The Oxford Inheritance

Good story, a blend of supernatural with a kick ass heroine. Cassie Blackwell has not had the easiest of lives but has worked hard at academia in order to enter Oxford on scholarship. She has also made it her life's mission to find out what happened to her mother during her own mysterious time at Oxford. She discovers more than she bargained for with a secret society 'The School of Night' at Raleigh College, a dark and dangerous group of privileged aristocrats. I liked that Cassie was tough and when necessity called for it could hold her own against abusive villains. I loved the authors descriptions of the college campuses, surrounding areas and it's history. Recommended for a light suspenseful read.

This book doesn't seem to know what kind of book it wants to be. The plot description makes it sound like a Dan Brown-type thriller, with some kind of global sinister secret in the offing. I expected a fun if creepy romp. It is not an adventure or thriller. There is some mild research, but that's about it. It is definitely not a fun romp, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it was not what I expected. Instead, the tone of the book is oppressive, but not in an interesting way, and relentlessly dour. The main character is not very sympathetic, although again, that's not necessarily a problem in itself. The main character, Cassie, has a back story that is pretty harrowing, and she experiences a lot of unpleasant stuff over the course show more of the novel. The tone and main character thus make this seem a bit more like dark family fiction. But unfortunately, it's not well-written enough to pull that off. In particular, the characters are all two-dimensional, including the protagonist. It is thus a book that is neither fun nor deep or thought-provoking. I did like the glimpses into Oxford life that the book provides, but somehow, it doesn't feel particularly convincing, even though I believe the author attended Oxford. The author doesn't have that talent for creating an authentic sense of place that is so necessary to a book like this, with a plot that is entirely dependent on place. Most problematically, as others have mentioned, there is a total shift in genre in the last quarter or so of the book. The paranormal explanation for what is going on is annoying and felt lazy to me. I would have liked this novel much better if the author had managed to come up with a non-paranormal, and non-sloppy explanation for what is going on. It was an absurd and very poorly sketched out explanation. Furthermore, very much unlike a Dan Brown-type novel, there is only a very cursory and sloppy historical connection made to what is going on in the present day. This felt very much like a book that the publisher (and marketing people) thought they could sell a fair amount of based solely on the description and the connections that they hoped sloppy reviewers would make (to Dan Brown, for instance). For the record, I am an Anglophile and I love a fun Dan Brown-esque romp, so this should have been right up my alley, but it wasn't. All of that being said, it was entertaining and passably well-written. Lastly, the novel is also a fairly interesting meditation on privilege. show less

The success of any novel involving fantasy of any sort, is dependent on the writer's success in creating a "suspension of disbelief" in the reader. Generally, that success is founded upon the use of believable details to support an inherently unbelievable premise. If that story is also supported by well-drawn characters, and a good plot, the book is generally enjoyable. In this book, however, vagueness rules. We know, for example, that the protagonist, a young woman, is capable of inflicting inexplicable damage when threatened but no effort is ever made to explain how that happens. Does she "hulk out" and turn green? Does she have superpowers? Any answer would have been better than no answer at all. The book is larded with this sort of show more vagueness. Suggestions of horror are routinely substituted for the more difficult task of descriptive writing. Character development is almost nil, plotting is weak and unsatisfying and, given stunning and picturesque surroundings, familiar to the author, that would seem to cry out for good background descriptions, we find the thinnest of efforts. I finished the book only because it was an Early Reviewer book and I felt honor-bound. This one was disappointing show less

I couldn't finish it. The combination of gimmicky writing and inaccuracies overwhelmed my interest in the somewhat generic family mystery.

There is an early chapter that literally ends with the cliffhanger, "Everything she'd told them was a lie." BARF

Everything about her college experience was inauthentic. A professor says to her at one point that he'll be teaching her philosophy class. The name of the class is "Philosophy." This woman is a junior PPE major. There is no class she'd take called "Philosophy." This is so basic and took me right out of the story.

There were a number of other issues that fell into this category as well, especially in the use of American versus British words.

Not recommended.

Cassandra Blackwell shows up at Oxford University's (fictional) Raleigh College for her junior-year-abroad program. As she strives to fit in, we learn that she has an ulterior motive: her mother spent time at Raleigh many years ago, returning to the US pregnant with Cassandra, and Cassie hopes to find her father. She also wants to learn about a super-secret society that might have flourished at Raleigh while her mother attended.

Among other typical academic experiences, Cassie is drawn into the social crowd of her roommate Evie, a group of hyper-privileged rich kids. Initially repulsed, she finds herself drawn to their world. She joins them for parties even as she pursues her studies and conducts her covert investigations. Astonishingly show more enough, many of her activities seem to be linked in odd ways.

The final quarter of the novel introduces a supernatural element that seems a bit out of place based on what has come before; perhaps I missed some elements that would have better prepared me for it. Cassie must decide whether to run to safety as her mother did, or face up to a seemingly insuperable challenge.

MacDonald maintains a suspenseful tone throughout, and builds effectively to the book's climax. Several secondary characters are useful foils for Cassie, although none are well developed on their own. Cassie's actions and choices are credible based on what we've seen of her. The author's style is compatible with the characters and the story. This is a very enjoyable thriller for those who like a gothic suspense element to their mystery.

also: http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/the-oxford-inherita... show less

This one sucked me in initially by its description and beautiful cover art. Family secrets, a setting in Oxford, a secret society -- what's not to love?

I'm waffling on my opinion of this book. On the one hand, I couldn't help but enjoy the physical descriptions of Oxford (in this case, of fictional Raleigh College). The storyline, though not exactly gripping, moved along well enough to keep me interested. However, I didn't particularly love the main character of Cassie. And the last portion of the book built up nicely, but it was too over the top to be believable, and that sort of ruined it for me. So while I didn't necessarily dislike this novel, it didn't seem to live up to its potential.

3.5 stars.
Well written story of a young woman trying to solve the mystery of her past while attending Oxford Uni. I really enjoyed the atmospheric setting & research aspect but right around the 80% mark, the plot takes a sharp turn & becomes something I was not expecting so a little disappointing. But the prose was fluid & elegant, pulling you into Cassie's immediately. This author can write. Perhaps the publishers could be a bit clearer about the genre.