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Academy Girls
Jane Milton—divorced and deeply in debt—has reluctantly returned to the remote boarding school of her youth, this time to teach, but the long-buried secrets of her past will not be easy to escape.
During their senior year, Jane and her friends Kat and Lissa obsessed over their English teacher, Miss Pymstead, convinced of her involvement in an unsolved murder. As the obsession escalated, it took a tragic turn. The only record of their misdeeds was a secret manuscript that disappeared without a trace—until the story resurfaces in an assignment turned in by Jane’s least favorite student.
Jane scrambles to unravel the mysteries, but can she keep her own secrets buried as she unearths even darker, long-hidden truths?
Revised edition: This edition of Academy Girls includes editorial revisions.
403 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 29, 2014
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1199 people want to read
About the author
Nora Carroll
2 books50 followersNora Carroll is a pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Letts.
As Nora Carroll, she writes multilayered novels filled with the things she loves most-- rambling houses, old letters and manuscripts, and most importantly, the mysteries of love, women, and family.
As Nora Carroll, she writes multilayered novels filled with the things she loves most-- rambling houses, old letters and manuscripts, and most importantly, the mysteries of love, women, and family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
March 31, 2022
you know how sometimes you have a mouth-hunger for something, but it's not quite a tummy-hunger and you don't want to ruin your appetite so you just grab a handful of almonds or use your finger to scoop up the "extra" frosting from the cake that's just sitting there?
this book is for when you have a taste for a The Secret History kind of story but only a halloween candy funsize appetite. it's a campus mystery without all that heady academia or psychological density; an entertainment that you can stuff in your face on your way out the door without it sticking to your ribs too much.
it's a comfortably lightweight boarding school mystery/lifetime movie scenario in the vein of carol goodman in which a woman whose life has fallen apart around her returns to her high school alma mater as a teacher and finds herself in the midst of mysterious happenings that seem to be linked to similarly mysterious happenings from her past and where investigating the one leads to investigating the other and all the secrets are revealed at the end.
and it's one of those books i am finding impossible to review because i neither loved nor hated it. there were parts of the story i found surprising and original but also parts that were melodramatic and inconsistent, leaving me with post-reading feelings neither positive nor negative; just neutrally "this is a book i have read."
the biggest problem i had with it (besides the fact that the formatting for NOOK was awful, and i had to do my own amateur sleuthing to insert every occurrence of an "f," "ff," "fl," every number, every "th" that started a paragraph (but only then) and to completely reorganize the lines every time there was an italicized quotation, which was frequently, so this:
)
was how staged it was. it's a really common practice in middleweight entertainment to treat the characters like dolls in the author's dollhouse, brought out to progress the narrative in dramatically effective ways with little regard for natural behavior. so, chapters end abruptly just when characters experience or reveal something important and then, as though time stopped for them just as the scene stopped for the reader, the characters seemingly wait politely for the correct dramatic moment before resuming their conversation or experiencing the aftereffects of the revelation at a later time in another venue. and this is such common device it's not something that bothers me, per se, yet it's something i always notice. but this time, since i was already in clinical-detached mode because of my struggle with the formatting, and because the story and characters weren't gripping enough to hold my attention, this was a little more distracting than it ordinarily is for me.
i have it on my "books claiming to be just like secret history" shelf, even though this makes no such claims and only shares with my beloved the boarding school setting, mysterious deaths, financially insulated teenagers, and enigmatic teachers; although there is a likely nod to s.h. in the question, What was she going to do with our secret history?
there are many bits and pieces that didn't quite work for me—we are told certain characters are wicked smart, but don't really manifest this trait on-page, the friends that are soso close barely communicate, the whole female-teacher-jealous-of-younger-female-students thing is kind of grating, and i'm not convinced the book adheres to the genre's rules about fair play.
but again—as a snack, it's a good one—there are plenty of twists and turns, it's fast-paced and there are multiple threads in play at all times, which makes for a broader reading experience than many others of its kind. it's a fine entertainment if you suspend your disbelief and just have a good time reading. as a fan of boarding school mysteries who has been exposed to both the singing highs and the groaning lows of the genre, this one sits firmly in the middle, and a good remedy for when you are feeling fingerful of frosting-y.
come to my blog!
this book is for when you have a taste for a The Secret History kind of story but only a halloween candy funsize appetite. it's a campus mystery without all that heady academia or psychological density; an entertainment that you can stuff in your face on your way out the door without it sticking to your ribs too much.
it's a comfortably lightweight boarding school mystery/lifetime movie scenario in the vein of carol goodman in which a woman whose life has fallen apart around her returns to her high school alma mater as a teacher and finds herself in the midst of mysterious happenings that seem to be linked to similarly mysterious happenings from her past and where investigating the one leads to investigating the other and all the secrets are revealed at the end.
and it's one of those books i am finding impossible to review because i neither loved nor hated it. there were parts of the story i found surprising and original but also parts that were melodramatic and inconsistent, leaving me with post-reading feelings neither positive nor negative; just neutrally "this is a book i have read."
the biggest problem i had with it (besides the fact that the formatting for NOOK was awful, and i had to do my own amateur sleuthing to insert every occurrence of an "f," "ff," "fl," every number, every "th" that started a paragraph (but only then) and to completely reorganize the lines every time there was an italicized quotation, which was frequently, so this:
)was how staged it was. it's a really common practice in middleweight entertainment to treat the characters like dolls in the author's dollhouse, brought out to progress the narrative in dramatically effective ways with little regard for natural behavior. so, chapters end abruptly just when characters experience or reveal something important and then, as though time stopped for them just as the scene stopped for the reader, the characters seemingly wait politely for the correct dramatic moment before resuming their conversation or experiencing the aftereffects of the revelation at a later time in another venue. and this is such common device it's not something that bothers me, per se, yet it's something i always notice. but this time, since i was already in clinical-detached mode because of my struggle with the formatting, and because the story and characters weren't gripping enough to hold my attention, this was a little more distracting than it ordinarily is for me.
i have it on my "books claiming to be just like secret history" shelf, even though this makes no such claims and only shares with my beloved the boarding school setting, mysterious deaths, financially insulated teenagers, and enigmatic teachers; although there is a likely nod to s.h. in the question, What was she going to do with our secret history?
there are many bits and pieces that didn't quite work for me—we are told certain characters are wicked smart, but don't really manifest this trait on-page, the friends that are soso close barely communicate, the whole female-teacher-jealous-of-younger-female-students thing is kind of grating, and i'm not convinced the book adheres to the genre's rules about fair play.
but again—as a snack, it's a good one—there are plenty of twists and turns, it's fast-paced and there are multiple threads in play at all times, which makes for a broader reading experience than many others of its kind. it's a fine entertainment if you suspend your disbelief and just have a good time reading. as a fan of boarding school mysteries who has been exposed to both the singing highs and the groaning lows of the genre, this one sits firmly in the middle, and a good remedy for when you are feeling fingerful of frosting-y.
come to my blog!
