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De school voor afgeschreven kinderen
Bijna 20 jaar geleden verongelukte Kersti's beste vriendin. Maar is zij gesprongen, gevallen of geduwd? De school stopte het in de doofpot, maar nu is Kersti vastbesloten de waarheid te achterhalen.
Dankzij een studiebeurs kan Kersti naar een prestigieuze kostschool waar de rich and famous hun kinderen heen sturen omdat ze hun ouders in de weg lopen. Daar raakt Kersti bevriend met de populaire Cressida. Als Cressida van een balkon valt – springt? geduwd wordt? – stopt de school de affaire in de doofpot. Schandalen kosten immers geld, en de ouders van deze scholieren willen niet lastiggevallen worden.
Twintig jaar later organiseert de school een reünie en nodigt bestsellerauteur Kersti uit als gastspreker. Kersti grijpt deze kans aan om de waarheid over Cressida's val te achterhalen. Waarom was Cressida zo geobsedeerd door de geruchten en verhalen over een geheim genootschap op deze school? Waarom kan Kersti dit niet loslaten? En hoeveel is ze bereid op het spel te zetten in haar zoektocht naar antwoorden?
Dankzij een studiebeurs kan Kersti naar een prestigieuze kostschool waar de rich and famous hun kinderen heen sturen omdat ze hun ouders in de weg lopen. Daar raakt Kersti bevriend met de populaire Cressida. Als Cressida van een balkon valt – springt? geduwd wordt? – stopt de school de affaire in de doofpot. Schandalen kosten immers geld, en de ouders van deze scholieren willen niet lastiggevallen worden.
Twintig jaar later organiseert de school een reünie en nodigt bestsellerauteur Kersti uit als gastspreker. Kersti grijpt deze kans aan om de waarheid over Cressida's val te achterhalen. Waarom was Cressida zo geobsedeerd door de geruchten en verhalen over een geheim genootschap op deze school? Waarom kan Kersti dit niet loslaten? En hoeveel is ze bereid op het spel te zetten in haar zoektocht naar antwoorden?
302 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 2017
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9229 people want to read
About the author
Joanna Goodman
9 books1,302 followersJoanna Goodman’s #1 Bestselling Historical Fiction novel, The Home for Unwanted Girls was released April 17, 2018 to wide critical acclaim.
Joanna is the author of four previous novels, including The Finishing School, You Made Me Love You and Harmony. Her stories have appeared in The Fiddlehead, The Ottawa Citizen, B & A Fiction, Event, The New Quarterly, and White Wall Review.
Originally from Montreal, Joanna now lives in Toronto with her husband and two children, and is at work on her sixth novel. She is also the owner of a well-known Toronto linen store, Au Lit Fine Linens.
Joanna is the author of four previous novels, including The Finishing School, You Made Me Love You and Harmony. Her stories have appeared in The Fiddlehead, The Ottawa Citizen, B & A Fiction, Event, The New Quarterly, and White Wall Review.
Originally from Montreal, Joanna now lives in Toronto with her husband and two children, and is at work on her sixth novel. She is also the owner of a well-known Toronto linen store, Au Lit Fine Linens.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 699 reviews
October 22, 2018
4 stars!
Gripping. Shocking. Haunting. Suspenseful.
I read Joanna Goodman’s latest novel, The Home For Unwanted Girls, in August and absolutely adored it. When I was presented with the opportunity to go to a reading by Joanna Goodman (tonight – can’t wait!!!), I decided to pick up her previous book to get in ‘full fan mode’.
This story follows Kersti Kuusk, a published Canadian author who spent her high school years on scholarship at the prestigious and wealthy Lycee Internationale school in Switzerland. Kersti’s last year of school at the Lycee ended with her best friend, Cressida, falling from a fourth story balcony causing complete devastation among staff and students. Cressida’s fall is determined to be an accident and the investigation is quickly closed. Twenty years after leaving the Lycee, Kersti is invited back to be a guest speaker at the school’s 100th anniversary. Thoughts of returning to the school spark new cause for Kersti to reexamine exactly what happened to Cressida. Was it a suicide attempt? Was it an accident? Was she pushed? Kersti cannot let her mind rest until she finds some answers.
This novel turned out to be nothing like I expected. This story has so many layers, some of them delving into dark and disturbing territory. The intricate plot unfolds through two timelines, Kersti’s high school years at the Lycee and present day. I enjoyed the way the story evolved – each chapter added a new detail or twist, interweaving characters and providing hidden links from past to present.
There were a few aspects of the present day storyline that I thought were unnecessary. At times it felt as if there was a bit too much going on and less might have been more. However, everything came together seamlessly in the end, leaving me satisfied and looking forward to more from this author.
This was a Traveling Sister read with Brenda and we both are excited to see what Joanna Goodman comes out with next! To find this review, along with Brenda’s review, please visit our blog at:
https://twosisterslostinacoulee.com/2...
The Finishing School is available now!
Gripping. Shocking. Haunting. Suspenseful.
I read Joanna Goodman’s latest novel, The Home For Unwanted Girls, in August and absolutely adored it. When I was presented with the opportunity to go to a reading by Joanna Goodman (tonight – can’t wait!!!), I decided to pick up her previous book to get in ‘full fan mode’.
This story follows Kersti Kuusk, a published Canadian author who spent her high school years on scholarship at the prestigious and wealthy Lycee Internationale school in Switzerland. Kersti’s last year of school at the Lycee ended with her best friend, Cressida, falling from a fourth story balcony causing complete devastation among staff and students. Cressida’s fall is determined to be an accident and the investigation is quickly closed. Twenty years after leaving the Lycee, Kersti is invited back to be a guest speaker at the school’s 100th anniversary. Thoughts of returning to the school spark new cause for Kersti to reexamine exactly what happened to Cressida. Was it a suicide attempt? Was it an accident? Was she pushed? Kersti cannot let her mind rest until she finds some answers.
This novel turned out to be nothing like I expected. This story has so many layers, some of them delving into dark and disturbing territory. The intricate plot unfolds through two timelines, Kersti’s high school years at the Lycee and present day. I enjoyed the way the story evolved – each chapter added a new detail or twist, interweaving characters and providing hidden links from past to present.
There were a few aspects of the present day storyline that I thought were unnecessary. At times it felt as if there was a bit too much going on and less might have been more. However, everything came together seamlessly in the end, leaving me satisfied and looking forward to more from this author.
This was a Traveling Sister read with Brenda and we both are excited to see what Joanna Goodman comes out with next! To find this review, along with Brenda’s review, please visit our blog at:
https://twosisterslostinacoulee.com/2...
The Finishing School is available now!
October 22, 2018
The Finishing School is a compelling, fast-paced story filled with suspense that explores friendship, love, desire, betrayal and dangerous secrets that had me flying through the pages. The story starts off simple and the suspense increased as I turned those pages. It takes a bit of an odd turn with one storyline that left me feeling a bit uneasy and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Talking it over with Lindsay we agreed it was odd however it certainly added some conversation to our discussion. It is interesting when an author can add something to the story that really gets you talking about it and Joanna Goodman does a great job here with that.
I loved the setting here with the Lycee Internationale Suisse finishing school and found it compelling as we get a look into the elite, and privilege and the length taken to keep that status untouched. The walls hold a decade mystery and the secrets, lies, and deceit are perfectly paced and revealed right up to that unexpected ending. The ending was darker than we expected and that left us with more to discuss.
Now even though I read this one with just Lindsay due to timing, it would make for a good group discussion. We highly recommend for group reads.
I loved the setting here with the Lycee Internationale Suisse finishing school and found it compelling as we get a look into the elite, and privilege and the length taken to keep that status untouched. The walls hold a decade mystery and the secrets, lies, and deceit are perfectly paced and revealed right up to that unexpected ending. The ending was darker than we expected and that left us with more to discuss.
Now even though I read this one with just Lindsay due to timing, it would make for a good group discussion. We highly recommend for group reads.
January 2, 2018
Unexpectedly satisfying "woman's fiction", with a complex plot and well developed characters. Light reading, yes, but very well done.
May 1, 2021
In summing up this book, I’d first be inclined to define it by a lack of self-awareness. My initial suspicion, the first hint of Something Deeply Wrong, was the selfishness of the characters, how they’d talk at but not to one another. I’d hoped that would be resolved; and it was. Would that that had been my only issue, and would that I could still believe that some truly problematic elements were the fault of Ms. Goodman’s lack of self-awareness rather than something much worse.
The sirens grew louder. A first time that was more-or-less a date rape, coerced intoxication and painful sex, framed as “a perfect night.” I waited for the main character to come to her senses, for the man to be punished. Nothing. After that, womanhood defined and qualified by fertility, motherhood, and a particular sort of performative femininity; nonetheless, there was an undercurrent of dislike beneath all of Kersti’s friendships, a subscription to the truly BS notion that other women are competition before they are allies. The main character and her husband do nothing but argue, and the band-aid is a (creepy!) pregnancy which does little to remove the fundamental disrespect and disinterest from all of their dialogue. It was clear by the first fifty pages that Ms. Goodman and I were not of like minds, and that the world she knew operated under very prescriptive, patriarchal rules. Men and women were, at the heart of it, incompatible species, prizes before people, and all heterosexual interactions were characterized by vague resentment.
And then I knew I was going to hate it, as soon as she had the nerve to disparagingly say, “a homosexual.” If only it had stopped there. No; our villain is some outdated caricature of a lesbian, who is, of course, also a child-molester. Ms. Goodman did not forget to tell us that this character was “boyish” and thus (obviously) unattractive; her partner was likewise repellent and introduced with comments about her poor hygiene. It was the height of lazy writing, picking an “Other” and transubstantiating it into a bogeyman. But to call it lazy makes light of just how dangerous this schlock is.
It’s 2018, my friends. It’s naive to conceive of any sort of safety in sameness; that’s simply ignorance. Yet ignorance is comfortable, and in unquestioningly propagating both toxic heterosexual relationships and apocryphal villainous lesbians, the stuff of which is readily used by Well-Meaning White Ladies to justify their own and others’ oppression, the author lays bare her own ignorance. She could have made a compelling statement against abuse, but the abuse is just the shock factor, here. She points an accusatory finger at her little caricature while missing her date rapists, her fatphobia, her racism (she mentions Asian characters a handful of times and they are, predictably, Othered).
This sh*t is insidious. It isn’t always the pundit frothing on AM radio. Sometimes it’s a beach read that reminds you that we’ve still got a long way to go.
The sirens grew louder. A first time that was more-or-less a date rape, coerced intoxication and painful sex, framed as “a perfect night.” I waited for the main character to come to her senses, for the man to be punished. Nothing. After that, womanhood defined and qualified by fertility, motherhood, and a particular sort of performative femininity; nonetheless, there was an undercurrent of dislike beneath all of Kersti’s friendships, a subscription to the truly BS notion that other women are competition before they are allies. The main character and her husband do nothing but argue, and the band-aid is a (creepy!) pregnancy which does little to remove the fundamental disrespect and disinterest from all of their dialogue. It was clear by the first fifty pages that Ms. Goodman and I were not of like minds, and that the world she knew operated under very prescriptive, patriarchal rules. Men and women were, at the heart of it, incompatible species, prizes before people, and all heterosexual interactions were characterized by vague resentment.
And then I knew I was going to hate it, as soon as she had the nerve to disparagingly say, “a homosexual.” If only it had stopped there. No; our villain is some outdated caricature of a lesbian, who is, of course, also a child-molester. Ms. Goodman did not forget to tell us that this character was “boyish” and thus (obviously) unattractive; her partner was likewise repellent and introduced with comments about her poor hygiene. It was the height of lazy writing, picking an “Other” and transubstantiating it into a bogeyman. But to call it lazy makes light of just how dangerous this schlock is.
It’s 2018, my friends. It’s naive to conceive of any sort of safety in sameness; that’s simply ignorance. Yet ignorance is comfortable, and in unquestioningly propagating both toxic heterosexual relationships and apocryphal villainous lesbians, the stuff of which is readily used by Well-Meaning White Ladies to justify their own and others’ oppression, the author lays bare her own ignorance. She could have made a compelling statement against abuse, but the abuse is just the shock factor, here. She points an accusatory finger at her little caricature while missing her date rapists, her fatphobia, her racism (she mentions Asian characters a handful of times and they are, predictably, Othered).
This sh*t is insidious. It isn’t always the pundit frothing on AM radio. Sometimes it’s a beach read that reminds you that we’ve still got a long way to go.
March 19, 2017
It has been 20 years since Kersti Kuusk set foot on the grounds of the Lycée, the prestigious boarding school she attended as a teen. Kersti was a scholarship student from Canada at the elite school, and she left abruptly in her senior year, after her best friend, Cressida, fell from her balcony one evening. The school declared the event an accident, but now, Kersti finds herself unconvinced. A timely letter from another of her school friends brings up more questions: was Cressida pushed, or did she attempt suicide? Kersti knows that Cressida had become increasingly obsessed with a secret society within the Lycée--banned since the 1970s when two of its members were expelled. As the school plans a celebration of its 100th anniversary, Kersti considers returning. She also starts looking further into Cressida's fall. However, some secrets are meant to stay buried.
THE FINISHING SCHOOL is told in alternating chapters between the present day and Kersti's school years, leading up to Cressida's fall from the balcony. This effective technique certainly creates tension and suspense, leading you to madly flip the pages, trying to figure out what happened - particularly to Kersti's group of friends at the Lycée twenty years ago. The novel pulls you in fairly quickly and hooks you rather rapidly. Goodman is quite adept at capturing the voices of her characters, especially the teens, and the boarding school passages are rather effective. (They are also great at making you want to never send your child to boarding school. Parts of it reminded me of Tana French's THE SECRET PLACE in that way.)
For me, the only thing that held this book back was that some of the plot was a little weird: mostly some of the things relating to Kersti's personal life and her obsession with Cressida. They didn't necessarily seem required for the story to be successful, but they bothered me. It's a shame, because overall I liked Kersti, and I felt a connection with her. Present-day Kersti is suffering from infertility, and, as someone who has been there, I can say that Goodman captures that angst very well. I just wasn't sure about some of her choices.
At times, some of the school drama gets a little tedious, but it picks up as the novel gains momentum, especially near the end. I figured out parts of the plot, but not all of it, and I was quite frantic to finish the last portions of the book to put it all together. It's quite a dark and twisted tale, overall. Certainly worth a read. 3.5 stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available everywhere as of 04/11/2017.
Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Google+
THE FINISHING SCHOOL is told in alternating chapters between the present day and Kersti's school years, leading up to Cressida's fall from the balcony. This effective technique certainly creates tension and suspense, leading you to madly flip the pages, trying to figure out what happened - particularly to Kersti's group of friends at the Lycée twenty years ago. The novel pulls you in fairly quickly and hooks you rather rapidly. Goodman is quite adept at capturing the voices of her characters, especially the teens, and the boarding school passages are rather effective. (They are also great at making you want to never send your child to boarding school. Parts of it reminded me of Tana French's THE SECRET PLACE in that way.)
For me, the only thing that held this book back was that some of the plot was a little weird: mostly some of the things relating to Kersti's personal life and her obsession with Cressida. They didn't necessarily seem required for the story to be successful, but they bothered me. It's a shame, because overall I liked Kersti, and I felt a connection with her. Present-day Kersti is suffering from infertility, and, as someone who has been there, I can say that Goodman captures that angst very well. I just wasn't sure about some of her choices.
At times, some of the school drama gets a little tedious, but it picks up as the novel gains momentum, especially near the end. I figured out parts of the plot, but not all of it, and I was quite frantic to finish the last portions of the book to put it all together. It's quite a dark and twisted tale, overall. Certainly worth a read. 3.5 stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available everywhere as of 04/11/2017.
Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Google+
August 29, 2020
La novela está contada en dos tiempos. 1994 cuando Kersti, la protagonista, llega al internado suizo y conoce a su nueva compañera de habitación Cressida quien de inmediato se transforma en su mejor amiga, ya que se siente muy acogida y comprendida por ella. Y por otro lado tenemos el año 2015 cuando Kersti recibe una carta de una antigua amiga y compañera del internado en donde le cuenta todas las dudas que tiene respecto al accidente que le ocurrió a Cressida hace muchos años atrás en el Lycée (Internado suizo)
Una historia interesante y profunda que está llena de misterio, en donde vemos a nuestra protagonista motivada, por esta carta y por muchas otras razones más, a investigar qué fue lo que realmente le sucedió a su mejor amiga esa noche del accidente.
En un principio la motivación para investigar el tema del accidente me pareció un poco floja y poco creíble, pero con el pasar de las páginas todo va tomando consistencia y de hecho me sorprendió como se fue desarrollando todo.
Una buena historia que toca temas que muchos de ellos son muy reales y siento que fueron tratados de manera adecuada.
Reseña completa en el blog
Una historia interesante y profunda que está llena de misterio, en donde vemos a nuestra protagonista motivada, por esta carta y por muchas otras razones más, a investigar qué fue lo que realmente le sucedió a su mejor amiga esa noche del accidente.
En un principio la motivación para investigar el tema del accidente me pareció un poco floja y poco creíble, pero con el pasar de las páginas todo va tomando consistencia y de hecho me sorprendió como se fue desarrollando todo.
Una buena historia que toca temas que muchos de ellos son muy reales y siento que fueron tratados de manera adecuada.
Reseña completa en el blog
April 5, 2019
A Character Study with Heart.
Riveting and Intense.
More to come..
Riveting and Intense.
More to come..
July 17, 2020
Me ha gustado mucho. Se trata de un thriller con mezcla de drama, narrado en dos lineas temporales para tratar de desentramar lo que ocurrió en el internado donde estudió la protagonista.
Los personajes están muy bien trabajados y el final me ha parecido correcto, aunque no es lo mejor del libro. Recomendado!
Los personajes están muy bien trabajados y el final me ha parecido correcto, aunque no es lo mejor del libro. Recomendado!
May 29, 2018
This was a quick read with a few twists and turns.
July 26, 2020
Anteriormente a principios de este año leí "El hogar de niñas indeseadas" de la misma autora y ese libro me conquisto con su escritura y su forma de interpretar las emociones, ha sido uno de mis lecturas favoritas en lo que va del año, así que ahora probé con este y debo decir que aunque se aleja demasiado de el genero ya que este este suspense, y el otro libro fue ficción histórica, igual me gusto.
La historia trata sobre obvio como su titulo nos indica en un internado, en el año 1998 la alumna Cressida Strauss se precipita desde un balcón del tercer piso del Lycée Internationale Suisse.
Ahora casi 20 años después Kersti alumna y mejor amiga de Cressida se convierte en una escritora exitosa y casada también, recibe una invitación para participar en el 100° aniversario del Lycée,y no puede evitar investigar más sobre la muerte de su amiga, ya que nunca estuvo convencida que fuera un accidente lo ocurrido y así es cómo descubre una aterradora red de mentiras que se oculta detrás de los muros de la prestigiosa institución.
Como dije la escritura es muy buena y te engancha un montón el libro desde el principio, esta narrado en dos tiempos, en el pasado donde vemos la incorporación de bienvenida de Kersti al internado y como cambia su vida al hacerse amiga de Cressida, y después el presente en la actualidad donde vemos que no a dejado al 100% su pasado atrás y lleva pasando por algunas situaciones que se le escapan de sus manos.
En los dos tiempos tiene su buena dosis de drama por un lado en el internado, pues ya saben mucho drama de adolescentes, lo típico (chicos, autoestima, amistades, etc) y en el presente a Kersti con problemas de infertilidad y su deseo por años de ser madre. A mi parecer la autora supo muy bien hablar de estos temas sin que en ningún momento fuera pensado, sin embargo mi pero fue a veces la actitud de Kersti y toda su obsesión hacia Cressida, no creo que fuera necesario sobre todo en la forma en que termina, pero bueno, y ahora con ese final aunque todo sucedió demasiado rápido y le falto algo mas de desarrollo, creo que fue perfecto para que concluyera esta historia.
La historia trata sobre obvio como su titulo nos indica en un internado, en el año 1998 la alumna Cressida Strauss se precipita desde un balcón del tercer piso del Lycée Internationale Suisse.
