Oof I did not like this book. None of the characters seemed fully formed, the plot was all over the place, and the trajectory of the story didn't make any sense. Really disappointed with this one.

Five students from differing backgrounds attend Chandler, and elite private school. They are selected to participate in a writing group called The Circle. were its said the members become like a family. As secrets are revealed, the five must decide how to shed light on them and foster change at their school.

I think the best part of this book was the found family aspect. I love how close these 5 grew to one another, and how they each supported one another through their varying problems. I liked all of the characters for the most part, and liked how the were all so different from one another. I think they were all well-developed and had their own distinct voices and unique personalities. The biggest complaint I have is definitely the romance, I wish it was left out and we had just gotten the platonic relationships instead. I enjoyed how the book tackled some heavier topics and didn't shy away from the nitty gritty of those topics. I do think it took a bit long to get to the main "reveal" and wish we had gotten to it sooner so it could have been explored more thoroughly. I also felt the chapters were very long, which definitely brought me out of the story at times as they felt like they were never ending.

“If you had a choice between telling the truth and hurting someone you love or keeping a secret that eats away at you, which would you choose? I think that most people would choose to keep the secret. We weren’t most people.”

TW‼️: sexual assault, racism, homophobia, anxiety disorder, hazing, bullying

Beth Kramer, Sarah Brunson, Amanda Priya Spencer, Ramon Golfshar, and Freddy Bello are accepted into The Circle, an exclusive writing group at Chandler, an elite boarding school. Once in, the five are bonded by each and every secret written down. Will the Circle dare to expose Chandler, or fall further into the loud silence of abuse and privilege?

What this story has:
•Found family
•Multiple POVs
•Diverse characters
•Hope

What I wanted more of:
•Detail for the ending. I wanted more of a wrap-up than was written. There is a big jump in time, and it made parts of the story feel incomplete.

Overall, I truly loved this novel. The characters feel so real that you both love them and get frustrated at them. Nazemian’s writing made me want to be a part of their circle. I hope you all will check out this powerful read. And I’ll leave you with a quote…

“It takes more than truth to liberate. It takes action.”

The Chandler Legacies by: Adbi Nazemian // 🌙🌙🌙🌙.5

A big thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

About The Book: The Chandler Legacies by Abdi Nazemian 5/5 Stars (Diverse, Realistic Coming of Age YA)



The Chandler Legacies is a boarding school story set in a fictional Connecticut town in 1999. The story is told in alternating first person point of view following Beth Kramer, a townie who attends Chandler on scholarship, lives with anxiety and trichotillomania (a condition sparked by her severe anxiety - she pulls out her hair one strand at a time); Indian American Amanda “Spence” Spencer who has a passion for acting; Ramin Golafshar recently immigrated from Iran to escape homophobic persecution and possible death, only to be targeted by bigoted classmates; high-achieving Sarah Brunson who is still traumatized by her mother’s cancer, now in remission; and Brazilian Cuban American Frederico “Freddy” Bello isn’t sure he wants to continue pursuing a future as an Olympic level pole vaulter. Beth and Sarah had shared a room during their freshman year, and that experience adds complexity and conflict to the story. All 5 students are selected to participate in the elite writing group "The Circle" where their professor encourages them to speak truths in their writing, and to get to know one another - they have to spend time together often and share their writing with one another. Through writing and socializing with one another, the characters reveal who they are, find out deep secrets - these revelations also reveal bullying, hazing and a dark legacy that has gone on at Chandler. The characters are able to establish their own legacy during their time in the Circle that also reveals who they really are - thoughtful and compassionate human beings who are able to make change and create their own destiny.

The Chandler Legacies is one of the most thoughtful boarding school novels I have read in a long time, and as thought provoking as Looking for Alaska by John Green. I was able to devour this YA novel in one day, as the story is compulsively readable with well-drawn, realistic characters who all carry personal trauma, concerns and hope for the future. This is on my Best of 2022 Young Adult Novels list. I consider this a must read, and will be purchasing this book for our school library. I loved the cast of characters, and feel that readers will relate to one or another. Although I found the characters diverse, I did not feel as though they were stereotypical caricatures - rather thoughtfully created people - teens may find themselves in the story. The story perfectly depicts how teenagers can come together to achieve their goals, find themselves, solve problems and effect change for their world while developing meaningful communication in relationships with one another. ~ Review by Nicole Nicosia

I was expecting a fun romp in a boarding school, and while it's okay that that's not what I got...I didn't love it. I also think it's a little lazy to set it in the 90s to basically get rid of everyone having a cell phone and social media, but that is more of a personal pet peeve, I guess.

The Chandler Legacies was a nice book. I haven't read books that analyze school culture and bullying such as this one has. The themes of abuse, bullying and harassement were well portrayed here because it felt like there was no easy solution or quick-fix to get rid of all these problems and every character was affected differently by the system of abuse in the school. I loved the found family trope in this novel and the friendships between the five main characters clearly illustrated the importance of solidarity. Sarah Brunson's story was particularly interesting to me and I liked seeing her reflect on her past and grow from her realizations.

