Lessen in de liefde

Maggie Adair #3

by Jenny Colgan

Lessen in de liefde is het derde deel van een driedelige serie van Jenny Colgan, over een Engelse kostschool aan zee.

Vlak voor de zomervakantie wordt Downey House getroffen door een schandaal…
De aantrekkingskracht tussen Maggie Adair, de vurige, toegewijde lerares Engels in Downey House, en David McDonald, een leraar op de plaatselijke jongensschool, is geëscaleerd, en nu gaan beiden een onzekere toekomst tegemoet.

De meiden van Downey House – de opgewekte Fliss, de glamoureuze Alice en de verlegen, betrouwbare Simone – gaan thuis lange zomers tegemoet. Maar het nieuwe schooljaar is niet ver weg en het zal nieuwe leerlingen en veel frisse, nieuwe uitdagingen met zich meebrengen…

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit, Audiobook, Contemporary, Cozy, Beach Reads

261 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 22, 2019

About the author

Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including 'The Little Shop of Happy Ever After' and 'Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery', which are also published by Sphere.' Meet Me at the Cupcake Café' won the 2012 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, as was 'Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams', which won the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2013.

For more about Jenny, visit her website and her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter.

Jenny Colgan has also been published under the name Jenny T. Colgan.

Reviews

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what an ending!

Hope it means there’ll be a Book 4 in the ‘School by the Sea’ series.

Boarding School fun and some drama; with teen girls, of course!

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t realize this book was third in a series until I read the foreword, at which point I dutifully checked the first two out of the library, and by the time I’d finished reading them I was regretting requesting this one. I just cannot understand what has possessed Jenny Colgan to think she’s the right person to be tackling heavy topics like body image, eating disorders, poverty and classism, wealth and privilege, teen pregnancy, teen suicide, sexually abusive teachers, race, gender, and sexuality. Literally every one of those topics comes up in this book and they’re all so badly handled! There’s no depth or nuance or complexity, nor are they woven into the tapestry of a broader world. Instead they are ham handedly put front and center where the reader is beaten over the head with them and yet somehow they are also cheapened, reduced, made light of, resolved in a few pages or turned into a silly joke. It’s also farcical how many of these major, serious topics got crammed into one short book. I assume the next installment will involve shooting heroin and, I don’t know, human trafficking? Because those are the only tragedies I think haven’t already been covered in the series. I just cannot understand what Colgan thinks she’s doing and I’d like to know where the sensitivity readers are! Seriously wtf.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC.

[Emily Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lessons at the School by the Sea
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 3/7/23
Author: Jenny Colgan
Publisher: Avon Books
Pages: 304
GR: 4.13

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Avon Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Beloved high school teacher Maggie Adair had been comfortably, if somewhat ambivalently, engaged to her dependable long-distance boyfriend Stan. But in the heat of summer, Maggie's attraction to her colleague David McDonald has caught fire. Now both are facing an uncertain future as they try to figure out how to stay committed to their careers--and each other. Meanwhile, the girls of Downey House--mercurial Fliss, glamorous Alice, and shy, hard-working Simone--have had long summers at home, which weren't quite the respite they had been hoping for. But the new school year is thankfully here, and it will bring new pupils and lots of fresh challenges for students and teachers alike at the school by the sea.

My Thoughts: This picks up right at the cliffhanger of the last book, being no. 3 is the Maggie Adair series. The total series is scheduled to be six books. It took awhile for this third installment to publish, so hopefully no. 4 will not take as long. While this one does end in a bit of cliffhanger, you come to expect with with books in a series, it gives you something to look forward to. Even though we do have cliffhangers in these books, they can be read as a standalone. I do like how Colgan explored some hot topic issues such as social media bullying, public v. private school education, racism, and gender issues, and Colgan does it in a graceful way. The characters were well developed with depth, flair, authentic, and intriguing. The author’s writing is complex, creative, emotional, and keeps you engaged throughout the story. I do recommend not only preordering this one, but picking up the first two books in the series, Welcome to the School by the Sea and Rules by the School by the Sea.

[Catie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Liked the other 2 better. Liked the David and Maggie storyline but didn't like the introduction of this 'woke' stuff. I just like to read wholesome, feel good story.

