This came highly recommended by @sarahsshelf_ and it didn’t disappoint! Thank you to @netgalley Lake Union Publishing / @amazonpublishing for the arc, pub Tues 2/7. Swipe for goodreads synopsis.

This book was set in a 1950s reform school for girls in Seattle with flashbacks to the 1930s. McCarthyism and the red scare was in full swing and it almost seemed dystopian- the thoughts of fighting communism by making troubled girls into great mothers/wives… Eek!

Even though it was set in the past, it was oddly relevant to current times- the lack of a realistic sex Ed for example. I’d almost describe it as HANDMAID’s TALE meets BRIDGERTON, meets a cult. The girls at the school are manipulative and take advantage of the teachers. Rosemary is modern for the times and puts up with the girls’ manipulation because she has a secret reason for being at the school.

Although I wanted a little more with the ending, overall I thought this was very different and clever, almost noir-like!

⚠️: abortion

Rosemary’s baby but in a different context.
Rosemary always chafed under control and ran away when 16. She got into trouble and had to put her baby up for adoption. Through a weird twist of her mother she now has the opportunity of coming into contact with her daughter by teaching at a reform school.
The background for the story is during the McCarthy era which was harrowing. However, I focused more on Rosemary’s relationship with three of her students. What struck me was how she implicitly trusted them and singled them out over the others. Mistake and bigger mistake. And they turn on her, no surprise there.
My takeaway was her need to be wanted and belong and allowed herself to be terrorized by three teenaged girls.

A Dangerous Education follows Rosemary, a single, 30-something home-ec teacher in the 1950s, recently hired to work at a mysterious boarding school for rich but troubled girls. When Rosemary grows close to a trio of dangerously charismatic students from the senior class, she must confront her own decades-old trauma and bring long-held secrets back into the light.

I enjoyed the setting and underlying suspense present throughout. That said, I often felt frustrated by Rosemary’s consistently bad decision-making and surprising naïveté. Her backstory (told through a series of effective flashbacks) does a lot to explain some of her actions, but I rolled my eyes more than a few times at her apparent total lack of judgement. I did, however, appreciate the risk the author took with the ending.

I’d classify this as a good holiday read - the chapters are short and the story was interesting enough to hold my attention, without requiring too much concentration. Not my favorite book of the year, but far from my least-favorite.

A Dangerous Education is set in 1950’s America and follows Rosemary Chivers as she moves to teach at a girls reform school.

Rosemary is hiding a secret, the daughter she gave up years ago is now a student at the school but she doesn’t know who she is…

As Rosemary becomes more and more intertwined with the girls she gets closer to finding her daughter and will do anything to get her back.

This is a dark and twisty book, it’s not quite a mystery or a thriller but it’s still full of questions. It explores the unfairness around the way women were treated in the 1930s-1950s and how some women started to rebel against the patriarchy.

An interesting read which reminded me of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark.

Despite its slow pace, I could not put this book down. The tension and suspense draws you in. It was like watching a train wreck. You can’t look away. Rosemary was incredibly frustrating at times and made so many poor choices but because of Chance’s writing and the way she develops the characters and setting, it all came together beautifully.

For fans of dark academia and historical thrillers, A Dangerous Education is a must read.

Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Suspense: 😨😨😨😨



Full review to be published at a later date on my website: www.ilonaftoth.com/blog

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

This sounded so good and I was not disappointed! The writing was superb, the characters intriguing and the premise unique.

In this book we’re following Rosemary, a schoolteacher in 1954 during the Cold War. She takes a job at a reform school for girls as a home economics teacher and becomes close to three enigmatic girls; Jean, Maisie and Sandra. One of these girls is the daughter she unwillingly gave up for adoption eighteen years ago but she doesn’t know which one. As she gets closer to the girls in her bid to find out, things get more and more out of control.

If you love dark academia and historical books then you will LOVE this! This is a slow burn in the best way, the atmosphere is full of dread and suspicion, you know the plot is building up to something but you don’t know what. I love books with boarding school settings and I can’t say I’ve read a book set during the Cold War before so that was really interesting to read about.

This book explores coercive relationships and represents these relationships really well. Many readers may view Rosemary as “stupid” or “naive” for the lengths she goes to to get to know these girls and stay close to them but this woman was desperately searching for her daughter and if she lost their favour she would lose her hope of finding out which one was hers. She also wanted her daughter to see her differently to how she viewed her own mother and to have the information and experiences she never had so would go above and beyond to make sure they are protected. The three girls were quite frankly creepily intense and the stakes felt very high so I felt invested throughout the entire story.

