Briarcliff Prep: Sophomore Year

by Brianna Peppins

Amelia Westlake Was Never Here meets an empathetic exploration of anxiety at historically Black boarding school Briarcliff Prep. Love triangles, friendship breakups, and slice-of-student-life are balanced with a thoughtful discussion about mental health, all in a love letter to Black girls.Avielle LeBeau is beginning her second year at Briarcliff Prep, and she's got big dreams. Top of the list? Starting her own student life magazine and rooming with her besties Rhyon and Zazie. But a housing mix-up splits Avi from her friends—and to make matters worse, she's rooming with her rival, Fallon Walsh, instead.How does one girl juggle school, a fracturing friendship, living with a mean girl, and getting caught in a potential love triangle between the ex she can't move on from and a friend who's becoming something more? It's a lot. Made even harder by the panic attacks Avi has been experiencing lately.If one thing is true about the LeBeau family, it's that they're always there for each other. But with her older sister Belle away at college and her brothers preoccupied chasing their own dreams, Avi must learn how to find support in new (unlikely) places.Will Avi finally find her voice? Or will her dreams be drowned out by everyone else?

340 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 19, 2024

About the author

Brianna Peppins is the author of young adult contemporary books, including Briarcliff Prep and As Long as We're Together. She was raised in PG County, Maryland and graduated from Spelman College with a B.A. in Psychology. When not writing, Brianna takes special interest in spending time with her loved ones, social justice issues and is a self-proclaimed movie aficionado.
Briannapeppins.com
Twitter: @Lexi_pep
Instagram: @Lexi_pep

Reviews

[Narrha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came back to read the second book of Briarcliff Prep and I really enjoyed it !! I will say there was a lot going on in the beginning but I feel like around the 40-50% mark I started to like the flow better.

-Loved that the book focused on mental health and how important it is to pay attention to those cues. I absolutely loved all her moments with her therapist, she really worked with Avi in such a loving way. It was nice to see Avi’s natural progression into being more mature but still being a young lady. One thing I love about her is how driven she still was and how she put her everything into her magazine. I wanted to be on the team honey because I just felt like I was apart of it all lol.

-When it comes to Quincy, team Avi and Q all day lol. I was so here for the love dilemma 😂. All in all, I did like the first book slightly more but this still was a good read. 3.75/5 ⭐️

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Briarcliff Prep ❤️❤️❤️

The sentiment remains the same: I wish I would have had this book when I was going through my high school or shoot even junior high years. It's so heartfelt and warming and focuses on problems that not only us as adults deal with but teenagers. This author does a wonderful job of demonstrating so much tact when dealing with sensitive topics by remaining realistic about what happens in young relationships, young friendships.

The village that is in this book is absolutely incredible.

I pray that we have a junior and senior year! This is one of those series that I will have my future children read hopefully