The Head Teacher by @hannahlynnwrites is a suspense novel about a principal who suddenly finds her world being turned upside down by a series of pranks and rumours that seem malicious or harmful are directed at her and her family. Despite it being a tough job, Liz is finally starting to feel like she has a handle on her role as Head Teacher. She even got to enjoy 3 weeks off visiting family over the summer where she barely even thought about school! But it has been less than a week back to school when an awkward and scandalous photo from her past ends up on the projector screen during a beginning of the year assembly, and before the parent emails even hit her mailbox she knows this is going to shoot her stress levels through the roof. Over the following days and weeks a number of other pranks and rumours about Liz and her teen daughter keep surfacing that threaten to ruin her relationships with friends and family, her respect as head of the school and even her job and marriage are at stake! Liz has to get to the bottom of this, even if she feels like she might go crazy in the process.

I loved this book, it was so hard to put down! I really liked the realistic descriptions of what life is like in a school, especially one where parents are a little too vocal at times - much like my school. It was very hard to figure out who was the blame for the tricks and rumours, and while I did make a correct prediction pretty early on, I doubted it all the way through until the reveal! The writing was really great, and I really liked the main characters. It's a great book so I would definitely recommend it!

Pubdate August 15, 2024

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher @theboldbookclub for giving me the chance to read and review this one!

This book was absolutely fantastic! I was so caught off guard from the beginning. I just loved the thrill to it all! Great story!

Wow! A gripping thriller from start to end. Throughout the book there were so many guilty looking characters which I thought were behind the torment of Liz. Kept changing my mind as I got into the story. Didn’t figure out the culprit until the very end. A very worthy read.

I had high hopes for this book. It was a decent and entertaining read but I didn't find myself gravitating towards it like I had to finish it now. Overall it was a solid 3 stars and I'm glad to have read it.

A huge cast of characters many of them not very likeable.
I simply loved this book, the storyline was fabulous. I constantly changed my mind as to who was behind it all and i certainly didn't guess correctly!
I was up until the early hours as i simply had to know who and even more importantly why??
This is a not to be missed read.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my early copy.

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book to be a page turner that kept me reading - in fact I finished it in little over a day! I was hooked from the beginning. Liz was an interesting character, and I really enjoyed watching her emotions change throughout the story. There were so many twists, most of which I didn’t see coming. I was able to figure out who was tormenting Liz, but that may be because I pay so much attention while reading. It was such a subtle clue mentioned in passing in an early chapter.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing style, the plot, and the twists. I think the author did a great job! Four stars for me.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this story.

I had high hopes for a gripping thriller from this book when I had read the description and praise; however, I really can't say that I was "thrilled" with this one.
While the author successfully brought the story together, it lacked a great deal in character development, likely due to having so many characters to remember with unremarkable names or distinguishing features to help make them memorable. I didn't find that I ended up with much of an emotional connection to Liz, the main character, or her family, which added to my lack of excitement for this book.
I found the first half to drag on with very little action, and I kept telling myself "this must get better". It took until 3/4's complete before any decent action really came up, and even the ending I was not shocked or surprised.
Credit where credit is due, the author tied up loose ends and brought the story around cohesively, but a gripping thriller this is not. I struggled to be captivated for most of this book and when a "twist" came along I had seen it coming for a mile.
The author has potential for a great psychological thriller and the plot was there, but the major lack of action, connection, and surprise really made this a drag.

Unfortunately I must say, this was not a page turner and I don't recommend it for your summer reading list.
2.5 ⭐

Took me a while to get into this storyline but overall I did enjoy it.

For me personally it wasn't a thriller read enough to grab my full attention.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

My first book by this author, but it definitely won’t be my last. It’s an easy book to get engrossed into and I read it in almost one sitting. There are plenty of twists and the characters are engaging. I’d certainly recommend it.

Wow! I certainly didn’t see the twists coming! I couldn’t go to sleep until I finished this amazing book. What an absolutely belting thriller I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for this ARC. The publication date is the 15th August. I loved this book it was great twisty read as someone who works as a teacher I totally related to this book and some chapters made me lol.

This book was gripping and extremely fast- paced I absolutely loved it! It kept me guessing right up until the very last page! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars!

