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ravenleegracey's review against another edition
3.0
Allie has been a bit of a troublemaker since her brother Christopher ran away. Now she has been arrested for the third time this year and her parents have had enough. They ship her off to board at Cimmeria Academy for the summer term where she has no access to phones, stereos, computers, or the outside world at all. The rules are incredibly strict and then there is also the Night School classes that other students are not allowed to know about or watch. When Allie is attacked one night, it begins a string of events leading to a death during a dance and secrets around every bend. When it seems like everyone is lying, she must find out who she can trust, and quickly, before the danger catches up with her.
I want to say first, that this book is incorrectly shelved on Goodreads. Its listed under Paranormal and Vampires, and there are, regretfully, neither within it's pages. Seeing those shelves and then reading the summary, especially the part about the Night School had me super excited thinking that the story was going to be similar to Vampire Knight. As I met the characters (Especially Sylvain) I got more and more hopeful so part of my disappointment may be based directly on the book being mishelved.
The characters were fine. There are a few side characters that you feel might have more importance but end up fading away into the background. Others are kept so mysterious that it makes them poorly characterized. Allie drove me a bit batty. She starts out so troubled and sarcastic and then she flipflops as soon as she is in the academy and is suddenly a good student. Her panic attacks are random and some of them quite uncalled for. Its like the author has no knowledge of such things but wanted to make her more broken and added them in anyway. Having Carter tell her about his old attacks was just pointless. It was a "too little, too late" characterization. Then, Allie's lack of thinking about her family and old friends was misplaced and random. Its almost like the author went through and thought "Oh! I havent had her think about her parents in a while *adds in passing*. Oh! This person needs a bit more characterization *adds randomly*".
The story focuses too much on the love triangle. The anger/hatred/jealousy between Sylvain and Carter is too unexplained. There wasnt enough tension in the triangle and so the whole thing falls apart. You start out adoring Sylvain and then he becomes a wanker and you just fall into Carter the same way Allie does. Its like, why even have bothered with the triangle at all? Then, as things go by and Sylvain apologizes for being a wanker, Allie just ups and forgives him without worry. She still trusts him and its misplaced.
Because of the love triangle being so forefront, the story itself lags. The climax happens incredibly late and its horribly anticlimatic even then. You can tell that this was meant to be a series. The author wanted to make you asks tons of questions and give you few answers but in the end she makes you ask your tons of questions and gives you no answers. Nothing is cleared up or properly resolved. Everything is just swept under the run until company leaves, obviously to be tackled in the next book, which is always a poor idea. If you wait to tackle all the questions in the next installment you end up forgetting things or dragging on the story and annoying your readers.
Regardless of all the bad, I still enjoyed it. It was an enjoyable read with a frustrating ending is all. I think if the next installment were already out then I would have much warmer feelings for this novel.
I want to say first, that this book is incorrectly shelved on Goodreads. Its listed under Paranormal and Vampires, and there are, regretfully, neither within it's pages. Seeing those shelves and then reading the summary, especially the part about the Night School had me super excited thinking that the story was going to be similar to Vampire Knight. As I met the characters (Especially Sylvain) I got more and more hopeful so part of my disappointment may be based directly on the book being mishelved.
The characters were fine. There are a few side characters that you feel might have more importance but end up fading away into the background. Others are kept so mysterious that it makes them poorly characterized. Allie drove me a bit batty. She starts out so troubled and sarcastic and then she flipflops as soon as she is in the academy and is suddenly a good student. Her panic attacks are random and some of them quite uncalled for. Its like the author has no knowledge of such things but wanted to make her more broken and added them in anyway. Having Carter tell her about his old attacks was just pointless. It was a "too little, too late" characterization. Then, Allie's lack of thinking about her family and old friends was misplaced and random. Its almost like the author went through and thought "Oh! I havent had her think about her parents in a while *adds in passing*. Oh! This person needs a bit more characterization *adds randomly*".
The story focuses too much on the love triangle. The anger/hatred/jealousy between Sylvain and Carter is too unexplained. There wasnt enough tension in the triangle and so the whole thing falls apart. You start out adoring Sylvain and then he becomes a wanker and you just fall into Carter the same way Allie does. Its like, why even have bothered with the triangle at all? Then, as things go by and Sylvain apologizes for being a wanker, Allie just ups and forgives him without worry. She still trusts him and its misplaced.