However, in my opinion the book ended too quickly. I felt like many plot lines especially the one concerning sexual harassement were resolved too abruptly. What is more, one of the scenes in the book was a bit too graphic. The revelation that Professor Douglas had helped a sexual harasser and would have done nothing to correct this had she not been found out soured the book for me.

This was another great novel from Nazemian, but it did have some flaws.

The 90s vibes were immaculate, they were so good and made the novel so fun! The characters were wonderful, lovable, and all had distinct voices. But there was a real pacing issue for the book. The letter from the author gives away what the plot is going to be (that's fine! it's a sensitive subject and people needed to know about it), but then that plot point doesn't come in until nearly the 60% mark.

I think instead of moving that point up, this book really needed another 50-100 pages added to flesh out that point and give it the proper resolution. As mentioned, its a serious topic and it would have done more service if it had had more time.

Otherwise, a great, enjoyable story,

While not nearly as impactful as “like a love story”, this was still pretty good coming of age story. In a boarding school full dark secrets and powerful young voices, you quickly learn who your friends are. I enjoyed the multiple points of view, especially when two characters gave you two sides of the same event, as it helped us to see inside all five of our main characters’ minds. My only complaint was that it was weird to have some people referred to by last name (Spence even calls this out, which is even weirder because not everybody does it. For example, Brunson calls her host Mrs. song but Spence just called her Song. There are no internal rules for who is surnamed and who isn’t). I also felt that Brunson and Beth are pretty much interchangeable and cardboard cutouts. And while I found the ending to be cute, I kind of wish we would’ve found out more of the impact of what they did (intentionally vague).

overall this was a great YA, but i did find some things quite iffy and wasn't really sure about how i felt about the characters. I devoured this book pretty quickly though!! so that's great! it was my first abdi nazemian book as well! excited to see what else he writes!

Nazemian does a great job weaving an interesting narrative with compelling characters even though there are several POVs. I love a boarding school novel and this one shows the darker aspects of dark academia in a post #metoo reckoning. I also enjoyed the diversity of the characters instead of just your average rich, white kids.

okay so yes there are a few areas where i don’t think the full details were necessary like it was giving euphoria, but at the same time i don’t think there was another way to translate the severity of the situations.

i didn’t have that much of an attachment to all of the characters but i didn’t mind the switch in perspectives though i do wish it was in first person. my favourites were freddy and amanda.

overall, it was a pretty enjoyable read. i LIVE for boarding school mess so that part was definitely fulfilled.

The Chandler Legacies started out really well, then at about the 75% mark I seriously considered DNFing. The characters were initially so well fleshed out and felt so real, but as the story moved along I couldn't see what he characters motivations for doing certain things was, and it all got super confusing. I think the main crux of the plot needed to be introduced a lot earlier; 75% of the book felt like just vibes and then comes the real plot which is only about 25% fleshed out. The ending was not good, and I felt cheated after finishing. 2.5 stars.

3.5/5

"The Chandler Legacies" is an engaging story about the power of writing that also tackles serious topics, like sexual assault. It's well written and features fleshed-out characters, however, it often feels like it lacks a concrete plot. Furthermore, while it handles sexual assault in a somewhat realistic way, the "resolution" comes too quickly and should have been handled with more nuance and time. I enjoyed "The Chandler Legacies" and recommend it to older YA readers who are interested.

Good writing and a specificity to the bullying aspect make the story flow well, but the friendship (which was so central to the story) felt a little manufactured/tell-not-show and the supposed depth didn't feel believable, neither of the romantic relationships struck a chord for me, the pacing was really off (including the inclusion of the epilogue, which seemed intended to make up for the story itself cutting off when it did), and sometime it felt anachronistic (would an average teenager in 1999 really refer to "trans people", or "the LGBT community"?).

this is the second book i've read from abdi nazemian and i absolutely love his writing. i loved this book even more than like a love story mostly because of the characters. i cared for our main cast of characters so much and even though they were all flawed, they all had such good development throughout the novel. i thought nazemian handled the topic of sexual assault very well and loved the discussions on the abuse of power and how one's privilege affects us. i love books set at boarding schools and this is probably one of the best ones i've read. this book just makes me even more excited to read anything nazemian writes.

tw: sexual assault, homophobia

I definitely enjoyed this one but it didn't stand out for me. I wasn't immediately captured and didn't feel like I could connect with the plot in general. I think I may need to give this a re-read later.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, having loved the author’s previous book Like a Love Story. The synopsis painted a dark, compelling story about hazing, abuse of power and complicity. It’s inspired by the author’s own experiences at boarding school and, as he states in the author’s note at the beginning of this advanced copy, it’s a milder version of what happened during his freshman year. So knowing all that going into this novel, I was perhaps expecting something a bit… more? Yes, The Chandler Legacies does touch on all of those aspects yet it somehow also felt TOO mild, in a way. Not that I was necessarily looking for something more explicit, but it felt very simplified and, with five rotating narrators, seemed to remain too surface-level. It switched POVs fairly frequently so each “chapter” didn’t get a chance to dive too deep for developing anything.

