Sibylline
by Melissa de la Cruz
Pub Date: FEB 03, 2026
Penguin Young Readers Group
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Romance | Sci Fi & Fantasy | Teens & YA
DESCRIPTION/SYNOPSIS:
Three teens infiltrate the magical ivy league in this heart-stopping dark academia romantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz.
Raven, Atticus, and Dorian have dreamed of attending Sibylline for as long as they can remember. But when the magical university rejects them, the friends’ plans for a future studying the arcane together begin crashing down.
Until they decide to steal an education.
Getting jobs on campus, they sneak into lectures and swipe forbidden texts, dodging the administration’s watchful eye. In the quiet of night, in the thrill of secrecy, their magic awakens. And so do long-buried attractions that turn their friendship into something more.
But like magic, love can create, and it can destroy. As unrequited feelings and resentment threaten to fracture their bond, the trio discovers an insidious magic that has sunk its claws into Sibylline, killing students and corroding the very bones of the university. Now the three intruders may be the key to saving the institution from wreckage . . . if they don’t wreck one another first.
REVIEW:
I’m of two minds about Sibylline by Melissa de la Cruz. I thought the premise was clever. We’ve all read or heard about books detailing student life at a magical school or university. Many readers grew up waiting for the next installment of a very famous series about a young orphan with a lightning scar on his forehead, to name one of the most prominent magic school series. So, right away, Sibylline flips that on its head. The three main characters have all applied for admission and all three are summarily rejected. But, rather than taking ‘no’ for an answer and going to a backup non-magical school, they decide to get jobs on campus and absorb-by-proximity whatever magical lessons they can covertly attend or magical books they can beg, borrow or steal.
A mystery grows as all three discover they have magical abilities that exceed those of many actual students, and that something nefarious is going on with one of the school’s buildings. They team up, exchange ideas, and take it on themselves to find out what’s going on and how to fix it. All that stuff was sufficiently compelling.
But—yes there’s a ‘but’ here—when the story switched to the relationship track, my attention and interest waned. Because the story comes with a love triangle of sorts, but it’s almost circular: Raven is in love with Atticus, while Atticus only has eyes for Dorian, who is smitten with Raven. My issue with all of this was that they’ve all known each other since childhood, but only now is this an issue. And each one reacts with pouting disappointment when the object of their individual affection rebuffs their interest and advances, or expresses feelings for the member of the trio they desire. Oddly, the book reads like a New Adult novel until the relationship drama takes center stage, whereupon the story feels more YA than NA. It’s not so much that this circular triangle exists, but that it seemed to be in stasis until it was needed to add drama to what was already an interesting story. Eventually, the evolution of this relationship dilemma serves a plot purpose, but it almost seemed too convenient that it waited to be an issue to address until the worst possible time, given what was at stake with evil roaming the halls of magical academia. So, come for the inverted premise and magical plot but, as far as the relationship melodrama, your mileage may vary.
Note: I received an eGalley of Sibylline from the publisher via NetGalley in consideration of an unbiased review.
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