If you have ever worked in education or know someone who has worked in education, then you absolutely must read this feel-good, you are seen as an educator novel.

A tour de force in character studies, The Faculty Lounge is a small glimpse into the lives of the faculty of a Texas high school in the aftermath of the death of a beloved teacher. Covering everyone from teachers, the custodian, school nurse, and administrators Mathieu does a phenomenal job of highlighting the stress, the love, and sometimes the absurdity of working in education, particularly with high schoolers. Each chapter focuses on a separate character, but intertwines them with the life of Mr. Lehrer, now deceased.

Having worked as a substitute teacher and paraprofessional, this book had all the feels. The writing and dialogue were sweet and quippy and the stories seemed completely genuine, despite it being a work of fiction. I am most certainly going to be buying a copy for all the teachers in my life for Christmas this year.

Recommended for anyone in education or anyone who absolutely loves a well-executed character study full of heart and soul.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jennifer Mathieu, and Dutton for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book (disclaimer - I work in a 1,600+ student high school library) and thought it was a pretty accurate description of what potentially goes on behind the scenes in the lives of teachers, administrators, and staff in schools.

Each chapter focuses on a different staff member and moves throughout the school year and, as is my experience with all books with multiple points of view, I found myself more engaged in some stories over others (the one where the teacher sent the snarky email to the parent instead of his co-worker by accident made my palms sweat), but for the most part, I enjoyed them all. Reader beware, however . . . while it is character driven, there is very little plot or threads tying the individual stories together.

I think the stories will probably resonate more with educators (or people who work in schools) and some people might think the stories are a little far-fetched, I bet they are more relatable than a lot of people imagine.

I thought I knew what to expect with this one. I'd grown up knowing the after hours of school life, my mom an Elementary librarian, now librarian to the high school. I stayed after hours, helping teachers set up lesson plans, arrange their classrooms before the school year. Knew the library back and forth, even acted as a substitute for a few years after finishing high school myself.

While some of it was what I expected, there were elements I didn't expect. Especially the push from district office and the state on how to run things, even if it seemed to the detriment of the students.

Finding a substitute teacher quietly dead in the third floor faculty lounge could be considered a big event. It's only the start however, triggering other events big and small throughout the school year. Who knew honoring the man's wishes - that his ashes be spread on site at the school - would cause more commotion and push back then his death itself.

Told throughout the course of a school year, each chapter following a different teacher or faculty member as they reflect on Mr. Lerher's death, how much they knew the man, where their paths first crossed, and where they are today. Addictions acknowledged, love found and lost, careers starting and ending, jobs on the line and moral struggles. All in all, just another year in the life of a public high school.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. It's quietly understated, no big flashes, but a solid heart to it. Being told from so many voices, there were some storylines and characters I was less fond of, but oddly this helped make the book better as a whole.

Thank you to the publishers through NetGalley for the ARC!

Wasn’t interested in this. I downloaded it because it was free to download but I kind of regretted downloading it.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

As a teacher I loved this book. Though I think I would have enjoyed it even if I didn't appreciate the inside look into the "Faculty Lounge". I loved getting to know all of the different characters and their personalities. I wasn't expecting some of the deeper themes embedded in their stories, but that made me appreciate the book even more. As always, there's always more going on than meets the eye. I enjoyed the authors writing style and I will definitely read another of her books! Thank you so much for the ARC,

I love a good teacher novel and this one was a lot of fun! The book starts out with a teacher being found dead in the school, and each remaining chapter follows a different teacher at the school in the aftermath of this, and mixes in the other things teachers tend to deal with throughout the school year. despite the dark premise it’s actually a pretty fun and lighthearted drama and i always find it interesting to follow characters who work for a school.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve been watching a lot of Abbot Elementary lately, but this book feels like a sitcom in the best way. Ensemble cast, recurring characters, overarching story beats… teachers do so much for us and it was nice to see an exploration of that.

I absolutely adored this book. As a daughter of a long-line of teachers, I grew up in a faculty lounge and honestly felt like this hit on a lot of the accurate points of a teacher's life. There were points where I was laughing out loud, feeling deep and sorrowful emotions, and smiling; Jennifer Mathieu really tackled it all. I fell in love with a lot of the characters and really enjoyed Mathieu's style of writing. This was not my usual type of novel, but I am so glad I picked it out because I truly loved it. I am so excited to see what Mathieu comes up with next!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC opportunity!

This book warmed my heart as someone who works in education. It allows the readers a peek behind the curtain into the ups and downs of being an educator, and the quirky, heartwarming, and sometimes odd relationships and incidents that take place within the boundaries of a school.

I appreciated that the author chose to show vignettes of different characters with various backgrounds, although I do wish we had maybe gotten longer sections on fewer characters, because I was left wanting to return to a few of the characters from the early part of the book as the story went on, but we only see them through the lens of the other characters. Each of the characters felt incredibly distinct, with different motivations, desires, and backstories, and I found myself deeply moved by some of the chapters, particularly that of Ms. Baker, one of the assistant principals. There were also a few moments that felt a bit outlandish, including the precipitating incident that kicked off the entire novel, but in general, I enjoyed the novel. I give it a warm and lighthearted 3.25⭐, rounded to 3 on Goodreads.

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I really enjoyed this book. It gives a lot of insight into things that can be going on in the teachers personal life’s in and out of school. This was a great palate cleanser as it is an easy read and keeps you wanting to know more.

