Author: Alyssa B. Sheimel
Expected Publication Date: March 2, 2021
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 283
Introduction
Ever since her best friend died, Moira hasn't been the easiest for her parents to handle. When her parents send her to Castle School, Moira knows her parents are at their wits end with her and feels that she is being punished for her bad behavior.
Whatever her parents reasoning, she finds herself with 11 other "troubled" girls. Each of them weighed down with their own struggles, just as Moira is weighed down with her own grief. Together, and with the help of therapy, the girls work to feel better than they had to feel to land themselves at the strange place that is Castle School.
Setting
The setting, a mostly secluded castle in Maine, was a great atmosphere. It's a little dreary, and it appears to hold its own secrets. It was perfect for adding mood to the story.
Themes
This book handles a lot of heavy themes; grief, self harm, disordered eating, etc. and I think the author achieved a perfect balance between heavy scenes where the girl's struggles are discussed, and lighter scenes where you see the girls becoming friends.
Moira
Moira's grief felt very authentic, and her growth throughout her time at the Castle School, with managing and moving forward from her loss, felt perfectly paced. I also liked that the progress was made little by little, it wasn't all crammed into the end to prove that she had grown. You could see the change happen gradually, in small ways, like the way that she was thinking, and in her interactions with the other students. I think that was a very realistic way of showing growth. It doesn't happen completely in revelations, and sometimes, the only way to understand how much you've grown is to look back at the person you were before, and I think this is true for Moira's story.
Romance
There is a small amount of a cutesy romance in this book, but I love that it's not a central plot point. That being said, I love Moira and Randy, both as individual characters and together.
I loved that they would care for each other regardless if things turned romantic, the blooming feelings they have for each other seem to be extra to them, not necessary, and I think that's great.
POVs of the Other Girls
Every few chapters, there is a small excerpt, maybe about a page, that is in the POV of one of the other students at Castle School. These excerpts quickly detail the story of what happened to land each girl at Castle School. I really enjoyed these passages and thought they were the perfect length to give a little personal window into the lives of the other "troubled" girls.
Synopsis
The Goodreads synopsis is a little bit misleading. To me, it sounded like where the music was coming from would be more mysterious, but there is no mystery in the book at all, everything is rationally explained right away.
Conclusion
I loved everything about this book. From beginning to end, everything was perfect to me. I finished this book in two days and I already wish there were more of it to read. I came in to this book with high hopes and it was so much better than expected. I would recommend this book to fans of The School For Dangerous Girls. As long as you can handle heavy themes, this book is fantastic.
