The Whispering Dark: The bewitching academic rivals to lovers slow burn debut fantasy

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Congratulations on a job well done. You are a recipient of our needs-based placement fellowship. Due to your decidedly unique capabilities, the placement committee has determined that your talents would be best utilized in a neo-anthropological field. As such, you have been assigned to Howe University’s Godbole School of Neo-Anthropological Studies. The scholarship will be sent directly to the college, indicating that it can be used for tuition, fees, or books. He’d tell her everything, in time. About the Apostle. About the Priory. About Liam. About the pledge they all made, the thin lip of Hell they’d found in the outskirts of Chicago. About nine-year-old Colton, who’d thrashed his way through the frozen Cocytus itself to lay himself at her feet. Drawn to her, drawn to her, the way every other dead, shivering thing drew in close.” Her parents had been visibly hesitant, but their abhorrence of discipline meant they wouldn’t ever force her hand. “Lane,” they’d said, “ if it’s a degree you want, there are plenty of online programs with manageable tuitions. Not only that, but they’ll be far more accommodating to your needs. There’s no bar here. You don’t have anything to prove.” NINTH HOUSE meets THE ATLAS SIX in the enemies-to-lovers dark academia debut everyone's talking about . . .

The book follows Delaney Meyers-Petrov, a girl who has been accepted into a prestigious school that teaches its students to walk between worlds. Delaney, or Lane, is deaf, and so her inner struggles are not the same as the ones from fully abled people. This is OwnVoices disability rep, and I am so glad that Andrew is finally able to have a book that represents her, even if that book is her own. I am always so happy when OwnVoices books enter the market, as everyone deserves to see themselves in a character.

A creature who walked with the dead and a woman who drew them close. He would never not be caught in her orbit. Delaney Meyers-Petrov is tired of being seen as fragile just because she's Deaf. So when she's accepted into a prestigious program at Godbole University that trains students to slip between parallel worlds, she's excited for the chance to prove he... He'd tell her everything, in time [...] About nine-year-old Colton, who'd thrashed his way through the frozen Cocytus itself to lay himself at her feet. Drawn to her, drawn to her, the way every other dead thing drew in close. A winter's queen. A graveyard's queen". A haunting, dreamlike tale of sacrifice, love, and obsession’ Cassandra Clare, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE LAST HOURS

He couldn’t help it. He went where she led, like a paper kite on a string. He was hopelessly caught, twisted in her branches. His line tangled. His spine splintered. His sail all in tatters. There was no clean way to work himself free.” Delaney wants to keep her distance from Colton - she seems to be the only person on campus who finds him more arrogant than charming - yet after a Godbole student turns up dead, she and Colton are forced to form a tenuous alliance, plummeting down a rabbit-hole of deeply buried university secrets. But Delaney and Colton discover the cost of opening the doors between worlds when they find themselves up against something old and nameless, an enemy they need to destroy before it tears them - and their forbidden partnership - apart. The writing is repetitive, heavy on metaphors and atmosphere and light on answers. Fans of books like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Starless Sea will likely get on with it. Those who found these books pretentious are unlikely to find any enjoyment here. It can be a little grating in places – Andrew overdoes the use of glass to describe Lane as delicate – but mostly works well, adding to the gothic nature of the story. This isn’t a book with an intricate magic system or carefully crafted fantasy world – it requires the reader to go with the flow, accepting the supernatural elements for what they are and not questioning the whys. The Raven Boys meets Ninth House with a deaf MC, a hijabi side character, and the most stunning writing you've read in your life. The Whispering Dark is incredibly immersive, I absolutely adored every aspect of it. It felt so intimate? I don't know how to explain it but I felt so much comfort every time I opened the book to continue reading. I know there are those who view trigger warnings as spoilers, so if that's you, I advise you to scroll no further)Delaney Meyers-Petrov is tired of being treated like she’s made of glass just because she’s Deaf. When she’s accepted into a prestigious, if controversial, programme at Godbole university, she sees her chance to finally prove herself. However, her new start is stymied by professors who won’t accept her disability – and a stand-offish upperclassman she can’t stop bumping into. The question tore through him. Lane was his. She'd alwas been his. And he was hers. They were painted the same shades. Threaded with the same lines. He'd spent his whole life drawn to her, and she to him.” I’ll start my negatives off gently and that is with the fantasy and world-building aspects of the book. This isn’t a fantasy with a romance element, it’s very much a romance with a bit of fantasy thrown in. Lane is granted a scholarship to a programme at Godbole University which teaches its students to walk through to parallel worlds. We start off seeing her first lecture where she is given a 3-minute monologue about what is expected in the course and told to get some rest to prepare. Then… that’s it. That’s the only lesson we are a part of – we know they learn Latin and calculus (for some reason), but this is the last time anything that is taught at the Uni is referenced until they have a test to see if they can walk through to another world. In this test Lane just stands in the room, listens for a minute and then slips through easily – it was hard to see what anything they were teaching them had to do with it. The world-building is also non-existent, it's difficult to understand whether this program is a secret, if parallel worlds or demons are a known thing in the world as a whole, how this university exists etc. THE WHISPERING DARK will burrow into your bones and nestle deep, refusing to let go. Kelly Andrew’s prose is aching and lyrical, the mark of a master in the making. This is a story I won’t soon forget‘ Hafsah Faizal, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of WE HUNT THE FLAME He knew Price would know. The boy was a walking encyclopedia. unforgivably smug in the understanding that he was, more often than not, the smartest person in the room. "I have not failed ten thousand times," he said, speaking over the muffled clash of swords, "Tve successfully found ten thousand ways that won't work.”