Booklife Review
Plume’s suspenseful dark, hockey-themed romance follows Tesni, a college student who falls for the resident “bad boy” and toes the line between love and dangerous obsession. Tesni earns an academic scholarship to the elite UC Wisteria, where she meets Branwen Atthill, the school's star hockey player. Despite rumors of his violent nature, Branwen still holds a certain appeal for Tesni, who likes to get to know people on her own terms and believes she can change him. Soon the lines begin to blur between infatuation and manipulation as Branwen seeks control over Tesni's life. When her grades start to suffer and it seems that her whole life revolves around him, Tesni must choose between pursuing their budding romance or putting her own life back on track.
Incorporating grooming, the dangers of controlling men, and the toll that stalking can take on unsuspecting victims, this tense, briskly told tale juxtaposes unhealthy infatuation with healthy love. Plume stirs tension and sympathy as Tesni struggles with loss of identity alongside her complicated feelings for Branwen. Plume weaves a layered narrative that explores this toxic relationship from both Tesni and Branwen’s point of view, a choice that complicates the dynamic and will keep readers guessing. Overprotective and volatile, Branwen will stop at nothing to keep Tesni all to himself in an unhealthy claim of ownership that soon begins to scare her.
Underscoring Tesni’s growing isolation, an intriguing subplot highlights the dangers that seem to follow her on campus—all of which keep her running back to Branwen for protection. Devotees of dark romances will not be surprised to discover that the twists are plentiful and the characters are gray, though Plume invests them with vital prose, fresh conviction, and surges of feeling. Pushing against boundaries and at times sanity, the two central characters in this twisted tale are polar opposites who are drawn to each other—potentially to their own destruction.
Takeaway: Passionate, obsessive dark academic romance, with hockey.
Comparable Titles: Shantel Tessier’s The Ritual, Anna Todd’s After.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
