Historian Robin Quain is intent on finding an artifact related to witchcraft, which takes her to Hildegard College. The college is located high in the Rocky Mountains on the site of a former monastery complete with secret passages and hidden rooms, which is pretty cool. There are interesting historical facts sprinkled throughout the text, which I also liked.

Her colleagues act strange, especially when she asks about the disappearance of her predecessor. They constantly gaslight her and don’t even try to be subtle about it. There is an explanation for their behavior when the twist is revealed, but I think it would have been more realistic if they weren’t so obvious when they lied to her early on.

To solve the mysteries of Hildegard College, Robin follows a series of clues which makes this feel like a video game. Robin even compares it to a video game herself. There’s a pretty cool explanation for why this is the case later on.

When Robin is explaining why she doesn’t believe in angels, it reads too much like a lecture and the believer she’s talking to didn’t push back enough for the conversation to feel realistic. However, she is an academic, so I guess her lecturing at people is in character.

One lecture of hers I did like is her explanation for conspiracy theories. When you figure something out (or only think you’ve figured something out) your brain gives you a rush of neuropeptides which makes you feel good, especially if you think you’ve figured out something no one else knows.

Robin believes we currently live in the worst of times because of all the bad news. While it’s true that a lot of bad stuff does happen today, any competent historian will tell you things were much, much worse in the past.

Werewolves, witches, vampires, aliens, demons, Lovecraftian monsters, and more are all mentioned throughout the book, leaving you guessing which direction the novel will ultimately go in. Unfortunately, this also makes the novel feel a bit unfocused with too many red herrings.

Overall, an enjoyable read.