There's lots of interesting material here about a famous creative writing tutor who takes advantage of the febrile and vulnerable relationship between students and mentor but the shape of the book feels baggy and as if it takes some time to find its direction. It's also hard to believe in such a villainous creation as Sofie: while it's interesting to overturn the usual gender dynamics, Sophie is just so openly manipulative as well as stupid enough the leave clear evidence of her crimes in a drawer in her office.

It feels as if the book can't decide whether it wants to be a fast-paced page turner or something more thoughtful and literary - and ends up landing, unsatisfactorily, somewhere in between. The writing could be edited more closely too: 'I finally bit into my sandwich. The cheese was rich and tangy and the ham was pleasantly synthetic, like a child's snack' - why do we have to waste our time reading about a pedestrian ham and cheese panini as if we wouldn't have any idea what this was unless the book describes it for us?

So a good central idea but I'm not sure the execution really runs with it sufficiently.

2.5 stars