Cover Image: School for Psychics

School for Psychics

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Not sure exactly what genre I would place this novel in - not really a fantasy or a thriller but with elements of each. It's set at a government run training program for psychics in their 20s, kind of like graduate school Hogwarts for psychics instead of wizards. It was pretty entertaining though the writing was a bit simple at times, and it apparently is the first in a series so it didn't really have a satisfying ending. I did enjoy it and would probably read the sequel, but I won't be waiting for it with baited breath. 3.5 stars.

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For me, the premise of School for Psychics was exciting. I chose to read it even though it's aimed at a young adult audience. I expected that there would be a lot of set up as this is the first book in a series. I was disappointed in the detail afforded the school, as well as the brevity of the character portraits provided. I am hopeful that KC Archer will make the characters more layered as the subsequent books publish. I found the dialogue not quite appropriate for the characters' ages and professions. All in all, I think there is potential in the series. The first introduction story was entertaining. It is definitely more suited to teens, and at times reads like a teen centric movie. I'd definitely give book 2 a chance, in hopes that it is a more in depth read.

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Fast-paced, enjoyable read. To me, it read more like a YA novel which is not necessarily a bad thing, just simplistic. Fun book and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy, sci-fi.

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Teddy is in trouble. Big Trouble. She owes some really bad people a lot of money and that isn't even the worst of her problems. Teddy has just found out that she is psychic. As a way to avoid the people that she owes for her gambling debts, Teddy agrees to attend The School for Psychics, hidden off the coast of San Francisco. Here Teddy meets and befriends several of her classmates and bonds are formed while they are trained, special ops style, at the school, which blends the use of their individual psychic abilities with SWAT style training in a unique law enforcement training academy. I expected this book to be just ok, but, surprisingly, I ended up rooting for Teddy and her friends and really enjoyed the novel. I will be looking for new installments in this intriguing series. This is a 3.5 out of 5 star read for me.

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What I liked: a band of misfits crammed in a top-secret institute for young psychics. The main character in the story has made some seriously bad decisions before she lands an offer to enter the institute. Given the offer to enter the institute for psychics vs. wondering what day her huge gambling debt will catch up with her or her adoptive parents asking her when she plans to move out of the garage, going to a top-secret psychic institute doesn’t seem like such a bad offer.

It took me quite some time to read this book and that may have something to do with a lot of the characters making piss poor decisions that were almost unbelievable. Other than that, this is a fun read and even more interesting is the way “psychic ability” is framed. Makes one wonder if this really does exist and certainly the book gives several reasons to believe it does.

The story ends on rather a cliff-hanger which no doubt is to entice the reader into reading the sequel. I’ve no doubt there will be plenty of takers on this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance digital copy!

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My first thoughts upon starting this book were "What took me so long?". This book was very engaging and had a great story.

Teddy has always felt off. She hasn't felt right in the life she is living. An encounter at the nick of time shows her the window to a whole new future. A future that could help her understand what she has been feeling all of her life. A chance to find out where she came from.

Throughout the book you follow Teddy and her group through misadventures and boundary testing. Each outing leading them deeper down the rabbit whole.

What follows is a thrilling conclusion that is going to leave you salivating for the next installment. I can't wait to see where this series goes.

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I had trouble with School for Psychics. I wanted to like the book. A school for young adults with powers? Nice. A female lead? Even better. The problem was I did not like Teddy. Something about her just... maybe it was her immaturity. She was supposed to be a young adult but at time acted like a little kid.

The book, overall, had a slow pace for me. It was a hard to work through it sometimes and I would end up setting it aside in favor of something else. I kept hoping that when Teddy actually got to the school it would pick up, but it did not.

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A very interesting premise, sort of the X-men revamped. I really liked the intro, set in Las Vegas, but the story moved out of that world much too quickly for me. The rest of the story flipped between fascinating parts and parts where, if I wasn't on a long bus trip, I wouldn't have bothered reading. I wanted to like Teddy, and did for most of the story, but sometimes she was just too self absorbed and defeatist to like.
This had great elements, but some very predictable parts and no satisfying resolution. The main villains (in this part of the story) were also largely predictable. The behaviour of Teddy's group of misfits was also frustrating. At times they were loyal when she had given then no reason to be, and their responses were just too convenient at times.
I don't think I will pursue the series.

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I did not have high hopes for this book as it sounded a little far-fetched, but I loved every minute. It's a good, fun read with enough depth to keep things interesting - highly recommended.