[Anastasia · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I have enjoyed the story of Maggie and David that has played out over the 3 books in this series, this one left me feeling anxious and exhausted with all of the negative energy. This includes extreme mean girl drama with a racist attack against a new girl at the school, and a suicide attempt that may be triggering, even though it was not too disturbing. And Alice is just one of the worst characters ever. I thought she would have a life-changing experience and become a better human being, but she just continues to act awful while reaping rewards. Ugh - so much drama in this book that it doesn't seem like you've left real life behind for a good mental break at all. Probably won't read book 4 - I just don't think I want to feel so much stress in my down time, life is stressful enough.

[Kristy W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm always a fan of Jenny Colgan, though this series isn't my favorite. I really like the adult characters, but the teenage girls are shallow and irritating (though maybe true to form, just not what I want to read about). And while I like what each of the two main characters, David and Maggie, were doing at their respective schools all year, I much prefer to read about them together than apart. Still, it ended with a bit of a cliffhanger and I"m in for the next in the series.

[Rachel Gilbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It feels like forever since I read Class and Rules the first two books in the Maggie Adair series, thus is took me a small while to get back into the swing of things.

Before long though the halls of Downey House were as familar as ever, the girls in the third form felt familiar and I was thoroughly enjoying all the antics that went on in this school year.

With it starting just shortly after book 2's cliff hanger ending, we are catapulted back into Maggie's personal dilemma, and with the old fashioned values at both Downey House and Downey Boys for David, it soon became apparent nothing would ever be simple.

While mentioning cliff hangers, come on Jenny Colgan give us the fourth form already, I NEED to know what happens after the last page of this one!

This really does have the Malory Towers for adults vibe to it, it felt reading it just how I did, when I read Malory Towers as a child, as I've always love a boarding school story. This is just such a fabulous book and I loved everything about it.

Of course it is bang up to date and it does tackle issues that are likely to common in schools everywhere nowadays. I also enjoyed seeing what was doing on with David and just how he is getting on after the rather shaky incident at the start of the book.

Originally published in 3 parts, I read this lovely combined paperback which meant I could just devour the whole of the school year in pretty much one sitting. I love a Jenny Colgan book and this was another excellent addition to the series and I look forward to hopefully seeing a full set of 6 books just like Malory Towers one day for this series.

[Sjoukje Werkman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nou, dit was wel weer genoeg meisjesdrama voor een jaar.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third book in the series started out slowly, but picked up. The main complaint I had about this book is it seemed to touch on a lot of current topics like suicide, teen pregnancy, race, and body image, but didn’t offer any solutions.

[Carmen Liffengren · Rating 2 out of 5]

This third installment of School By the Sea series felt entirely rushed and the students at Downey House have just worn out their welcome with me. I am most interested in just following Maggie's story, but she gets sidelined by too many characters with too many issues. Lessons ended so abruptly and while I know there's at least one more book coming in this series, this cliffhanger had me rolling my eyes. I so love the idyllic locale and British boarding school setting, but I wish Maggie's story was front and center.

[Ashley Bennett · Rating 1 out of 5]

I normally love any Jenny Colgan book I pick up, but this one didn't fall into that category, and I was so disappointed! This book never captured my interest or attention, and it wasn't something I looked forward in picking up and finishing. Ill still grab Jenny Colgan book off the shelf to read, but sadly can't recommend this one.

[Kati Reads Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book. The topics like body image and fat shaming were handled very poorly. These issues made it difficult for me to focus on anything else in the.story.

[Barbara Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I sure hope this isn’t the end of the series! What a cliffhanger!! But what a treat to revisit some old (what feel like) friends at this point. Jenny Colgan is always a go-to for a book to get lost in for a few hours and this was no exception.
Maggie Adair is back for Year 3 in the all girls school she teaches at called Downey House. The girls are always up to something and provide their own set of challenges but Maggie has her own. She’s called off her engagement to Stan because she’s fallen for David, a teacher at the local boys boarding school, which is strictly forbidden.
While they each struggle with their respective classes and the issues that the children face, they also struggle with the feelings they have for each other and what they want to do about it. Are they willing to sacrifice everything to be together?
This book tackles some heavier topics than usual in Jenny’s books, but it is done with tact and in a manner in which it can be appreciated but doesn’t bring the story to a screeching halt. I hope it’s not too long of a wait til the next installment!
Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review

[Annemiek Groeneweg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Geluisterd 🎧 Laten we zeggen dat de prestatie van deze serie eruit bestaat dat het gedoodverfde koppel pas in boek 3 bij elkaar komt. Dat werd langzamerhand tenenkrommend irritant, maar het was prima vermaak en afleiding in een paar volle weken met veel denkwerk.

