Episode 13.5: ‘An Arcane Inheritance’ by Kamilah Cole

The was inevitable. Just a glance at the summary tells you this book was always heading towards a spot on the podcast:“Ellory Morgan is determined to prove that she belongs at Warren University, an ivy league school whose history is deeply linked to occult rumors and dark secrets. But as she settles into her Freshman year, something about the ornate buildings and shadowy paths feels strangely…familiar. And, with every passing day, that sense of déjà vu grows increasingly sinister.Despite all logic, despite all reason, despite all the rules of reality, Ellory knows one thing to be true: she has been here before. And if she can't convince brooding legacy student Hudson Graves to help her remember a past that seems determined to slip through her fingers as if by some insidious magic…this time, she may lose herself for good.”In this episode we discuss:Elite institutional gatekeeping and abuse.Third person vs first person narratives.Where this book sits as a subgenre (of a sub genre?)Is it Dark Academia? Checking against our genre framework.