Because of the love triangle being so forefront, the story itself lags. The climax happens incredibly late and its horribly anticlimatic even then. You can tell that this was meant to be a series. The author wanted to make you asks tons of questions and give you few answers but in the end she makes you ask your tons of questions and gives you no answers. Nothing is cleared up or properly resolved. Everything is just swept under the run until company leaves, obviously to be tackled in the next book, which is always a poor idea. If you wait to tackle all the questions in the next installment you end up forgetting things or dragging on the story and annoying your readers.
Regardless of all the bad, I still enjoyed it. It was an enjoyable read with a frustrating ending is all. I think if the next installment were already out then I would have much warmer feelings for this novel.
markalkman's review
4.0
3.5/5 stars
I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book, since I grabbed it from the library last week. I'd never heard of it before, but it was a very pleasant surprise. The main character was relatable, interesting and at times genuinely funny. The side characters were well written, even though some came off a bit forced. Probably because the tagline starts with 'when everyone is lying...' It's not a book about romance, but it has romance and that's something I'd prefer over a romance centered novel every day. It was a tad bit slow at some points and the explanations for certain aspects of the storyline came all at once at the end of the book, which caused a bit of an information overload. Nonetheless it was a really nice read and I'm certainly going to read the rest of the series. I want to know what happens to Allie and the rest of the gang at Cimmeria!
[spoiler]
By the way, if Sylvain turns out to be a legit love interest for Allie he better redeem himself soon, cause a simple sorry doesn't make right what he did to her in book 1. But I guess we'll see...
I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book, since I grabbed it from the library last week. I'd never heard of it before, but it was a very pleasant surprise. The main character was relatable, interesting and at times genuinely funny. The side characters were well written, even though some came off a bit forced. Probably because the tagline starts with 'when everyone is lying...' It's not a book about romance, but it has romance and that's something I'd prefer over a romance centered novel every day. It was a tad bit slow at some points and the explanations for certain aspects of the storyline came all at once at the end of the book, which caused a bit of an information overload. Nonetheless it was a really nice read and I'm certainly going to read the rest of the series. I want to know what happens to Allie and the rest of the gang at Cimmeria!
[spoiler]
By the way, if Sylvain turns out to be a legit love interest for Allie he better redeem himself soon, cause a simple sorry doesn't make right what he did to her in book 1. But I guess we'll see...
tamxreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
cosma1999's review
2.0
I loved the Night School series when I was young and now I thought I wanted to read them again but in English this time. Not going to lie in my head those books were better, but I still enjoyed reading the first one again. I am not sure though if I will continue. Still, I loved the series for a reason :)
shubba_the_emo_reader's review
4.0
Review post: http://totallybookalicious.blogspot.com/2012/02/night-school-night-school-1-by-cj.html
Night School is about Allie, a teenage girl who goes off the rails after her brother runs away from home. Her parents don't know how to handle her anymore so when she is arrested for the third time in the past year they decided to take drastic actions and ship her off to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere called "Cimmeria Academy". Allie expects she will hate it but to her surprise she loves it there. But Cimmeria is holding a secret, "Night School" an exclusive club within the school that only select students are allowed to join. Allie is soon plummetted into a dark and dangerous world that could get her killed.
Upon reading this I decided not to read alot of reviews on the book. Lately I have been getting disappointed with books. And I didn't want that to happen here. It didn't, I was sucked into this dark and mysterious world that CJ Daugherty has created and I loved almost every second of it. The book starts off amazing!! Allie has broken into her school and is hiding from the police. Pretty good way to start of a book. However, after that it does slow down for a few chapters before it get really exciting! That my only negative point to the story.
I really liked Allie, I understood why she went of the off rails, I probably would have aswell. When she is shipped off to boarding I felt for her. I really did. She was angry and hurt but I loved that she just took it in her stride once she got there. She finally found somewhere were she fits in. She makes friends pretty fast and get the attention of one of the most desireable boys at school, Sylvain. Who I didn't like from the get go! There was just something not right with him and creepy. Allie also attracts the attention of Carter, the school loner. Who I melted over! There is just something so enticing about him even when he being an arse at times. The relationship between the three is actually quite interesting and I am looking forward to book two to see how it plays out because I predict an amazing new love triangle. (I love me some love traingles lol)
Night School is so unique! In a market that is packed with YA Paranormal. Night School gives readers something fresh and captivating to get sucked into. It's not paranormal and its bloody good. CJ Daugherty has created an outstanding debut mystery/thriller that keeps you guessing right up until the last page. I love that. I had no idea where the story would go and when I thought I had figured things out the book goes of in another directions and kept me on my toes! I can't wait until book two because there is alot of questions to be answered and usually that bugs me. But there is just something about this book that even though half the time I had no idea what was happening I didn't even bother me. I think because it felt like I was in Allie head so I was experiencing that story through her eyes and finding things out at the same time as the character.
