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marilynw's review against another edition
2.0
Madam by Phoebe Wynne
Greek mythology is one of the many overriding themes of this story. The part where women are so brutalized and villainized that they are considered heroic for scorching their world and others with their own reign of revenge, brutality, violence, and death, is the part that Rose, a new Classics teacher at the celebrated Caldonbrae Hall, is most thrilled to teach to her female students. Rose seems to esteem and worship the women of mythology who murder others, including their own children. These lessons are taught by her in the name of feminism and glorifying empowered women, although this type of thinking is very at odds with the aims of the school.
I am not a fan of abrasive Rose. I consider her to be naïve, lacking in common sense, and so unable to read a room that she'll yell and shriek at a room full of people who have threatened her and her loved ones with the most grievous harm. She is at times overly passive and at other times, overly hysterical. She has reasons to be hysterical but she seems to have no survival instinct to show her when she needs to hold her tongue and lash out at a more safe and appropriate time. She does this often, with no chance of making progress towards getting herself out of her dangerous situation. I was rolling my eyes at her right along with her disrespectful students. There are very few characters in this story who are likable and the story is so dark and some of the scenes so disgusting that it was hard to keep reading/listening to the story.
Caldonbrae Hall is more than a girl's school. It's a wicked, all powerful, corrupt institution that pushes archaic, cruel existences onto the girls in it's grasp. There is more than a hint of Jane Eyre in this story but it's so heavy handed, and Rose is so dull minded in her actions and reactions to the situation, that the comparison fades. The story contains brainwashing, child abuse, gaslighting, grooming, pedophilia, sexual harassment, and so much more. It was all too much for me.
Publication: May 18, 2021
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this ARC.
Greek mythology is one of the many overriding themes of this story. The part where women are so brutalized and villainized that they are considered heroic for scorching their world and others with their own reign of revenge, brutality, violence, and death, is the part that Rose, a new Classics teacher at the celebrated Caldonbrae Hall, is most thrilled to teach to her female students. Rose seems to esteem and worship the women of mythology who murder others, including their own children. These lessons are taught by her in the name of feminism and glorifying empowered women, although this type of thinking is very at odds with the aims of the school.
I am not a fan of abrasive Rose. I consider her to be naïve, lacking in common sense, and so unable to read a room that she'll yell and shriek at a room full of people who have threatened her and her loved ones with the most grievous harm. She is at times overly passive and at other times, overly hysterical. She has reasons to be hysterical but she seems to have no survival instinct to show her when she needs to hold her tongue and lash out at a more safe and appropriate time. She does this often, with no chance of making progress towards getting herself out of her dangerous situation. I was rolling my eyes at her right along with her disrespectful students. There are very few characters in this story who are likable and the story is so dark and some of the scenes so disgusting that it was hard to keep reading/listening to the story.
Caldonbrae Hall is more than a girl's school. It's a wicked, all powerful, corrupt institution that pushes archaic, cruel existences onto the girls in it's grasp. There is more than a hint of Jane Eyre in this story but it's so heavy handed, and Rose is so dull minded in her actions and reactions to the situation, that the comparison fades. The story contains brainwashing, child abuse, gaslighting, grooming, pedophilia, sexual harassment, and so much more. It was all too much for me.
Publication: May 18, 2021
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this ARC.
wanderlustqueen's review against another edition
3.0
A little on the nose at times but still a compelling read
nataliealane's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
A modern gothic thriller set at an isolated boarding school on the Scottish coast? The premise hooked me, but unfortunately the book didn’t deliver on a lot of points. The biggest issue for me was that Rose is so dense, naive, and frustrating, and from a teacher’s perspective...she wasn’t that great. I had a lot of other issues with Madam, but it would have been greatly improved simply by having a different MC.
I also the twist coming from miles away, and so it wasn’t that shocking. The pacing could have been better because it was revealed in the middle. It would have been interesting and engaging to see Rose try to work/twist the system she was now locked into with its current pacing ,but it was mainly a lot of fretting, feeling betrayed by the other teachers, and not a lot of doing.
