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M School
WELCOME TO MURDER HIGH... When her best friend Lara is murdered, 17-year-old Lilith Delany’s discovers nothing around her is as it seems. Lara’s death wasn’t just a random killing; she was a casualty in a hidden war raging between domestic terrorists and a mysterious agency willing to do anything to stop them. In hopes of avenging Lara’s murder, Lilith joins M School, the agency’s secret underwater training facility run by ex-military officers dedicated to transforming teenagers into world-class assassins. After years of feeling like an outsider because of her lack of emotions, Lilith finds herself surrounded by sociopathic teens obsessed with becoming world class spies, and ready to take down deadly terrorists with killer intent. Her roommates are callous, her teachers are cruel, and her principal walks around escorted by a small dog who once ate one of the students. Yet despite the ever-present violence she’s faced with at every turn, Lilith realizes that at M School she actually fits in for the first time in her entire life. But the longer Lilith spends at “murder high”, the more she begins to wonder if the espionage skills she's learning will help her catch Lara’s murderer—or turn her into the kind of person she set out to a cold-blooded killer. Buy your copy of the controversial young adult thriller today!
316 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 21, 2016
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5 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 4, 2019
Wow this book took me for a ride! I don’t often get sucked into a story so hard that I lose track of time, but this one had me hooked. It also possibly had the best opening chapter I’ve ever read, so that definitely helped, but even after the first few chapters I was still pulled along at a pretty fast clip. And although the plot was very fast-paced, the character development and story arc were still exquisitely done.
I’m not going to summarize the plot, because I don’t want to give spoilers and also because I kind of hate it when people reveal things about the plot (even if not spoilers) in a review. However, I will say that M School probably has one of the most brilliant plots I’ve met with in a while. My favorite part of the book, though, was the characters. Especially the main character, Lilith. This girl resonated so strongly with me, even though we’re different in a lot of ways. Lilith is calm, cool, and collected, always. In fact, to a fault. She’s so unflappable that she feels like an alien in normal society (her feeling like an alien is what I really connected with). Lilith is what I would categorize as a thinker personality type, but a thinker who has been pushed so far by outward circumstances that she’s started to go a little sociopathic at times, which makes her super interesting. Lilith does what she has to do and sometimes those things are very violent and bloody things, and she doesn’t feel a whole lot of regret that she chose to do them.
The book also surprised me, not only with the twists and turns of the plot, but with the profound ideas that lay at the core of the story. This novel made me stop and think and ponder the motivations behind human violence and whether or not we live in a meaningless universe. These sound like weighty ideas, but the plot didn’t lose an ounce of momentum because of them. Instead, the complex ideas examined by the characters were woven in seamlessly, so that they felt like a very natural part of the story.
I also appreciated that the female protagonist at the center of everything (Lilith) was portrayed so realistically. She isn’t this shapely, beautiful goddess-type girl, and she isn’t a fierce warrior with zero flaws. She IS a warrior, to be sure, but she’s a warrior who still makes mistakes, gets confused, and struggles to figure out relationships with other people and herself. I felt an immediate connection with her in the opening chapters and that connection only grew as the book progressed.
Although this book is relatively gory and brutal in parts, I think anyone who loves really well-written YA lit or lit fic, or action/adventure should give it a chance. Also anyone who loves horror movies, or is a fan of the movie “Heathers,” will probably love it. It has that same dark, snarky, funny violent streak running through it that is so hard to describe but so awesome to experience when a work of art pulls it off well. This author and this book pull it off amazingly well.
I’m not going to summarize the plot, because I don’t want to give spoilers and also because I kind of hate it when people reveal things about the plot (even if not spoilers) in a review. However, I will say that M School probably has one of the most brilliant plots I’ve met with in a while. My favorite part of the book, though, was the characters. Especially the main character, Lilith. This girl resonated so strongly with me, even though we’re different in a lot of ways. Lilith is calm, cool, and collected, always. In fact, to a fault. She’s so unflappable that she feels like an alien in normal society (her feeling like an alien is what I really connected with). Lilith is what I would categorize as a thinker personality type, but a thinker who has been pushed so far by outward circumstances that she’s started to go a little sociopathic at times, which makes her super interesting. Lilith does what she has to do and sometimes those things are very violent and bloody things, and she doesn’t feel a whole lot of regret that she chose to do them.
The book also surprised me, not only with the twists and turns of the plot, but with the profound ideas that lay at the core of the story. This novel made me stop and think and ponder the motivations behind human violence and whether or not we live in a meaningless universe. These sound like weighty ideas, but the plot didn’t lose an ounce of momentum because of them. Instead, the complex ideas examined by the characters were woven in seamlessly, so that they felt like a very natural part of the story.
I also appreciated that the female protagonist at the center of everything (Lilith) was portrayed so realistically. She isn’t this shapely, beautiful goddess-type girl, and she isn’t a fierce warrior with zero flaws. She IS a warrior, to be sure, but she’s a warrior who still makes mistakes, gets confused, and struggles to figure out relationships with other people and herself. I felt an immediate connection with her in the opening chapters and that connection only grew as the book progressed.
Although this book is relatively gory and brutal in parts, I think anyone who loves really well-written YA lit or lit fic, or action/adventure should give it a chance. Also anyone who loves horror movies, or is a fan of the movie “Heathers,” will probably love it. It has that same dark, snarky, funny violent streak running through it that is so hard to describe but so awesome to experience when a work of art pulls it off well. This author and this book pull it off amazingly well.
