Finally, another review to write up and, more importantly, another book read! This Is How We End Things by R.J. Jacobs hooked me with its teasing and emotionally involved introduction. The rest of the novel revealed itself like an oleander bloom – stunning and deadly. This Dark Academia novel is one you must add to your reading lists, especially if you’re a fan of If We Were Villains and One of Us Is Lying.

From the get-go, the setting immerses you into the plot with its tense and eerie atmosphere. By the end of the first chapter, you’re sitting in the front of your seat, eagerly anticipating what will happen next. R.J. Jacobs made such a brilliant choice with this intro because I genuinely felt engaged and interested in what was happening, borderline desperate to learn more and learn it fast. The plot moves into the present-day setting, and we meet the characters and get a feel for the relationships. R.J. Jacobs does a magnificent job at creating a sense of alienation or disbelief between characters, instilling this tension that pairs well with the themes, situations and developing drama of the first chapter.

The characters are mid-20s or older, but don’t let their ages fool you. Given the centre of this dark academia novel is psychology, the characters are complex and mysterious and have a mature feel. There wasn’t a time when I thought that any of the characters felt childish or ill-fitted to their surroundings and academic setting. They all felt well-educated, and not only did they want to be there, but they deserved to be in that department. After the events of chapter one, you get this strong sense that things won’t be easy to deduce and that there will be many red herrings and twists along the way. I questioned how this novel would unfold, theorising that the study wouldn’t be what they expected or that someone was in on it the whole time and wanted to see how the others would react.

The setting is expectant of dark academia with its isolated college campus. It differs slightly from other dark academia novels I’ve read as the events occur during a semester break, and the weather, while imposing, doesn’t play as much of an obstructive role until the climax. Keep in mind, I’ve only read a half dozen or so DA books – If We Were Villains, A Discovery of Witches, The Maidens, Babel, The Cloisters, The Secret History and Dead Poets Society come to mind, but there may be some more I’m forgetting. My point is that while this may be recurrent in the genre, it doesn’t copy or clash with other titles that I know of.

I can see myself reading more of R.J. Jacobs’s work, and upon a glance, he has published multiple books within the thriller/psychological suspense side of adult fiction. After my blunder with Alex Michaelides, this discovery almost seems like a blessing. Expect to see R.J. Jacobs appear in a few more reviews this year. His narrative style feels very fitting for the genre, and rarely does it dip into exposition or info dumps, which I appreciate for these kinds of novels. I highly recommend This Is How We End Things to dark academia fans, thriller and psychological suspense fans and fans of adult crime fiction. It ticks all the right boxes and is a genuine pleasure to read.