You know, sometimes when you finish a book, you feel the earth moves beneath your feet. You keep feeling shaken to your core, your head spinning, and your eyes filled with tears. When you try to put your feelings into words, you find yourself choked up, your voice cracking, unable to express the profound impact the author has had on you. That’s how powerful this author’s work is, and that’s how deeply affected you are by the brilliance of their literature. This book is undoubtedly one of those exceptional reads.

I had read comments about this dark academia novel that would captivate numerous readers, plunging them into a thrilling, earth-shattering, and profoundly thought-provoking story set in Dublin’s most exclusive private school, Highfield Manor. Don’t be deceived by the tall granite pillars, the overflow of lilac at the front gate, the immaculate playing fields, the cheerful students, or the dusty, oak-lined library of the manor. Appearances are always deceiving, and nothing is as it seems. Dark, hidden secrets around the poolside may be exposed, altering the lives of the young female athletes.

Louise Manson is a new scholarship student at the manor, an outsider with a working-class background among privileged and wealthy students who have given her the cold shoulder since her first day at the academy. Un Shauna, who can brighten her day with her genuine smile.

Louise harbors a secret agenda related to her best friend, Tina, a highly accomplished swimmer at the academy who took her own life after a troubling incident with a teacher. Louise believes her friend was pregnant before she died and was abused by one of the teachers. She is determined to seek justice for her friend, even if it means putting herself at risk against the most dangerous predator.

The story alternates between Louise’s past at the manor, which culminated in a tragic event that changed her life, and the present, where she is happily married, working as a literature instructor in college, and raising her troubled teenage daughter, who keeps secrets of her own. When Shauna’s brother, Ronan Power, connects her to testify in another abuse case related to the manor, she fears that the past she has hidden may resurface and ruin everything she has worked for. She struggles to connect with Shauna, who holds the key to the truth about the fateful night that haunts Louise’s nightmares.

Will she face the consequences of revealing her past to protect students from another dangerous predator?

This is an intense, thought-provoking, and dark read, addressing feminism, #MeToo empowerment, abuse, mental health, class disparities, and the dangers that lurk in everyday life from a young woman’s perspective. It left me breathless. Some chapters are difficult to digest, but the honest, brutally honest writing, well-developed characters, and intriguing mystery will keep you engaged from start to finish. I wholeheartedly give it five stars and eagerly anticipate future works by this author.

I would to extend my sincere thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for providing me with a digital reviewer copy of this thrilling read in exchange for my honest thoughts.

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I think I'm going with 2.75 stars for now.

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