The Dropouts

by Liv Parkinson, Vivian Oparah (Narrator)

For fans of THE SECRET HISTORY, CRUEL INTENTIONS and EUPHORIA, this is an unforgettable dark academia thriller about addiction, trauma and the anxiety epidemic experienced by young people today. Performed by BAFTA nominee and star of RYE LANE, Vivian Oparah.

Kayleigh Morris is just trying to survive her first year at St. Kellum’s University.

Freshers’ Week is a blur of social anxiety, parties, and the weight of trying to fit in. But when Kayleigh’s panic attack becomes the talk of the campus, she retreats into herself, shutting herself away in her room.

Everything changes when she’s selected for a mysterious new module, led by Professor Lady Marian, who introduces her and a group of misfits to a psychedelic drug believed to cure anxiety and promote productivity. At first, the drug works wonders, melting away their insecurities and unlocking new possibilities. But soon, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur. As Kayleigh’s grip on the world around her weakens, she finds herself grappling with her darkest fears, fractured friendships, and the pull of a new, dangerous obsession.

As the experiment spirals out of control, Kayleigh must confront the terrifying truth of what she’s become—and what the drug is really doing to her mind.

Genres: Audiobook, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Horror

Audible Audio

Published July 14, 2025

Reviews

[aeryn rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐️

I just don’t think this audiobook was for me. I wasn’t sucked into this story whatsoever and for a book where the premise is supposed to be trippy, I just didn’t care. It was just…weird and not in a good way.

I genuinely didn’t care about the characters or the story or really anything. I found myself pushing through this just for the sake to push through it. The only part I enjoyed about it was the narration; she made the story I didn’t much care for into a story that had a unique personality.

There is one thing I’ll say about this book and it’s not a good or bad thing: it is totally and utterly unique. I have never read or heard a book like this before and I guess there’s something to say about that.

I don’t have much more to say without repeating myself but if you stumble across this audiobook, I’d recommend skipping it. It did have some really thought provoking and mind bending aspect to it, but I don’t think it was particularly done well. Patting myself on the back for at least trying something different!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

𝓟𝓻𝓮-𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭:

Found this randomly and I’m going in blind so wish me luck 😅
I genuinely know nothing about this except that the synopsis looking interesting!

[Sarah P · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not for fans of The Secret History

[Jess Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book I went into completely blind. I never saw or heard anything about it. The mental health descriptions were smooth and creative and the narrator did a great job of fleshing out the characters. There was not a character that i liked above all but I didnt dislike any of them. I found that i could connect with the main character and how she struggled with her mental health. There was a twist at the end that didn't really feel relevant to the plot and instead felt more like adding shock value. I also was not a fan of how the book just abruptly ended the way that it did with no further explanation. Unless there is a second book to come out, the ending was very disappointing as it was left open and filled with mystery. There were so many aspects of this book that I thoroughly enjoyed but then other aspects that made the experience dry and confusing. It was not a boring read but there were definitely parts that I wished would have gone differently. I do recommend listening to this book because the narrator did a bang up job in the flow and the pace and the characters overall. Her voice was fun to listen to and it brought more intrigue to the story.

[Nikki Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so captivating and the twists just kept coming.. then it ended? Felt so rushed at the end and left on a cliffhanger that didn’t make much sense. Loved the direction it was headed and it held my attention so I would recommend just for the entertainment factor, but it’s no literary masterpiece.

[Dr. Bower · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was all in for five stars until the ending

[Rach · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only got through this because I needed something mindless to listen to during a long run. The reveal had me rolling my eyes

[Lozz’s Random Reads McKenzie - Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just spent 24 hours listening to this audible exclusive story and I am stunned!!!
In a good way .

What an unexpected suspenseful , creepy GEM of a story this turned out to be

Beautifully acted/Narrated by Vivian Oparah


If you were asked to be a test subject as part of a controlled trial, where your crippling anxiety and depression could possibly be cured, all while you are enduring your first painful months at the only College that would excepted you, St. Kellie’s University,

Would you except?

This is the issue Kayla Morris faced as she is DESPERATE to survive. “Fit in” with her group these first few months

If she excepts the, amazing offer and joins the group it promises to erase her lack of unproductive assignment work, virtually guaranteeing her a pass
.
If nothing else she can obtain coping mechanisms,to at least help her leave her God Damn ROOM!!!

Would you sign up?

Kayla
Ruben
Lyle
Sabi,
And Greta
All do.

Hoping to unlock their artistic potential.

Kayla - an illustrator

Ruben - a classically trained dancer

Lyle - a drama student

Sabi - talented clothing designer

Greta - photographer

All with painful secrets


This was a great character driven story about five College students struggling with past trauma, a new environment, and the inability to “ fit in”
Who agree to undertake a ( what they believe) is a science based, clinical study into psychedelics that, at the end, will allow them to be more productive, creative, and finally in control of their demons

As they start the process, under the…

guidance?