September 24, 2015
Initial reaction: Hoo-boy, unpopular opinion time. I thought this book was trying way too hard. It's not really the worst read I've come across for the theme (because woman returning to boarding school that she left on bad terms as a student has secrets that come back to haunt her when she's a teacher - that's a good theme), but it's lacking in so much suspense. I felt like I was being force fed pudding that I'm continuously being told is good, but I can't savor the taste (nor can I actually swallow because it's being shoved into my mouth too quickly to digest). In this case, the narrative's telling you there's some kind of dark secrets and mysterious things afoot, but it's rarely ever with the conviction or depth needed to give this story weight.
I'm thinking 2 stars, maybe 2.5 if I'm feeling generous, but need a night to meditate on it.
Full review:
Okay, so this is going to be a 2 star review, and even with that, I feel that's generous because there were many problems with this narrative. For the record, I was really intrigued by the premise, though it's a familiar theme to me. Namely Carol Goodman's "The Lake of Dead Languages," "The Drowning Tree," and "The Seduction of Water" come to mind. There are other books from other authors I've read in a similar coat as well. (Personally speaking, I was hoping for something along the lines of Megan Abbott's "Dare Me".) So this could've been a hit for me if it'd managed to give me characters that I could care about and a scenario that pulled me in from the get go.
Sadly, none of that was to be. I kept feeling like this entire narrative was disconnected somehow, even force fed for the so called emotional payoff. It keeps telling you there's a secret in the past of the MC, that there's some kind of sabotage afoot, but I was never fully convinced of the suspense the entire time I read this narrative.
Nearly 400 pages was far too long to go with suspended disbelief, non-immersive suspense, stilted prose and lacking characters. I was pretty disappointed. I think the only edge I'd give this book was that it did improve as it went on, but a less patient reader probably would DNF this before it really hit the ground running, and I wouldn't blame them.
Jane Milton is a woman on her last leg. Rough turn of affairs after her husband's convicted of embezzlement, and she's a writer who hasn't really had a job that pays well enough to support her and her son. She returns to the school she left behind. First part of "Academy Girls" has her adjusting to the school of high expectations as she returns to teach (and her lack of any kind of relevant experience is very clear).
But then there's this one student that tests Jane's patience - one that seems to know a secret that Jane is increasingly antsy about (but she doesn't make much mention about what exactly it IS), and supposedly we're supposed to keep reading on through the long slog of the first part of the book to figure it out.
I'm sorry to say, but the main problem in the first part of the book, besides revisiting characters that are hard to care about because we really don't know them and they're constantly force fed to us, is Jane's narration. Perhaps even Jane herself. She's just so...plain.
(I'm sorry, I had to say it.)
There's nothing remarkable about her narration at ALL. She's passive, she telegraphs information far too much, and I don't get the sense that she's truly invested in not only her struggles and desires, but also the suspense of what the student - whom she's at the mercy of - may know. The middle part of the book revisits Jane's past and the group of girls she used to be part of and identify with. That part was a little better, but not by much. I still felt like I didn't really know the characters all that much, and the mystery they set themselves out to solve really never did much to pull me in for intrigue - because of the telegraphing. I wanted it to have more show, more palpable emotions, more immersion. Even the inclusion of the poetry felt like it was just thrown in there for the sake of being...I don't know, posh? There wasn't a point to it for most parts.
The irony of the prose in this book is somewhat summed up by a line in the book spoken by Jane herself:
"Of course, the only profession I’d ever had, besides teaching, was writing mystery novels. There seemed to be a plot here—but I simply couldn’t figure it out."
*throws up hands* You've nailed my frustration with this book precisely! I see hints at a plot, but it's so muddled that it's hard to get a handle (or care) about its events.
As the book went on, trading between snippet passages, and the drama in the present, I started becoming a little more interested in the events. It felt like the author was trying to write into the story and finally hit a stride but it didn't come until well into the book, and even then, it still felt like it was at a distance. There are six sections to this story and it alternated between being just barely interesting enough to keep you reading and tedious. I saw the ending coming and thought it to be pretty anti-climactic considering the offense (hint: it involves plagiarism) and results.
I think this book had some sparks for intention, but for execution, it just wasn't there.
Overall score: 2/5 stars.
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Lake Union Publishing.
I'm thinking 2 stars, maybe 2.5 if I'm feeling generous, but need a night to meditate on it.
Full review:
Okay, so this is going to be a 2 star review, and even with that, I feel that's generous because there were many problems with this narrative. For the record, I was really intrigued by the premise, though it's a familiar theme to me. Namely Carol Goodman's "The Lake of Dead Languages," "The Drowning Tree," and "The Seduction of Water" come to mind. There are other books from other authors I've read in a similar coat as well. (Personally speaking, I was hoping for something along the lines of Megan Abbott's "Dare Me".) So this could've been a hit for me if it'd managed to give me characters that I could care about and a scenario that pulled me in from the get go.
Sadly, none of that was to be. I kept feeling like this entire narrative was disconnected somehow, even force fed for the so called emotional payoff. It keeps telling you there's a secret in the past of the MC, that there's some kind of sabotage afoot, but I was never fully convinced of the suspense the entire time I read this narrative.
Nearly 400 pages was far too long to go with suspended disbelief, non-immersive suspense, stilted prose and lacking characters. I was pretty disappointed. I think the only edge I'd give this book was that it did improve as it went on, but a less patient reader probably would DNF this before it really hit the ground running, and I wouldn't blame them.
Jane Milton is a woman on her last leg. Rough turn of affairs after her husband's convicted of embezzlement, and she's a writer who hasn't really had a job that pays well enough to support her and her son. She returns to the school she left behind. First part of "Academy Girls" has her adjusting to the school of high expectations as she returns to teach (and her lack of any kind of relevant experience is very clear).
But then there's this one student that tests Jane's patience - one that seems to know a secret that Jane is increasingly antsy about (but she doesn't make much mention about what exactly it IS), and supposedly we're supposed to keep reading on through the long slog of the first part of the book to figure it out.
I'm sorry to say, but the main problem in the first part of the book, besides revisiting characters that are hard to care about because we really don't know them and they're constantly force fed to us, is Jane's narration. Perhaps even Jane herself. She's just so...plain.
(I'm sorry, I had to say it.)
There's nothing remarkable about her narration at ALL. She's passive, she telegraphs information far too much, and I don't get the sense that she's truly invested in not only her struggles and desires, but also the suspense of what the student - whom she's at the mercy of - may know. The middle part of the book revisits Jane's past and the group of girls she used to be part of and identify with. That part was a little better, but not by much. I still felt like I didn't really know the characters all that much, and the mystery they set themselves out to solve really never did much to pull me in for intrigue - because of the telegraphing. I wanted it to have more show, more palpable emotions, more immersion. Even the inclusion of the poetry felt like it was just thrown in there for the sake of being...I don't know, posh? There wasn't a point to it for most parts.
The irony of the prose in this book is somewhat summed up by a line in the book spoken by Jane herself:
"Of course, the only profession I’d ever had, besides teaching, was writing mystery novels. There seemed to be a plot here—but I simply couldn’t figure it out."
*throws up hands* You've nailed my frustration with this book precisely! I see hints at a plot, but it's so muddled that it's hard to get a handle (or care) about its events.
As the book went on, trading between snippet passages, and the drama in the present, I started becoming a little more interested in the events. It felt like the author was trying to write into the story and finally hit a stride but it didn't come until well into the book, and even then, it still felt like it was at a distance. There are six sections to this story and it alternated between being just barely interesting enough to keep you reading and tedious. I saw the ending coming and thought it to be pretty anti-climactic considering the offense (hint: it involves plagiarism) and results.
I think this book had some sparks for intention, but for execution, it just wasn't there.
Overall score: 2/5 stars.
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Lake Union Publishing.
September 16, 2015
I really, really tried with this one but eventually gave up and tossed what is in essence a rather dull and tedious read straight off my kindle. Set in a private academy in Vermont, Jane Milton has returned to her old school The Grove to teach English. She has returned under something of a cloud, in impoverished circumstances which are disclosed throughout the read. The story switches in time frames throughout the read from the present day to her days 35 years ago as a senior at The Grove. We are told early on that she has bad memories of her senior year that she does not want to revisit and we are drip fed that story in those earlier segments. However, there is a fair bit of repetition, which shows for example when one of her students starts handing over her short stories to Jane; stories which bear a remarkable resemblance to Jane’s own time at the school.
It is a book that should be oozing with underlying tension and menace but it just isn’t. Jane, poverty stricken or not, should have been running for the hills from an early point but she doesn’t, she doesn’t really show any reaction at all, to anything. That really about sums up what I found wrong with the book – the main character herself. I found it too difficult to really garner any empathy for her whatsoever as she was just so dull and bland and weak. In the end I just lost all interest in her and the story. Thanks to the publishers via Netgalley for the review copy.
It is a book that should be oozing with underlying tension and menace but it just isn’t. Jane, poverty stricken or not, should have been running for the hills from an early point but she doesn’t, she doesn’t really show any reaction at all, to anything. That really about sums up what I found wrong with the book – the main character herself. I found it too difficult to really garner any empathy for her whatsoever as she was just so dull and bland and weak. In the end I just lost all interest in her and the story. Thanks to the publishers via Netgalley for the review copy.
August 26, 2015
4 Stars!
What do you get when you take a bunch of teenage girls and put them in dorm rooms in the middle of nowhere and tell them to study and learn. You get secrets, pranks, wandering minds, boredom, mischief, and shenanigans. Well, this story has all of that. Especially a lot of secrets and three best friends decide it is their mission in life to determine who killed the headmaster that died several decades earlier.
There are other stories going on in here and other secrets as the book takes place around the 1970's or 1980's. An era when standards for women are changing as well as the standards of the American public are changing (free love, drug use, sexual partners, etc.). It also made a big deal out of the fact that just because you are rich with a lot of assets, that doesn't mean that you are liquid and can afford a lot.
I really enjoyed this book and I think the author did a very good job of writing. I was definitely kept interested and found it to be very believable. The character development was very good and I enjoyed most of them. I found the book very entertaining and I would definitely recommend it.
A huge thanks to Lake Union Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with this free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
What do you get when you take a bunch of teenage girls and put them in dorm rooms in the middle of nowhere and tell them to study and learn. You get secrets, pranks, wandering minds, boredom, mischief, and shenanigans. Well, this story has all of that. Especially a lot of secrets and three best friends decide it is their mission in life to determine who killed the headmaster that died several decades earlier.
There are other stories going on in here and other secrets as the book takes place around the 1970's or 1980's. An era when standards for women are changing as well as the standards of the American public are changing (free love, drug use, sexual partners, etc.). It also made a big deal out of the fact that just because you are rich with a lot of assets, that doesn't mean that you are liquid and can afford a lot.
I really enjoyed this book and I think the author did a very good job of writing. I was definitely kept interested and found it to be very believable. The character development was very good and I enjoyed most of them. I found the book very entertaining and I would definitely recommend it.
A huge thanks to Lake Union Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with this free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
November 2, 2015
The description sounded great but the execution fell flat for me.
And because I want to amuse myself after a book like this, here's another gratuitous gif of "falling flat".
1. The book is too long for it's britches.
2. Whenever a book is in first person and they don't "reveal" what the hell happened and just tease at it forever, it drives me up the wall. I always feel impatient when I know the voice knows everything but isn't sharing. It just pisses me off unnecessarily.
It's better to be in third person if the story is a slow reveal - at least I don't feel stabby.
3. I admit, I am not typically a lover of cryptic poetry. If you have a point, say it. If you have to dig too hard to figure it out, it's just not worth my time. So when this book focuses on Emily Dickinson poetry as clues (and really, they never revealed anything), I quickly lost interest. If you who love old poetry, maybe you'll love it for all I know. Don't get me wrong, there is poignant poetry out there that speaks to me, but I didn't connect with any in this book. It felt pretentious and forced to me.
4. I didn't really like the main character. I don't mind if a character is flawed and grows through experience. Though this is what was supposed to be happening, I found the character to be someone for whom I didn't have any sympathy. She was missing something integral that made me connect with her.
5. There were too many crazy things happening at the end. It became a jumble of circumstances that were too unbelievable, and by that time I didn't even care. I was just glad to be done with the whole affair.
This book was definitely not for me.
Thank you Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
And because I want to amuse myself after a book like this, here's another gratuitous gif of "falling flat".
1. The book is too long for it's britches.
2. Whenever a book is in first person and they don't "reveal" what the hell happened and just tease at it forever, it drives me up the wall. I always feel impatient when I know the voice knows everything but isn't sharing. It just pisses me off unnecessarily.
It's better to be in third person if the story is a slow reveal - at least I don't feel stabby.
3. I admit, I am not typically a lover of cryptic poetry. If you have a point, say it. If you have to dig too hard to figure it out, it's just not worth my time. So when this book focuses on Emily Dickinson poetry as clues (and really, they never revealed anything), I quickly lost interest. If you who love old poetry, maybe you'll love it for all I know. Don't get me wrong, there is poignant poetry out there that speaks to me, but I didn't connect with any in this book. It felt pretentious and forced to me.
4. I didn't really like the main character. I don't mind if a character is flawed and grows through experience. Though this is what was supposed to be happening, I found the character to be someone for whom I didn't have any sympathy. She was missing something integral that made me connect with her.
5. There were too many crazy things happening at the end. It became a jumble of circumstances that were too unbelievable, and by that time I didn't even care. I was just glad to be done with the whole affair.
This book was definitely not for me.
Thank you Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
September 15, 2015
I quite enjoyed this one. A strong 4.5 for a few quibbles but overall, this book kept me invested and tapping compulsively at the screen to get to the next page. Jane was interesting to follow on her journey of reliving her past at the Grove Academy. I was completely caught up in what had happened to Kat, Ms. Pymstead and the golden informative and incriminating manuscript in the past & what was going on in the present that resurrected it all. It was a bit difficult to buy into the Josh thread in the present but it wasn't too dwelt on to detract from the piece overall. I did a lot of speaking out loud to characters as I read & I took that as a good sign of my investment and involvement. I won't give up the answers to the many mysteries that unfurl here but I will say that I thought Lissa would have played a larger part in the present and also that I was amazed how blank Charlie was as a character overall. I never felt I got to know him or understand Jane's relationship with him and the very thing that is mentioned in the summary that lands them at Grove is so little a driver to the plot as to be simply this thing that is mentioned periodically to remind Jane & the reader that she's really in dire straits. Still, this was a very well done story and there were many instances of prose that were rendered so well that I highlit quite a few. This one will linger in my mind and while this was my first reading of Nora Carroll, it certainly won't be my last. A pleasure.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
September 8, 2015
3.75 stars
Well this book is set at a boarding school, so already I was happy as Larry as this is basically my favourite setting for any kind of book.
I really enjoyed Nora Carroll's writing, the story was engrossing and definitely held my interest throughout, the characters were also all wonderfully written with a lot of depth.
I did have a problem with there being a few too many coincidences and there were a couple of minor things that didn't make sense to me.
Overall this is a well written, engrossing read with an interesting plot and I would definitely recommend it.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy to review.
Well this book is set at a boarding school, so already I was happy as Larry as this is basically my favourite setting for any kind of book.
I really enjoyed Nora Carroll's writing, the story was engrossing and definitely held my interest throughout, the characters were also all wonderfully written with a lot of depth.
I did have a problem with there being a few too many coincidences and there were a couple of minor things that didn't make sense to me.
Overall this is a well written, engrossing read with an interesting plot and I would definitely recommend it.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy to review.
September 5, 2015
Grade: B
Down on her luck, Grove Academy alum Jane returns as a first time teacher with her teenage son in tow. She encounters former classmates, frenemies and faculty. When one of her students starts submitting writing almost identical to Jane's dead friend Kat, Jane wonders if the mysteries of untimely deaths at the school may possibly solved, deaths she and her friends tried to solve when they were seniors 17 years ago.
ACADEMY GIRLS reminded me of the 2008 LifetimeTV movie NIGHTMARE AT THE END OF THE HALL, which was based on a Women's Fiction novel I had read, but the name escapes me. (If anyone knows the name, please leave it in the comments). The similarities were so startling I started googling to figure out if I was rereading something I had enjoyed some ten years ago. On the plus side, I loved the first book, so the storyline of ACADEMY GIRLS interested me. On the negative side, the story didn't feel fresh or unique.
I devoured ACADEMY GIRLS in an afternoon. Nora Carroll's engrossing story not only hold my interest, but kept me reading despite the call of my bed. This plot driven novel and an interesting group of minor characters, in fact, narrator Jane was one of the least original characters. She was too passive, wimpy and weak for my tastes. She also made a lot of poor decisions, going against her ethics to fit into the mildly corrupt system. She lacked perspective about problems student Katelyn as well. I wish that ACADEMY GIRLS had a bit more tension. The writing had more telling than showing and tended toward the wordy side.
This novel should appeal to both adult and YA audiences. Who doesn't love a boarding school story dripping with murder, suicide, secrets and lies?
I received a free copy of ACADEMY GIRLS from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
Similar books:
http://www.amazon.com/Lake-Languages-...
Down on her luck, Grove Academy alum Jane returns as a first time teacher with her teenage son in tow. She encounters former classmates, frenemies and faculty. When one of her students starts submitting writing almost identical to Jane's dead friend Kat, Jane wonders if the mysteries of untimely deaths at the school may possibly solved, deaths she and her friends tried to solve when they were seniors 17 years ago.
ACADEMY GIRLS reminded me of the 2008 LifetimeTV movie NIGHTMARE AT THE END OF THE HALL, which was based on a Women's Fiction novel I had read, but the name escapes me. (If anyone knows the name, please leave it in the comments). The similarities were so startling I started googling to figure out if I was rereading something I had enjoyed some ten years ago. On the plus side, I loved the first book, so the storyline of ACADEMY GIRLS interested me. On the negative side, the story didn't feel fresh or unique.
I devoured ACADEMY GIRLS in an afternoon. Nora Carroll's engrossing story not only hold my interest, but kept me reading despite the call of my bed. This plot driven novel and an interesting group of minor characters, in fact, narrator Jane was one of the least original characters. She was too passive, wimpy and weak for my tastes. She also made a lot of poor decisions, going against her ethics to fit into the mildly corrupt system. She lacked perspective about problems student Katelyn as well. I wish that ACADEMY GIRLS had a bit more tension. The writing had more telling than showing and tended toward the wordy side.
This novel should appeal to both adult and YA audiences. Who doesn't love a boarding school story dripping with murder, suicide, secrets and lies?
I received a free copy of ACADEMY GIRLS from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
Similar books:
http://www.amazon.com/Lake-Languages-...
September 7, 2015
This being the second Nora Carroll book I read (both provided kindly by NetGalley) I can say and be sure about my choice, that she has become my favorite author. Academy Girls is a book about life, death, love, betrayal and everything in between. The book all takes place in The Grove Academy however at two different places in time, and the narrator is Jane. She was an alumni and now a teacher at this prestigious and expensive academy. The story unfolds and is at first centered around a murder and three 17 year olds playing CSI or Nancy Drew. Through poetry (or clues as they call them) they attempt to find the killer and unknowingly keep their friendship from falling apart. Then as you jump back and forth from student Jane to teacher Jane she begins to finally solve mysteries from the past that have haunted her for the last couple of decades and led to her imminent doom. As she is trying to pull her life together for her and her son Charlie, she also starts to tie loose ends for others and maybe even save a life. Academy Girls kept me hooked from beginning to end and showed me that poetry is magical and that good literature will never die, although so it is believed. This book was great especially for me because I'm still transitioning from teen-led books to adult-narrated ones and has both in one. As expected Nora Carroll did not fail me once again and I look forward to read all that she puts out.
September 15, 2015
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing!
Visit my blog for the full review: Fiddler Blue
Academy Girls was told in Jane Milton’s point of view, but in two different periods of her life. One was during the present time and the other was during her senior year. I found the narrative easy to follow, but this is a book with layers and layers of lies, deceit, and secrets. It’s easy to get lost, but I hope you will have the patience to keep on because it’s a really, good story. I’m happy that it didn’t turn out to be another coming-of-age romantic teenage story, but it’s something darker and deeper.
The novel began on a slow pace. Jane was acquainted with her new job and the people she was going to work with. Sometimes, she gets a sudden flashback of the events that happened during her senior year, but it’s as if she wasn’t ready to share them with the reader. So that’s the point I was annoyed with the main character. She was also weak and indifferent, and she felt like a fraud. She doesn’t have any teaching credentials to become a teacher, so she copied her old English teacher’s techniques in the classroom, which most of the time failed. Jane is such an average Jane I kept thinking how I’m going to continue with the book when the person telling it bores me.
Luckily, things gained speed when we dived into the past. I love Kat and Lissa. Kat, the hidden genius, was a complicated character. Her back story will drive the story as much as Jane’s. Lissa was a stereotype brains-and-beauty character, she was there just to complete the trio. To be the blond party girl, the one who gets all the boys, the one to irritate Kat and the one who has everything Jane wants and envies. She was the ultimate “It Girl” and she wasn’t going to apologize for it.