Ahora casi 20 años después Kersti alumna y mejor amiga de Cressida se convierte en una escritora exitosa y casada también, recibe una invitación para participar en el 100° aniversario del Lycée,y no puede evitar investigar más sobre la muerte de su amiga, ya que nunca estuvo convencida que fuera un accidente lo ocurrido y así es cómo descubre una aterradora red de mentiras que se oculta detrás de los muros de la prestigiosa institución.
Como dije la escritura es muy buena y te engancha un montón el libro desde el principio, esta narrado en dos tiempos, en el pasado donde vemos la incorporación de bienvenida de Kersti al internado y como cambia su vida al hacerse amiga de Cressida, y después el presente en la actualidad donde vemos que no a dejado al 100% su pasado atrás y lleva pasando por algunas situaciones que se le escapan de sus manos.
En los dos tiempos tiene su buena dosis de drama por un lado en el internado, pues ya saben mucho drama de adolescentes, lo típico (chicos, autoestima, amistades, etc) y en el presente a Kersti con problemas de infertilidad y su deseo por años de ser madre. A mi parecer la autora supo muy bien hablar de estos temas sin que en ningún momento fuera pensado, sin embargo mi pero fue a veces la actitud de Kersti y toda su obsesión hacia Cressida, no creo que fuera necesario sobre todo en la forma en que termina, pero bueno, y ahora con ese final aunque todo sucedió demasiado rápido y le falto algo mas de desarrollo, creo que fue perfecto para que concluyera esta historia.
December 15, 2017
Man. I'm a sucker for any kind of teenage/boarding school/mystery theme, but this was seriously bad. These characters were so stereotypical and under-developed, it was hard to finish. The donor egg plot really took things over the top for me and at that point I was speed reading to send this back to the library.
You've got teacher student sex, lesbians, brain damaged woman giving birth to a child so her crazy mom can "try again", anti-Semitic in-laws, taking donor eggs from your teenage best friend, a cuckolded husband who essentially has no spine and your protagonist who writes crappy novels (irony much?) and only twenty years later decides to ask some basic questions about how her alleged bestie fell off a balcony. I'd also like to know how she ended up an esteemed alum when she never graduated.
You've got teacher student sex, lesbians, brain damaged woman giving birth to a child so her crazy mom can "try again", anti-Semitic in-laws, taking donor eggs from your teenage best friend, a cuckolded husband who essentially has no spine and your protagonist who writes crappy novels (irony much?) and only twenty years later decides to ask some basic questions about how her alleged bestie fell off a balcony. I'd also like to know how she ended up an esteemed alum when she never graduated.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
that-s-enough
November 4, 2018Abandoned at 21.5% because I'm at 21.5% and nothing has happened yet.
The offending bit of dialogue that tipped me over the edge:
She can hear Magnus snickering.
“Je riais, tu riais—”
“That’s the imperfect,” M. Feiully says, annoyed. “Perhaps less actual laughing, Mademoiselle Kuusk, and more practicing your verb conjugations. It’s: J’avais ri, tu avais ri, elle avait ri . . .”
Yeah, I know French verb tenses too. Get on with the story, already.
The offending bit of dialogue that tipped me over the edge:
She can hear Magnus snickering.
“Je riais, tu riais—”
“That’s the imperfect,” M. Feiully says, annoyed. “Perhaps less actual laughing, Mademoiselle Kuusk, and more practicing your verb conjugations. It’s: J’avais ri, tu avais ri, elle avait ri . . .”
Yeah, I know French verb tenses too. Get on with the story, already.
March 16, 2020
4/5
“He visto las mejores mentes de mi generación destruidas por la locura…”
El internado suizo ha sido un drama muy interesante con toques de thriller que me han mantenido pegada a sus páginas hasta el final. Muy recomendado, volveré a leer a esta autora.
-Reseña completa: https://addicionaloslibros.blogspot.c...
“He visto las mejores mentes de mi generación destruidas por la locura…”
El internado suizo ha sido un drama muy interesante con toques de thriller que me han mantenido pegada a sus páginas hasta el final. Muy recomendado, volveré a leer a esta autora.
-Reseña completa: https://addicionaloslibros.blogspot.c...
May 7, 2017
I knew who the bad guy was by page 30, but read to the end hoping for some meat to discuss when I booktalk it...nope. Dry writing, dull characters, predictable plot, obvious twists. Ugh. I never learn.
July 23, 2022
Het verhaal springt over en weer tussen de jaren 90 en 2016. Kersti vertelt over haar leven op een kostschool in Lausanne, waar haar vriendin Cressida iets vreselijks overkomen is. Ondertussen komen we ook meer te weten over haar hedendaagse leven, als getrouwde kinderloze vrouw, die alles in het werk aan het stellen is om zwanger te geraken.
Kersti krijgt een uitnodiging om naar het feest van het honderdjarig bestaan van het Zwitserse lycée te komen. Daar zal ze enkele van haar vroegere vriendinnen terug zien, en ook de docenten. Ze besluit te gaan, want ze is ervan overtuigd dat ze ginder het mysterie van Cressida's 'ongeluk' zal kunnen oplossen en de eventuele dader ter verantwoording zal kunnen roepen.
Ik vond dit geen slecht boek, maar toch kon het me niet echt boeien. De stijl was ook wel goed, stukje bij beetje komen we meer te weten over de personages, en over de gebeurtenissen die geleid konden hebben tot het fatale moment. De auteur slaagt er ook in om tot op het laatst met onverwachte oplossingen te komen. Toch vond ik weinig diepgang in het boek.
Dit verhaal zal me er toch niet toe aanzetten om meer te lezen van deze schrijfster.
Kersti krijgt een uitnodiging om naar het feest van het honderdjarig bestaan van het Zwitserse lycée te komen. Daar zal ze enkele van haar vroegere vriendinnen terug zien, en ook de docenten. Ze besluit te gaan, want ze is ervan overtuigd dat ze ginder het mysterie van Cressida's 'ongeluk' zal kunnen oplossen en de eventuele dader ter verantwoording zal kunnen roepen.
Ik vond dit geen slecht boek, maar toch kon het me niet echt boeien. De stijl was ook wel goed, stukje bij beetje komen we meer te weten over de personages, en over de gebeurtenissen die geleid konden hebben tot het fatale moment. De auteur slaagt er ook in om tot op het laatst met onverwachte oplossingen te komen. Toch vond ik weinig diepgang in het boek.
Dit verhaal zal me er toch niet toe aanzetten om meer te lezen van deze schrijfster.
February 6, 2017
Wow. I don't know what to say about this book. I won it through a Goodreads giveaway and I am so glad that I did! This is one of those books that kept me thinking about it even while I wasn't reading it. This book has everything: Suspense, mystery, girls boarding school, and a shocking ending! I am so sad that it's over... an epilogue would've been nice, now I can't get it out of my head... Highly recommend!