Influence?

Of Lady Mary-Anne
A kind of, elegant mad professor, it’s not long before they realise all is not what it seems.

What starts out all warm, snd cozy, with odd conversation with cats, suddenly changes with the frightening blackouts they all experience.

Blackout that end up placing them in some rather precarious circumstances, as the “bad trips “ get worse
Leaving them to question everything and wondering what they got themselves into.
Is Lady MaryAnne being honest and are their relationships, and the connections, are they really as they seem?

Or?

Have they been extremely naive throughout the whole process ?
Soon, things will develop into an area of treatment that none saw coming.

One, that one of them won’t survive.

This is a very creepy , suspenseful story about a group of dysfunctional College students looking for hope but find a horror story instead .

I. Was. 100%. IN

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really intrigued by the story and it was fun to listen to. But as you progress through the book, the plot gets more and more far fetched: characters avoiding the truth with no clear reason other than convenience for the plot. Choices of characters make very little sense, on drugs and off drugs. At the very end there is a "twist" - what is the purpose of it? I think these types of twists only work if reader believes the author has something exciting up their sleeve that they are not sharing with the reader. With how repetitive second part of the book got, I definitely didn't believe author had anything left up their sleeve, so the ending felt unnecessary.

[Christina Arblaster · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the sorry line, but am not a fan of music in an audiobook.

[Magda Golinska · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
Reading this book is like taking the psychedelics yourself

Crazy experience though it was super engaging, it lost me a little at the end and I wish there was some sort of bigger conversation on mental health but it’s a solidly entertaining piece of media.

[Leah F C S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vauxhall car guy next to me at the red light seemed very invested. Maybe I should turn down the volume I listen to audiobooks at in the car

[Heather Ascroft · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 45% or so, just not for me

[moony · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was decent, probably a 4 star read, but the ending lowkey sucked

[Sarah Jolley · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a good book would highly reccommend

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

My favorite part was the narrators voice, and the description of anxiety in the first few chapters. Everything else was unrealistic.

The pacing, lack of realism, inconsistency, and lack of research are honestly the worst parts. The book writes like a spiraling, surreal, whirlwind show, but in a choppy book format. It’s not good. It’s like if the psychedelic aspect of adult swim was put into the lack of logic in a teen show.


Vague Spoilers Below:

A section of the book mentions someone’s family member struggling with mental illness in the past. Their family member was taken to the hospital because of this. Meanwhile they sent her home the same day. In what world would someone be released same day as getting treated for a mental health issue that resulted in a physical emergency. At bare minimum they would’ve kept her for monitoring. Why tf wouldn’t she have been admitted into psychiatric / behavioral inpatient care though?!? As someone who has been treated for mental health issues, I find this plot point ridiculous and under researched.

With the reasoning of justifying kidnapping / death / drugs, people just act like nothing happened, it’s astoundingly unrealistic.

The outdoor part of the main setting isn’t described well, so every time an event happens that’s important out there, it’s just confusing. Also, they easily scale a cliff’s edge at night all throughout the story. They seamlessly wander from the ocean or from campus to this cliff house. Then, suddenly, only in the last few chapters is it said to be extremely dangerous at night. Also no explanation is given of how close of far apart this is from the ocean or the campus as the story progresses. We also have no idea how spread out the campus is. It’s just unrealistic that no one would be injured, brought to the hospital due to psych or drug concerns, or die early in the book.

[Hunter Ross · Rating 1 out of 5]

Massive, massive plot holes and farfetchedness at every turn. How is such an interesting topic get turned into a book where one does not care about any of the characters? The twist at the end was fairly ridiculous. I don't know why I finished it but I did-self-congratulations. I would not recommend this at all. A teacher with a hole in her head and a massive psychiatric issue is a professor-sure. She basically kidnaps and drugs students under false pretenses since she was rightfully rejected to conduct dangerous and absurd experiments and no one notices or cares-sure. They end up in black out drug fests all over campus and no one is suspicious-sure. A boy is found dead by a crazy-arse teacher near her supposedly creepy mansion on a clifftop and no one is intrigued-sure. The threats she made to the students are ridiculous, they have pictures and emails trails and the testimony of all the students but they do nothing-sure (except one poisons her because she can tell the recipe of a dangerous concoction on a picture-sure). No one tests the professor in coma for drugs-sure. The hole-in-the-head-professor gets approval for the absurd, addicting, highly dangerous compound for some reason-sure. She wakes up and sends the a text-sure. I could go on but this is just...off, nothing gels, you care about literally no one, nothing is interesting despite the idea, and I really wish I had not listened to this. Unfortunately-avoid.

[Sam Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 3/4 of the book works and is engaging, but then it feels like Liv Parkinson doesn’t really know how to end it, or really commits to where she wants to go with it - is this just a book about drug use, mental health, and professional ambition to make a name for yourself no matter the cost, or is it less grounded and wants to be about telepathy, fate, souls connecting, and the unknown?