I’ve heard that if you love Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, (I haven’t read it yet so can’t comment) a book that shows an independent female character in a time where that was taboo) then you will love this book. Rosemary is a single, unmarried and very independent female in the 50’s which was very strange back then. Instead of teaching the girls in her class how to be “good American wives and mothers” she teaches them about birth control, abortion and other very taboo subjects in that day and age. I absolutely loved her character.

I am going to be recommending this to everyone I know, especially those who love dark academia and historical books. This was the perfect blend of both! I definitely want to read more of Megan Chance’s writing. She’s a very talented author!

Release date: 7th February 2023

again from netgalley! some mystery/thriller and probably my first venture into adult dark academia?

rosemary is a home economics teacher who transfers to a boarding school for "wayward girls" upon her gravely sick mother's insistence. set in 1954 (with flashbacks from 1936 to 39), the curriculum she has to follow strictly teaches girls how to become perfect little housewives, but rosemary's like, no deal, that 1950s shit they want from me! and so she teaches her girls hard, honest truths.

three senior girls get close to her and she learns that one of them is the child she gave up 17 years ago! but which one? there's definitely some twisted, chilling stuff going with the girls ...

i didnt know much about this part of american history but overall i liked the pace and rosemary was a great protagonist to read

What a great book! I had zero expectations going into it, and it surprised me by being both intriguing and a bit dark academia. I love a strong female lead and this didn’t disappoint. If you liked Lessons in Chemistry, I think you’ll like this one!

Dark academia. Cold War era. Teen Good girls gone bad. Historical fiction. Slow burn. If you throw all this in a blender and whip it up really fast and add tons of whipped cream on top….it’s this book. It’s quite the sweet treat.

This book is about a woman (Rosemary) who goes to teach at an alternative school for bad girls. Of course, the term “alternative” is not used because it takes place in 1954. The benchmark for “bad” was much different in 1954 than it is now.

From the start, three of the senior girls chose Rosemary to be their favourite teacher. This is not necessarily the honour that it seems at first glance. Rosemary gets sucked into their vortex very quickly. These three girls take the expression of Mean Girls to a whole new level. Diabolical comes to mind!

Rosemary is not a happy person. She has many problems of her own which reach back to her teen years. The issues from her teen years affect the actions and emotions of her adult life.

From the minute Rosemary enters the school, I could sense a dark and uncomfortable undercurrent. Creepy, in fact. It's hard to tell if any of the staff are who they seem to be. It's not so much what is written about them, it's just sense I had.

Most of this book takes place in 1954. It was the time of the HUAC (House UnAmerican Activities Committee). This was set up to investigate anyone who was suspected of anything deemed “unAmerican”. At the time, any connection to anything remotely related to Communism, abortion, homosexuality and much more was considered UnAmerican and the person could be put on trial. Neighbours would spy on neighbours, coworkers would spy on coworkers. This does not play a large part in the story until close to the end, but it does lurk in the background. But, the school's curriculum was very strict about what it could teach. It's something that many of today’s generation are not aware of.

Reading this book is like waiting for a bomb to go explode. This is ironic since there were nuclear bomb tests carried out during the mid-1950s in Nevada, same time period as this book.

And, of course, the bomb explodes!

This book is about a very different time, different social values, different morals. The pages leading up to the conclusion were very dramatic.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It was well-written, the plot was well thought out. I did not develop a liking for any of the characters, could not identify with them. Yet, they were very well portrayed. While I like a good suspense story, I’m not a huge fan of something that is dark and creepy and disturbing. This one certainly fits this description, in my mind. There are a lot of interesting historical facts revealed about the time period. Research was well done by the author.

My rating would be 3.5 but because of the writing and plot and the historical facts, I will round it up, not down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

I took a chance on this one. It was offered as a read now and I really stay away from those as I’ve not had many that I could finish. This was the exception.

This book goes between the 1930’s and the 1950’s. It’s pretty much told through the main character Rosemary with a chapter each from the four girls. Set in Seattle in a reform school, that’s suppose to turn “wild girls” into decent women and wives. It takes place right before McCarthyism, but Seattle had its own group trying to flesh out spies and communists. I learned a bit about this era in Seattle that I really didn’t know about.

It was well written and it kept me engaged throughout. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for a honest opinion. 4⭐️

TITLE: A Dangerous Education
AUTHOR: @chanceauthor
PUBLISHER: @lakeunionauthors
YEAR RELEASED: 2023
GENRE: Historical Fiction
STAR RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My first 5-star read of 2023 - what a ride! Being a teacher myself, I loved the idea of a story set at a reform school (based on a real place!) so the context hooked me almost immediately. What I was not prepared for were the nights reading this and having to *turn on the light* and think, thank god I don't teach here! Although classed as a historical fiction (set during the 'Red Scare') there were parts of this story that would absolutely be classed as a thriller (who knew teenage girls could be so scary!)