Wow! This was a fun book to read! It kept me guessing the entire time! The short chapters that leave you hanging make this book hard to put down. As a teacher myself, I thoroughly loved the parts about the faculty and stuff as they were very relatable. Like a lot of books today, the mystery is solved rather quickly at the end but the build up is what keeps you going throughout.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

A good read, Keeps you on your toes. Lots of twist and turns. I would recommend to other readers . look forward to other books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Head Teacher by H.M. Lynn due to be published August 15, 2024.
Liz has finally attained her dream job – head teacher at St. Ann’s School. Someone doesn’t want her to keep her job, and there are a lot of suspects who do not want her to succeed. Will she find out who it is?
I had two reasons to be interested in this book – I am a former teacher, and I went to a Catholic school – this book did not disappoint. It seriously had me hooked from the beginning as there were many people who wanted Liz to fail in her job. The enigma was trying to figure out who it was. I was engrossed until the end when the big secret was revealed – not who I guessed!
This was a good thriller!
#NetGalley #HMLynn #BoldwoodBooks #TheHeadTeacher

I really enjoyed this story and I love how the author lead us to possible outcomes of what happened but (spoiler alert: had to wait until the very end!!) as a school teacher, I love reading books that take place within a school. The characters and storyline were easy to follow along with and it was quite suspenseful! I recommend this book for others to read!

Being a teacher myself, I knew I couldn’t pass up this thriller with a head teacher as a main character. And let me say, it did not disappoint!

Liz is starting her second year as the head teacher at a prestigious Catholic school. The previous year had been especially challenging for her family but they were working hard at mending their wounds and moving forward as a family.

As Liz plans and prepares for back to school assemblies with her students, she is horrified when she walks into the assembly to find the projector is showing a photo of her in her youth, having fun at a party, looking obviously drunk.

Trying to find the person behind the prank, she begins to question everyone around her including her best friend, her coworkers, and even her husband.

As more and more of her personal information, along with her daughter’s challenges the previous year, are shared Liz is certain someone is out to destroy her life.

Who has Liz angered? Who would want to hurt her both personally and professionally? And will she be able to stop them before she loses everything she loves?

This was a four star read for me meaning I was hooked quickly and stayed glued to the pages until the end. Being able to identify the person behind the cruel harassment fairly quickly made the read super suspenseful and enthralling as I waited for the other characters to put the pieces together. This is the first book I’ve read by the author and I can’t wait to check out more of her books! I highly recommend checking this thriller out!

Loved this book! Couldn’t put it down and jumped between majority of the characters! I had guessed it right but not sure why till the end! Highly recommend! First one by this author and won’t be the last!

Liz is a rather arrogant, self opinionated head teacher working at a catholic school. Her daughter, now 16, used to go there but moved recently due to an incident which the family kept private but citing that she would rather not be at the same school where her mother is head. Walking into an assembly one day Liz finds a picture of her from the past that she hasn't seen before up large on the screen for the world to see. She has her suspicions as to who may be targeting her, but when they involve her daughter things go from bad to worse. Who is doing their best to destroy both her and her family and why?

Oh this is a very clever premise and one I raced through. Usually I like the main character but in this case things were slightly different but I still felt for her predicament. A person who holds power and then the carpet is pulled from under them and they don’t know where it is coming from or what is coming next, how well thought out this is. A book I found myself turning ever faster, it’s a very engaging read. A very solid 4 stars and I look forward to more in this genre from this author (I know it’s rather different from her usual ones!). Nice one!


For more reviews please follow me on Twitter (X) @nickisbookblog
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“The higher you climb, the harder the fall.“

“I would never have been hired if they knew what I’d done—my past.“

This is the first psychological thriller by the author and thus can be regarded as a change of pace for her. In this case, her work is genuinely impressive! Many unpredictable episodes are revealed, and readers try to solve the mystery of what happened to her daughter last year and who is the culprit behind the turmoil in their family. Sometimes, it makes an unexpected twist, which is the story’s most exciting part. I highly recommend it to all thriller lovers!

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

A great twisty read. I thought the main character was great and believable, I trusted no one in this book! I will be on the lookout for more books by this author. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.