Publisher: Gallery Books (July 11, 2023)
Length: 368 pages
ISBN13: 9781982194864
A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Book of the Summer
Heathers meets The Secret History in this thrilling coming-of-age novel set in a boarding school where the secrets are devastating—and deadly.
When
Sarah Taylor arrives at the exclusive St. Ambrose School, she’s
carrying more baggage than just what fits in her suitcase. She knows
she’s not like the other girls—if the shabby, all-black, non-designer
clothes don’t give that away, the bottle of lithium hidden in her desk
drawer sure does.
St. Ambrose’s queen bee, Greta Stanhope, picks
Sarah as a target from day one and the most popular, powerful, horrible
girl at school is relentless in making sure Sarah knows what the
pecking order is. Thankfully, Sarah makes an ally out of her roommate
Ellen “Strots” Strotsberry, a cigarette-huffing, devil-may-care athlete
who takes no bullshit. Also down the hall is Nick Hollis, the
devastatingly handsome RA, and the object of more than one St. Ambrose
student’s fantasies. Between Strots and Nick, Sarah hopes she can make
it through the semester, dealing with not only her schoolwork and a
recent bipolar diagnosis, but Greta’s increasingly malicious pranks.
Sarah
is determined not to give Greta the satisfaction of breaking her. But
when scandal unfolds, and someone ends up dead, her world threatens to
unravel in ways she could never have imagined. The St. Ambrose School for Girls is a dangerous, delicious, twisty coming-of-age tale that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.
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What I thought about St. Ambrose School for Girls
This
was a title I was very interested in reading. I'm always up for a good
"mean girls" gothic sort of story and The St. Ambrose School for Girls
has all the elements -- rich mean girls, resident advisors with lots of
temptations in front of them and history behind them, and the girls who
don't fit in. The story is told from the perspective of one of those
girls. Sarah Taylor isn't like most of the rich girls attending the
school. She's there on a scholarship that she didn't apply for, and she
has a serious mental illness. She has a target on her back before her
bags are in her room.
Greta Stanhope is the
mean girl to eclipse all mean girls. She just isn't mean -- she revels
in the destruction she causes. She's also in the beautiful girl clique,
where jealousy and passive aggressive behavior are currency. And
there's Strots -- or Ellen Strotsberry, Sarah's athlete roommate. I
really liked Strots. She had her own demons to deal with but still
managed to look out for Sarah when she needed someone.
The
story is told from the point of view of Sarah Taylor. Much of the
first half is devoted to a very thought-provoking, sometimes harrowing
and often very emotional expose on what it is like living with
multiple health issues, including bipolar disorder at the age of
fifteen. The author does a good job of showing Sarah's life through her
eyes with sensitivity even when it was difficult to read. This part of
the story is not for the faint of heart. Sarah's unique perspective had
me holding my breath at times as Sarah navigated her illness and her
enemies around her. The rich girls do their usual sort of pranks on
Sarah, but things gradually escalate, especially after Sarah starts
connecting the dots between her rich tormentors and Nick Hollis, the
gorgeous male resident advisor on their floor.
As
Sarah continues to deal with both her illness and all of the aspects of
being at the new school, Greta and her group of mean girls turn up the
heat on everyone, even each other. While the first part of the book was
more slow burn and getting to know the characters from Sarah's
viewpoint, the second half of the book heats up with some fairly
predictable and awful actions.
Overall, The St.
Ambrose School for Girls is a sensitive story of mental illness wrapped
around a bit of a whodunit. While the first half takes it's time
establishing Sarah's viewpoint, the second half is a taut mystery that
gradually builds in intensity. There is a payoff at the end and it left
me questioning, wondering, and thinking about everything I just read.
This is a perfect book for a book club discussion, especially if you
want to talk about ethics. To tell you the truth, I'm gobsmacked about
that ending in a good way as I love it when a story has me thinking
about it long after I finished reading and that was The St. Ambrose
School for Girls.
About the Author
Photo Credit: Andrew Hyslop
Jessica Ward is a pseudonym for the #1 New York Times bestselling
author who writes as J.R. Ward and has over 20 million copies in print.
She enjoys spending time in the Adirondacks and lives in the south with
her family and her dogs.
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