Oh and its set in UK that is always a massive bonus for me!! Love books that are set in the UK. I highly recommend Night School if you are looking for something completely different that is packed with mystery, danger and amazing characters!
If you have read the book tell me what you thought?
Night School is about Allie, a teenage girl who goes off the rails after her brother runs away from home. Her parents don't know how to handle her anymore so when she is arrested for the third time in the past year they decided to take drastic actions and ship her off to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere called "Cimmeria Academy". Allie expects she will hate it but to her surprise she loves it there. But Cimmeria is holding a secret, "Night School" an exclusive club within the school that only select students are allowed to join. Allie is soon plummetted into a dark and dangerous world that could get her killed.
Upon reading this I decided not to read alot of reviews on the book. Lately I have been getting disappointed with books. And I didn't want that to happen here. It didn't, I was sucked into this dark and mysterious world that CJ Daugherty has created and I loved almost every second of it. The book starts off amazing!! Allie has broken into her school and is hiding from the police. Pretty good way to start of a book. However, after that it does slow down for a few chapters before it get really exciting! That my only negative point to the story.
I really liked Allie, I understood why she went of the off rails, I probably would have aswell. When she is shipped off to boarding I felt for her. I really did. She was angry and hurt but I loved that she just took it in her stride once she got there. She finally found somewhere were she fits in. She makes friends pretty fast and get the attention of one of the most desireable boys at school, Sylvain. Who I didn't like from the get go! There was just something not right with him and creepy. Allie also attracts the attention of Carter, the school loner. Who I melted over! There is just something so enticing about him even when he being an arse at times. The relationship between the three is actually quite interesting and I am looking forward to book two to see how it plays out because I predict an amazing new love triangle. (I love me some love traingles lol)
Night School is so unique! In a market that is packed with YA Paranormal. Night School gives readers something fresh and captivating to get sucked into. It's not paranormal and its bloody good. CJ Daugherty has created an outstanding debut mystery/thriller that keeps you guessing right up until the last page. I love that. I had no idea where the story would go and when I thought I had figured things out the book goes of in another directions and kept me on my toes! I can't wait until book two because there is alot of questions to be answered and usually that bugs me. But there is just something about this book that even though half the time I had no idea what was happening I didn't even bother me. I think because it felt like I was in Allie head so I was experiencing that story through her eyes and finding things out at the same time as the character.
Oh and its set in UK that is always a massive bonus for me!! Love books that are set in the UK. I highly recommend Night School if you are looking for something completely different that is packed with mystery, danger and amazing characters!
If you have read the book tell me what you thought?
thebolter252008's review
5.0
Still my comfort book, even after 3 years, when I first finished him.
I love how easy it was to read this book, and even though the characters and the plot are not that amazing, they still make me so happy.
A few things I dislike about the book is how fast Alie fogave Sylvain and the fact that at some point in the books they'll date again disgust me. He tried to r@pe her and then it's like nothing happened, also how spoiled and horrible most of the characters are, and how in the end they become good and we need to forgive them because of some traumatic
experience.
Is this book completely horrible, no actual plot with horrible, spoiled characters? Yes.
Do I still love the book? Also yes.
A strong Hate-Love relationship.
I love how easy it was to read this book, and even though the characters and the plot are not that amazing, they still make me so happy.
A few things I dislike about the book is how fast Alie fogave Sylvain and the fact that at some point in the books they'll date again disgust me. He tried to r@pe her and then it's like nothing happened, also how spoiled and horrible most of the characters are, and how in the end they become good and we need to forgive them because of some traumatic
experience.
Is this book completely horrible, no actual plot with horrible, spoiled characters? Yes.
Do I still love the book? Also yes.
A strong Hate-Love relationship.
lotusross's review
1.0
the author is a garbage human with bland books and i'm so glad i never finished this series
dontgrumble's review
5.0
i didnt know what to think throughout most of the story, but in a good way. it captivated me and intrigued me and i still cant decide if i think i know whats going on so im off to read book 2.
ronisreading's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ilonatuomala14's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0