I appreciated the way the reactions to the hazing was depicted, and how different people dealt with it differently. It felt realistic to have some speak up and some stay quiet for their own survival – even when the compliance at times seemed unbelievable to ignore and continue on with their daily lives. I actually think one of my favourite characters in this wasn’t even one of the main five – it was Ramin’s friend Hiro!

The LGBTQ representation was also great, though I did feel it also a bit simplistic and, at times, contrived with how some of it plays out. I can’t quite pinpoint or articulate it exactly (without spoiling anything) but that part of it had felt a bit too easy? Wrapped up in a nice little bow? Out of nowhere? And some of their reactions and behaviour felt disappointing and out of character at times given what we got to know about them.

A sub-theme that I actually found more compelling was about the things each and everyone of us go through that others may not know about. How people get judged and assumed things about them, then gossip spreads and people are humiliated & hurt but it was a good reminder that everyone is going through something. I thought this element was really well explored throughout the book.

I did like the concept for this book and maybe it was too painful for the author to dive deeper, but the potential was there for a really hard-hitting story. Like I said, it does touch on the abuse of power at all levels, the complicity of others – but perhaps if there were less narrators, and less separate storylines to juggle, there would have been more opportunity to actually address the serious nature of what was going on.

I loved this book! It follows five teens who attend an elite boarding school and who are members of an exclusive writers group called The Circle. When I first started it, I was worried five perspectives would be too many, but I thought each character was well-developed. Ramin was my favorite, but I also loved Beth. That being said, all five kids are likable, smart and layered. There's someone for all types of readers to connect with.

I also loved the school setting. The author managed to make it seem like such a pretty and special place, while also revealing layers of darkness and imperfection. It isn't quite dark academia but I do recommend it to people who like that genre. I also liked that it was set in the 90s. Some books that are set in the 80s or 90s pile on way too many pop culture references, but this did it just right. I particularly loved a scene that took place on Halloween.

Lastly, I love that this didn't have a neat ending. I love that it was complicated, because people are complicated. I loved the discussions about accountability, and power dynamics. I think it was all so well done and I can't wait to read more of Nazemian's work.

For a story that promises social change and breaking the status quo, this novel did not deliver.

Abdi Nazemian’s contemporary YA boarding school drama set in 1990s New England packs a punch just by the description. Jumping on the popularity of boarding school/dark academia stories, I had high expectations. What makes this genre so unique is the point of view - not the narration of the characters, but the overall theme - these stories have something to say. Unfortunately, the only takeaway I had from Nazemian’s story was not positive.

Told from the POVs of five members of an elite creative writing club dubbed The Circle, five teens from various social, ethnic, and class backgrounds come together over a common interest of storytelling. But when one member witnesses a traumatizing event, The Circle believes it is up to them to publish their stories and take a stand. However, they do not.

The main plot point of this story is a truly graphic form of abuse that seemed to up the age rating by at least five years. This left me wondering what audience exactly is intended by this story. And when the characters are given the chance to make real change, they opt for forgiveness when none should have been given.

The characters are very diverse, but some of them I had difficulties telling apart (Spencer and Bronson) and while they were all relevant in the larger story, some of their voices were lost (Beth, mainly). Freddy and Ramin had compelling and more complex stories, which made their chapters more engaging, but failed to really deliver in the end.

This story really emphasized the class difference between these characters, and made it a central part of a large turning point in the story. While I understand that Nazemian was attempting to show the injustices and the privileges of the upper class, the rich saviour complex and security was not criticized among the characters; if one of them hadn’t been rich, they couldn’t have accomplished anything, and in the end decided against it anyway.

The found family aspect also felt forced, as these characters liked each other too much too fast and from the epilogue we can see that they didn’t stay in touch. Overall, it packed no punch and left me unsatisfied. It is so hard in life to get the opportunity to take a stand and really make a difference, and these characters would rather push through to their futures than fight for the present.

"The Chandler Legacies" gives readers an inside look into a world of privilege at an elite boarding school and the unlikely group of teens brought together by The Circle, a coveted writing group who dares to challenge the status quo through truth telling.

Beth Kramer, Sarah Brunson, Amanda Priya “Spence” Spencer, Ramin Golafshar and Freddy Bello come together like those did in "The Breakfast Club." These diverse individuals develop unlikely connections to one another, learning a great deal about each other and most importantly, themselves in the process. But, unfortunately, "The Chandler Legacies" only scratches the surface of what it could've been. I, sadly, struggled with this one.

This book explores events and actions that may be triggering to some readers including bullying, hazing, anxiety, racism, homophobia, pedophilia, sexual assault and self-harm (via trichotillomania) - all important topics without enough time to delicately dive into them all. There was a lot of set up, but the resolutions felt rushed and incomplete.

I would note that with five different protagonists, the story needed to be longer. It took a little bit for me to be able to tell the three girls apart and when I finally did, it was done. I think the characters and their personal stories deserved to be explored further. Ramin was by far the strongest and I'd have no complaints if it was all in his perspective instead of multiple.

As a whole, this was subtlety a love letter to the art of writing and I appreciated that. However, I'm left wondering how "The Chandler Legacies" could've looked stylistically if some of the pages included visuals of the characters hand written notes and thoughts from their lessons.