I read this in one sitting, I just couldn't put it down. I found some of the characters extremely frustrating and although the end was shocking, felt it a little obvious and also a little unresolved - was it true or not - was it all made up in one person's head or were people lying? I will definitely read more from the author.

A boarding school book based around raging teenage hormones!! More for young adults i think. Could've made it harder to guess,but I guessed early on the outcome. Unfortunately not my fave book this year.

Set in 1990.

At an elite Catholic girls boarding school, the girls live under the ever watchful nuns. Louisa and Victoria quickly become besotted with their art teacher. But then Louisa disappears at the same time as Mr. Lavelle, the art teacher. Twenty five years later, a journalist is investigating this unsolved case.

This is an atmospheric from the beginning to end. It's full of mystery and suspense. The story is narrated by Louisa and the journalists perspectives. It's full of twist and turns. The story is also told in the past and present day. The characters are well rounded. This is a great debut novel with a great twist at the end.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Atlantic Books and the author Rachel Donahue for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Intriguing and interesting to read I fully enjoyed this mystery and was pleased with the ending. Well written and haunting I fully recommend

I found this book difficult to get into as I found I wasn't bonding with the characters, the narrative seems jarring and confusing. I did find myself re-reading to try and understand. The pace erratically starts very slow and then when the mystery is finally revealed is seemed rushed.
The atmospheric description was brilliant at times and I did continue on with the story but the ending was guessed early on for me as there wasn't enough other paths to guide you down. There really was only one logical conclusion.
Overall I found this a hard book to initially get into and although I enjoyed some of the descriptive language I found the book easily worked out. Thank you to the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

When Louisa and Victoria met at Temple House Catholic School in the mid 1990's they became firm friends almost immediately. Their favourite lesson was art with the young personable Mr Lavelle whose classes took place in a studio in the grounds, complete with sofas, throws and coffee on tap. In all other ways both girls are outcasts, one a first intake scholarship student who just doesn't belong the other a dreamer who has no wish to conform.

When a young journalist is given the chance to do an anniversary investigative piece on a scandal which rocked the school she realises there is a link between herself and a young student who, along with her teacher, disappeared without trace a quarter of a century earlier. Can she find out what happened when all who have looked closely at the case before have failed, who knows, but she is determined to give it a good try.

As a first novel this has a lot to commend it. The narrative never feels false and although I don't remember being anything like the two main characters in this book, their intertwined existence seemed realistic as well as fitting to their situation. The twenty five year gap between the school scenes and those described by the journalist, in the present day, worked well as two separate storylines running alongside each other seamlessly until right towards the end when one took over completely.

My only problem with this book was pretty major because I had no problem working out the ending long before I should, in fact I felt the clues pointed in only one direction almost from the start, and it was far weaker than the rest of the story deserved. This is the second time a book I was really enjoying has been let down in this way recently. This however is a first novel, which the other was not, it is beautifully descriptive and well paced from the start, and so the next book will, I'm sure, work from start to finish.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys novels set in different timeframes. If you are looking for a new author whose talents lie in providing both a strong narrative and vivid descriptive imagery then this could be the book for you.

The setting is a girls school run by nuns and the storyline the relationships that develop between some of the girls and the same girls and their art teacher. Then one of the girls disappears assumed to be with that art teacher and never surfaces. 25 years later a journalist doing a re investigation into what happened starts to unravel the sequence of events. For me it was a bit stilted and lacked pace. I couldn't really get into the characters. Not one that i will remember

This is a well written YA story set in a boarding school. It was a teenage drama with not so likeable characters.
However, the plot and writing was good and realistic. So, I really enjoyed it.

Thanks a lot to the publisher and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a dark and atmospheric novel.
Temple House school is isolated and haunted. The life at the school follows strict rules from both the Catholic nuns and the prefects. There's something du Maurier-esque about the setting - a dark and twisted, religious Malory Towers.
Louisa is academically brilliant and feels out of place in her own family. A scholarship at Tenple House is a life-changing opportunity.
Louisa meets enigmatic student, Victoria, and bohemian art teacher Mr Lavelle and her infatuation begins.
The relationships in this book are dark and intense. The young women are bright and intelligent, awkward and passionate. The teenage intensity is something we can all relate to and may have experienced ourselves to some degree.
Louisa and Victoria's friendship is fragile and beautifully written. There's something about the book and the writing which makes it feel like it's set far further in the past.
Split between the past and the present the story of Louisa's experiences at Temple House and her disappearance reveals itself slowly. Both the present and the past are interesting although I definitely preferred Louisa and Victoria's story.
This is an intriguing read and I really enjoyed it.
Thank you Netgalley and Atlantic Books for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I found this one hard going. It was fairly bleak in style, and, much in the same vain as John Green books, seemed to be littered with teenagers who thought they were cleverer than they were. Maybe this was the point but I just found it scratch-my-own-eyes-out irritating because no teenagers are really like this. I’m sure it was a captivating story but I could not buy into it and lost interest perhaps too soon,

The plot-line may have come straight from what could have been a trashy YA novel. However, the story telling was absolutely second to none and made it more than it originally seemed it was going to be.