Given all their conversations together on their senior year, it was difficult to imagine how the three of them were even close. They were different, there was nothing to tie them all together except for that big jump from a tree, and they seemed to have nothing in common. Moreover, I think the only thing that forced them to stick to each other is the saying Keep your friends close, your enemies closer. There was no sense of loyalty or even true friendship, and Jane was always jealous of Lissa and competitive to Kat. Even when Kat was obviously having problems with her family, Jane never tried to reach out to her or console her about what she was going through. And Lissa just stopped trying altogether to bond with them. It’s like they hang out together just because they’ve been doing it for years but not because they wanted to. For friendship status, it really, really sucks. For the writing and the portrayal, it was definitely exceptional.
Academy Girls was not what I expected, but it gave me something more. It was a portrayal of a group of people who did what they have to do because they have their reasons, whether it was good or not depends on who you ask. It’s also a study of the many faces one person wears to hide their true persona, and the danger of (not) revealing it to someone else. It teaches you to never judge anyone by their appearance, or even by a stereotype, or even by the years you have known that person. Most importantly, it teaches you to never, ever hide things from the police. Seriously.
Visit my blog for the full review: Fiddler Blue
Academy Girls was told in Jane Milton’s point of view, but in two different periods of her life. One was during the present time and the other was during her senior year. I found the narrative easy to follow, but this is a book with layers and layers of lies, deceit, and secrets. It’s easy to get lost, but I hope you will have the patience to keep on because it’s a really, good story. I’m happy that it didn’t turn out to be another coming-of-age romantic teenage story, but it’s something darker and deeper.
The novel began on a slow pace. Jane was acquainted with her new job and the people she was going to work with. Sometimes, she gets a sudden flashback of the events that happened during her senior year, but it’s as if she wasn’t ready to share them with the reader. So that’s the point I was annoyed with the main character. She was also weak and indifferent, and she felt like a fraud. She doesn’t have any teaching credentials to become a teacher, so she copied her old English teacher’s techniques in the classroom, which most of the time failed. Jane is such an average Jane I kept thinking how I’m going to continue with the book when the person telling it bores me.
Luckily, things gained speed when we dived into the past. I love Kat and Lissa. Kat, the hidden genius, was a complicated character. Her back story will drive the story as much as Jane’s. Lissa was a stereotype brains-and-beauty character, she was there just to complete the trio. To be the blond party girl, the one who gets all the boys, the one to irritate Kat and the one who has everything Jane wants and envies. She was the ultimate “It Girl” and she wasn’t going to apologize for it.
Given all their conversations together on their senior year, it was difficult to imagine how the three of them were even close. They were different, there was nothing to tie them all together except for that big jump from a tree, and they seemed to have nothing in common. Moreover, I think the only thing that forced them to stick to each other is the saying Keep your friends close, your enemies closer. There was no sense of loyalty or even true friendship, and Jane was always jealous of Lissa and competitive to Kat. Even when Kat was obviously having problems with her family, Jane never tried to reach out to her or console her about what she was going through. And Lissa just stopped trying altogether to bond with them. It’s like they hang out together just because they’ve been doing it for years but not because they wanted to. For friendship status, it really, really sucks. For the writing and the portrayal, it was definitely exceptional.
Academy Girls was not what I expected, but it gave me something more. It was a portrayal of a group of people who did what they have to do because they have their reasons, whether it was good or not depends on who you ask. It’s also a study of the many faces one person wears to hide their true persona, and the danger of (not) revealing it to someone else. It teaches you to never judge anyone by their appearance, or even by a stereotype, or even by the years you have known that person. Most importantly, it teaches you to never, ever hide things from the police. Seriously.
August 6, 2019
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“Words once memorized came back to me: the more things stay the same, the more they change. A line among many lines I was led to believe would be worthwhile to remember. But that was a long time ago, when I was a girl in a circle of girls. When all of us believed that words mattered as much as money, flesh, and blood.”
As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.
Ah, yes. Academy Girls, in spite of its borderline cheesy name and a summary that doesn’t do itself justice, it has earned a slot on my top reads of 2015–and of all time. Prepare to get swept away. There’s something realistic and dark and sweet about it that just makes you feel something you can’t explain.
So get your tabs or highlighters ready before reading this one, you’ll find yourself making note of a lot. I’m confident that it will catch many readers eyes more than once.
But how can I describe Academy Girls? Beautiful, brilliantly crafted, surprising, long lasting and full of genuine human emotion. It’s likely that it will haunt me in the days that come and it will take me a while to shake this story.
Continued @ BOOKEDJ.
“Words once memorized came back to me: the more things stay the same, the more they change. A line among many lines I was led to believe would be worthwhile to remember. But that was a long time ago, when I was a girl in a circle of girls. When all of us believed that words mattered as much as money, flesh, and blood.”
As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.
Ah, yes. Academy Girls, in spite of its borderline cheesy name and a summary that doesn’t do itself justice, it has earned a slot on my top reads of 2015–and of all time. Prepare to get swept away. There’s something realistic and dark and sweet about it that just makes you feel something you can’t explain.
So get your tabs or highlighters ready before reading this one, you’ll find yourself making note of a lot. I’m confident that it will catch many readers eyes more than once.
But how can I describe Academy Girls? Beautiful, brilliantly crafted, surprising, long lasting and full of genuine human emotion. It’s likely that it will haunt me in the days that come and it will take me a while to shake this story.
Continued @ BOOKEDJ.
May 9, 2019
What is it with the Deep Dark Secrets being damp squibs in these books lately?
August 12, 2015
Special thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this free ARC electronic edition.
Readers of “Prep” and “Reconstructing Amelia” will find a kindred spirit in Nora Carroll’s “Academy Girls”. Like its counterparts, “Girls” takes place on the grounds of a very high-class, very well-respected boarding school. Jane, a former student, has returned to her Alma matter, herself in dire straits, and is taken on as an English teacher. Confronted again with the sheltered, entitled reality of prep school life, Jane is forced to face a deep, dark secret from her past, all while dealing with her students, the demands of teaching, her out-of-place teenaged son and romantic entanglements with a married teacher.
Carroll intermixed poetry a lot in this work, in fact, poetry played a crucial role in the story. Poetry is not my thing, however its presence did not sour me entirely on this plot, as there was so much more to explore with this novel. (I would recommend this book without a second glance to anyone who is a fan of Keats or Browning). The plot spanned a few decades, told from the perspective of Jane back in her days as a student, and in present day as an educator. Although clearly differentiated in the chapters, the introduction of the manuscript (written by a friend of Jane’s from her days as a student) with the pseudonyms, made it a challenge for me to keep the plotlines straight. It was difficult to tell what time period I was in, at least initially.
Carroll uses descriptive, verbal imagery to describe the affluent grounds of the Grove Academy, and she continues her use of expressive language throughout the novel. Of course although most of us cannot relate to the elitist prep school upbringing, the protagonist Jane is a very realistic and likable character. She is definitely the character the reader roots for throughout the novel, and the contributing characters are the right mixture of likable and detestable. I always stress the ending of a novel, as I feel that ending a novel poorly can poison my opinion of a novel. I found Carroll’s ending extremely satisfying, with all the characters finding peace and the loose ends being tied up and adequately explained.