This book follows the lives of several teachers, administrators and other school personnel over the course of a school year. Each section follows different people; we see a story about an administrator dealing with alcoholism, a few veteran teachers who are becoming over their jobs, fresh new teachers who aren’t sure they are cut out for their profession, etc. The book starts with a bang with the death of a substitute teacher. My favorite story was involving the cleaning woman who has recently immigrated to Texas.

As the daughter of two teachers who both became administrators, I really found this book fascinating. I really liked how each chapter was about a new person. If you are in teaching or like character driven novels, this is for you.

Thank you @duttonbooks for my gifted ebook.

I really enjoyed The Faculty Lounge. As a previous brick and mortar speech pathologist, the characters were extremely relatable. I also loved how it started out with the death of a beloved retired teacher who decided to come back at a very old age and substitute teach. He loved Baldwin High and he wanted to go back and feel the joy of teaching. Many of the teachers were long time fixtures at this school and he missed the camaraderie. But on one fateful day, he quietly passes while sitting in the faculty lounge. The rest of the book focuses on a small group of staff and tells their background stories and the now story. The book ends with Mr Lehrer story and his eventual death at a school he adored. It seemed fitting that he finds his final resting place at the school, which stirs up a lot of dissonance between the district officials and Baldwin staff. The characters were likable, even the unlikable ones when you know their back stories. The novel is well written and has a nice flow to it. I will be recommending this book and hope the author has more in store for her readers.

This was a solid 3 .5 stars for me. A funny book about faculty in the school. I especially liked it as a high school teacher myself. It will definitely resonate with fellow teachers.

Ugh! I almost didn’t finish this book and I honestly wish I would have quit when I wanted to, but I kept thinking something was going to happen.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book and some parts, but once the book took a political turn, I was over the book. It felt like a certain political view was being jammed down my throat and that was upsetting. When the book is listed at humorous and lighthearted, I would have assumed politics wouldn’t be included. I found a few moments kind of funny, but not really. This book has a one sided view and it literally talked about all political hot topics (critical race theory, white savior complex, contraception/abortion, racism, adultery and more).

This book doesn’t really have a plot. It is just a bunch of short stories on different teachers’ lives and they are all tied together at the school. I think I chose this book on false pretenses and if I would have known what this book was exactly about, I probably wouldn’t have chosen it.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

(Actual: 4.5⭐, rounded up) As always, I'm upset I didn't get to this one sooner! As someone who went to school for education and has held many education-adjacent jobs/careers over the last 10 years, I found this book to be so endearing and a wonderful love letter/representation of all the ups-and-downs found in our [admittedly flawed] education system here in the US. I felt all the bitingly humor and sarcasm deep within my bones LOL, and I loved how the mystery aspect of this novel flowed near-seamlessly with the interconnected stories/POVs also featured here. Definitely a fun read that I think will provoke a genuine & thought-provoking reaction from readers, regardless of whether or not they work in this particular profession or simply remember their own days as a student!

Laugh out loud and relatable. Mathieu's writing is sharp and witty and I recommend this to all my teacher/educator friends.

A dozen vignettes weave together to show workplace dynamics and personalities covering one tumultuous school year. I had a hard time keeping track of names and details, but overall a beautiful love letter to teachers and the incredibly important roles they play
In our lives.

If you work in the education system or still think about certain teachers who shaped your life, then you’ll like this. If not… you likely want to skip.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy!

There was a lot to love about Jennifer Mathieu's The Faculty Lounge, and as a teacher, I found myself often laughing out loud at many of the relatable moments the author was able to capture and portray. The book followed a huge cast of characters whose stories could mostly stand alone, and while I loved many of these stories, I also think the overall narrative could have been stronger if the individual chapters tied together in a more meaningful way. I will also admit there were a few moments in the book that made me truly cringe, and while I think that *was* the point, I was also just hoping for a story that left me with more warm and fuzzy feelings. Still, Mathieu is a talented writer, and I would absolutely read more of her work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

Would recommend for fans of…
🍎 Abbott Elementary
🍎 English Teacher
🍎 Moxie

I need everyone to read this book. That’s the review.

When I picked it up, I was expecting something very similar to Abbott Elementary. I figured there would be elements of romance, maybe some heartwarming moments with students, and inspiring scenes of educators advocating for their kids. The Faculty Lounge has all that and more.

The story starts when an elderly substitute passes away in the faculty lounge at the start of the school year. From there, the staff of Baldwin High School is tasked with honoring his final wishes, which sets off an interesting cascade of events that last throughout the school year. While that premise may sound sad, I promise that this story is actually very funny with a sweet and incredibly moving ending.

The way Jennifer Mathieu has structured the story is very unique. The whole book takes place over the course of a school year and each chapter is focused on a specific member of the staff, which makes the book feel almost like a collection of interconnected short stories. With a true ensemble of characters, I was worried there wouldn’t be enough time spent on each, but I feel like this book had the most well-developed set of characters I’ve ever seen. I felt like each of these teachers could have been some of mine in high school. And the humor! I can’t underscore enough how funny this book is. Like truly laugh out loud.

I know a lot of people are compiling their ‘10 Before the End’ lists right now and I’m begging you to include The Faculty Lounge. I promise you won’t regret it! And I’m sure all teachers will enjoy this one.

The Faculty Lounge is out now. Thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.