July 4, 2020
Conocí a la autora con «El hogar de niñas indeseadas» y estaba deseando leerla de nuevo. Con «El internado suizo» y se ha posicionado entre mis favoritas.
Este incluso me he gustado un poquito más, porque he visto esa profundidad que me faltó en el anterior, y porque aparte del drama al que nos ha acostumbrado la autora, tiene elmisterio. Y me encantan este tipo de libros en los que acompaño a la protagonista en su investigación.
Nos adentra en la vida de Kersti. En su adolescencia estuvo en un internado suizo en el que tuvo lugar el accidente de la que era su mejor amiga, Cressida. En el presente, kerstie ya olvidó ese suceso, pero recibe una invitación del Lycée con motivo del centenario, y le hace recordar el accidente. Además, recibe una misteriosa carta de una antigua compañera que le hace sospechar que lo que le ocurrió a Cressida no fue accidental.
La investigación se cerró muy rápido y eso le hace sospechar... ¿Saltó? ¿La empujaron? ¿Qué interés tenía el Lyceé en que se cerrará la investigación tan rápido? Decide entonces investigar más sobre lo sucedido a su amiga hace 20 años, porque siente que en su momento miró para otro lado e intentó olvidar, y ahora quiere sacar a la luz la verdad.
Está narrado intercalando las dos líneas temporales, el pasado, que sucede todo en los años en los que Kersti estuvo en el internado, y el presente, en el que nuestra protagonista decide investigar. Es una de esas novelas que por la forma en la que está narrada vamos comprendiendo la historia conforme vamos dando saltos de delante hacia atrás y viceversa.
La pluma de la autora me engancha, pero lo que más destaco es la profundidad de los personajes. Sonpersonajes femeninos complejos, quizás incluso con los que cuesta empatizar porque tienen demasiadas sombras, pero Joanna lo hace posible porque los dota de drama y de realidad. Por ejemplo, en la actualidad Kersti tiene problemas para ser madre, le obsesiona, y la autora refleja el deterioro que eso conlleva en su pareja. Es un tema que me ha parecido muy interesante y sobre el que no había leído antes y que creo que hay muchas personas que pueden sentirse identificadas y eso es muy importante.
Para mí sin duda, el personaje más potente es Cressida, tiene una personalidad y una complejidad increíbles que en los capítulos del pasado eclipsa sin duda alguna a Kersti.
La historia es muy adictiva, hay giros y muchos secretos, y siempre está de fondo el misterio que vamos descubriendo conforme avanzamos.
Además, hay muchísimos temas interesantes en esta novela que complementan el hilo principal de la investigación del accidente: la maternidad, el sentido de pertenencia a una familia, la amistad, la adolescencia, los entresijos de un internado privado...
Una novela que os recomiendo muchísimo. Creo que Joanna escribe historias que transmiten el drama a la perfección. En este caso sentí resaca emocional al finalizar la lectura, pero muy feliz de haber acompañado a kersti en su investigación. No sé cómo transmitiros lo complejas que me parecen las novelas de esta autora y lo que disfruto leyéndolas.
Este incluso me he gustado un poquito más, porque he visto esa profundidad que me faltó en el anterior, y porque aparte del drama al que nos ha acostumbrado la autora, tiene elmisterio. Y me encantan este tipo de libros en los que acompaño a la protagonista en su investigación.
Nos adentra en la vida de Kersti. En su adolescencia estuvo en un internado suizo en el que tuvo lugar el accidente de la que era su mejor amiga, Cressida. En el presente, kerstie ya olvidó ese suceso, pero recibe una invitación del Lycée con motivo del centenario, y le hace recordar el accidente. Además, recibe una misteriosa carta de una antigua compañera que le hace sospechar que lo que le ocurrió a Cressida no fue accidental.
La investigación se cerró muy rápido y eso le hace sospechar... ¿Saltó? ¿La empujaron? ¿Qué interés tenía el Lyceé en que se cerrará la investigación tan rápido? Decide entonces investigar más sobre lo sucedido a su amiga hace 20 años, porque siente que en su momento miró para otro lado e intentó olvidar, y ahora quiere sacar a la luz la verdad.
Está narrado intercalando las dos líneas temporales, el pasado, que sucede todo en los años en los que Kersti estuvo en el internado, y el presente, en el que nuestra protagonista decide investigar. Es una de esas novelas que por la forma en la que está narrada vamos comprendiendo la historia conforme vamos dando saltos de delante hacia atrás y viceversa.
La pluma de la autora me engancha, pero lo que más destaco es la profundidad de los personajes. Sonpersonajes femeninos complejos, quizás incluso con los que cuesta empatizar porque tienen demasiadas sombras, pero Joanna lo hace posible porque los dota de drama y de realidad. Por ejemplo, en la actualidad Kersti tiene problemas para ser madre, le obsesiona, y la autora refleja el deterioro que eso conlleva en su pareja. Es un tema que me ha parecido muy interesante y sobre el que no había leído antes y que creo que hay muchas personas que pueden sentirse identificadas y eso es muy importante.
Para mí sin duda, el personaje más potente es Cressida, tiene una personalidad y una complejidad increíbles que en los capítulos del pasado eclipsa sin duda alguna a Kersti.
La historia es muy adictiva, hay giros y muchos secretos, y siempre está de fondo el misterio que vamos descubriendo conforme avanzamos.
Además, hay muchísimos temas interesantes en esta novela que complementan el hilo principal de la investigación del accidente: la maternidad, el sentido de pertenencia a una familia, la amistad, la adolescencia, los entresijos de un internado privado...
Una novela que os recomiendo muchísimo. Creo que Joanna escribe historias que transmiten el drama a la perfección. En este caso sentí resaca emocional al finalizar la lectura, pero muy feliz de haber acompañado a kersti en su investigación. No sé cómo transmitiros lo complejas que me parecen las novelas de esta autora y lo que disfruto leyéndolas.
December 8, 2018
My first hint of something deeply problematic with this book was how a date rape was glorified into a special kind of romance. And never for what it was. The woman raped, the protagonist (and writer, natch) even pursues this horrible man years down the line and is still attracted to him.
Women are judged by appearance only, performing feminity to beat the band. Longing for cradles full of children, making them "real". Othering is frequent, non-whites, fatties, lesbians, homosexuals, smellies. Nobody eats, everyone nibbles.
Women compete with each other incessantly.
The callousness of how the paralyzed victim is treated is appalling. No therapy, no speech assistance even though she is showing evidence of brain function, nope she is just valued for her ever teenage looks. A living corpse.
It is amazing to me how this drek is published. Yikes.
0/5
Women are judged by appearance only, performing feminity to beat the band. Longing for cradles full of children, making them "real". Othering is frequent, non-whites, fatties, lesbians, homosexuals, smellies. Nobody eats, everyone nibbles.
Women compete with each other incessantly.
The callousness of how the paralyzed victim is treated is appalling. No therapy, no speech assistance even though she is showing evidence of brain function, nope she is just valued for her ever teenage looks. A living corpse.
It is amazing to me how this drek is published. Yikes.
0/5
January 10, 2020
The Finishing School is mysterious, dramatic, timely, and emotive. It’s a solid read that alternates between the past and present unravelling a sinister story of control, power, abuse, and violence.
July 31, 2018
I have all the negative thoughts about this book. I finished it only because I'm insecure about my reading goals for this year and I knew it'd be a quick read.
Women in this novel are only fulfilled if they are married with kids--or they are allowed to not have kids if they choose that destiny, as long as they're married. There are zero happy, fulfilled single women in this novel--they are either tragic miserable wealthy ladies, or murderous lesbians. If you're married, no matter how much your husband talks down to you (Jay) or flirts with the fellas (Deirdre's husband), you're ok. The happiest character in the novel was a stay at home mom with four kids who spent all her time supporting their school and crusading for causes. Why are messages like this still pervasive? Sigh.
The second the protagonist was identified as a writer, I rolled my eyes. Maybe I've just run across too many writer protagonists lately.
It was disappointing to see a disabled character who clearly had some brainpower, but continued to be treated as merely decorative/an obligation, rather than provided with a speech therapist and a communication system--especially since it became obvious she could communicate and her family had all the money in the world. Did they support her? Only enough to keep her alive. It was a little puzzling that her mother even bothered to keep her at home, given how little she had always cared for her and the fact that she had engineered herself a next generation of perfect little girl.
Possibly the only thing the author did well was to lay down a trail of tiny clues about the secret underbelly of the school. Once that was revealed, however, the story was over. Ta da!
I get that this type of mediocre book has a captive audience, but I wish you all knew that there are much, much better books of this genre in existence.
Women in this novel are only fulfilled if they are married with kids--or they are allowed to not have kids if they choose that destiny, as long as they're married. There are zero happy, fulfilled single women in this novel--they are either tragic miserable wealthy ladies, or murderous lesbians. If you're married, no matter how much your husband talks down to you (Jay) or flirts with the fellas (Deirdre's husband), you're ok. The happiest character in the novel was a stay at home mom with four kids who spent all her time supporting their school and crusading for causes. Why are messages like this still pervasive? Sigh.
The second the protagonist was identified as a writer, I rolled my eyes. Maybe I've just run across too many writer protagonists lately.
It was disappointing to see a disabled character who clearly had some brainpower, but continued to be treated as merely decorative/an obligation, rather than provided with a speech therapist and a communication system--especially since it became obvious she could communicate and her family had all the money in the world. Did they support her? Only enough to keep her alive. It was a little puzzling that her mother even bothered to keep her at home, given how little she had always cared for her and the fact that she had engineered herself a next generation of perfect little girl.
Possibly the only thing the author did well was to lay down a trail of tiny clues about the secret underbelly of the school. Once that was revealed, however, the story was over. Ta da!
I get that this type of mediocre book has a captive audience, but I wish you all knew that there are much, much better books of this genre in existence.
July 24, 2022
La historia está narrada en dos tiempos diferentes (presente y pasado) y en tercera persona protagonizados por Kersti.
La trama gira en torno a una carta de una amiga de la infancia que recibe Kersti donde se abre un gran misterio para esta sobre lo que le ocurrió a su mejor amiga cuando iban juntas a el internado Lycée.
Este libro ha sido un absoluto descubrimiento, me ha gustado muchísimo porque todo lo que tiene que tener un libro lo tiene y bien.
Toda la acción se concentra en los saltos temporales entre un capítulo y otro y está muy bien llevado y construido ya que en ningún momento se pierde el hilo de nada, ni siquiera de todos los personajes que llegan a haber.
El misterio de la historia está muy bien llevado y me mantuvo enganchada a sus páginas. Es alucinante la cantidad de giros argumentales que hay y que no esperaba, por lo que me fui sorprendiendo cada vez más y más.
Los personajes son el punto clave de la historia y lo que más me gustó, junto al misterio que envuelve al suicido de Cress.
La pluma me ha parecido genial, muy fluida y fácil de leer además de absorvente. Joanna ha sido un descubrimiento genial y estoy segura que leeré más libros de ella.
Una historia que tiene de todo y que está genialmente construida y que disfruté mucho. La recomiendo a cualquiera, independientemente del género.
La trama gira en torno a una carta de una amiga de la infancia que recibe Kersti donde se abre un gran misterio para esta sobre lo que le ocurrió a su mejor amiga cuando iban juntas a el internado Lycée.
Este libro ha sido un absoluto descubrimiento, me ha gustado muchísimo porque todo lo que tiene que tener un libro lo tiene y bien.
Toda la acción se concentra en los saltos temporales entre un capítulo y otro y está muy bien llevado y construido ya que en ningún momento se pierde el hilo de nada, ni siquiera de todos los personajes que llegan a haber.
El misterio de la historia está muy bien llevado y me mantuvo enganchada a sus páginas. Es alucinante la cantidad de giros argumentales que hay y que no esperaba, por lo que me fui sorprendiendo cada vez más y más.
Los personajes son el punto clave de la historia y lo que más me gustó, junto al misterio que envuelve al suicido de Cress.
La pluma me ha parecido genial, muy fluida y fácil de leer además de absorvente. Joanna ha sido un descubrimiento genial y estoy segura que leeré más libros de ella.
Una historia que tiene de todo y que está genialmente construida y que disfruté mucho. La recomiendo a cualquiera, independientemente del género.
December 19, 2017
Wow. This book was not what I expected. And by the ending, it still struck me as strange... and disturbing.
The novel was all over the place. Dual timelines were not enough, no ... the story jumped from June 1998 to June 2016 to July 2001. I grew confused!
Kersti annoyed me. The "I want my own baby, my and my husband's own DNA" mindset really gets under my skin. Her poor, poor husband! The plot of Kersti carrying babies born of her friend's eggs and Kersti's husband's sperm just seemed really screwed up.
What I did like was the "twists" and secrets that took me by surprise! I love boarding school settings, and the students here had parents from all over the globe.
I expected a bit more from the ending; I felt a bit cheated. I wanted some sort of closure for Cressida. An odd story, a good mix of twists and turns, an interesting mystery.
The novel was all over the place. Dual timelines were not enough, no ... the story jumped from June 1998 to June 2016 to July 2001. I grew confused!
Kersti annoyed me. The "I want my own baby, my and my husband's own DNA" mindset really gets under my skin. Her poor, poor husband! The plot of Kersti carrying babies born of her friend's eggs and Kersti's husband's sperm just seemed really screwed up.
What I did like was the "twists" and secrets that took me by surprise! I love boarding school settings, and the students here had parents from all over the globe.
