This book is creepy. But, creepy in a good way that just sucks you in. The reader knows something is not quite right and is certain that Claudia knows it too. Neither can pinpoint what the problem is. As Claudia enrolls Henry into The Hawthorne School, the people are nice, and the students are all happy. The curriculum appears strange but the benefits the children seem to gain makes the concerns seem silly.

The book is intense. The writing is tight. The characters are well written, and the nuances clearly understood by the author. I listen to the book and the narrator, Nan McNamara, is perfect. At times, you forget that it is not her own story she is telling.


I received an ARC from Dreamscape media through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

Who do you trust when you are a single mother and have no friends?

This is a creepy, gothic, gripping slow-burn novel. The novel centers around a cult like school that preys on those with no connections to the outside world. The main character was very predictable, with little parental instinct in the beginning that develops into full on protection mode. THe last couple of chapters seem rushed and not well thought out.

I listened to an audio copy of this novel. The narrator did a wonderful job of keeping the listener engaged.

I would like to thank NetGalley, and Dreamscape Media for the electronic Advanced Reading Copy (eARC) in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Claudia Morgan has heard such wonderful things about the Hawthorne School and wishes that she could afford to send her troubled son, Henry, there. She is sure that they could work a miracle for her son. When Henry is offered a spot at Hawthorne, it seems that dreams do come true! But, things are not all that they seem at the Hawthorne School.

What I though was going in one direction, took a turn in a totally different direction for a real surprise ending.

5 stars for enjoyment

The Hawthorne School
by Sylvie Perry
Narrated by Nan McNamara

The Hawthorne School was such a pleasant surprise - I went into it intrigued by the plot: Single struggling mother dealing with a school system that doesn't help children who can't sit still thrive, barely managing to pay the bills, and trying to start her career over.

Did I find that, though? Yes, but I also found so much more. First, Claudia is one of the most relatable mothers I have read in a while. Her choices were so human and authentic. In fact all the characters read like nuanced real people. The author managed to understand the psychology of each character she created and delivered a superbly consistent development arc to each and every character, including Henry (Claudia's son).

The plot was intense - as in I was scream at the book quite often. For a book the vibes of one of my favourite horror books/movies - it remained fresh and unique. I loved the implicit authority in Perry's narrative - Her psychological and pedagogical narratives were used correctly and advanced the plot.

While I adored this book, I am not sure it is for everyone. The end was too real to be consider a climax (which I loved), and even though we can see the whole picture, Claudia can't. Personally, I loved it because that is exactly what someone in her situation would act like, but someone who doesn't understand or have experienced gaslighting, might consider her too naive.

I hope everyone appreciates this book and I wouldn't change a single thing about it.

The audiobook is narrated by Nan McNamara and her performance enhanced the tense and claustrophobic feeling in the book. With her pacing and cadence, she threw me right in Claudia's mindframe - for better and for worse!

Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of The Hawthorne School

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book but I listened to it all. Had some creepy moments and held that "not knowing who to trust" tension for the reader. Thanks for the opportunity to listen to this book.

The description of the Hawthorne School had me hooked right off the bat. Cults and true crime centered around a gothic looking school? Count me in! However, I did find much of this to be predictable. The entire plot was rather predictable if I'm being honest, but that certainly didn't take away from my enjoyment! The creepy, atmospheric, slow building suspense nature of this novel really makes you feel apart of this cultish school. Although it wasn't overly creepy, it did give you a good sense of what was coming for this mother and her son.
The ending did seem a bit rushed and anticlimactic. I think with a different ending, this had the potential to be something really great. I still really enjoyed this but did find the ending a bit unmemorable. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy of the audiobook! 3.5 stars rounded down to 3.

Centred in a creepy, gothic, super secret school that’s a character in itself, The Hawthorne School pulls reader down into its dark and tangled web with no clear way out. As the schools history is brought to light reads can clearly see what our clueless protagonist can not, the Hawthorn school is nothing but trouble! The twists and turns felt forced and the story line erratic, while readers will be intrigue they may just be to annoyed with the protagonist to push through to the end.

2.5 stars for this frustration mystery.

The pacing of the audiobook was good and the narrator did a good job with their voice acting. However, everything about this book was glaringly obvious which took some of the oomph out of it. For a story like this it needs altered pace and twists, it needs leads that go nowhere, and misdirection that furthers the plot but doesn't give too much away. It was as if I were doing a maze puzzle and expecting it to be a challenge but instead it was really easy.

I settled on 3.5 stars rounding to 4. I did enjoy this book. When I started it, I thought it was going to a fantasy novel about a school of magic...does that sound familiar? lol. But that's just immediately what my brain leapt to when I saw the title. I didn't even read the synopsis, I rarely do unless I need some context after I start. I liked a lot of this story and it definitely held my attention. Claudia was a bit...dim...which I didn't entirely enjoy. She certainly saw what she wanted to see and not what was actually happening. The ending felt very rushed after taking its time throughout the rest of the book. But hey, a good debut! I'd be interested in her next book!

It started out intriguing but slowly fizzled for me. Once I realized what was going on I lost interest, but continued on with the audiobook to the very end.

It discusses a cult at a school and while I don’t believe it had many twists to the storyline (because I saw it coming) it was an ok book.

I couldn't finish this book. 30% in and nothing was happening. I mean it was obvious where it was going, which made it even more frustrating. I wanted so much to like it that I kept trying to pick it back up but it just wouldn't get on with it.

The Hawthorne School follows a young mom trying to find the best school for her son. After touring the Hawthorne School she thinks she might have found one that will help her troublesome child. Though the longer she stays around the school the odder it gets.

This book had a really interesting premise but I wish the reader was as oblivious as Claudia. From almost the beginning, you can figure out what's going on, so there's not as much tension and surprise as I would have liked. A lot of the book is Claudia putting off her suspicions and living firmly in denial. Of course, you can understand why she does but it just makes for a more frustrating read. I did find the school very fascinating and I would have loved to know more about the people working there. The audiobook was pretty good. I was never confused about who was talking. For me, this was a 3/5.

I received a copy of this audiobook free from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this!
This book had me in the first half. I honestly thought I had requested a contemporary novel.
Characters: I loved Claudia as a main character. She is very sympathetic. All of the characters that I read about I could understand their reasoning. After spending quite a bit of time this last year reading about commercial cults (even though this book includes an outright cult), it made me just a little more sympathetic to the other characters. Every one of the characters except for Gabriel Hawthorne were victims turned victimizers. My only complaint would be that I wanted more about Nate and Maggie.
Atmosphere: The Hawthorne School was literally the perfect setting for the novel. It's a massive spooky mansion. What more could I ask for?
Writing: The writing was phenomenal I thought. No complaints.
Plot: The progression of events felt natural to me. I did see a few things coming. Nothing really surprised me in the plot.
Intrigue: Like I said above, nothing really surprised me. There was a few things I had called out long before they happened.
Logic: Like I said, I've been learning a lot about commercial cults. Honestly rich people can get away with a lot. I could very well see this happening in real life.
Enjoyment: I really enjoyed this novel. I ended up giving it a 4.75. I think if you're into reading books with cults, this is a good one to read.

If you love spooky stories that take place in creepy private schools you will probably like The Hawthorne School. I do like these kinds of thrillers but I have seen it done better.
I didn't hate it but or didI love it. It leftm3 a little wanting. I listened to the audio version of this and while I did like the narrator, but found it annoying how she read the story as the main character, Claudia, In a voice I found pleasing. But when Claudia was speaking to another character, she had the most annoying North Jersey accent I have ever heard. It pulled me from the story every time.
I also found Claudia to be way too naive a woman I have ever come across in a novel. How she had the rough life she describes yet does not see one red flag or even question whether the son is doing Atchison exclusive school. Oh, and it lets him attend within ply the promise of her doing g some volunteer work. Yeah, nothing odd about that, nothing at all.
I didn't hate it. The writing was done very well, but the story was lackluster.
Thanks to @netgalley, Sylvie Perry, and Dreams are Media for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Single mom, Claudia, and her son Henry move away for a fresh start after the death of Claudia’s mother. She loves her job as a masseuse, but continues to struggle with parenting Henry. After he continuously misbehaves at school, Claudia catches wind of an elusive private school that seems to be a perfect match.
Before long, Claudia and Henry are fully immersed in the school, with Claudia even quitting her job so she can work and live full time in school grounds. She soon begins to question the practices going on around her.
While I did enjoy this book, I will say I just kept thinking that so much was impossible to believe with today’s technology. With one swipe of the phone and a quick Google search (as most normal people would do) the characters could’ve figured out what was going on. Too unbelievable for me.
**A huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for an Arc Audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. What a bizarre novel... I definitely enjoyed certain aspects of this, but the main character annoyed me. She seemed so utterly clueless, even when it should have been quite obvious what was going on with her son and the Hawthorne school.

