WWW Wednesday: What Am I Reading? #amreading

On By Teri PolenIn WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a meme from Sam at Taking On A World Of Words

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

This is a weird kind of week for my WWW post. I just realized while putting this together that all these books feature boarding schools or elite prep schools. Sure didn’t plan it that way, and I doubt the stars will ever align like this again. Anyhoo, I’m currently about halfway through A Lesson in Vengeance. It’s very atmospheric with all kinds of witchy goodness and possibly ghosts. I didn’t read Wilder Girls, but I’d say Ninth House is an accurate comp title.

For fans of Wilder Girls and Ninth House comes a dark, twisty, atmospheric thriller about a boarding school haunted by its history of witchcraft and two girls dangerously close to digging up the past.

Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway School.

Perched in the Catskill mountains, the centuries-old, ivy-covered campus was home until the tragic death of her girlfriend. Now, after a year away, she’s returned to graduate. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students—girls some say were witches. The Dalloway Five all died mysteriously, one after another, right on Godwin grounds.

Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway’s history. The school doesn’t talk about it, but the students do. In secret rooms and shadowy corners, girls convene. And before her girlfriend died, Felicity was drawn to the dark. She’s determined to leave that behind her now; all Felicity wants is to focus on her senior thesis and graduate. But it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget.

It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway, and she’s already amassed a loyal following. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is a so-called “method writer.” She’s eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks Felicity for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no. Given her history with the arcane, Felicity is the perfect resource.

And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway–and in herself. 

I finished How We Fall Apart over the weekend. It’s a quick read with a brisk pace, but it didn’t work for me as much as I’d hoped. The ending required a huuuuge suspension of disbelief. Other reviews have mentioned this book is for fans of Gossip Girls and Pretty Little Liars, shows I didn’t watch, so I’m thinking I’m not the intended audience.

Students at an elite prep school are forced to confront their secrets when their ex-best friend turns up dead.

Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends–Krystal, Akil, and Alexander–are the prime suspects, thanks to “The Proctor,” someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app.

They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too. 

I’m excited about In the Wild Light. I’ve only read one other book, The Serpent King, by this author, but it was a beautiful story. It was my choice for one of my book clubs, a group who never reads YA. The verdict was unanimous – all gave it a big thumbs up, and one member made her son read it.

From the award-winning author of The Serpent King comes a beautiful examination of grief, found family, and young love.

Life in a small Appalachian town is not easy. Cash lost his mother to an opioid addiction and his Papaw is dying slowly from emphysema. Dodging drug dealers and watching out for his best friend, Delaney, is second nature. He’s been spending his summer mowing lawns while she works at Dairy Queen.

But when Delaney manages to secure both of them full rides to an elite prep school in Connecticut, Cash will have to grapple with his need to protect and love Delaney, and his love for the grandparents who saved him and the town he would have to leave behind. 

29 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday: What Am I Reading? #amreading”

  1. If these are all school settings, they’re probably YA or NA books, which I don’t often read. I’m probably not the intended audience. But thanks for sharing your thoughts. (It’s a shame about the ending of the first one. I hate when I invest all that time in a story just to be let down at the end.)

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    1. All YA, but A Lesson in Vengeance could be a crossover. Judging by his other book, I’d say the Zentner book could also. That ending was definitely a letdown. It’s hard to say anything about it without spoilers.

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  2. The first one sounds spooky and Gothic. Like Staci, I don’t read much YA, but I like the warped history of the school in that one. I also like the Appalachian town setting of the last one. And boarding/prep schools always make great settings for mysteries. 🙂

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  3. I have Ninth House but still haven’t read it yet. I started it twice but got sidetracked both times 😌 But if I find I like it then I will have to take a closer look at A Lesson in Vengeance. It sounds wonderful!

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  4. “In The Wild Light” appeals to me, Teri. I love stories set in the Appalachians. I will have to check it out. I am currently reading “The Ferryman and The Sea Witch” by Diana Wallace Peach. I’m loving it! I just finished “The Chosen” by Yvette Calleiro. Thank you for sharing today!

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  10. Prep school reads always make me wary, Teri. I don’t tend to enjoy the teen drama of the television series, though I don’t give them much of a chance. I did like The Raven Boys, though. And In the Wild Light does sound good. I look forward to your review!

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    1. The Raven Boys will always hold a special place in my heart – love that series and those boys so much. With A Lesson in Vengeance and How We Fall Apart, although both take place in prep schools, they have very different tones and subject matter. Although I never watched the two TV comps of How We Fall Apart, I think now I have a good feel for them and doubt they’d make my watching list.

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  12. That is funny, having three books with boarding schools in them. I would be interested to know if anyone in your following has actually attended a boarding school (high school, not college) and if they find fictional schools to be accurately portrayed.

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