September 28, 2025
gripping, smart, unforgettable
M School is a high-octane page-turner that had me hooked from start to finish. Kevin John delivers nonstop tension, sharp writing, and a plot full of twists. The real standout is Lilith—mesmerizing, fierce, and unlike any protagonist I’ve read in a long time. If you love fast-paced thrillers with a strong, complex lead, this one’s a must-read.
M School is a high-octane page-turner that had me hooked from start to finish. Kevin John delivers nonstop tension, sharp writing, and a plot full of twists. The real standout is Lilith—mesmerizing, fierce, and unlike any protagonist I’ve read in a long time. If you love fast-paced thrillers with a strong, complex lead, this one’s a must-read.
December 23, 2016
We get a glimpse of Lilith’s childhood early on in the novel which somewhat slips us into her origin story in a sense. The story doesn’t begin as many stories begin, it doesn’t lull us into a false pretense before throwing us in with the sharks, but rather it slams us with the craziness that is this story. The craziness is what makes this story what it is. Lilith a mere twelve-year-old girl is mentally disturbed to say the least. The opening scene of the story is powerful, and very vivid to draw a reader in. the author did not gloss over any details as he portrayed the acts of the young girl and a part of me really appreciated this since most authors these days tend to shy away from gruesome details. It is definitely cringe worthy, but glorious in its own right.
The story then switched to present time where Lilith has a normal life, but it’s only a façade. Truthfully, Lilith is as the cold-hearted of a sociopath as she was when she was younger.
The story of M school throws the reader head first into the story without holding anything back. The story also tosses the reader the in middle of a bloody assassin school where friends and enemies are alike. The school is framed underwater of the rig which is technologically advanced. One of the best parts of any agent/assassin story is the high-tech tools the authors invent. The authors let their imaginations run wild when creating these tools and that for me is always a treat. So yeah... it pumps me up every time the story shows me a freaking cool high technology tool. It’s unlikely you’ll shed a tear for a story that divulges in so much viciousness and cruelty, but there were some very emotional scenes that will make your heart wrench and you may even shed a few tears unconsciously. The story is very action packed. Brutal scenes containing the assassin’s will dishearten you. Altogether, M School’s plot is written profoundly well. Not too consuming or exhilarating. That’s fine though since I still enjoyed the book in its entirety. It slowly builds to a climax at the ending. Honestly, I am still in an emotional state after finishing the book. The ending got me in the feels! BANG!
Now let me talk about Lilith... It’s doubtful you will find yourself rooting for Lilith right off the bat as she is a wishy-washy, reckless, absentminded, thoughtless, cold-hearted, and ruthless character. In my opinion this is a really great job from the author. He effortlessly created a messed up character who the readers don’t know whether to love her or to punch her in the face.
“I’m not what you call a natural people person. I mean, you’ve got to keep some people close to you, so that you can use them when you need them. You’ve got to have some pawns to move around the chess board, so to speak. But If I had my choice I’d probably spend the rest of my life alone on an island with a stack of books.” – Lilith
“Dead is dead, and everything after that is just wasted ammo” - Lilith
I definitely recommend this novel to all you lovelies out there, especially if you love anything and everything about assassins! Furthermore, if you’re new to the genre, this is a great place to start
Last, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the author. I feel very lucky that you noticed my review and gave me an opportunity to read M School for free.
“Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the oppressor” – Kevin T Johns
The story then switched to present time where Lilith has a normal life, but it’s only a façade. Truthfully, Lilith is as the cold-hearted of a sociopath as she was when she was younger.
The story of M school throws the reader head first into the story without holding anything back. The story also tosses the reader the in middle of a bloody assassin school where friends and enemies are alike. The school is framed underwater of the rig which is technologically advanced. One of the best parts of any agent/assassin story is the high-tech tools the authors invent. The authors let their imaginations run wild when creating these tools and that for me is always a treat. So yeah... it pumps me up every time the story shows me a freaking cool high technology tool. It’s unlikely you’ll shed a tear for a story that divulges in so much viciousness and cruelty, but there were some very emotional scenes that will make your heart wrench and you may even shed a few tears unconsciously. The story is very action packed. Brutal scenes containing the assassin’s will dishearten you. Altogether, M School’s plot is written profoundly well. Not too consuming or exhilarating. That’s fine though since I still enjoyed the book in its entirety. It slowly builds to a climax at the ending. Honestly, I am still in an emotional state after finishing the book. The ending got me in the feels! BANG!
Now let me talk about Lilith... It’s doubtful you will find yourself rooting for Lilith right off the bat as she is a wishy-washy, reckless, absentminded, thoughtless, cold-hearted, and ruthless character. In my opinion this is a really great job from the author. He effortlessly created a messed up character who the readers don’t know whether to love her or to punch her in the face.
“I’m not what you call a natural people person. I mean, you’ve got to keep some people close to you, so that you can use them when you need them. You’ve got to have some pawns to move around the chess board, so to speak. But If I had my choice I’d probably spend the rest of my life alone on an island with a stack of books.” – Lilith
“Dead is dead, and everything after that is just wasted ammo” - Lilith
I definitely recommend this novel to all you lovelies out there, especially if you love anything and everything about assassins! Furthermore, if you’re new to the genre, this is a great place to start
Last, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the author. I feel very lucky that you noticed my review and gave me an opportunity to read M School for free.
“Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the oppressor” – Kevin T Johns
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews