Saturday 18 February 2012

Review for Night School by CJ. Daugherty

Night School by CJ. Daugherty
Publisher: Atom
Release Date: 5th January 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review

Amazon Summary:
"Sometimes school can be murder. . . Allie Sheridan's world is falling apart. She hates her school. Her brother has run away from home. And she's just been arrested. Again. This time her parents have finally had enough. They cut her off from her friends and send her away to a boarding school for problem teenagers. But Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. It allows no computers or phones. Its students are an odd mixture of the gifted, the tough and the privileged. And then there's the secretive Night School, whose activities other students are forbidden even to watch. When Allie is attacked one night the incident sets off a chain of events leading to the violent death of a girl at the summer ball. As the school begins to seem like a very dangerous place, Allie must learn who she can trust. And what's really going on at Cimmeria Academy."

Review
First off I want to say that I had a real love/hate relationship with this book. I say this because the first 200 pages I couldn’t stand and the last 250 pages I loved and absolutely devoured. So I guess I’ll split this review into two parts the first talking about why I didn’t like the book and the second what I loved about it.

Okay so the book begins with our main character Allie being shipped off to boarding school after her third arrest of the year. My main dislike at the start of the book was with Allie, she acts out and hates her life and is basically your stereotypical rebellious teen. Allie really annoyed me at the beginning because of this, she was just so rude and arrogant and at times I wanted to throw the book at the wall she irritated me that much. Allie also makes a lot of bad choices at the beginning of the book the main one in my opinion was getting involved with Sylvain. Sylvain absolutely made my skin crawl he’s just such a slimy sleezeball and I just couldn’t understand what Allie saw in him. So at this point in the book I wasn’t connecting with Allie and I didn’t understand her choices and because of that I very nearly gave up on this book. However I was really enjoying reading about the school and the strange mysterious things that were happening there so curiosity alone made me read on.

Then the summer ball happened and that’s when this book really got interesting. The last half of this book I felt completely different about and it really made up for the first half. Cimmeria Academy is such a fascinating school with a lot of interesting history and hidden rooms, quirky staff and strange rules to boot. The mystery surrounding the school is really unique and I loved how different it was to anything else out there. In the last 250 pages there is so much action, danger and suspense that I couldn’t put this book down. And as for Allie well she really grows as a character and I liked her more as the book went on. I also loved the new relationships she made with Carter and Rachel who are much nicer more likeable characters than the first set of friends she makes at the school.

So although I had my problems with this book at the beginning by the end I ended up really liking it, so if like me you have trouble getting into this one it’s definitely a book I’d recommend sticking with. Overall Night School is a unique and interesting debut and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next with this series.

10 comments :

  1. I read a bit of this and then stopped. I might pick it back up again now after reading your review and knowing it gets better!

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    1. The second half for me definitely was a lot better so I'd say it's worth giving another go if you can make it through the beginning!

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  2. I don't know what to think of this now! I've seen really good reviews but I always had my reservations because it just seemed like a book I wouldn't be sure about. After reading your review of the first half I think those reservations might be right, but I still don't know whether to read it or not haha. Great review Jess, I love how you looked at what you liked/didn't like in both halves.

    The Cait Files

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    1. Thanks Cait! I must admit I think I'm in the minority when it comes to this book, I know a lot of bloggers who loved it but when I don't click with the main character for me it really effects how much I enjoy the book. If your more of a plot over characters person then it's a really good read!

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  3. I dont know about this book, I want to read it but I dont at the same time... and I dont think I could read 200 pages that I didnt like to get to the next 250 pages! lol

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    1. I'm in the minority when it comes to this book so who knows you may like it! Although if your like me and really like to connect with the main characters then you may want to give this one a miss, I just didn't find them very likeable!

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  4. I've liked the sound of this one for a while and I've heard good things about it. It's good to know it that although you didn't like the first half the second half sounds way better. I'm actually more intrigued to read it lol. Great review :D

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    1. Lol I'm glad your more intrigued to read it Jesse! It wasn't a bad book so overall I'd say give it a go :)

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  5. I agree, the second half was a lot better than the first! I despise Sylvain, and from the ending it looks like we'll see more of him in the next book. Not impressed, he's vile!

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    1. Glad you agree Amber and I'm not the only one! He really is isn't he? I don't think I've ever disliked a "love interest" more. Carter all the way!

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