I expected a bit more from the ending; I felt a bit cheated. I wanted some sort of closure for Cressida. An odd story, a good mix of twists and turns, an interesting mystery.
June 14, 2018
The finishing school ⭐️
Lillie is dead. But she has some unfinished business.
I loved the little twists and turns leading the story and guiding Kersti and Cressida it drew me in more. Needed to know what happened, what really happened.
Star reasoning
⭐️connected with the characters.
⭐️interesting story
⭐️love the writing style
-2 slow going. I wasnt really invested in the story.
Maybe its because I LOVED the home for unwanted girls so i wanted to love this just as much so i was let down. I built up how amazing her older novel would be because of her amazing newer novel.
Lillie is dead. But she has some unfinished business.
I loved the little twists and turns leading the story and guiding Kersti and Cressida it drew me in more. Needed to know what happened, what really happened.
Star reasoning
⭐️connected with the characters.
⭐️interesting story
⭐️love the writing style
-2 slow going. I wasnt really invested in the story.
Maybe its because I LOVED the home for unwanted girls so i wanted to love this just as much so i was let down. I built up how amazing her older novel would be because of her amazing newer novel.
July 20, 2017
This was a nice easy summer read that started off strong, but then devolved into a mix of generic and totally batshit nuts (but not in a kooky way - in a "Are you seriously trying to sell me on this?" way).
March 27, 2017
I really enjoyed the descriptions of Switzerland and the 90's nostalgia. The ending was mostly a surprise. There were enough hints that the reader could figure out who's guilty, but not until the end. Its a little more original than your usual whodunit. There were a few plot holes, but the story kept me reading until the end.
August 18, 2017
It started off very well. I liked the main character, the mystery was engaging, and rich girls in boarding schools is very much up my fictional alley. But then towards the end it became kind of lurid and darker than I was prepared for. The stakes got surprisingly high all of a sudden and then just sort of went away. It really didn't feel like a satisfying ending for me.
September 18, 2018
So obviously this isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s entertaining and a little trashy and easy to finish in a couple of hours. I picked it up simply because it said boarding school, and I didn’t actually expect all that much, so I was mostly positively surprised because it was more mystery than teenage drama/soap opera.
Writing ★★★☆☆
Characters ★★☆☆☆
Plot ★★★★☆
The story goes back and forth between Kersti’s 4 years at boarding school in Switzerland, where her best friend Cressida fell from (or jumped? or maybe she was pushed?) from a balcony for no apparent reason, and Kersti’s life about 15 years later, trying to figure out who is to blame for what happened back then.
The characters aren’t particular deep, and most of them – especially the side characters – are only there to do what the plot needs them to do. Kersti and Cressida’s other friends are pretty much interchangeable and you never get a clear idea of who they are, and it's the same with the 'suspects in Kersti's little investigation.
The writing is for the most part okay – nothing special, but it works and there was nothing that bothered me about it. But one thing that did annoy me – apart from the whole infertility story line, which was just weird and not my thing at all – was that the author insisted on letting her characters speak French and German occasionally, and while I cannot say anything about the French parts, the German was pretty bad. It sounded like it was translated by Google. And it wasn’t even difficult sentences or anything, just short phrases, never more than 4 or 5 words. But Du idioten! doesn’t make any sense at all (and it seems like a – wrong – word-for-word translation of you idiots), strass isn’t a German word (I guess it was supposed to be Straße), and Komm hier! is obviously a shitty translation of Come here!. Was there nobody available who actually spoke German to read over these parts? I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have taken more than 5 minutes.
Anyway. It was still fun. And I loved the boarding school parts, probably because I can relate to them (at least kind of – my boarding school was actually nothing like this one).
Writing ★★★☆☆
Characters ★★☆☆☆
Plot ★★★★☆
The story goes back and forth between Kersti’s 4 years at boarding school in Switzerland, where her best friend Cressida fell from (or jumped? or maybe she was pushed?) from a balcony for no apparent reason, and Kersti’s life about 15 years later, trying to figure out who is to blame for what happened back then.
The characters aren’t particular deep, and most of them – especially the side characters – are only there to do what the plot needs them to do. Kersti and Cressida’s other friends are pretty much interchangeable and you never get a clear idea of who they are, and it's the same with the 'suspects in Kersti's little investigation.
The writing is for the most part okay – nothing special, but it works and there was nothing that bothered me about it. But one thing that did annoy me – apart from the whole infertility story line, which was just weird and not my thing at all – was that the author insisted on letting her characters speak French and German occasionally, and while I cannot say anything about the French parts, the German was pretty bad. It sounded like it was translated by Google. And it wasn’t even difficult sentences or anything, just short phrases, never more than 4 or 5 words. But Du idioten! doesn’t make any sense at all (and it seems like a – wrong – word-for-word translation of you idiots), strass isn’t a German word (I guess it was supposed to be Straße), and Komm hier! is obviously a shitty translation of Come here!. Was there nobody available who actually spoke German to read over these parts? I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have taken more than 5 minutes.
Anyway. It was still fun. And I loved the boarding school parts, probably because I can relate to them (at least kind of – my boarding school was actually nothing like this one).
September 3, 2020
Wanneer Kersti een uitnodiging ontvangt om gastspreker te zijn tijdens de viering van het 100-jarig bestaan van de prestigieuze kostschool Lycée International Suisse in Lausanne, waar ze dankzij een studiebeurs naartoe kon, wordt ze teruggeworpen in de tijd. Tijdens haar tijd op de kostschool raakte ze bevriend met de populaire Cressida, die van een balkon is gevallen (gesprongen?) en daardoor een flinke hersenbeschadiging heeft opgelopen en invalide is geraakt. Deze affaire is door de school in de doofpot gestopt en nooit opgelost. Nadat Kersti ook een brief ontvangt van een oud-studiegenoot, waarin zij schrijft dat ze nooit heeft geloofd dat de val een ongeluk was, is ze vastberaden om achter de waarheid te komen en gaat ze terug naar Zwitserland.
Want ook al lijkt Kersti het perfecte leven te leiden als gelukkig getrouwde bestsellerauteur, in haar privéleven is niet alles rozengeur en maneschijn. Waarom kan Kersti de gebeurtenissen rondom Cressida niet loslaten? Waarom was Cressida zo geobsedeerd door een verhaal rondom een geheim genootschap op de school? En wat is er precies gebeurd tijdens die noodlottige avond?
Door tijdsprongen in het verhaal lees je zowel over de tijd op de kostschool als twintig jaar later, wanneer Kersti teruggaat naar Zwitserland. Het verhaal is mooi geconstrueerd, mysterieus en zit vol kleine aanwijzingen en brokjes informatie waardoor je door wilt blijven lezen om erachter te komen wat er precies gebeurd is. De personages worden goed uitgewerkt en zijn interessant, hebben allemaal hun eigen geheimen en lang blijft onduidelijk wie welke rol heeft gespeeld. De twee verhaallijnen zijn mooi met elkaar verweven en zorgen voor een goede spanningsboog, terwijl de vlotte schrijfstijl voor veel vaart zorgt. Dit is een mooie roman met spannende elementen over een kostschool, geheimen, schandalen, vriendschappen en een geheim genootschap. Het verhaal is intrigerend en werkt toe naar een knallend einde, wanneer enkele verrassende en verontrustende onthullingen elkaar opvolgen. Een aanrader!