Carroll should be experienced by readers who are willing to try new things and who do not have any expectations going in. She is a joy to read, if you can manage to not compare her to other authors of her genre. “Academy Girls”, when allowed to stand on its own two feet, is quite the entertaining tale.
Readers of “Prep” and “Reconstructing Amelia” will find a kindred spirit in Nora Carroll’s “Academy Girls”. Like its counterparts, “Girls” takes place on the grounds of a very high-class, very well-respected boarding school. Jane, a former student, has returned to her Alma matter, herself in dire straits, and is taken on as an English teacher. Confronted again with the sheltered, entitled reality of prep school life, Jane is forced to face a deep, dark secret from her past, all while dealing with her students, the demands of teaching, her out-of-place teenaged son and romantic entanglements with a married teacher.
Carroll intermixed poetry a lot in this work, in fact, poetry played a crucial role in the story. Poetry is not my thing, however its presence did not sour me entirely on this plot, as there was so much more to explore with this novel. (I would recommend this book without a second glance to anyone who is a fan of Keats or Browning). The plot spanned a few decades, told from the perspective of Jane back in her days as a student, and in present day as an educator. Although clearly differentiated in the chapters, the introduction of the manuscript (written by a friend of Jane’s from her days as a student) with the pseudonyms, made it a challenge for me to keep the plotlines straight. It was difficult to tell what time period I was in, at least initially.
Carroll uses descriptive, verbal imagery to describe the affluent grounds of the Grove Academy, and she continues her use of expressive language throughout the novel. Of course although most of us cannot relate to the elitist prep school upbringing, the protagonist Jane is a very realistic and likable character. She is definitely the character the reader roots for throughout the novel, and the contributing characters are the right mixture of likable and detestable. I always stress the ending of a novel, as I feel that ending a novel poorly can poison my opinion of a novel. I found Carroll’s ending extremely satisfying, with all the characters finding peace and the loose ends being tied up and adequately explained.
Carroll should be experienced by readers who are willing to try new things and who do not have any expectations going in. She is a joy to read, if you can manage to not compare her to other authors of her genre. “Academy Girls”, when allowed to stand on its own two feet, is quite the entertaining tale.
August 17, 2015
Nora Carroll's writing captivates me. Her characters are filled with depth and dimension. In this book there is also many references to the works of Emily Dickinson. Those references bring back memories for any follower or scholar of Dickinson's work.
Lissa, Kat, and Jane. Three boarding school girls. Jane is the main character and the reader gets her story in pieces as Carroll flips from the past to the present. I love this way of telling a story and it works well for this one.
There is plenty of angst and teenage drama (both in the past and the present) to keep the reader interested. I liked the traditions of the "Grove girls," and followed the story closely.
This was a quick read for me and I will continue to read Nora Carroll's work. It's like sitting down with an old friend and passing time with a great story.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.
Lissa, Kat, and Jane. Three boarding school girls. Jane is the main character and the reader gets her story in pieces as Carroll flips from the past to the present. I love this way of telling a story and it works well for this one.
There is plenty of angst and teenage drama (both in the past and the present) to keep the reader interested. I liked the traditions of the "Grove girls," and followed the story closely.
This was a quick read for me and I will continue to read Nora Carroll's work. It's like sitting down with an old friend and passing time with a great story.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.
August 28, 2015
This novel takes us back and forth between present day Jane Milton - reluctantly returning to her old boarding school as a first time teacher because she is out of options to pay back her ex-husband's debt. And Jane Milton 35-years ago, during her senior year at Grove Academy. Jane and her two best friends Kat and Lissa are convinced their English teacher was involved in an unsolved murder that took place on school grounds. They dissect lines and lines of poetry looking for clues that will prove she's guilty.
Thanks to her least favourite student, and an old friend and now colleague, present day Jane is able to finally uncover several truths and put the past to rest.
A really solid story. Filled with good writing, backstabbing, mystery and intrigue. And unfortunately poetry.
Thanks to her least favourite student, and an old friend and now colleague, present day Jane is able to finally uncover several truths and put the past to rest.
A really solid story. Filled with good writing, backstabbing, mystery and intrigue. And unfortunately poetry.
May 9, 2015
Layer upon layer of secrets and lies.
I enjoyed this book for the most part, but several things influenced my 3-star rating. Most bothersome was the poor editing. Several sentences, now matter how many times I read them, just made no sense at all. The book skips between 1979 and 2004 and one chapter was labeled with the wrong year. This book seems like a rewrite of a dozen other coming-of-age-at-boarding-school stories. That's rather ironic since plagiarism plays a prominent role.
I enjoyed this book for the most part, but several things influenced my 3-star rating. Most bothersome was the poor editing. Several sentences, now matter how many times I read them, just made no sense at all. The book skips between 1979 and 2004 and one chapter was labeled with the wrong year. This book seems like a rewrite of a dozen other coming-of-age-at-boarding-school stories. That's rather ironic since plagiarism plays a prominent role.
June 6, 2021
I thought this sounded like a good easy read book. I brought this on vacation. Something good but not so outstanding I couldn’t put it down. I gave this book 100 pages. At page 50, I wasn’t feeling no thought maybe it just needed a bit more. Next 50, still wasn’t feeling it. Wanted to like this. It lacked the suspense. There were a few times that I thought “okay, here’s where it gets good” and nope. I gave up. Life’s too short to hate a book this much. I typically stick to a book if I start it, but I couldn’t with this.
December 13, 2018
I liked this story of a girl's boarding school, a story of past mistakes, revenge, and a mystery. I've found another new author to read!
January 15, 2021
8/20. Decent writing style, but the main character was incredibly irritating and difficult to connect with, and the plot felt disconnected and melodramatic.
September 26, 2015
Heh. Well. This qualified as my "Book Set in a School" for the 2015 Reading Challenge, as well as being one of my Netgalley reads. It centres around Jane Milton, recently divorced with a jailbird ex and a mountain of debt, forced to return to her old boarding school as teacher despite some rather unhappy memories of her schooldays. With her teenage son in tow, Jane finds herself encountering the same 'types' of pupils who gave her so much bother as a teenager, as well as more than a few old contemporaries who have also returned as teachers.
Although the book had potential and had some interesting plot points, more than anything it felt that it was trying too hard. Early on, Jane is asked by the dubious headteacher why she has decided to become a teacher (other than that her oldest friend and erstwhile nemesis Lissa make a generous donation to get her the job), Jane makes a vague comment about wanting to inspire pupils to love literature. She is curtly told that this is not Dead Poets' Society. It isn't but it felt as though Carroll had aspirations in that direction. Similarly, Academy Girls is not The Secret History or The Rehearsal, or even All I Wanna Do but it felt hopelessly derivative.
Jane recalls the trio of girls, herself and her two friends Lissa and Kat and their teenage fixation of the murder of an old headmaster nearly two decades previously, convinced that their English teacher was responsible. Predictably, the story begins to resurface soon after Jane's return to the school, retold by the Regina George-esque class golden girl who has quickly succeeded in getting under Jane's skin. Still, I couldn't help but feel that the question of boarding school mysteries had been done far better in Skippy Dies or well - any other boarding school story that I can think of. It's not that this is a bad book - it's more that it just isn't interesting enough to be bad. It's like the literary equivalent of magnolia - or ready salted crisps. I finished it quickly and recommend it as a light read but - heh. I won't re-read.
