Book Review: Sibylline by Melissa de la Cruz

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Sibylline by Melissa de la Cruz

Mogsy’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers (February 3, 2026)

Length: 304 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

I find myself a little torn on my feelings for Sibylline by Melissa de la Cruz. I would say check it out if you’re a sucker for dark academia fantasy, but also be aware of the other major themes in the story. It doesn’t always seem to know what it wants to be, and in the end, that indecision is what dampens what could have been a much better read.

The story follows Atticus, Dorian, and Raven, three childhood friends with magical abilities who have always dreamed of attending the Sibylline school of magic together. However, when all three are sent rejection letters, they refuse to accept this as the end of the line and come up with a way to get inside the university anyway. After all, if they can’t enter as students, what’s stopping them from doing it as employees instead? After securing jobs as a professor assistant, a lab aide, and a library worker, the three begin sneaking into lectures, secretly auditing classes, and stealing access to restricted books. By slowly piecing together a magical education through unofficial means, they hope to better understand their own powers, which seem to grow stronger the longer they spend time on campus.

But their underground efforts soon uncover something rotten at the heart of Sibylline. Ancient magic stirring beneath its grand halls and rumors of a student’s mysterious death hint at a threat that may be tied to the very foundation of the school. As the trio are drawn deeper into their investigation, long-standing feelings and unspoken attractions between them also begin to surface, causing no small amount of friction within their relationship. Caught between keeping their heads down and confronting a danger they barely understand, Raven, Atticus, and Dorian must decide how far they’re willing to go for magic, even if it might tear their friendship apart.

While the premise holds a lot of potential with a setup that is undeniably fun, the execution doesn’t quite hold together. Just when the plot feels like it’s settling into a dark magic school mystery with just a sprinkling of romantic tension, it takes a sharp turn toward emotional angst to become a full-blown relationship drama—and one that is messy and distracting as hell at that. Of course, this was before I realized, at its core, Sibylline is actually a throuple romance. The sexual tensions burning between our three protagonists aren’t part of a supplementary side story running alongside the main narrative as I’d initially thought, but they are in fact THE main focus.

As you can imagine, the dark academia aspects and even the central mystery surrounding the school itself often take a backseat to entire chapters spent belaboring who is in love with whom. For those keeping track, Raven has been quietly pining for Atticus since they were children, but Atticus is in fact secretly love with Dorian, while for years Dorian has been carrying a torch for Raven. The tragedy is that all three are deeply invested in the wrong person, with none of their feelings fully returned. Cue the jealousies, hurt feelings, and overall an exhausting amount of mental turmoil born of unrequited love.

The result is that the mystery and horror elements get pushed out just as they’re starting to become interesting. This lack of balance is especially noticeable when the characters’ actual investigation is frequently interrupted by long stretches focused on their emotional spiraling, bringing the pace to a crawl. The shift feels even more jarring if you went into this novel expecting a very different kind of story, or even one aimed at a different age group. It’s interesting to note that Sibylline is published under a YA imprint, but it feels like it should be categorized as New Adult, given its mature themes and a sexually explicit threesome scene near the end that makes it less appropriate for younger teen readers.

In the end, Sibylline feels like a book full of good ideas that never quite come together. To be fair though, I wasn’t at all prepared for the primary focus of the story to be an overwrought and emotionally complicated three-way romance, but readers who are into that kind of dynamic will likely get way more out of this one than I did.