It seemed obvious to me from the get go that there was a cult-ish vibe to this school. I definitely did not see some of the twists coming, which was nice, and the ending revealed more than what I anticipated. Part of me did not like how the end wrapped everything up so neat and tidy after everything that happened.

The narration was quite slow so I do recommend bumping up the speed to at least 1.5.

Not a huge fan of this one. The premise was interesting but the way the characters spoke and acted seemed so bizarre and unrealistic that I had a hard time staying invested. I kept thinking that the plot would work better for a movie, or at least it reminded me of thriller/horror moves that have come out in the past five years. This just didn’t really work for me.

I listened to The Hawthorne School audiobook thanks to Netgalley.

Claudia has been struggling with her son for some time. It could be that she's an inexperienced mother, she didn't know she was supposed to be teaching at home. It could be that Henry, the four-year-old in question, is struggling with the amount of change in his and Claudia's life. Claudia's mother, who was helping raise Henry, passed away. Then Claudia and Henry moved from New Jersey to Chicago, another large change for such a small boy. But the teachers at his school are disinterested in the cause of Henry's acting out. They're more interested in shaming Claudia for her son's disruptive behavior. Of course this leaves her feeling worse and unsupported. Then Claudia hears about The Hawthorne School, a seemingly elite, private school with acres of grounds, historic buildings and it's own philosophy on education. Claudia is intrigued and, after very little time, desperately wants this for her son. But the people in The Hawthorne School aren't being as transparent as they seem. And the deeper in Claudia gets the more likely she is to lose far more than the price of tuition.

The book is a quick, exciting read with no big challenging ideas. Not that the book lacks depth. Author Sylvie Perry is exploring how our society supports parents in general and single parents specifically. And the setup that leads Claudia to the The Hawthorne School is sadly realistic. Sadly, Perry's best work in The Hawthorne School can't be mentioned without going into spoiler territory, so if you are interested in that -and unbothered by spoilers - check out my librarian notes below. Overall The Hawthorne School is a decent read.

**A few librarian notes; Major spoiler's ahead:
I would recommend this to anyone who want's a female focused mystery. This book's description implies a Stepford type situation. It's actually a cult. Perry clearly did her homework on the process of recruiting, grooming, and brainwashing a person into a cult. She's integrated this research into the plot well. I would highly recommend giving this book to any patron interested in cults. Although, maybe don't tell them why.

“In this chaotic world people seldom have enough silence. We need the silence to remain sane and present…There is so much anxiety and depression in todays world because, for one thing, people are not letting in sufficient quiet you see.”

The Hawthorne School is a twisty psychological suspense about the lengths one mother will go to for her child. Claudia Morgan is struggling. She is a single mother to four year old Henry and boy is he a handful. At her wits end with his behavior she decides to enroll her unruly son in an atypical school set deep in the woods. Almost immediately Henry’s behavior improves. But there is something a bit off about his school…

Oooh this is a creepy one guys. I am imagining old abandoned New England hospitals with vines and fences for this setting. Tall stone walls, fallen leaves, and long and windy driveways. This one started off really strong for me but lost a bit of steam towards the end. I don’t really enjoy cults or cult like activity if I’m being honest. I struggle sooo hard to understand how people get sucked into that type of situation so I struggle with believability, even though I know cults are a very real thing.

If you enjoy gothic settings, cult like behavior, and creepy woodsy vibes then you’ll love this one. Narrated by Nan McNamara this audiobook was superb! I love when there are different (yet believable) tones for each character and she did a fabulous job with that. I really enjoyed listening to her read to me.

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and the author for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

What do you do if you are just looking for a good school for your hand full of a son but now you may be in a cult? This school seems to want to be way more to your son than just be his teachers.

Claudia is not the brightest tool in the box but this story also shows how easily someone can use your insecurities against you and how people so easily fall for a con. I don’t want to give too much away I enjoyed this story even if you wanted to yell at Claudia for not asking more questions.

Nan McNamara’s narration was well done and brought he emotion well.
Overall I liked this story.

3 stars

I received this audiobook from the publisher Dreamscape Media, LLC and NetGalley for a fair and honest review