Although the book had potential and had some interesting plot points, more than anything it felt that it was trying too hard. Early on, Jane is asked by the dubious headteacher why she has decided to become a teacher (other than that her oldest friend and erstwhile nemesis Lissa make a generous donation to get her the job), Jane makes a vague comment about wanting to inspire pupils to love literature. She is curtly told that this is not Dead Poets' Society. It isn't but it felt as though Carroll had aspirations in that direction. Similarly, Academy Girls is not The Secret History or The Rehearsal, or even All I Wanna Do but it felt hopelessly derivative.
Jane recalls the trio of girls, herself and her two friends Lissa and Kat and their teenage fixation of the murder of an old headmaster nearly two decades previously, convinced that their English teacher was responsible. Predictably, the story begins to resurface soon after Jane's return to the school, retold by the Regina George-esque class golden girl who has quickly succeeded in getting under Jane's skin. Still, I couldn't help but feel that the question of boarding school mysteries had been done far better in Skippy Dies or well - any other boarding school story that I can think of. It's not that this is a bad book - it's more that it just isn't interesting enough to be bad. It's like the literary equivalent of magnolia - or ready salted crisps. I finished it quickly and recommend it as a light read but - heh. I won't re-read.
September 28, 2015
"The litany of my own shortcomings was one were verse I had committed to memory."
With that said we know former Grove Girl, Jane Milton, now divorced and dragging along her teenage son is returning to the boarding school as a last ditch attempt at a life gone off the rails. Having once obsessed over an English teacher, she now stands in her shoes teaching herself and with secrets of her own. With the burden of memories reminding her of the tragedy she and her friends Kat and Lissa may have caused she is tangled again in the roots of the past sorting truth from fiction. Certainly the hierarchy of such places never seems to change as we see in the manipulations of the current students Jane is overseeing. The school, however, is no longer as prestigious as it once was fighting to stay alive in a competitive world. Jane as an adult is not as interesting as Jane the student once was, but who can blame her when her circumstances (the strain of a criminal husband) have drained the color out of her leaving her a bit drab. What I had a hard time forgiving is the ending, I just sat there thinking- huh...okay.. I was expecting more from Jane, she just doesn't seem believable. One could argue, maybe her lack of proper reactions (or any reactions) is because she's numb from life- all I know is I didn't like her and I didn't believe her as a character.
Is there anyone in this story that isn't harboring some dark secret? It could have been more explosive, even quietly ticking but it seems everything is just sort of...well...settled is the word. Maybe it's Jane as a doormat I can't stand- it seems she just takes whatever people put on her. It's not a bad story, I just felt the characters could have been more alive. I sort of just went along with the story expecting something to jump out at me but that didn't really happen. Even when Josh is telling her what he has done my thought was 'Oh, okay- so we just sit with that news and move on? Interesting..." I know people who enjoy this sort of story, I think I expected something with more bite.
With that said we know former Grove Girl, Jane Milton, now divorced and dragging along her teenage son is returning to the boarding school as a last ditch attempt at a life gone off the rails. Having once obsessed over an English teacher, she now stands in her shoes teaching herself and with secrets of her own. With the burden of memories reminding her of the tragedy she and her friends Kat and Lissa may have caused she is tangled again in the roots of the past sorting truth from fiction. Certainly the hierarchy of such places never seems to change as we see in the manipulations of the current students Jane is overseeing. The school, however, is no longer as prestigious as it once was fighting to stay alive in a competitive world. Jane as an adult is not as interesting as Jane the student once was, but who can blame her when her circumstances (the strain of a criminal husband) have drained the color out of her leaving her a bit drab. What I had a hard time forgiving is the ending, I just sat there thinking- huh...okay.. I was expecting more from Jane, she just doesn't seem believable. One could argue, maybe her lack of proper reactions (or any reactions) is because she's numb from life- all I know is I didn't like her and I didn't believe her as a character.
Is there anyone in this story that isn't harboring some dark secret? It could have been more explosive, even quietly ticking but it seems everything is just sort of...well...settled is the word. Maybe it's Jane as a doormat I can't stand- it seems she just takes whatever people put on her. It's not a bad story, I just felt the characters could have been more alive. I sort of just went along with the story expecting something to jump out at me but that didn't really happen. Even when Josh is telling her what he has done my thought was 'Oh, okay- so we just sit with that news and move on? Interesting..." I know people who enjoy this sort of story, I think I expected something with more bite.
November 10, 2015
I was given an electronic copy by Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
35 years after attending Grove Academy, Jane Milton returns to teach English. Divorced and broke, with fifteen year old son Charlie in tow, the welcome is not what Jane had hoped. Old memories return with a vengeance, with remembrances about a murder that Jane and her two best friends, Lissa and Kat, tried to solve when they were in attendance at Grove. As one of her students turns in writings eerily similar to days past, Jane becomes obsessed with learning the past truth.
The mystery of the past was way more interesting than the present plot line. The backstory is clearly defined and intriguing, but not the same can be said for the current one. The side plot regarding Josh and Jessica was unnecessary, as the unrequited love was not an essential part of the novel. More should have been said to help tie the scandal of the past to the one in the present, as the author has left it up to the reader to decide how Jane feels. My favorite character in Academy Girls is Jane, in both time periods. The only part that bothered me about her is that she never confronted Lissa for her transgressions, which seemed out of character. It is implied that their past history was manipulated in order for Jane to receive the position at Grove Academy, but nothing is overtly said regarding this. The author did a great job of capturing the feel of a preparatory school, with regards to the descriptions of the beautiful scenery and the life in the dorms. I look forward to reading more by author Nora Carroll in the future.
35 years after attending Grove Academy, Jane Milton returns to teach English. Divorced and broke, with fifteen year old son Charlie in tow, the welcome is not what Jane had hoped. Old memories return with a vengeance, with remembrances about a murder that Jane and her two best friends, Lissa and Kat, tried to solve when they were in attendance at Grove. As one of her students turns in writings eerily similar to days past, Jane becomes obsessed with learning the past truth.
The mystery of the past was way more interesting than the present plot line. The backstory is clearly defined and intriguing, but not the same can be said for the current one. The side plot regarding Josh and Jessica was unnecessary, as the unrequited love was not an essential part of the novel. More should have been said to help tie the scandal of the past to the one in the present, as the author has left it up to the reader to decide how Jane feels. My favorite character in Academy Girls is Jane, in both time periods. The only part that bothered me about her is that she never confronted Lissa for her transgressions, which seemed out of character. It is implied that their past history was manipulated in order for Jane to receive the position at Grove Academy, but nothing is overtly said regarding this. The author did a great job of capturing the feel of a preparatory school, with regards to the descriptions of the beautiful scenery and the life in the dorms. I look forward to reading more by author Nora Carroll in the future.
