Leigh Bardugo's novel introduces Alex Stern, a young woman with the ability to see ghosts who is recruited by Yale's secret societies to monitor their occult activities. Alex's power, which she calls a curse, emerged from a near-fatal drug overdose that killed everyone else present. A mysterious benefactor secured her admission to Yale on condition she report on the societies, whose rituals grant worldly success through dark magic. When a murder occurs that may be connected to the societies, Alex must navigate Yale's hidden world while confronting her own traumatic past. Bardugo, known for young adult fantasy, writes here for adult readers, incorporating violence, sexuality, and moral ambiguity absent from her earlier work. The novel uses Yale's Gothic architecture and genuine secret societies as foundations for a fantasy that comments on privilege, power, and who gains access to America's elite institutions. Alex is prickly and damaged, more survivor than hero, and the mystery's resolution provides limited resolution. The book inaugurates a series that explores how old money, old magic, and old violence interweave. Bardugo demonstrates range beyond her established brand while maintaining the readable prose and propulsive plotting that built her audience.