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I dreaded finishing this book because I knew I was going to be missing some these characters and I already am. Truth be told, Archer created an interesting set of characters that felt very real and flawed and I loved that because I can relate to a flawed character and support and cheer them as they struggle and boy, did Teddy our lead character, so just that as her normal yet weird life is tossed on it's head and she finds out the hard way that not everything is as it seems.

With an open ending that left me with questions and hints, I can't wait to see where Archer takes this Misfit crew next so I can agonize and gush about it.

Thanks to Netgalley for this very enjoyable ARC.

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Of course I enjoy the premise of School for Psychics - talented individual discovers they have special abilities and are invited to attend a secret school with other individuals with special abilities, but something goes awry and it's up to main individual and friends to save the day, but also get into trouble for breaking the rules to save those around them. Sound familiar? Yeah, because it is. (Are you thinking Harry Potter? Maybe X-Men? Maybe one of the other bajillions of books and movies with a similar premise?)

I found myself rolling my eyes a lot during the book, but oddly missed the characters once I finished the novel and moved on to something else. The characters in School for Psychics are adults, but they act like teenagers, so it's hard to decipher whether this book in YA or not. I don't think it's listed that way, but definitely reads it. The novel is already set to be part of a series, and the CW has bought the rights to develop it into a tv show, which we all know I will watch.

I had a few issues with the book, including Teddy's serious disregard for rules, which made her incredibly annoying to me. But at the same time I did feel fairly connected to her as a character. I would have loved additional character development for the other characters. I didn't actually feel like she had friendships - just acquaintances that she almost seemed to use for her one selfish reasons. I was also confused by some of the "friendships" - there was a weird dynamic between her and Molly, who I thought were friends, but then were randomly in conflict. It just didn't make sense to me. There was also a good bit of story-line left open at the end, but I think that's just to open up a path for the next book in the series.

I enjoyed the book enough that I will most likely pick up the next in the series to continue along with the story. (I strangely need to know more about both Nick and Pyro.)

This one is a kind of difficult one to recommend, because you may enjoy it if you like YA fantasy novels like Harry Potter, but you also may find it very redundant and overdone. Again, this isn't listed as a YA novel, but definitely read that way to me. I'd say give it a try, because you won't know if you'll enjoy it or not if you don't read it.

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"An entrancing new series starring a funny, impulsive, and sometimes self-congratulatory young woman who discovers she has psychic abilities—and then must decide whether she will use her skills for good or... not.

Teddy Cannon isn’t your typical twenty-something woman. She’s resourceful. She’s bright. She’s scrappy. She can also read people with uncanny precision. What she doesn’t realize: she’s actually psychic.

When a series of bad decisions leads Teddy to a run-in with the police, a mysterious stranger intervenes. He invites her to apply to the School for Psychics, a facility hidden off the coast of San Francisco where students are trained like Delta Force operatives: it’s competitive, cutthroat, and highly secretive. They’ll learn telepathy, telekinesis, investigative skills, and SWAT tactics. And if students survive their training, they go on to serve at the highest levels of government, using their skills to protect America, and the world.

In class, Teddy befriends Lucas, a rebel without a cause who can start and manipulate fire; Jillian, a hipster who can mediate communication between animals and humans; and Molly, a hacker who can apprehend the emotional state of another individual. But just as Teddy feels like she’s found where she might belong, strange things begin to happen: break-ins, missing students, and more. It leads Teddy to accept a dangerous mission that will ultimately cause her to question everything—her teachers, her friends, her family, and even herself.

Set in a world very much like our own, School for Psychics is the first book in a stay-up-all night series."

Just seems like a very ME book.

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School for Psychics was a fast-paced narrative and an interesting concept. The main character, Teddy, has psychic powers that she uses to win big in gambling--that is, until she's noticed by a government official who enlists her in an academy for people with special abilities. As Teddy learns more about her powers, she also begins to uncover more about her past--and the dark past of the program she has found herself in.

I love books about "special" schools, whether they teach magic users, geniuses, or spies. That being said, this novel fell kind of flat for me. The characters were interesting and multi-dimensional, but I found that everything else (plot, settings, even character relationships) were very 2D. The story was almost entirely dialogue and action-driven, with very little narrative or description. I would describe the story-telling style as similar to the Hunger Games, but with less action and much less organization. Several story-threads are built up but then trail off, while much of the groundwork of the major climax isn't laid until halfway through the story. This makes the story feel confused and somewhat sloppy.

However, School for Psychics was a fun, quick read with a few exciting heist moments. It was worth a free read, so I'd suggest borrowing it from your library before purchasing. The ending is somewhat of a cliff-hanger, but I still don't think I'll read the sequel.

Pros:
-Interesting powers, and interesting characters to go with them. Many of the people in this narrative don't fall into a trope (though there are few who do). A painfully shy empath who doubles as a computer hacker, a curvaceous yogi who speaks to animals, and an ex-cop who can spark a flame into existence at will.
-This tags along with the first reason, but the characters tend to act like real people, rather than SidekicksTM, which I loved. The relationships are messy and uncomfortable, and not always nice.
-Without giving away spoilers, there's a really amazing chapter that highlights the dangers of conceptualizing people, because people are always better AND worse than our idea of them. Honestly, that chapter made the book worth reading to me.

Cons:
-The story building is allll over the place. I think if I re-read this book, I could pinpoint exact instances where the author thought of a cool idea and started writing it in. Certain characters that you think will be really important to the plot figuratively (and literally) just disappear from the story. I think the author tried to tell too much of the story in one book, so the emphasis didn't fall where it should.
-Little to no description. If I can't visualize the characters or settings, everything starts to run together in my head. There were at least two scenes where I had no idea where the characters were or what they were supposed to be doing. Timelines were completely jacked up (the sort of thing were they just came from lunch and now they're getting ready for bed).
-They start out having 3 classes. THREE. And one of them is gym. At one point, Teddy skips one of the classes for a month. Is this some sort of government-funded resort? How are they supposed to learn anything?
-Most of the big reveals (the back-stories, the secret of Teddy's gift, the betrayals) were glaringly obvious to me, so the "plot-twists" were not nearly as exciting as I wanted them to be.

To summarize: If you want to read something that's a between Ocean's 11 and I'd Tell You I Love You (But Then I'd Have to Kill You), then this may be the book for you, but it definitely wasn't life-changing.

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Great book, well written with a great plot and characters. This book sucked me in and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. It is a fun read with lots of action. Teddy Cannon is smart, sassy and she is psychic.....but doesn't know it. I can't wait to read the next book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.

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This was another request from NetGalley and I believe an Instagram pick. I heard great reviews on it and it sounded interesting, but in the end, it wasn’t exactly what I had expected.
I jumped into this book thinking it was a more adult version of a Hogwarts meets Xavier’s Institute for Higher Learning. I thought I was going to get an action packed novel full of psychic abilities and suspense. In it’s summary, it states that Teddy after a run-in with the police a mysterious stranger intervenes and explains to Teddy that she is, in fact, psychic which is why she excels at reading people. She decides to drop everything and go to this school to hone her psychic skills and meet other people like her. It’s set in a world that mirrors our own, not the past or some alternate universe where people have these skills, but an everyday “normal” society.
So, why didn’t I like it?
Well, for some reason, and I still can’t quite put my finger on why, it felt and read like a YA book. That’s not a bad thing, exactly. I love a lot of YA novels, but when Teddy and Lucas get down and dirty setting the fire alarm off, I was a little taken back. Up to that point, I kept thinking Teddy was younger and had to remind myself that she was in her 20s. She felt naive and inexperienced in life considering her stated age and even the way everyone interacted with her made her feel more juvenile versus adult.
That’s easy to push aside though and there were some great parts. When Teddy starts to unlock all of her psychic abilities, the visual imagery is on par. I was inside Teddy’s head as she learned to block out fellow psychics from reading her mind and while she practiced reading memories and thoughts. That’s the kind of reading I live for, the kind where you are no longer yourself sitting on your couch curled up with a book. The kind where you are that person, in there head with their thoughts, following their actions as if you were looking down on yourself. It builds a connection with a character.
Ultimately, though, it didn’t feel real. When I read Harry Potter, it feels real. I’m there at Hogwarts watching Neville accidentally blow things up. None of the magic felt fake or forced. When I read Narnia, I believe that there are wardrobes somewhere that can transport me to a magical place where animals talk. This one fell flat for me there, which was disappointing. There were moments, like in Teddy’s head, where it was almost there. It was so close to being believable, but then there’s a conspiracy that interrupts everything or dialog that feels forced. Looking back, I think the dialog is what made it feel more YA than anything because I don’t see people in their 20s interacting the way that they did.
The premise of the book is thrown back to the shadows and hidden by the implausible characters and plot. I just wanted more from it and it towards the end, it started to feel like there were things being thrown in haphazardly. For me, it was “meh.” I didn’t hate it, again, there were some wonderful parts, but would I read it again? Nope. Am I going to read the sequel? Probably not. It felt too forced and almost stretched to create a sequel.
As always, I appreciate the opportunity to read this through NetGalley. It just didn’t live up to my expectations overall.

