Downey House is a all girls boarding school. Even with all the drama, it seems like a nice place to go to school. So many different personalities certainly makes for lots of drama!
Maggie Is the new teacher, When she applied for the job she didn’t think she would be hired. Once she learns she has gotten the position, she has to tell her boyfriend, Stan, she is moving to England from Scotland. Will their relationship survive?
Watching the friendships grow makes me want to know more about where they all end up. Will Maggie and Stan be together??????
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Who knew my life was bereft of a British boarding school themed novel?! Fans of Jenny Colgan will rejoice at the US publication of this truly delightful, feel-good story, set in a castle-like structure in Cornwall. I loved escaping to England with these quirky characters on a windy, cold Saturday afternoon in Chicago, and look forward to the next (hopefully 5) books in the series.. Note that this tale was originally published under the pseudonym Jane Beaton. I read a paperback copy I had previously purchased, but many thanks nonetheless to NetGalley and Avon Books for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love Jenny Colgan's writing! Her books are comforting, feel good reads. This current novel is a well written story about a boarding school by the sea in Cornwall. It had various very interesting, likable characters who we follow through a school year. I highly recommend and of this authors books.

This was a fun story about an all girls boarding house. I really enjoyed getting to know all of the characters. It was unlike any other books I've previously read.

Welcome to the School by the Sea, by Jenny Colgan, is the first book in a new English boarding school series. The story is quintessential Colgan-style with its laugh-out-loud humor, quirkiness, acerbic, and often times cutting commentary, but ultimately heartwarming, feel-good conclusions.

Maggie needs a break from her teaching career in the underprivileged, rather rough area of London. When she unexpectedly receives an opportunity to teach at a girl’s boarding school on the shores of Cornwall, she hesitantly, but eagerly seizes the opportunity. The potential downside is that it means time away from her long time boyfriend, Stan…but perhaps a break would serve them well.

It’s not easy fitting into a school where you are clearly the outsider, in more ways than one, and Maggie is not the only one to feel the discrepancy. As Maggie attempts to settle in, Simone, the scholarship winner, also struggles to find her place in the exclusive Downey House. This cast of characters have all kinds of issues to overcome, many lessons to learn, and antics to pull.

As with many boarding school stories, this one is ripe with girl bullying, elitism, pranks and punks, and more than a fair amount of weight issues and fat shaming. Be warned, it’s hard to read at times. I definitely struggled with some of the issues and the way that they were portrayed. But there’s also Jenny‘s unique style of humor that is truly delightful. And her conclusions are undoubtedly like no other.

I don’t know how she does it, but I always end up adoring her stories by their end, even if I find some aspects off-putting. This story had its cringe-worthy and questionable moments, but I loved it, laughed aloud, and was entranced by the charm she imbues all of her stories with. I eagerly look forward to the next installment in the series.

I was already not pleased about getting this book to review last week when it was already published. However, I decided to move this book up my review chain and get to it this week. I really regret reading this book. This is a series that Jenny Colgan wrote back in 2008 under the name Jane Beaton. I can see why William Morrow & Company decided to re-issue this. They probably said well fans of Jenny Colgan will eat this up. I was one of this supposed fans and have real regret at even attempting this. This book is 'clunky'. There transitions from characters is pretty awful. The character development is a joke. And there's a love triangle with some 'soft cheating' which I don't see a lot of romance fans being down for honestly. I can say this isn't really a romance for anyone out there thinking it will be. There's no happily ever after (HEA) and the next book in the series seems to keep dwelling on the same messed up triangle that popped up in this one. Also, the fatphobia in this book was off the charts. I loathed so many characters while reading this book and just wished that Colgan had updated this for 2022. Looking at older reviews of this book when it was out under another name it seems like people had the same problems with it that I did. Also comparing this book to her other book I finished this week, it's like night and day in terms of writing, skill, character development, etc. 

"Welcome to the School by the Sea" follows Maggie Adair as she interviews for a position as English teacher at the Downey House which is a school for girls in Cornwall. Maggie has a long term boyfriend Stan who is unsure about her being so far away for most of the year. And Maggie is worried that she may not fit in at Downey House. The book also follows the Headmistress, Veronica Deveral, and three other students, Fliss; Simone; and Alice. 

Maggie is pretty bad tempered I thought. I know I was supposed to be rooting for her, but found her entire character to be charmless. It didn't help that she had some comments to Simone about her weight. In fact everyone did which was a reason I pretty much hated everyone but that character as I was reading. Maggie's torn between Stan and someone else and I rolled my eyes. Honestly, I just didn't care. The book was too stuffed with things for me to care anything about her tedious relationship.

Veronica Deveral had an interesting storyline, but of course there's a whole plot point that does not revolve itself by the end of the book. This book included some pages from the next book in the series along with a synopsis, so I do know that at least the plot holes that were not tied off will be surfacing again in that book. 

Fliss was exhausting. I still don't know why her parents were adamant about sending her to Downey House. But she's intentionally cruel along with another girl, Alice to their suitemate, Simone. I just didn't want to keep reading about how angry she was being there and how nasty she was being to Maggie and Simone. I actively rooted against her and Alice as I was reading.

