

The story follows Trix (Beatric) who has arrived at Roseborne College in search of her missing foster brother, Cade. Right off the back the college is bizarre and full of secrets and inconsistencies. The other students seemed to be very anti-Trix, and their attitudes practically wanted to boot her from the premises immediately after her arrival.

There are three main characters that Trix interacts with: Ryo, Elias, and Jenson.

Ryo is the first ‘friend’ she makes – only friend really – and even that ends up hanging by a thread. He’s the only one in the school who is actively trying to welcome her to the college. He’s like a lost ship in the ocean searching for the light in the lighthouse.

Elias is a sort-of teacher. He teaches maths from a book that seems to pick the maths problem on its own accord. He did not want Trix to be there. He spent the first half of the book actively avoiding her and pretending he didn’t see her in his class. He spent the second half of the book challenging her to walk away and leave.

Jenson was an arse for the majority of the book. Always heckling and chastising Trix, trying to find the right nerve to pick on. He expanded towards the end of the book, becoming more than I had thought.

While reading this, I had major flashback vibes to the 10^th Doctor Who episode when they go back to the school with Rose, Mickey, Sarah Jane, and K9. The teachers in this book made me think of the teachers sleeping in the school. Once I’d thought that thought, it followed me and I couldn’t imagine the teachers of Roseborne College as anything else.

I’m curious to what will happen but I’m not hooked like I have been with other books by Eva Chase.