I also loved the myths but think could have been better integrated. Before they are presented in a lesson we get a brief summary and some commentary, but they are randomly placed and the “commentary” is a couple sentences. We do get a little more thought/commentary during the class discussion, but I think the feminist angle on the myths could have been done better. For example, more commentary on the fact that all of these women die, mainly by suicide. While I can certainly appreciate a female-empowering message it was extremely heavy handed. I think it would have been stronger if the school was more sly/if the school didn’t completely feel like it was set in the 1800s. Like yes it’s obviously supposed to be very traditional, different from modern schools, but the stark contrast played a large part in me being able to guess the twist early on and frustrated that Rose didn’t see it. In addition to the feminist message being a little lacking, there was just so much opportunity for other commentary such as classism (since the school almost exclusively serves the aristocratic and some middle class), how as teachers we must empower our students but also be careful things don’t get misconstrued (especially with that ending!), etc.
The school itself did things that didn’t make sense. For example, I understand that the school didn’t want to reveal their true purpose until after Rose’s probationary period so there was certain information she wasn’t told, but she asks soooo many questions because they barely tell her anything at all! They assign her to recreational activities or other classes without explaining what they are/what she’s supposed to do, making her look extremely incompetent. There’s also the fact that the school KNEW Rose was a young, modern, “forward thinking” woman, but they didn’t have her submit her lesson plans for approval or even tell her what values/ideas she should be upholding in her classroom during this period. And yet they wonder why her girls are being more outspoken and she starts acting out???!
However, Rose’s references to modern things like Disney, Queen, etc. and people’s reactions to them was effective to me in showing just how isolated and closeted these people are. The book had a slow start but once it picked up (around 35%) I couldn’t stop reading. Despite its many flaws it was quite gripping. Additionally Wynne is quite effective at atmosphere and establishing the tension, uneasiness, and claustrophobic environment of Caldonbrae Hall. This book had a lot of potential, but it just didn’t reach its goals for me, plus the issues with character/pacing and plot compounded the issues. A
A modern gothic thriller set at an isolated boarding school on the Scottish coast? The premise hooked me, but unfortunately the book didn’t deliver on a lot of points. The biggest issue for me was that Rose is so dense, naive, and frustrating, and from a teacher’s perspective...she wasn’t that great. I had a lot of other issues with Madam, but it would have been greatly improved simply by having a different MC.
I also the twist coming from miles away, and so it wasn’t that shocking. The pacing could have been better because it was revealed in the middle. It would have been interesting and engaging to see Rose try to work/twist the system she was now locked into with its current pacing ,but it was mainly a lot of fretting, feeling betrayed by the other teachers, and not a lot of doing.
I also loved the myths but think could have been better integrated. Before they are presented in a lesson we get a brief summary and some commentary, but they are randomly placed and the “commentary” is a couple sentences. We do get a little more thought/commentary during the class discussion, but I think the feminist angle on the myths could have been done better. For example, more commentary on the fact that all of these women die, mainly by suicide. While I can certainly appreciate a female-empowering message it was extremely heavy handed. I think it would have been stronger if the school was more sly/if the school didn’t completely feel like it was set in the 1800s. Like yes it’s obviously supposed to be very traditional, different from modern schools, but the stark contrast played a large part in me being able to guess the twist early on and frustrated that Rose didn’t see it. In addition to the feminist message being a little lacking, there was just so much opportunity for other commentary such as classism (since the school almost exclusively serves the aristocratic and some middle class), how as teachers we must empower our students but also be careful things don’t get misconstrued (especially with that ending!), etc.
The school itself did things that didn’t make sense. For example, I understand that the school didn’t want to reveal their true purpose until after Rose’s probationary period so there was certain information she wasn’t told, but she asks soooo many questions because they barely tell her anything at all! They assign her to recreational activities or other classes without explaining what they are/what she’s supposed to do, making her look extremely incompetent. There’s also the fact that the school KNEW Rose was a young, modern, “forward thinking” woman, but they didn’t have her submit her lesson plans for approval or even tell her what values/ideas she should be upholding in her classroom during this period. And yet they wonder why her girls are being more outspoken and she starts acting out???!
