Laura Stearns is completely obsessed with Byronic writer Sebastian Webster, so much so that she decides to attend the religious boarding school where he is buried. There she meets a fanatical girl named Virginia who shares her same love of the writer, and she finds herself caught up in Virginia’s grand dreams of starting their own cult. The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton is a coming-of-age dark academia about obsession, religious fervor, and repressed queer desire. From its synopsis, I wanted to love this book so much and the beginning started off so strong. The prose is so gorgeously wrought and Laura’s religious zealously initially felt so vivid and believable to me. However, once Laura joins Virginia's clique, the story meanders and loses focus—devolving into petty relationship drama between dull side characters. I also took issue with Virginia's own character. She feels undeveloped and unconvincing to me. She lacks the charisma to be a cult leader. She mostly pa...