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Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my candid opinion.

I love this series. It is perhaps a bit simplistic, but a great premise for a new series.

Teddy is having trouble in her life.....she can't get her life together and she ends up in trouble in Vegas. Her only out....to attend a school for Psycics.

She has felt like a misfit all of her life, and finally finds her place among other misfits--all of whom have some type of psychic ability. Such as mindreading, clairvoyance, conversing with animals, conversing with the dead, seeing the future, controlling fire, amoungst other things. She attends a school which is a secret school that is a joint venture between law enforcement agencies and people with psychic abilities.

Of course, she and her group of friends end up in the middle of a situation that goes way be;yond the school.

This is an excellent start to a new series and I look forward to seeing where this band of misfits goes from here. I couldn't put it down and read it in a day.

Anyone who loves Harry Potter or the Hunger Games will love this new book. (less)

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An entrancing new series starring a funny, impulsive, and sometimes self-congratulatory young woman who discovers she has psychic abilities—and then must decide whether she will use her skills for good or…not.

Teddy Cannon isn’t your typical twenty-something woman. She’s resourceful. She’s bright. She’s scrappy. She can also read people with uncanny precision. What she doesn’t realize: she’s actually psychic.

When a series of bad decisions leads Teddy to a run-in with the police, a mysterious stranger intervenes. He invites her to apply to the School for Psychics, a facility hidden off the coast of San Francisco where students are trained like Delta Force operatives: it’s competitive, cutthroat, and highly secretive. They’ll learn telepathy, telekinesis, investigative skills, and SWAT tactics. And if students survive their training, they go on to serve at the highest levels of government, using their skills to protect America, and the world.

In class, Teddy befriends Lucas, a rebel without a cause who can start and manipulate fire; Jillian, a hipster who can mediate communication between animals and humans; and Molly, a hacker who can apprehend the emotional state of another individual. But just as Teddy feels like she’s found where she might belong, strange things begin to happen: break-ins, missing students, and more. It leads Teddy to accept a dangerous mission that will ultimately cause her to question everything—her teachers, her friends, her family, and even herself.

* * * * *

I have to admit being conflicted about this book. I really enjoyed the book itself but I have the question the maturity level of the characters themselves. They are supposed to be in their 20s but they all remind me of teenagers. If Teddy was 15 or 16 then I would rave about this book. Heck I will even still rave about this book with that one caveat.

SCHOOL FOR PSYCHICS is a fun read. Teddy is a character that you love half the time, the other half the time she will totally exasperate you. She does grow up quite a bit during the book so by the end, her maturity starts to catch up to her age. I actually found all of the characters interesting and I am looking forward to the next book so that I can check back in to see how they are doing.

I think that my readers would enjoy this book as long as you ignore the stated ages of the characters and instead picture it as a young adult story. It's fast paced with some interesting twists. It has a bit of danger, a bit of romance and a whole lot of character growth.

***I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by the publisher or author.

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I really tried to get interested in this one, because the premise is right up my alley. But I could not care at all about the main character.

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Interesting topic, but fell flat. Couldn't help but keep a running comparison to Harry Potter while reading. 2.5/5

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I recently started reading ebooks again so expect my reviews from NetGalley to pick up for 2018. I requested this because I thought it sounded interesting and it coincidentally would count towards my Book Riot 2018 Read Harder Challenge. This counts for Task 20 - Book with a cover you hate.

Thankfully, the contents are better than the cover. The students at the Whitfield Institute have various reasons for attending the school but they all want to learn some self-control over their powers. Most of the story focuses on Teddy's first-year experience at the school.

Teddy's cut herself off from people due to her human lie detector abilities. At the school she gains friends and learns maintaining friendships is hard. A lot of the book is spent on the first semester of school and there's some fast forward through to the end of the year so the pacing felt a little off.

There are clues along the way on who is involved in the strange events but the author added an unexpected player which probably went over my head as I was focused on the characters we've been directly introduced to. Hopefully that's not a spoiler. If you decide to read it, suspect everyone!

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