Simone. Sigh. There are so many cultural stereotypes for this character along with the fat shaming that even teachers do to her. I was disgusted. There's a whole plot point about her being good at field hockey as a goalie and people being stunned she can move around so easily. 

The writing was very stilted. We just follow everyone of these characters through the first year at Downey House and of course way too many things except for a handful get wrapped up way too quickly. I also called BS on how the whole thing with Simone was resolved. I just sighed a bit. This book did remind me that adults and teen girls can be very cruel.

Some of the dialogue killed me though, and most of it always swirled around Simone.

"Fewer cakes, bit more sport, you'd look better in no time, with your lovely teenage metabolism."

"And fat from too many sweets and biscuits.. she needed lots of fresh air, exercise." 


There's even a cruddy plot point about stealing that had me grumbling that I won't even get into.

The flow of this book was awful. As I said above, the transitions between characters/chapters was not very good. 


The setting of Downey House felt blah. 

The ending left so many things unfinished. I am never one of those people that like to read a series that does not do a beginning, middle, and end to a book. Cliffhangers for series also drive me up the wall. I don't think I will be reading the other books as part of this series. I sneak peeked some reviews and the fatphobia gets bad and there's also an eating disorder (or two) in the next one. And the love triangle keeps trudging along and will make me hate these characters even more than I thought.

I usually love reading anything by Jenny Colgan, but truth be told, this was a ho hum book. A very fast read, Colgan tells the story of a posh boarding school where there is a new English teacher and new students. Some are so very excited to be attending but not all. Simone is apprehensive, a scholarship winner, she is aware that she is different than the others and longs to belong. Simone is the recipient of a lot of fat shaming by both the students and teachers. That was disappointing from the adults. Fliss is very angry to be attending and does everything she can to get sent home and have her parents sorry for sending her away. Alice wants all the attention and will stop at nothing to get it, including pulling school pranks. Maggie is the new teacher, coming from an inter-city school where the student body was very rough. Could she fit in this posh world? She is looking forward to branching out, away from her family, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend Stan. Maggie loves being by the sea and meets her counterpart at the neighboring boys school and some sparks fly between them.
Everything was predictable and there was a lot of tell and not show. This book was previously published under a pseudo-name and is now being released by the original author, Jenny Colgan. I felt as if the story felt flat when addressing the class system, physical appearances, and unwed mothers. Colgan has written far better stories to read, that I would recommend one of them over this.

Many thanks to #netgalley #welcometotheschoolbythesea #jennycolgan for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The introduction to this book was very helpful. As I looked at the original publishing date on Goodreads, I was totally confused. This is a republishing of a book that was originally released under a pseudonym.
This is a decent read about a group of girls and the staff at a boarding school in Cornwall. I enjoyed the Cornwall setting, still in the UK, but a departure from Scotland and Mure. :-) The characters are different than a typical Jenny Colgan novel, as this is a 'boarding school' series. My major negative thought on the book is ALL the talk about fat, weight, food and dieting. It overpowers the book and detracts from the reading experience.

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Jenny Colgan does it again! I love her books and this is no exception. She is so under recognized! Cozy British romantic books? Sign me up.

I loved reading about new teacher Maggie and her students. Can’t wait until the next book in the series!

Welcome to the school by the Sea is the first book in the Maggie Adair series about a boarding school in Cornwall. Maggie was working at an inner city school, but applied to a fancy boarding school. Her family and boyfriend Stan are hesitant for her to take the job. The book covers an entire school year and shows what it was like for Maggie as a new teacher. In addition to maggie, we get to know some of her students as well as the head mistress.

This was a sweet and charming read. I liked the quirky and endearing characters, and am looking forward to seeing where the next book goes.

Welcome to the School by the Sea was my introduction to Jenny Colgan. The book is actually a rerelease of a novel written 2008 under the pseudonym of Jane Beaton and the first in the School by the Sea series. It is nice little story that could almost by classified as a young adult novel. I enjoyed reading about the antics of the students in the boarding school and the trials and tribulations of the administrators and teacher. I am disappointed that this is not a new release of a novel and give it a 3 1/2 stars that I will round up to 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! The author wove several girls’ stories expertly as well as the stories of the headmistress and a few of the teachers. Since there were so many characters, I especially appreciated the fact that she introduced them in a way such that it wasn’t confusing to keep them all straight.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review! I really love Jenny Colgan's books! They are like a hug in book form. I love her characters and her descriptive writing that makes me feel like I am there. This story was really nice and I am so excited it is going to be a series!

Jenny Colgan is one of my favorite authors, and before I read this, I had no idea she had previously written these under the pen name Jane Beaton. Colgan's trademark story-telling, place descriptions, and endearing characters always draw me in, and this time was no exception. I liked Maggie. Her fish out of water storyline was interesting, as was seeing a posh seaside boarding school through her eyes. When I was young, I enjoyed books about boarding schools with all the drama, pranks, etc. And those are present here. This adult version also tackles adult themes such as classism and privilege. Unfortunately, this book had repeated scenes of body shaming toward one character, which I felt somewhat overshadowed many of the book's other elements for me. Otherwise, this was a lighter read with moments of charm and humor. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Custom House, Avon publishers, for the opportunity to review this ARC.

I really hate doing this. I haven't DNF a book in a long time, but I gave up at 40%. I know you can't truly judge a book before reading the whole thing but by the 40% mark I still wasn't enjoying it. I still didn't really like the characters, or the storyline. There were so much bullying, name calling, emotional abuse and fat phobia comments.

I know Jenny Colgan is a very popular and well loved author. This is my first book by her and unfortunately it just was not for me.

A few things that bothered me:

"You're frighted of horses, for one. And you'd probably crush one if you keep on eating bacon sandwiches like that."

"Fewer cakes, bit more sport, you'd look better in no time, with your lovely teenage metabolism."

"And fat from too many sweets and biscuits.. she needed lots of fresh air, exercise."

"She's ours! The hippopotamus!"

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fun and enjoyable quick read. Republished under her real name, previously under her pen name. I thought this was a new book so this was a surprise. I enjoyed the characters and the stories at the boarding school.

Jenny Colgan (incognito as Jane Beaton) writes the funnest quirkiest characters! And I honestly think that if someone had given me this book without telling me the author, I could have figured it out on my own. And while the girls at Downey House are unique and interesting, they are no Patrick and Hari. Maybe it is an age thing? But, I still felt myself pause and hold each of them dear as we followed along through their school trials and tribulations. Sure, we know pretty much where things are going, but I think with Colgan's books it is the enjoyable trip versus the destination. I always find myself a calmer, happier person with lower blood pressure after reading one of her books so I am glad this is a series with several more books for me to enjoy!

This is the first book in the Maggie Adair series that takes place in a boarding school on the coast of Cornwall. The book was previously released under Jenny’s pen name, Jane Beaton, and the note at the front of the book tells that Jenny had decided to re release the books under her real name in the hopes that more people would read and love the series as much as she enjoyed writing them.
Maggie is a schoolteacher working in a Glasgow inner city school that she herself attended as a child. It had the roughest and toughest kids and she found it quite frustrating at times be a the kids were hard to reach. She has a steady long term boyfriend, Stan, who she’s been with since they were in school. So when she gets offered a position at a posh boarding school in Cornwall, she decides to take a chance and is eager for a change, despite those around her not being fully supportive of her choice. As she meets her students, she finds that they too test her limits, but they are far more manageable than her previous students. There’s also the viewpoints of some of her first year students, Fliss, Alice and Simone as well as the headmistress of the school, who is desperate to keep things top notch so that no one would look too closely at her past.
Jenny does an amazing job in her description of the students and the school grounds and the characters had depth and fun and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

I don’t typically write reviews for books I did not enjoy. Reading is subjective, and just because a book is not a good fit for me doesn’t mean it won’t be an enjoyable experience for someone else. I am only providing this feedback because I got this book from NetGalley, and I hope that the issues in this series will be addressed.

I’ve been a Jenny Colgan fan for years. I look forward to each new release. When I realized this title is a reprint of an older title released under a pen name, I was excited. But unfortunately, the fat-phobia and body shaming that takes place in this book makes it nearly unbearable to read. I kept expecting the negative attitudes around food and bodies to be addressed as part of the plot, but it never was. If this is a theme that continues in the other books in the series, I hope that the publisher and author will consider re-editing them to reflect the modern body-positive movement, and address the dangerous attitudes around food presented in this book.

Welcome to the School by the Sea is a boarding school novel written by the later Jenny Colgan rather than the earlier, funnier, more irreverent Jenny Colgan. But, seriously, any Jenny Colgan is better than no Jenny Colgan.

The story is told in multiple POVs, sometimes all within a chapter and sometimes within two paragraphs or even a single paragraph. It’s sometimes disorienting until you catch on. I did not find this in any way an impediment toward my enjoyment.

Maggie is, a Scottish teacher hailing from Glasgow who, on a whim, decides to apply for a position at a southern English boarding school and, much to her surprise as well as her relatives and boyfriend, is accepted.

Other main characters are Simone, a gifted but overweight student who shines academically and dramatically but is too shy, and Felicity–Fliss–who would rather be anywhere other than at this boarding school.

Welcome to the School by the Sea is one of the borderline Jenny Colgan novels, meaning that it is between the earlier, far funnier and irreverent Jenny Colgan’s and the later, sweet, no-controversy (unless I missed it) Jenny Colgan novels.

Welcome to the School by the Sea is a pleasant novel, much in the way that most later Jenny Colgan novels are pleasant. There are some funny bits, but not as many as in Colgan’s earlier novels.

I did enjoy Welcome to the School by the Sea. It was indeed a page turner, made me laugh and escape, and I hope for greater things for Maggie in the adventure to come. There are evidently five more novels in the series. This is the kind of book that you need when you just want to be somewhere else. I didn’t know it was a thing, but this is also for all of you who love boarding school books. (I guess that’s a British thing more than American. 😉 )

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.