Wednesday 6 June 2012

Night School

C. J. Daugherty
8 / 10


From the blurb: 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. Its rules are strangely archaic. 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.

Okay, so this book wasn't entirely unpredictable. It had a lot of the recognisable tropes of a YA supernatural boarding school series. There was the gorgeous but unattainable boy who falls instantly and spectacularly for the new girl. There was a dark, brooding type who strives to be mysterious and just ends up being romantic fantasy fodder. And there was the best female friend, who totally flakes out, and the geek who steps in to replace her. Allie is typically rebellious, wearing knee length Doc Martens and dyeing her hair red (which seems a cliche. My hair's dyed red and I haven't felt the urge to commit a crime!)

But I really enjoyed this book.

I thought Sylvain was creepy and intriguing, and the story of Allie's missing brother cropped up just enough to maintain my interest in him. I'll admit to adoring Carter, against my will. And all the secondary characters were beautifully developed - I particularly liked Lucas. There are a few tense moments - usually spent running across the fields. Why do these students not learn to stay inside? Of course there's a ball, because that paves the way for the to-be-expected dress and hair and shoes and make up flutter, but thankfully a horrifying ocurrence saves the evening from being, frankly, dull.

I love the idea of playing croquet and tennis in the dark with glowing equipment. However, the whole school is told to stay away from the top floor of the building, because this is where the elusive Night School studies. They're then expected to simply... stick to that. And most of them do! But at a real school, that totally wouldn't work. Then there's the Night School itself. It's not a huge surprise what this turns out to be, but I won't spoil it here. I hope it turns out to be more interesting in the sequel, though.

The most interesting part of this book, in my opinion, comes from a terrifying moment on the roof involving fear, mental instability and vodka - a lethal combination, as anyone who's ever lived knows. There's some real character development and it throws the whole classic boarding school book structure on its head. Admittedly, for every scene like this, there are three slightly ridiculous ones. I've never been to a school where everyone would skinny dip together, for example. I don't think I even know any one person who would do it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was and wasn't what I had expected, but go in with an open mind and you'll probably like it. It's a little lighter than some of its contemporaries until a good third of the way through, but the story really heats up as the pages turn.

Try this book if you enjoyed 'The Candidates' by Inara Scott, 'The Name of the Star' by Maureen Johnson, or 'Torment' by Lauren Kate.

Book Two currently doesn't have a title, but should be released in the UK in January 2013.

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