September 16, 2015
Academy Girls was an excellent book. I was expecting a typical mystery, but what I found instead was something much deeper than that. Jane Milton, after experiencing some setbacks, returns to the all-girls school that she attended during her teen years. She returns reluctantly, because there is a secret that is making her uncomfortable about returning, but she needs the job and is doing it to help her teenage son. She is planning to start working as an English teacher, but she does not have the right qualifications for the job and is hoping that she'll be able to figure out what to do just by remembering what her old teacher did. Right away, she starts to experience problems-- she doesn't trust one of her students, and everything reminds her of her old student days. But the story immediately gets more interesting as it flashes back to the past and we meet Jane and her two roommates, Kat, and Lissa when they were students at the school. I thought the book perfectly captures the close and claustrophobic quality of some adolescent friendships-- the girls are friends, but also rivals, and being cooped up together in a competitive girls school just brings out the worst in them. Nora Carroll writes beautifully-- I found myself lingering over many of the phrases, and the story kept me turning the pages, wanting to find out what happened. At the end, I was wholly satisfied. An excellent read.
July 20, 2016
2.5 stars
I can see why people enjoy it and that it is overall not a bad book, but for me where we're just so many small things that added up throughout this entire book that overall to me personally it just wasn't the best reading experience.
I enjoyed the idea of the plot, of a student that didn't leave the boarding school at the best termed comes back as an adult to be a teacher more or less because there are just no other options.
My biggest problem with that was that Jane was just a very boring person, to me at least. She felt very flat and dragging to follow along and I don't know if a more lively character would have not make the book felt at least double the length it has but Jane... She just made the book feel very long!
Also the eh mystery aspects of this book didn't really work for me personally and as I already said the story dragged on a lot so I felt quite bored while waiting for something t o finally happen.
That all being said, I am personally more of a fan of the fast build, lots of action mysteries as I notice the more slower mysteries I read. So pleas kept that in mind.
Because I really do think that if you are someone that enjoys a slower bulked mystery and don't need a character that is not your typical "plain-Jane" (no pun intended with the name of the character) this book could be perfect for you. So just give it a try.
*thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
I can see why people enjoy it and that it is overall not a bad book, but for me where we're just so many small things that added up throughout this entire book that overall to me personally it just wasn't the best reading experience.
I enjoyed the idea of the plot, of a student that didn't leave the boarding school at the best termed comes back as an adult to be a teacher more or less because there are just no other options.
My biggest problem with that was that Jane was just a very boring person, to me at least. She felt very flat and dragging to follow along and I don't know if a more lively character would have not make the book felt at least double the length it has but Jane... She just made the book feel very long!
Also the eh mystery aspects of this book didn't really work for me personally and as I already said the story dragged on a lot so I felt quite bored while waiting for something t o finally happen.
That all being said, I am personally more of a fan of the fast build, lots of action mysteries as I notice the more slower mysteries I read. So pleas kept that in mind.
Because I really do think that if you are someone that enjoys a slower bulked mystery and don't need a character that is not your typical "plain-Jane" (no pun intended with the name of the character) this book could be perfect for you. So just give it a try.
*thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
October 14, 2015
Ok -- I will admit it. I am a huge fan of boarding school books. There is almost always some sort of mean girls drama going on, a few complicated love interests, and some big secret. This book certainly doesn't disappoint in that aspect. One of the unique features of this book is that there are three different story lines, each one in its own time period. There is an old mystery, a secret related to that mystery, and a woman trying to make sense of her life when she goes back to teach at the school she attended as a teenager. There were a few surprises that I didn't see coming, which is interesting because the author actually does leave lots of clues along the way. There are a few relationships between characters that would benefit from more development (especially the relationship between Jane and her son). I also would have liked to have read more about Jane's relationship with her ex-husband. I felt at times as though we were dumped into a the middle of her life and while we did learn quite a bit about her high school years as the novel progressed, it would have been nice to dive into the relationship with her ex-husband a bit more as well. The book is easy to read, with great pacing, and I don't think it would have hurt to add another 50 pages to further develop some of the other story lines a bit more.
September 15, 2015
Academy Girls is a well written novel that will surely appeal to fans of cozy mysteries and poetry. Part historical and part contemporary fiction it switches effortlessly between 1979 and 2004 while also looking at the role of women at the beginning of the 1960s. It follows Jane who is returning to her former boarding school with her teenage son in tow. She's been given the job of English teacher and house mother to a group of girls. Events that took place during Jane's senior year at school and have affected her since come back to haunt her in her present job as she tries to unravel several mysteries from her past while trying to cope with the demands of her new job.
Overall, this was an enjoyable story. There were some parts that were a bit tedious (too much Emily Dickinson) and although Jane was the main character, I never really felt I got to know her. She was bland and the relationship with her son felt almost non-existent. Fortunately, some of the side characters were far more interesting and made up for it.
Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Overall, this was an enjoyable story. There were some parts that were a bit tedious (too much Emily Dickinson) and although Jane was the main character, I never really felt I got to know her. She was bland and the relationship with her son felt almost non-existent. Fortunately, some of the side characters were far more interesting and made up for it.
Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
August 20, 2015
Dead poets society goes horribly wrong--in a good way--in Academy girls. I first started getting interested in private school stories from the usual; I read the Gallagher girls series, spy goddess series, and Looking for Alaska. What I found most interesting about this book is that, when the main character was a student, there wasn't any happy ending like there was in the other books, meant for younger readers. This was the story of what happens After. I found myself completely engrossed by the writing style and plot, and the characters were well developed. I especially appreciate how seamless the transition between past and present was.
Overall: I'd read it in a library and buy a kindle version, and while I'd love a print copy as a gift, I wouldn't go out and buy it myself.
Overall: I'd read it in a library and buy a kindle version, and while I'd love a print copy as a gift, I wouldn't go out and buy it myself.
September 5, 2015
4.5/5 The cover and title of this book do not do it justice. It is so much more than boarding school shenanigans. Jane, the protagonist, was once a student at Grove Academy and has now come back as a teacher. While she works as an English teacher, she also searches for clues to unanswered questions from her time as a student.
This is a well-written and thoroughly engaging book. There are just the right amount of plots and subplots to keep things interesting and keep the story moving forward. It moves back and forth between past and present, but in a way that makes sense and reveals things at just the right time. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes YA, mysteries, Emily Dickinson poetry, and past/present novels.
This is a well-written and thoroughly engaging book. There are just the right amount of plots and subplots to keep things interesting and keep the story moving forward. It moves back and forth between past and present, but in a way that makes sense and reveals things at just the right time. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes YA, mysteries, Emily Dickinson poetry, and past/present novels.
October 25, 2015
I requested this book from netgalley imagining that it would be this amazing mix of the movies "Lost and Delirious" and "Loving Annabelle." I was wrong. The mystery behind the story was thin, and dragged on longer than necessary. Queer characters were written poorly. Parts repeated themselves, and toward the end the main character was still questioning herself about information she knew was fact. My three-star rating is based on the fact I actually liked parts, and if condensed, I think the story would have worked. It kept me hooked, and I did have certain ships, so I can't be too mean. But don't go into this expecting a well-written, edge-of-your-seat suspense. This is more a reminder of how our past haunts us, and sometimes complete truth is the only way to move forward.
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