16 & 41, one persons tale of a life that once was, and has become. A journalist writing a piece on a disappearance and tale of lust. The majority of the story focuses on a teacher, a want to be muse and a new girl at a catholic boarding school.

The teacher, grooming, the muse besotted and drawn into it all... the new girl. Predictable, yes. Twisted, in ways you wouldn't have thought of. Enjoyable, definitely.

This is one spanking debut novel. I take my hat off to you.

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0

Status: Completed

A dark boarding school story with teenage hormones raging. Easy to read, though I didn't find any of the characters likeable.

Fantastic book. Though setnin mofern times the author has managed to make it feel as though it is set in the 50s.

Good characters, intriguing plot and unexpected ending all add up to a brilliant read. Xxxx

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for a free and honest review.

It's been a while since I read a really good mystery and it's well-written books like this one that makes me fall in love with the genre.
I was sucked into this book, this is a really well-written debut by the author Rachel Donohue with amazing characters who were well rounded, I love how the characters interact with each other. I just couldn't put this book down and managed to read it in one sitting.

*firstly I'll just state that this is a review on the unedited /uncorrected copy*

Now this is definitely another to add to my 'hard to rate' pile!

I was really excited by the synopsis of this book and couldn't wait to get stuck in. But unfortunately this one just wasn't for me! Dont get me wrong, it's well written and the storyline is a good one but it just didn't click with me in all the places I wanted it to.

A really dark and atmospheric read which I usually love but I found the characters annoying and pretentious and in all honesty one dimensional.

I think Rachel Donohue could have spent more time building up the girls friendship instead of just jumping straight in with them as you dont actually get to feel the bond between them grow.

In truth, it all just felt a bit flat to me. Personally I think it's more suited to the younger reader.

2*

Thanks to netgalley and Atlantic Books for the ARC.

The promise of this book was great. And although I enjoyed it to an extent I found that it was quite a slow pace. I prefer a quicker, heart-racing read if I'm honest. And this just didnt do it for me. I feel a lot of the content could be taken out to lessen the drag

I've read a number of books lately that have flitted between past and present, multiple narrators at times, and cover an outsider coming into a closed group. This was a well done exemplar of all of these narrative themes.

The story tackles that most closed of environments: a girls' boarding school. Often the target for stories about mischief in many a crime novel or TV episode, Donohue treads old ground, but lightly. It doesn't feel tropey, it doesn't feel like every other school that ever appears in media. Through characterising few but specific outside characters we get a good look at the life that Louisa, Victoria, and Mr. Lavelle are experiencing. It's done simply but well enough that the entire school body is conjured up to us.

Although I would have been quite happy with reading the novel from entirely Louisa's perspective, the framing device of switching narrators with a present day journalist really makes you realise that this isn't going to be a happy ever after. It adds a tension to the read, enough that you feel it but not so much that you race through the book in order to relieve it.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

An amazing debut! It was everything I love in a thriller! I thoroughly enjoyed the teenage obsession, rage & love that it portrayed.

The characters were really well written, however not at all likeable which I think is the point!

I really enjoyed this read & have already recommended it to numerous people!

A very atmospheric book in the way that it is written. The story had the feel of 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' about it. A descriptive story about teenage angst and unrequited love that is uncovered many years later.

Really pretty wonderful - hints of that earlier Donna Tartt novel where a secret haunts long after - and of unrequited and unacknowledged love and its destructive power. A weak man in a female convent schoolriddledwith class tensions, unwittingly grooms young girls who all fall in love - the tragic outcome is told by a journalist tracing up the story years later. The ending is just as expected in a way, and the ghost of the missing girl tells the tale. Slightly overly lengthy but still very well observed and gripping - the environment of the school and the cruel schoolgirls living there without real adult intervention is perhaps not entirely credible - but it works nervetheless. Adept and well characterised... this is a writer to watch.