Source: From the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: June 30, 2026
Rating:
Goodreads Synopsis:
Derin’s acceptance into Cambridge University is the end of an era—just not the one she expected.When she and her ultra-competitive Uni prep group, The Kenfield Set, were first invited to Professor Darnley’s summer ball, they planned on celebrating the group's success surrounded by the riches of his historical Kenfield estate—not kicking off the festivities with the professor’s will reading.But when the Darnley’s aristocratic children are disinherited, the students are offered the opportunity of a lifetime: compete in a Victorian, literary-inspired inheritance competition to be named the new heir—winner takes all!For Derin, it's a chance to help her working-class family. But the remaining Darnleys won’t take losing their stately home and its multimillion-pound inheritance lying down. And into the mix, a mysterious note is slipped under Derin’s door alluding to a dark family secret lying in wait.Now, Derin must balance the cutthroat games; scheming relatives; and a cute Kenfield intern amidst her dawning realization that the history of this inheritance might be soaked in lies… and blood.
Review:
Derin is a graduating teen about to head off to her dream school. She has had the pleasure over the past years of working with a professor and other students to prepare herself for her college applications etc. When the professor passes and calls them all to the will-reading they are thrown into a game to determine who among them will win his estate and all the money along with it.
This book reads like a more mature and historical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with twists like Knives Out. I felt like the plot was intriguing and satisfying, but the slow pacing occasionally tested my patience, and I almost gave up on the book within the first few chapters. There was a bit too much jumping around in the timeline and the setup felt like a slog. Once we were into the real plotline…the historical sections added depth, though they sometimes disrupted the mystery's tension and pulled me out of the story.
While I really liked and felt engaged in the challenges, the historical parts weren’t the only thing that kept me from fully immersing myself. I often felt like the characters were too close in personality to distinguish and even with Derin, I didn’t grow to empathize with her or really know her.
On top of that, the author often found the need to interject with sexual representation, (I am all for representation!) but I didn’t feel like it added to the plot or the storyline at all. It often pulled me out of the story because of how oddly jarring it occurred in dialogue or thought processes. The main character is bi, and she has flirtatious banter with a few of the other characters. This dynamic and insertion makes the reader think that there might be more coming, maybe a romantic side story; however, the author sadly leaves this at the surface and doesn’t delve into it past that point. Again, fine for a YA read. Acceptance and representation are super important, I just felt like… if it was brought up so much that there might be a bigger point than just rep. It definitely read as if the author was telling us versus showing us in this instance.
Overall, I think that the themes around whitewashing of history, racism, classism were exemplified in a very creative and engaging way. I think that the rep was there regardless of being told versus shown, and I think that readers that are looking for a plot with games and clues will enjoy it. I wouldn’t fully call this a murder mystery but there some elements of that too.
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