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peaknit 's review for:
The Academy: A Novel
by Elin Hilderbrand, Shelby Cunningham
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read The Academy in exchange for an honest review. I have been an Elin Hilderbrand fan for years and was disappointed when she announced her retirement from the beach read. This book felt absolutely Elin to me but focused towards a much younger audience as she co-writes with her young adult daughter.
Tiffin Academy is a prep school in New England that is starting the school year enjoying a wholly different ranking in the who’s who of boarding schools moving to the #2 spot from #19. But why? The tale follows the lives of the youth of the co-ed academy, coming from all walks of life - from scholarship student to billionaire social media darling. In all cases it is rigorous academically but not surprisingly, even more so socially. We learn how the kids cope.
New girl Charley finds her footing and her popularity soars in a Mean Girl sort of way as she is taken under the wing of troubled but socially top of the heap Davi Banjeree, leaving several of Banjeree’s former clique in the dust. Charley also makes a connection with the campus’ most eligible bad boy, Andrew Eastman, whose dad also finances almost of the extras Tiffin can offer, all to keep East in school. There are a patchwork of other students and teachers, all with problems. It’s a familiar story with new characters.
Things get exciting when an app, ZigZag, starts releasing students’ secrets anonymously, who’s behind it? Everyone wants to know.
I enjoyed the book, it felt very Elin in that the narrator sometimes has a side conversation with the reader, as well as the top notch descriptions of how the upper echelon of society lives, the snacks, the clothes, the “things”.…and the names, she is so good at.naming the characters aptly if not a little over the top.
Tiffin Academy is a prep school in New England that is starting the school year enjoying a wholly different ranking in the who’s who of boarding schools moving to the #2 spot from #19. But why? The tale follows the lives of the youth of the co-ed academy, coming from all walks of life - from scholarship student to billionaire social media darling. In all cases it is rigorous academically but not surprisingly, even more so socially. We learn how the kids cope.
New girl Charley finds her footing and her popularity soars in a Mean Girl sort of way as she is taken under the wing of troubled but socially top of the heap Davi Banjeree, leaving several of Banjeree’s former clique in the dust. Charley also makes a connection with the campus’ most eligible bad boy, Andrew Eastman, whose dad also finances almost of the extras Tiffin can offer, all to keep East in school. There are a patchwork of other students and teachers, all with problems. It’s a familiar story with new characters.
Things get exciting when an app, ZigZag, starts releasing students’ secrets anonymously, who’s behind it? Everyone wants to know.
I enjoyed the book, it felt very Elin in that the narrator sometimes has a side conversation with the reader, as well as the top notch descriptions of how the upper echelon of society lives, the snacks, the clothes, the “things”.…and the names, she is so good at.naming the characters aptly if not a little over the top.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicide