Publishers Weekly
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A boarding school student winds up in over his head after he unearths new information about his missing sibling in this pulse-pounding mystery by Jackson (Careful What You Witch For, for adults). High school junior Sutter Heyward is anxious to return to Meddlehart Academy, an isolated institution in the Colorado mountains. Though administrators, authorities, and Sutter’s classmates have moved on from his older brother Lawson’s disappearance more than a year prior to the book’s start, Sutter is certain that Lawson is alive. With help from loyal peers, including a lifelong best friend, a crush, and a romantic rival, Sutter searches for clues to his sibling’s whereabouts. Upon learning that Lawson went missing while investigating their school’s rumored buried treasure—one that members of a secret student society called the Order of the Vipers have also been searching for—Sutter believes he’s uncovered the key to finding his brother. But things take a dangerous turn as Sutter delves further into the society’s sinister history. Though some aspects of the dark academia plotting and atmosphere feel overly familiar, expertly rendered character dynamics, a believably suspenseful love triangle, and a focus on the bracing impact of trust and friendship sets this YA debut apart. Ages 12–up. Agent: Rachel Beck, Liza Dawson Assoc. (Apr.)

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Sutter Heywood was the last person to see his older brother, Lawson, before he disappeared; everyone assumes Lawson is dead, but Sutter is determined to find him by returning to Meddlehart Academy. When a secret society, the Vipers, wants him to finish what Lawson started by looking for a treasure supposedly buried on school grounds, Sutter enlists his four best friends to uncover the truth. The chapters rotate third-person narration among Sutter and two of his friends, Fallon and Grayson, while his two other friends, Carter and Margot, function primarily as cheering sections and sounding boards. Aside from the primary mystery, the question of whom Fallon will end up with, Sutter or Grayson, nearly takes over the book. While the timeline is a bit hard to follow, the angst of unrequited teenage love pairs quite well with the life-or-death hunt for buried treasure, and the explosive conclusion satisfyingly wraps things up. This dark academia debut will be a nice addition for libraries where romance and suspense routinely fly off the shelves.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

At an elite boarding school, a group of teens find themselves in the midst of a decades-old mystery. Nestled in the mountains of Colorado lies the prestigious Meddlehart Academy, a prep school with a storied past. Sutter Heyward is returning for his junior year, but this time things are different: His beloved older brother, Lawson, a fellow Meddlehart student, went missing the previous year. Sutter and his friends—Margot, Carter, Fallon, and Grayson—learn about a secret society, the Order of the Vipers, that’s seeking a rumored treasure buried somewhere on campus. The teens are recruited, and they hope that joining the order will help them learn the truth about what happened to Lawson. But before long, they discover that the school’s secrets are more sinister than they ever could have imagined. Jackson’s debut is ambitious in scope but falters under the weight of a bloated narrative that mixes a secret society, treasure hunting, a romance, and a missing-persons case without fully integrating the strands into a coherent whole. A central love triangle feels overly melodramatic and stiff, often eclipsing the thriller aspects. The chapters rotate among Sutter’s, Fallon’s, and Grayson’s third-person perspectives, but their voices sound irritatingly similar. The teens encounter few red herrings and decipher clues with breezy ease, lessening the suspense. As the case concludes, there’s a hint of more adventures to come. Carter has dark brown skin, and other main characters are cued white. Dark academia rendered toothless. (map)(Thriller. 12-17) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.