However, Rose’s references to modern things like Disney, Queen, etc. and people’s reactions to them was effective to me in showing just how isolated and closeted these people are. The book had a slow start but once it picked up (around 35%) I couldn’t stop reading. Despite its many flaws it was quite gripping. Additionally Wynne is quite effective at atmosphere and establishing the tension, uneasiness, and claustrophobic environment of Caldonbrae Hall. This book had a lot of potential, but it just didn’t reach its goals for me, plus the issues with character/pacing and plot compounded the issues. A
elizabeth_and_her_books's review against another edition
4.0
i'm honestly confused with the scathing reviews this book received. i actually liked it lol
jessiec's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
nlwisz's review against another edition
3.0
You should read this book if you like: Slow-building psychological suspense, Gothic fiction, debutantes, schools with dark secrets, feminism, Scotland, bleak atmospheres, crash courses in Greek tragedy, The Secret History, The Stepford Wives
* * *
Madam is a spin on the new-girl-at-an-exclusive-boarding-school trope—but this new girl is a professor, not a student. We follow young Classics teacher Rose as she uncovers increasingly dark and primitive secrets about the renowned institution which has only just employed her. Always the last to know anything, she’s full of questions for teachers, staff, and students, all of whom are "in on it" and give her cryptic and vague responses. Truthfully though, Rose is slow on the uptake and even the reader will catch on way before she does. The pace is slow but intensifying. I enjoyed the little bits of Greek mythology interjected within the chapters; the parallels they draw to the narrative as the story unfolds gave the whole thing a bit more dimension.
* * *
Madam is a spin on the new-girl-at-an-exclusive-boarding-school trope—but this new girl is a professor, not a student. We follow young Classics teacher Rose as she uncovers increasingly dark and primitive secrets about the renowned institution which has only just employed her. Always the last to know anything, she’s full of questions for teachers, staff, and students, all of whom are "in on it" and give her cryptic and vague responses. Truthfully though, Rose is slow on the uptake and even the reader will catch on way before she does. The pace is slow but intensifying. I enjoyed the little bits of Greek mythology interjected within the chapters; the parallels they draw to the narrative as the story unfolds gave the whole thing a bit more dimension.
sabrinaslivingliterature's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5 Stars.
This book felt like similar to the film Mona Lisa Smiles in the best way. We follow Rose Christie as she starts at Caldonbrae Hall as the head of classics for the boarding school. But Caldonbrae is 150 years old and has some deep-rooted traditions and expectations of its only recruit outside the institution.
I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC for this book from Netgalley. I loved the book, a definite page turner and my first experience of a "dark academia" book. The character Rose is strong even in the face of many of the awful things that happen to her and some of the awful choices she has to make to protect people she cares about. The incorporation of Greek myths both in the teaching and within the story was very well done and they looked at myths that can be explored in a feminist way which i thought was a great addition to the book. The book explores topics of arranged marriage amongst the elite as well as indoctrination and how women are viewed by misogynistic men. Its well written, although the Scottish dialect is not done particularly well, and engaging and had me wanting to know what was going to happen! Some of the "plot twists" were very obvious but overall it was a great read! I look forward to reading more by this author.
This book felt like similar to the film Mona Lisa Smiles in the best way. We follow Rose Christie as she starts at Caldonbrae Hall as the head of classics for the boarding school. But Caldonbrae is 150 years old and has some deep-rooted traditions and expectations of its only recruit outside the institution.
I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC for this book from Netgalley. I loved the book, a definite page turner and my first experience of a "dark academia" book. The character Rose is strong even in the face of many of the awful things that happen to her and some of the awful choices she has to make to protect people she cares about. The incorporation of Greek myths both in the teaching and within the story was very well done and they looked at myths that can be explored in a feminist way which i thought was a great addition to the book. The book explores topics of arranged marriage amongst the elite as well as indoctrination and how women are viewed by misogynistic men. Its well written, although the Scottish dialect is not done particularly well, and engaging and had me wanting to know what was going to happen! Some of the "plot twists" were very obvious but overall it was a great read! I look forward to reading more by this author.
seang81's review against another edition
2.0
If you like The Handmaids Tale and other such literary delights then, I hate to break it to you, this isn't the novel you're looking for. Off to an intriguing start with our main character being offered a role in an isolated girls school, the plot deteriorated for me into something a little simple that wanted to be more than it was. I know that's a little obtuse but there's something to be said when a paedophilic scene was written with the same sense of shock as other lesser scenes. One of those, i'm glad I read it but i'm not sure whether I could recommend it at all nor why I would. Frustrating.