A review by liralen
Climbing a Monkey Puzzle Tree by Karen Wallace

3.0

Ah yes, 60s/70s English girls' boarding schools, where even the contents of one's pencil case were subject to inspection to make sure the girls had brought the right writing instruments. I suspect the choice of time frame reflects the author's own experience in boarding school (and cripes, but the emphasis on Elvis)—feels in line with every other grim grey rule-bound English boarding school book I've read from the period, but at this point I'd prefer something a bit more modern. The plot gets a bit twisty—a wicked adult with no redeeming qualities who is eventually punished; a potentially complex schoolgirl who is also punished and never given the chance to develop those complexities; a girl with a Big Secret that is revealed but not dealt with at the end of the book.