But as other reviewers have already mentioned the ending is “meh”. With a relationship twist that falls flat and has no impact as it doesn’t make you rethink the story in a new light, to a totally out of character decision by Lady Marian (she would never have drunk that tea) that just feels like a heavy handed attempt to wrap everything up when you’re not sure how to.

Also the amount of times characters don’t say how they’re really feeling to each other drives me mad. It gets to feel like it’s a deliberate choice to keep the plot staying in its predetermined lane than natural behaviour or the open behaviour catnip is supposed to cause.

Maybe I’m being too harsh with the two stars, probably shouldn’t have written a review straight after finishing and still feeling the disappointment in the ending!

[Kelly Conrad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book totally caught me by surprise. I still don’t really know what to do with it. It was so incredibly weird and just kept getting weirder…kind of like the end of the movie “Pulp Fiction.”

It started slow and sped up so quickly I felt like it was en entirely different book almost. I was entertained but in a very sickly sort of way, and the ending was unsatisfying in my mind with too many loose ends not wrapped up.

I have to give it a couple stars just if for nothing else than a wacky, creative storyline. Reuben was my favorite character, by far, but the book didn’t really lend itself to attaching too much to any of the characters. It was certainly unexpected and still has me kind of reeling so I was moved in some ways by it…but I am not sure I would shout from the roof tops for everyone to go out and read it.

[Janah Rehman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

I enjoyed this, I really liked the characters and the plot moved at a good pace. The middle dragged a little bit. I don’t hate the ending, but it felt like it didn’t really have one? It just went back to them essentially being in the same position as before?

The aunt bit was a twist but it didn’t really change anything? She still locked them in a room, got them addicted to unsafe drugs and lied about the trial. Just because she’s your aunt, doesn’t make pissing in a bowl in a locked room and killing your mate okay 🤷🏽‍♀️.

The narrator was really good

[Louise Welch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very ok. The idea is fantastic and there were parts of the book that were very engaging. There’s a lot of plot holes and the twist added nothing to the story at all. Unless there’s going to be another book the ending was way too open ended and also didn’t make sense if she’d taken a higher dose than Lyle did. I also didn’t like that there was no real closure, there’s no way they couldn’t have left the documents or pictures for the police to find.

[Mitch G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy f s. I’m cracking up reading this! And then I’m crying. Wtf. Reminds me of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, makes me laugh at all the dismal observations, the f’d up things that if you don’t see them, well lucky you. On that subject, what are you doing here. Go work for a bank and make your daddy proud.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

listened to this as I ran out of book before I got a new credit, I didnt have high hopes as it was free.

I was thoroughly enthralled in the story and the twists and the characters a few chapters later.

its not something I would have chosen for myself, but im glad I listened to it and find catnip on my mind a lot.

[Annica · Rating 4 out of 5]

More a 3.5 stars due to the poorly researched use of psychedelics and the repetition. I enjoyed half the book and then I had to fast forward to the end. Unlike other reviewers I liked the ending and thought it actually made up for some of the weird stuff in between. I also did not realise that it was a fantasy/horror book which is not something I'd normally read.

[Sandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an ok book. I didn't feel the need to continuously read through the next chapter or finish the book as I was reading it. There was nothing "exciting" to keep me interested, but I finished it. It's a book that explores drug use and addiction. It's not a book I'll recommend to anyone, but still was decent.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite good but didn’t enrapture me… the beginning was slower paced than the ending. Honestly as I was listening, my attention kept wandering so maybe it would have been better consumed in a non-audio format.

I enjoyed both the story and the characters. I also appreciated the non-romanticized consumption of substances.

[Tami · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think this was necessarily a bad book, I just really didn't enjoy it. It's extremely repetitive and the actions of Kaylee (particularly at the end) make no aense. I couldn't get into it. It's predictable and I wish I had stopped reading halfway through when I realised how bored I was. all well

[Bethany Thomason · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous book! Such an immersive and intriguing deep dark delve into a psychedelic experience. The language and descriptions are stunning. Love the suspense and twists between reality and drug induced trips. Brilliant first novel, can't wait for future works by the author.

[Khaela Levey]

DNF @ 50%
It just didn’t click for me. I didn’t enjoy the narrator, I didn’t really vibe with the story and it just wasn’t for me. I feel as if I’d like it more as a traditional book over an audiobook.

[Aisling Doonan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The audiobook was well done, the music between scenes/chapters was well chosen and matched the vibe of the story. I enjoyed the story, the pacing, the characters but the last line left me a bit cold. Not sure what I'm supposed to think about the ending. It would have been a four star only for that.

[Issy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟
Such a good book. Kept me on edge most of the time! Wonder if there will be a second book.