Sibylline by Melissa De La Cruz

 

 

Raven, Atticus, and Dorian have dreamed of attending Sibylline for as long as they can remember. But when the magical university rejects them, the friends’ plans for a future studying the arcane together begin crashing down.

Until they decide to steal an education.

Getting jobs on campus, they sneak into lectures and swipe forbidden texts, dodging the administration’s watchful eye. In the quiet of night, in the thrill of secrecy, their magic awakens. And so do long-buried attractions that turn their friendship into something more.

But like magic, love can create, and it can destroy. As unrequited feelings and resentment threaten to fracture their bond, the trio discovers an insidious magic that has sunk its claws into Sibylline, killing students and corroding the very bones of the university. Now the three intruders may be the key to saving the institution from wreckage . . . if they don’t wreck one another first.- Penguin Random House

 

I stumbled upon a bonkers tweet about Sibylline by Melissa De La Cruz that me racing to the mall to grab a copy and see if it was true.  I want to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t read it, so I’ll delve into that further down in the post.

Three eighteen-year-old friends: Raven, Atticus and Dorian and devastated when they don’t get accepted to the prestigious Sibylline college for magic.  So, they decide infiltrate the college by taking jobs on campus.  They quickly discover that Sibylline holds some dark secrets.  The trio is also faced with their growing feelings for each other that may be more than friendship. 

I have been a fan of Melissa’s books for years both her previous YA work on the vampire series Blue Blood series, her adult series The Witches of East End and its YA spinoff, Summer on East End along with her contemporary YA series The AuPairs.  To me her strength in all those series was a great mix of characters and soapy plots mixed with some magic and fantasy and Sibylline is another example of what I’ve enjoyed about Melissa’s previous work and easily recommended her books to others when working at Borders back in the day.  Sibylline has an ending that is open for interpretation and sets up for sequel(s).  I hope there is more to come from the folks at Sibylline as at times I needed a little more depth into the how this magical world worked and I’m curious to see what happens next.

I believe I would be remiss in my review if I didn’t mention Chapter 41.  If you google Sibylline by Melissa Delacruz and Chapter 41 you will see it is the subject of some discourse as to if its content is appropriate in a YA novel marketed to teenagers.   

 

***** SPOILER AHEAD ******  DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO AVOID A SPOILER ****  

 

The tweet I read alleged that this book contained a “graphic” scene in which teenagers engage in a threesome with a dead body and thru sexual activity bring the body back to life.  This is indeed essentially Chapter 41.  I believe the use of the word graphic is open to interpretation but there is also questionable consent issues here.  Chapter 41 is only a page and half long in the hardcover print copy that I had.  I read a lot of wild stuff when I was a teenager (ex: Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews, The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch) and I could easily separate fact from fiction and moral appropriateness.  However, I don’t have children so I won’t presume to tell anyone how to parent, but I believe this book is best for older teens or literal young adults, the tone of this whole book really seemed a better fit for burgeoning New Adult sub-genre of YA or if not NA then actually geared for an adult audience like The Magicians series by Lev Grossman.

I purchased my copy at Target and you can find yours at your favorite local bookshop, online book retailer or library.