This was a good read that I was invested in finding out what was going to happen next. It has received many great reviews so I would recommend you give this one a go.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. I thought perhaps there might be something a bit more sinister going on than just a tale of mean girls, bullying, and perverts, but it turned out that was honestly enough to hold my interest. The author's characters and dialogue are both believable, and she throws in the occasional quip that made me snort, like - ."What is this, Clue, girls' school edition? Her main character, Sarah, goes off on some wild tangents, and delivers a few lengthy speculative soliloquies that I could have done without, but otherwise this was an engrossing and entertaining read.

I think I was out of the target readers for this novel. As much as I love JR Ward, I think I have aged out of this YA thriller.

It was good, very dark and atmospheric. Well written but imagine EMO Mean Girls that's how I pictured these characters. I think at almost 40 now, my tastes in novels has grown, but this author is still writing the same types. It wasn't a win for me, but my neice loved it and has now started all the books by this author. So it was a win for the teenager, but not the gorwn adult.

Definitely not my typical read but I'm so happy I got to read this. I would definitely recommend if you are in the market for a new book.

Title: The St. Ambrose School for Girls
Author: Jessica Ward
Genre: YA Thriller
Rating: 1.50
Pub Date: July 11, 2023

I received a complimentary eARC from Simon & Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad

T H R E E • W O R D S

Slow • Atmospheric • Cliché

📖 S Y N O P S I S

When Sarah Taylor arrives at the exclusive St. Ambrose School, she’s carrying more baggage than just what fits in her suitcase. She knows she’s not like the other girls—if the shabby, all-black, non-designer clothes don’t give that away, the bottle of lithium hidden in her desk drawer sure does.

St. Ambrose’s queen bee, Greta Stanhope, picks Sarah as a target from day one and the most popular, powerful, horrible girl at school is relentless in making sure Sarah knows what the pecking order is. Thankfully, Sarah makes an ally out of her roommate Ellen “Strots” Strotsberry, a cigarette-huffing, devil-may-care athlete who takes no bullshit. Also down the hall is Nick Hollis, the devastatingly handsome RA, and the object of more than one St. Ambrose student’s fantasies. Between Strots and Nick, Sarah hopes she can make it through the semester, dealing with not only her schoolwork and a recent bipolar diagnosis, but Greta’s increasingly malicious pranks.

Sarah is determined not to give Greta the satisfaction of breaking her. But when scandal unfolds, and someone ends up dead, her world threatens to unravel in ways she could never have imagined.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Dark academia is a genre I don't dabble in often, yet somehow I was drawn to the cover of this one. When I requested it, I hadn't realized it was written by the author of the beloved Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Everything about this, screams stay clear, and yet I didn't listen. Big mistake!

This book didn't work for me on so many levels. Firstly, it reads so young, coming across extremely juvenile. The mean girl, teenage vibes were just too much for me, I was basically rolling my eyes on every page. Secondly, it's marketed as a mystery, but it took forever for the murder to even happen. Thirdly, the descriptions are so in-depth and took over the narrative. The first person perspective from someone living with bipolar disorder was interesting and chaotic, yet there were so holes in the character development.

Overall, The St. Ambrose School for Girls was incredibly hard to finish, and probably should have been a DNF. It felt like a story that had been told time and time again. In my opinion, Jessica Ward, who also writes as J.R. Ward, needs to stick to the paranormal romance genre. It was bad for so many reason, especially for older readers.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• no one!

⚠️ CW: mental illness, bipolar disorder, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, suicide, self-harm, eating disorder, bullying, body shaming, death, murder, sexual content, homophobia, adult/minor relationship, pregnancy

This book was a very difficult one for me to get through. I was really intrigued by the synopsis but unfortunately the story was not as gripping as I thought it would be. I wanted a little more from the characters. The mystery of what happened was interesting.

Sadly, I just couldn’t get into this novel.

This pains me as Ward has a knack for creating atmosphere, and tension filled stories, and I was really looking forward to this dark academia thriller.

I do feel that a large reason for my not being able to connect with the book was be due in part to the number of potential triggers that this book held, which might have affected my reading experience. These include: mental illness, bullying, self-harm, suicide, eating disorder, underage sexual relationships.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for my digital copy of this novel to read and review.

I love J.R. Ward’s other books but this one I just couldn’t finish. I didn’t like any characters and I found the story so boring .

DNF at about 10% in. Just couldn't get into this at all.

Thank you netgalley for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely eat YA thrillers UP! Perhaps one of my favourite genres… so when I read the synopsis for St. Ambrose School for Girls, I knew I had to get my hands on it! Unfortunately, the story did not work for me and I’ve been left with so many questions!

Ultimately this story felt like a ton of red herrings that went nowhere… I love a book that can throw me off the trail but those ends still need to be tied up! They need to make sense! The pacing was a bit strange, there was so much build up, the plot comes to head at about 80% and so we get a fairly quick and unsatisfying resolution.

I wish that the investigation portion of the story could have been more thoroughly explored and that the meticulously laid “motives” would have come together a bit better.

The St. Ambrose School for Girls is the dark and twisted story of an exclusive boarding school for girls in Massachusetts. Its walls contain the secrets and scandals of not-so-innocent fifteen year-old girls fighting for acceptance, or in other cases, for power.

This story is part thriller, part coming-of-age, and is an ultimate page-turner. If you enjoy Sally Thorne or Brownyn Fischer with a darker twist, this may be the book for you! This is the perfect murder mystery to curl up with on a rainy fall day!

Read if you like:
🔪 Murder mysteries
🧠 Mental health rep
🏛 Dark academia
😱 Scandals

⚠️ Potential trigger warnings: mental illness, bullying, self-harm, suicide, eating disorder, underage sexual relationships, homicide (may not be an exhaustive list).

🙏 Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the gifted electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book!! I couldn’t put it down.
I just loved all the characters. I highly recommend this book.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I just could NOT get into it. I had read reviews that it was a slow burn, but I never got to a part where I was engaged enough to want to keep reading.

No review on GoodReads as I avoid posting if I review a title as under 3/5 stars.

Wow I loved this book! I was completely immersed in Sarah (Sally's) world as she found her way at the St. Ambrose School For Girls.

The struggle as a reader is the fact that not every book works for you. And that's okay. But this book didn't work for me.

I should have approached this book differently, but I didn't realize it was marketed as YA until I was fully into the story. YA tends to make me feel.. old and out of touch (a me problem, not the author's problem!)

I struggled to connect with the characters, perhaps because I'm so far removed from the high school world? I did however enjoy the setting, love an old, creepy school with a bit of mystery!

The book was a bit of a slow burn, with the mystery arriving quite late in the plot but the expectation helped build tension throughout the book.

There was quite a bit of positive representation surrounding the MC's mental illness, and her roommate's sexuality, which I found quite refreshing. By no means a bad book, it has lots of potential and great qualities, just not for me!

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

This one took me FOREVER to finish but I actually really liked it! I struggle with a mental illness as well so meeting Sarah as a main character, was finding a kindred spirit. Her brain being a relatively unreliable narrator added so much. I love an unreliable narrator.

I did predict some parts of the ending but it didn’t take away from the story.

3.5/5 stars, will definitely recommend.

I don’t know what it is with me and dark academia lately, but it’s just not working out. I was so excited for this one, especially with such a gorgeous cover. Unfortunately, it took me so long to work my way through the story and I was grumbling about it the whole time.

I couldn’t stand the main character. She isn’t exactly meant to be likeable, but having everything coming from her point of view made me want to stop reading multiple times. She was painfully unreliable and frustrating. She has bipolar disorder, but I’m not really referring to that part of her POV. Her fascination with Nick and disdain for literally every other person on the planet just got to me (except for Strots, who she idolized for some reason).

I also felt that nothing really happened until the last 20% of the book, and even then, it was dull. Don’t get me wrong, the general plot itself was awesome. But the execution didn’t work for me at all.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy anything about this one. I kinda got Catherine House meets If We Were Villains vibes…and I didn’t like either of those books. I feel that a lot of people will like this one, so don’t let my review scare you off. It just wasn’t for me!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for my gifted copy!

The St. Ambrose School for Girls by Jessica Ward is described as a book for fans of The Secret History which immediately drew my attention. Initially, I was sucked into the school setting along with the main character Sarah. Sarah’s character is a standout in this book. Struggling with her bipolar disorder diagnosis, we get glimpses of her perspective of trying to keep her diagnosis secret while also struggling with the bullying that she is experiencing from the ringleader, Greta. Greta is a master manipulator. She initiates Sarah to life at St. Ambrose through a series of pranks and then gaslights like a pro.

Sarah finds allies in her roommate Strots and her RA Nick who take a personal interest in Sarah. We know from the start that there is a death in this story, but we don’t know who or how. When Sarah sees a scandal unfold it is hard for her to determine what is real and what is imagined and she takes the reader along for the ride. This story starts strong, then slows in the middle, and then picks up again once we know who is dead. This story is more about Sarah than the murder which might leave some readers wanting. If you are looking for a book about the challenges of bi-polar disorder, this book is a compassionate first-person read that is well-researched. The main character appears to be an unreliable narrator; however, it is up to the reader to decide what is real and what is not.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

honestly just not for me. Couldn’t get through it and had to DNF because it felt slow and dragged out

The St. Ambrose School for Girls is a slow burn mystery and coming of age story. The slow burn was just a bit too slow for me, it seemed like most of the book dragged which wasn’t enjoyable yet, it was still interesting. I finished it earlier this week and I’m a bit conflicted on my overall rating / review. Some aspects were good and some just weren’t my thing.

Thank you, netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.