The idea of 'entanglement' is presented several times throughout the novel. This is also a very fitting adjective to describe how you feel as the reader, with Chance drawing you into each and every character, appealing to your emotions, and honestly, she makes you think you've got it all figured out when you really haven't.

Rosemary is a character I won't be forgetting soon. She's modern, forward-thinking, educated and brave. She (and the reader) can see herself in all three girls, and her back story and perspective was beautifully woven to create a bond you could understand, but also fear.

Let's just say, I don't wish to be anyone's favourite teacher this year...

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @lakeunionauthors for this ARC. I'll definitely be entangling myself with Megan Chance's back catalogue, and anything new to come.

Thank you for sending me an ARC. However, after a chapter, I have decided not to continue with the book, as it is not my sort of book. I probably should've read the premise once again before downloading it.

Rosemary take a job at a reform school for girls- and then realizes one of them might be the daughter she gave ip for adoption. This novel rises on the setting and time frame- the impact of the McCarthy era looms large. There aren't a lot of surprises in the plot but it's well done and a good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

4.5 🌟 If you liked "Lessons in chemistry"; how that book portrayed an independent woman trying to make her way throughout an ultra-conservative 1950's America; and if you like dark academia books set in wealthy boarding schools for "troubled" girls with gothic vibes and a mystery around it, "A dangerous education" is as good as they come 👏 Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Rosemary, a teacher at boarding school for wayward girls, wants to make a difference in the lives of three young women, then she learns about a connection she may have with one of them. This story explores betrayal, gender norms, and feminism during The Cold War.

This novel was truly eye opening. The passion for researching the time period shone through in Megan's writing. I got a sense of how living as a woman may have been in the 1930s-1950s. I loved the time-appropriate vocabulary and jargon. I really enjoyed the writing as well, I felt emerged in Rosemary's head, experiencing her thought process. We have so much further to go in regards to equal rights and feminism, but novels like this help shed a light on why we have to keep fighting.

I was a little let down by the ending, but not enough to stop me from recommending the book to a coworker and my mom.

Thank you, NetGalley, Megan Chance, and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.

This book has a mystery, complicated relationships with a dark academia theme. I really enjoyed this & it kept,e guessing. Would highLy recommend!

I was not expecting to love this one as much as I did! This suspenseful, dark academia engrossed me from the very beginning and I was absolutely invested in Rosemary’s life and her revelations she discovered during the course of her job at the reform school. I cannot recommend this enough — GO IN BLIND!! I knew very little what this was about and it enhanced my reading experience greatly!

This story centers around “troubled” teenage girls at a reform school during the McCarthy era and the ways they effect their new teacher’s, Rosemary’s, life. As a young adult, Rosemary was a free spirit who was put in heartbreaking situations and now as a teacher, she wants to make sure these girls don’t have to go through the struggles she did.

Ngl, these teenage girls scared the shit out of me. They felt like unstoppable forces with dangerous intentions and I could not guess what they were going to do next. While their story added the thriller & dark academia elements, I loved the historical fiction side of it. There were so many tie-ins of social commentary and it was interesting to see it play out during this time.

This book ticked a lot of boxes for me and was a slow burner in a really good way. It's historical fiction with a lot of suspense and teen girls gone bad. Add in a touch of dark academia and you have a recipe for a damn good novel. Rosemary Chivers starts a job at a reform school, as suggested by her mother. She is the home economics teacher and falls in with "mean girls" type of clique. A little too late she realizes that being the favourite teacher isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Add in an out-of-date curriculum and a secret she is hiding things get very complicated for her.

There was so much tension in this story, it had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Rosemary doesn't always make the best decisions and I often felt like shaking her and scream "Don't do it!" I loved the two timelines, especially Rosemary's backstory. What a horrible time in history to be a woman who is aware of her own thoughts, feelings and sexuality. The grief and anger of Rosemary was palatable and carried on through her life in the present. The ending was surprising and satisfying even if I was frustrated with the injustice of it all.

As a result of her many life decisions, Rosemary Chivers, a home-economics teacher, ends up teaching at a school for wayward girls from advantaged backgrounds and is determined not to see those girls in her charge not make some of the same mistakes nor languish in ignorance.

There is so much to enjoy about this book from the time period with the background of McCarthyism and fear of communism, to women and their secrets, to a mystery with a little bit of gothic thrown in. The story kept my interest throughout and I could hardly put it down. I highly recommend A Dangerous Education to lovers of historical fiction, mysteries and women's fiction.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an advance copy of this wonderful book!