When Moira Dreyfuss's parents send her away to The Castle School (for troubled girls) she knows there is no way to change their minds. Her mother has given up on her and her father agrees with whatever her mother says. The Castle school houses 11 other girls who all have different issues. Life in the castle gets interesting when the lock on Moria's window breaks and she and her roommate Eleanore venture out into the woods. The two girls are shocked to find an exact replica of their castle but this one is housed with 12 teenage boys. But as Moria works through her pain she realizes the school is exactly what she needs to deal with the death of her best friend.

I want to congratulate the author for her realistic, objective approach to multiple mental illnesses young people carry on their shoulders bravely and her amazing characters whose names and tragic stories are already imprinted on my heart!

Those girls’ though fights, struggles to adjust in the real life, their pure pains, challenges they face shook me to my core.

Starting from grief, chronic depression, self-harm, eating disorders, loss of speech, trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder), alcoholism, drug addiction to PMS, we’re introduced so many different types of mental illness categories and those young hearts who are trying to survive as they have no idea how to deal with their pain.

Moira Dreyfuss just lost her best and only friend who got beaten by cancer. Her grief hold her back to live her life. She left her classes, giving up her college applications, fighting incessantly with her parents, having problems with her mother.

She thinks she can never please her so she’s punished by being sent to a boarding school for the troubled girls located in Maine but it is actually and literally a gothic castle in the middle of nowhere. And ironically Dr. Prince the highness of castle in charge of the place.

She reluctantly flies to Maine, welcomed by Randy ( later she finds out he’s Dr. Prince’s son, homeschooled, lived in the very same castle with them), driven to the place, accompanied to her dark, cold, isolated room without any plugs to charge her phone.

The place already gives her chills with its disturbing and isolated vibes, makes her thing she’s going to be prisoner and her parents punish her for not being the daughter they dreamed of.

Then she meets 11 other girls who suffer from different inner demons by showing different
ways to handle them.

ELEANOR- her roommate, finding her relief by cutting herself
MEI-pulling her hair because she doesn’t want to be defined by her beauty. She’s more than that.
VIRGINIA- suffering from ADHD. She has hard times to concentrate and be the daughter her parents want.
GREY- just like her name she sees everything grey, suffering from chronic depression
ALICE- cannot be happy about her appearance, fighting with anorexia.
RYAN- wants to keep her special treasure by suffering from kleptomania.
RAINA- stopped talking after witnessing something so tragic and she never feels safe to come clean.
REVA- she cannot stay at the same place for a long time. She’s at flight risk. She cannot restrain her uncontrollable instinct of running away.
BETH- her sports injuries resulted with drug addiction.
HALSEY- her desire to get approval of her inner circle pushed her to be an alcoholic.
CASSANDRA-having problems with authorities, she cannot be told what she’s going to do.

Those girls are also the MCs of the book. We read all of them’s back stories. We easily empathize with them, understanding their compelling fight, aching for their heartbreaks, suffer, sadness, despair.

Moira thinks the castle is a prison and Dr. Prince keeps his own secrets. He’s not reliable. He cannot cure her. She doesn’t need to be healed. She deals with guilt feelings about Nathan’s -her only best friend’s death.

Then one night she realizes the lock of her room window is broken and as she climbs down and walk around the castle, she discovers another castle at the south side belongs to the boys. But that castle is not dark, bleak, cold like the place they stayed. The boys seem like happy, dancing, cheering. They don’t look like they’re troubled ones as like the girls she connects at the north side.

What was the mystery behind the two castles?
And why Dr. Prince’s son Randy didn’t stay with the boys at the castle?

This is emotional, poignant, heartbreaking but also thought provoking, well written book with memorable characters and presents great psychological approach to those brave fighter/ survivor girls!

I enjoyed the conclusion. It’s about mental state, families, grief, true love, resentments, forgiveness, second chances.

It’s truly one of the best works of the author.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for sharing this incredible arc with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This book is not at all what I thought it would be! I loved the one chapter pov changes and how I related to each character a little bit. I also cried at the end. Beautiful story and I hope the girls get the help they need.