Gr 9 Up—Resistance to life as a wife and mother lands Silas a diagnosis of Veil sickness and conscription to a
torturous conversion facility masquerading as a boarding school. Horrific fictional violence parallels the real
psychological violence of forced conformity, but Silas finds redemption in community.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This was a fantastic ghost story, the writing and the visuals were striking and unique, and the main character was someone you were rooting for the whole story. The characters had a lot of depth, and the relationship between Silas and Daphne was fantastic. ( )

4.5 Stars ( )

Silas never wanted to be married and have a life like other women. His dream was to be a surgeon. It's a privilege to be a man with violet eyes but it worked opposite for a woman. And he was born as a woman.

When the opportunity arises, he pretends to be somebody else and attends a Royal Speaker Society gala to obtain the seal that will help him to escape from his arranged marriage with a wealthy boy, and open the door to be a man.

Unfortunately, Silas is caught and sent to Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium to be cured and to become dutiful wife. Soon Silas suspects that something wrong is going on in that place. Previous residents were not cured but instead were disappearing. They were dead. He knows that because he can talk to the ghosts of dead girls.

This book is a queer horror taking place in the Victorian era. Some scenes were very drastic and horrid and it’s a good book for Halloween season.

I’m surprised it’s meant for Young Adults. The book contains brutal medical treatments and experiments, miscarriage, violence, sexual assault, abortion (this scene was the hardest for me to read). It’s a mix of fantasy, paranormal, horror, and historical fiction. Overall, I’m impressed by the creation of this dark and disturbing story. ( )

This was vivid, disturbing, absolutely gross, and so, so good. Wildly horrific, disturbing, and thrilling. Full of just incredible amounts of gore, a very respectable number of spooks, and absolutely horrible and worse, pretty historically accurate treatment of anyone young, female, queer, or neurodivergent (do not take the content warnings lightly, there is no underselling here). Makes you want to throw things that may or may not explode. A+ horror again from Andrew Joseph White; I can't wait to see what this author comes up with next. ( )