Want ook al lijkt Kersti het perfecte leven te leiden als gelukkig getrouwde bestsellerauteur, in haar privéleven is niet alles rozengeur en maneschijn. Waarom kan Kersti de gebeurtenissen rondom Cressida niet loslaten? Waarom was Cressida zo geobsedeerd door een verhaal rondom een geheim genootschap op de school? En wat is er precies gebeurd tijdens die noodlottige avond?
Door tijdsprongen in het verhaal lees je zowel over de tijd op de kostschool als twintig jaar later, wanneer Kersti teruggaat naar Zwitserland. Het verhaal is mooi geconstrueerd, mysterieus en zit vol kleine aanwijzingen en brokjes informatie waardoor je door wilt blijven lezen om erachter te komen wat er precies gebeurd is. De personages worden goed uitgewerkt en zijn interessant, hebben allemaal hun eigen geheimen en lang blijft onduidelijk wie welke rol heeft gespeeld. De twee verhaallijnen zijn mooi met elkaar verweven en zorgen voor een goede spanningsboog, terwijl de vlotte schrijfstijl voor veel vaart zorgt. Dit is een mooie roman met spannende elementen over een kostschool, geheimen, schandalen, vriendschappen en een geheim genootschap. Het verhaal is intrigerend en werkt toe naar een knallend einde, wanneer enkele verrassende en verontrustende onthullingen elkaar opvolgen. Een aanrader!
May 28, 2020
“Los que no mueren nunca tuvieron la intención de hacerlo.”
Primera novela que leo de la autora y ha sido una grata sorpresa.
“El internado suizo” comienza con un ritmo bastante lento, pero va ganando intensidad a medida que la historia se vuelve más intrigante. Kersti, nuestra protagonista, una mujer casada y con ciertos problemas en su matrimonio, decide tras recibir una carta, comenzar a indagar qué fue lo que pasó en realidad con Cressida, su mejor amiga en el instituto.
Está narrada en tercera persona, a través de dos líneas temporales, entre las que transcurren veinte años, entre la Kersti de la actualidad y la adolescente en el internado; así que siempre conoceremos detalles importantes de la trama y su misterio. Cuenta con una muy buena ambientación y la pluma de la autora es impecable. Ha sabido plasmar temas bastante duros (que no voy a mencionar para no ir soltando spoilers) de una forma bastante humana y con mucha sensibilidad.
Lo que me ha sido difícil fue empatizar con las protagonistas: Cressida me pareció una persona ambigua, por una parte tan ególatra, que hacía daño sin importar a quien se llevara por delante, y por la otra a la vez muy desinteresada. Kersti bastante influenciable, muy obsesionada con Cressida, por momentos la sentí incapaz de pensar con cabeza propia y tomar sus propias decisiones; y esto se refleja casi de igual manera en su presente relación con su marido aunque bajo otras circunstancias.
En definitiva, “El internado suizo” ha sido una novela bastante entretenida, que me ha mantenido enganchada a través de sus páginas, queriendo descubrir cada uno de los secretos que esconde la historia de Cressida, aún cuando me fue imposible empatizar con sus personajes.
100% recomendado.
“El ego tiene una gran capacidad para aferrarse al amor no correspondido como si fuera una especie de fracaso personal, una mancha irrevocable en los logros del pasado.”
Primera novela que leo de la autora y ha sido una grata sorpresa.
“El internado suizo” comienza con un ritmo bastante lento, pero va ganando intensidad a medida que la historia se vuelve más intrigante. Kersti, nuestra protagonista, una mujer casada y con ciertos problemas en su matrimonio, decide tras recibir una carta, comenzar a indagar qué fue lo que pasó en realidad con Cressida, su mejor amiga en el instituto.
Está narrada en tercera persona, a través de dos líneas temporales, entre las que transcurren veinte años, entre la Kersti de la actualidad y la adolescente en el internado; así que siempre conoceremos detalles importantes de la trama y su misterio. Cuenta con una muy buena ambientación y la pluma de la autora es impecable. Ha sabido plasmar temas bastante duros (que no voy a mencionar para no ir soltando spoilers) de una forma bastante humana y con mucha sensibilidad.
Lo que me ha sido difícil fue empatizar con las protagonistas: Cressida me pareció una persona ambigua, por una parte tan ególatra, que hacía daño sin importar a quien se llevara por delante, y por la otra a la vez muy desinteresada. Kersti bastante influenciable, muy obsesionada con Cressida, por momentos la sentí incapaz de pensar con cabeza propia y tomar sus propias decisiones; y esto se refleja casi de igual manera en su presente relación con su marido aunque bajo otras circunstancias.
En definitiva, “El internado suizo” ha sido una novela bastante entretenida, que me ha mantenido enganchada a través de sus páginas, queriendo descubrir cada uno de los secretos que esconde la historia de Cressida, aún cuando me fue imposible empatizar con sus personajes.
100% recomendado.
“El ego tiene una gran capacidad para aferrarse al amor no correspondido como si fuera una especie de fracaso personal, una mancha irrevocable en los logros del pasado.”
August 1, 2017
I'm going to pull from reader Jenna Swayzie's review down below, because it pretty much sums up how I felt about the book too. "I expected a lot more secret society mystery and a lot less infertility drama, but the way the murder mystery part of the plot turned out was actually a lot more realistic and memorable. I think if a good chunk of the present day plot line had been taken out and replaced with more time spent during Cressida and Kersti's years at school, fleshing out their friends and friendship a bit more, I would have liked it a lot more. (Actually, make that taking out all the infertility stuff - it was unnecessary and honestly kind of creepy. Once I mentally erase it, I have a much better impression of the book)
That being said, I did find the book engaging and compelling - once I finally had a chance to really sit down with it I stayed up late reading it...and it pulled me away from other things I was doing. There were a couple of twists that did quite surprise me and stuck with me. I really did care about Cressida and finding out what happened to her, and the climax of that plot was fantastically done - my skin was crawling and I was making faces the whole time. That scene, in my opinion, brought the book to a whole other level."
That being said, I did find the book engaging and compelling - once I finally had a chance to really sit down with it I stayed up late reading it...and it pulled me away from other things I was doing. There were a couple of twists that did quite surprise me and stuck with me. I really did care about Cressida and finding out what happened to her, and the climax of that plot was fantastically done - my skin was crawling and I was making faces the whole time. That scene, in my opinion, brought the book to a whole other level."
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