I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

In the wake of her mother's death, Liliana Chamberlain's estranged (and very wealthy) grandparents swoop in. Or their lawyer does. Her grandparents aren't ready to meet her, but they want her to have the life her mother walked away from, starting with Westdale Academy, the elite boarding school her mother attended. It should be a Cinderella dream come true, but Lili has serious misgivings. Yet she doesn't have a choice, being under eighteen and dead broke.

Westdale Academy is a school of secrets as well as intriguing classmates, including Hollywood golden boy Theo Dubois and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. As she gets to know them all, Lili realizes there's more to the school than elite-level networking. Something deadly.

For the new girl at school, investigating the deaths of past students — including Maddox's own sister — is a very dangerous game. Do those deaths have something to do with why her mother fled Westdale at the cost of her inheritance?

When a fun night out turns bloody, Theo is the prime suspect, and Liliana must race against time to connect the past with the present and discover the truth behind her inheritance.

Short and Sweet Review

Ever since the death of her mother, Liliana Chamberlain has been trying to keep a low profile and make it to her 18th birthday without catching the attention of CPS. When Liliana’s estranged grandparents catch wind of her predicament they send their lawyer Cecelia to pick her up and take her to Westdale Academy. At Westdale Liliana meets Theo and Maddox and some other classmates but these two are the most intriguing. Liliana learns that Westdale has its share of secrets including the death of past students. Liliana decides she wants to learn what made her mom leave Westdale at the cost of her inheritance. When Liliana has a night out and a classmate is injured she knows time is running out.

After reading the synopsis I knew I needed to get my hands on this book immediately. Our main character is Liliana and she’s been on her own for a bit after her mother’s death and just trying to make ends meet until she reaches her 18th birthday. To Liliana’s surprise her estranged grandparents decide to step in and send her to Westdale Academy, I will mention that we never meet these grandparents all of their decisions are shared by Cecelia a lawyer and she used to be best friends with Liliana’s mom. At Westdale Liliana also meets Theo the son of a Hollywood star and Maddox who’s more on the mysterious side. Liliana also learns of the academic race going on and a society called the Liliths that try to recruit her. I liked when we learned about the death of students that occurred during the time Liliana’s parents were students and how she had to dig to figure out what happened years ago. We also learn that Maddox’s sister recent died as well which just adds to the mystery along with another student who gets attacked during a night out. My favorite thing was to see Liliana put together pieces from the present and the past to figure out why certain students were targeted and what was really going on. My least favorite was probably the romance I just didn’t like it, it wasn’t your usual love triangle it was more of a throuple situation going on and it didn’t make me like either guy more than the other it just made me want to romance to seize altogether. The ending is what really threw me off, I guess the explanation made sense but it just felt so abrupt and I had to double check to see if maybe this would be a series but nope its a standalone.

Overall, this book does a great job at drawing you in but towards the end it’s like you’re free falling and you have no idea what just happened or why it did. I really don’t know how to feel about this book on one hand it was good on the other hand I’m very confused. I would recommend this book if you’re into dark academia and mysteries, I will say maybe I just didn’t get it.