Publisher: WIlliam Morrow
Date of publication: February 2016
At prestigious Oxford University, an American student searches for the truth about her mother’s death in this eerie, suspenseful thriller that blends money, murder, and black magic.
You can’t keep it from her forever. She needs to know the truth.
Cassandra Blackwell arrives in Oxford with one mission: to uncover the truth about her mother’s dark past. Raised in America, with no idea that her mother had ever studied at the famed college, a mysterious package now sends her across the ocean, determined to unravel the secrets that her mother took to her grave. Plunged into the glamorous, secretive life of Raleigh College, Cassie finds a world like no other: a world of ancient tradition, privilege—and murder.
Beneath the hallowed halls of this storied university there is a mysterious force at work . . . A dark society that is shaping our world, and will stop at nothing to keep its grip on power. Cassie might be the only one who can stop them—but at what cost?
I wanted to love The Oxford Inheritance, but I ended up with mixed feelings. I did like the main character. I thought Cassie was resourceful and had a genuine drive to find out more about her mother. She also was willing to sacrifice herself to do the right thing in the end. I also enjoyed the setting. The college had a creepy Gothic atmosphere.
Despite those things, I fount the pacing of the book to be kind of slow. The beginning half really dragged for me. The ending was bit too neat and rather unsatisfying. I wanted more than the glimpse the last chapter gave me. I wanted to see what came next. I also called a lot of the twists pretty early on in the book. so there weren't too many surprises for me. The one surprise I did have didn't even end mattering in the end, so I had to question why it was included.
This wasn't an awful book. It just wasn't what I hoped it would be. I'd recommend giving it a try and see for yourself.
