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theelliad's review against another edition
3.0
The Truants is a dark academia (adjacent) novel set between Norfolk (East Anglia) and a hideaway in Italy following Jess’s study of Agatha Christie, whose fiction and mystery structures the peice. While I am an absolute sucker for an academic based mystery fiction, this fell a little flat for me. The characters felt as though they lacked development, it was easy to consider them characters rather than humans, and the plot twists weren’t overly surprising. While passages of this book were breathtaking and immersive, I on the whole felt elements I wanted to know were glossed over! I also think Nick was such a slept on character- I know that’s partially the point but i wanted to know about him and the romanticised descriptions of Lorna and Alec became old quickly! That said, I think there is much to be said about meeting your idols, friendship and betrayal, and the politics of learning from this book (also perhaps the lack of safeguarding- for real why are these tutors at uni parties?) and I enjoyed these elements! This was an enjoyable early new year read and despite its flaws, I can’t fault it TOO much overall for the pleasant distraction from my essay it offered!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Abortion, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
jameslucas's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical content, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent