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A review by chaptercharms
Cherrington Academy (Cherrington, #1) by Rebecca J. Caffery
3.0
Thank you to the author, Rebecca J. Caffery, and SRL Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
I've been in a reading slump this month, but this was such a quick and easy read and getting lost in the world of these characters definitely helped to pull me out. It's a great YA LGBT+ contemporary romance, that also has a very distinctive vibe and style that I think fans of books like Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and Noah Can't Even by Simon James Green will really enjoy.
One of the best aspects of this book is the characters. They all felt very well developed and distinctive, each with their own dreams, hopes, fears, problems, likes, dislikes, and so much more. I think sometimes it can be really easy for books with fairly big casts to neglect characters and have them appear very flat, but this was not the case for Cherrington Academy. I wish we had more time with the girls as they were often more on the periphery, but I still feel like we learn a lot about them.
I also liked that the characters felt like very realistic teenagers. I often got annoyed with their actions as they constantly made situations worse for themselves (especially Logan and Isaac), but adult hindsight is 20/20 and these characters really felt like they were still learning about their themselves and the world. They made mistakes, they said things they shouldn't have said, they were dramatic, and much more. I think the young audience this is aimed at will really be able to relate to the characters and the sticky situations that they get themselves tangled in. Things constantly were falling apart then being pulled back together before falling apart again because of their actions which I think people will really enjoy if they like fast-paced contemporaries with a lot of action.
As always, diversity and representation are really important to me and I loved how there were several LGBT+ characters in this book and that they were friends. However, I do think there were some aspects of the LGBT+ representation that could have been improved, for example, there was a lot of homophobia or biphobia from other characters that is never fully addressed.
It also touched on the topic of mental health a few times which I wish had been explored a bit more. It shows the importance of seeking help and taking care of your mental health which is a really important message for a young adult audience. However, there were a few moments that I feel needed further developing otherwise they have the opposite effect, for example, Logan makes a throwaway remark about OCD that didn't hit right to me and I think would have worked better if his mental health had been framed more and he had been portrayed with OCD.
Overall, this was a great fast-paced and easy to read contemporary with some fantastic characters. I know there's a sequel already in the works for next year so I really hope some of the things that were only beginning to be touched on in this book will be touched on more in this sequel, such as the topic of mental health. It will be great to see how the characters navigate the fall out of the events in this first book and to see where they will go next as they mature and grow.
TWs: Homophobia, Terminal Illness
I've been in a reading slump this month, but this was such a quick and easy read and getting lost in the world of these characters definitely helped to pull me out. It's a great YA LGBT+ contemporary romance, that also has a very distinctive vibe and style that I think fans of books like Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and Noah Can't Even by Simon James Green will really enjoy.
One of the best aspects of this book is the characters. They all felt very well developed and distinctive, each with their own dreams, hopes, fears, problems, likes, dislikes, and so much more. I think sometimes it can be really easy for books with fairly big casts to neglect characters and have them appear very flat, but this was not the case for Cherrington Academy. I wish we had more time with the girls as they were often more on the periphery, but I still feel like we learn a lot about them.
I also liked that the characters felt like very realistic teenagers. I often got annoyed with their actions as they constantly made situations worse for themselves (especially Logan and Isaac), but adult hindsight is 20/20 and these characters really felt like they were still learning about their themselves and the world. They made mistakes, they said things they shouldn't have said, they were dramatic, and much more. I think the young audience this is aimed at will really be able to relate to the characters and the sticky situations that they get themselves tangled in. Things constantly were falling apart then being pulled back together before falling apart again because of their actions which I think people will really enjoy if they like fast-paced contemporaries with a lot of action.
As always, diversity and representation are really important to me and I loved how there were several LGBT+ characters in this book and that they were friends. However, I do think there were some aspects of the LGBT+ representation that could have been improved, for example, there was a lot of homophobia or biphobia from other characters that is never fully addressed.
It also touched on the topic of mental health a few times which I wish had been explored a bit more. It shows the importance of seeking help and taking care of your mental health which is a really important message for a young adult audience. However, there were a few moments that I feel needed further developing otherwise they have the opposite effect, for example, Logan makes a throwaway remark about OCD that didn't hit right to me and I think would have worked better if his mental health had been framed more and he had been portrayed with OCD.
Overall, this was a great fast-paced and easy to read contemporary with some fantastic characters. I know there's a sequel already in the works for next year so I really hope some of the things that were only beginning to be touched on in this book will be touched on more in this sequel, such as the topic of mental health. It will be great to see how the characters navigate the fall out of the events in this first book and to see where they will go next as they mature and grow.
TWs: Homophobia, Terminal Illness