[Jordi Tick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Top boek, lekkere roman, leest makkelijk weg en samen met deel 1 het leukste boek van deze serie 🤩

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another installment in the School by the Sea series about a contemporary girls’ boarding school in Cornwall. This third book was written long after the first two and I found it to be not as captivating as the others. Also, I really dislike cliffhanger endings. By the time the next book appears I will have forgotten most of the characters and life is too short to read over unless it’s an absolute favorite.

[Kaitlin Liston · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have loved most of Jenny Colgan’s series (the little book shop, cupcake shop, etc) but this series (which culminates in this third book) has not been of the same character. It condones (encourages even!) cheating and the fat shaming that I was hopeful would eventually stop has continued. I can’t imagine teenage girls reading this book!

[Sherry Hall · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - it annoyed me for some reason.


Didn't have patience for it. It's been so long since I read the other books, I couldn't get into it. Didn't like any of the characters this time around, Didn't care what happened. I read about 100 pages and left it in the cruise ship library for someone who might enjoy it. I usually have fun with Jenny Colgan, but I'm out this time around.

[Bibi]

Ik vind de boeken van Jenny Colgan heerlijk!

[Laurianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐️

Ik blijf toch nog steeds met dat gevoel zitten dat deze serie niet voor mij is. De personages blijven in een negatieve spiraal zitten, er is zoveel aan de hand, serieuze zaken, waar echt heel licht over wordt gedaan en haast worden weggewuifd.

Er is wel een beetje meer diepgang in de personages dan in de eerdere twee boeken, maar toch blijf ik nog achter met het gevoel dat ik dingen mis.

Het boek las wel erg vlot weg en de opzet van het verhaal vind ik wel tof. Het zou leuker zijn als de focus volledig lag op Maggie en David, want ik heb het gevoel dat ik wat opbouw en chemie mis tussen de twee.

Het eindigt ook met heel wat losse draadjes en een best dramatische cliffhanger. Gaan we meer zien van de kostschool aan zee?

[Nicola “Shortbookthyme” · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life at Downey House continues with the teachers and students returning for another year. Lots of drama and emotions for sure.
We are left wondering will Maggie and David get together in the end?????
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Dede Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third installment in the School by the Sea series. I enjoy reading about lives that are different than mine. Rich girls, scholarship girls, the teachers who teach and live with them at boarding schools with archaic rules are things I’ll never experience. So this is an escape read for me. Everyone is young, under 35, struggling with making a life or fitting in. I totally don’t fit into the young category but I think I’ve always struggled to fit in.

[Priya N · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had all my favorite tropes, boarding girls school (wild child vibes), female friendships, etc but for some reason it was just extremely mid. The characters felt kind of like caricatures and the authors writing style just didn’t really hit for me. Also the romance was solely in the last 10% of the book, so it was hard to care about it. 3/5.

[Susan Tunis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fluffy read for those who have read the prior books in the series. This title, in particular, is mostly transitional, leading up to what I presume to be the fourth and final book in the series.

Kudos to the author for writing a final sentence that guarantees impatience for the next book!

[Linda Kemmerer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, but ends abruptly. Obviously another book is coming.

[Deborah Veres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally! And by the ending, looks like there will be another book. I can't wait!

[Mary Tonks · Rating 5 out of 5]

The challenges of teaching teenagers! Maggie and David have their hands full, and that doesn't even cover dealing with the parents! With a bit of exaggeration for the sake of humor, it's quite an accurate description of a school year.

[Romy van t Veen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leuk vervolg op de andere 2 boeken van deze serie.

[Marliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steady 3 sterretjes

[Nanette Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet, smart, savvy, wonderful setting. I really likd this short series.