I swapped my kindle back in 2018 and am unable to recover this title. I appreciate the opportunity that was given for review but sadly can't complete it for this title. Many thanks.

I loved reading this book and seeing how Jamie and Jules' lives intertwined and what that meant for both of them. Some places have traditions that they hold up no matter how toxic these things are for the people doing them/ carrying them out. 

This book was so enthralling. I finished this book in one day due to the fact once I'd picked it up, I could not put it down. Read. This. Book.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley. 

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. 
Natalie.

I really like campus novels. I like having a sneaky peak into a world that I may be unaware of. I like it when those novels tackle difficult issues and Tradition definitely tackles a difficult issue. Kiely looks at the privilege that is shown to sports stars within private schools and how that privilege can manifest itself in insidious sexual attacks that are brushed under the carpet. 

With a dual narrative, we see what life at Fullbook is like from Jules perspective – she was once part of the privileged group but now abhors it. We also see it from Jamie’s perspective who has landed smack bang into that world and doesn’t fit in.

The toxicity of this environment drips from every page and makes you genuinely uncomfortable. It is a book that should be read and shared as much as possible. 

Tradition by Brendan Kiely is available now.

For more information regarding Brendan Kiely (@KielyBrendan) please visit www.bendankiely.com.

For more information regarding Penguin Random House (@penguinrandom) please visit www.penguinrandomhouse.com.

Heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, real look at high school and 'he said, she said culture' from the point of view from both boy and girl. Made me sad, wished for a happy ending, although this is probably truthful, there very rarely is.

Thank you for providing a copy of this book for review however I was unable to open the file for this document unfortunately! Apologies.

This split-perspective story sheds light on the “traditions” of elite prep school Fullbrook Academy. With a darker edge underlying this YA school story, Kiel’s tackles important YA issues in a way that is refreshing to its audience.

I haven't read anything by Brendan Kiely so I went into this book without much expectations. And was yet disappointed.

I don't know if Kiely's usual description of women is good ... but it wasn't very good in this one.
Now the idea behind the story is great only the execution lacked. One of our main characters is Jules, a feminist. A good thing right? Well no. Because to her, her attitude matters more than the actual cause. She has all the right motives but is so in your face you can't really relate.
I didn't get warm with the other characters either. But that might just be me.

I'm sure there will be some readers who will enjoy this book.

Books set in university or in boarding schools are always an autobuy for me, so tradition sounded right up my street. It took me a while to get into as the style wasn't quite for me, and I didn't like how the author wrote women. It felt a bit clunky at times, and very obvious that the author wasn't female. For a book about such heavy and relevant topics, it missed the mark for me - it lacked the necessary emotion

A really interesting take on masculinity in young adults. Would highly recommend to a young adult audience. Particularly boys

I was unable to finish the book. 
I enjoyed what I read, but there was technical issues with my ARC which made it impossible to read. I will probably end up picking it up from my local bookshop as I did really enjoy what I read.

“Tradition” centres around Fullbrook, an elite boarding school where parents pay $50,000 a year to ensure the younger generation are just as steeped in entitlement and privilege as their elders, and its senior class.

Jules Devereux, formerly one of the in-crowd, has become increasingly disillusioned with - and ready to challenge - the toxic traditions and casually misogynistic attitudes she sees around her. As we’d have said back in ye olden days, she’s had her consciousness raised. 

James Baxter, an enormous goalkeeper just arrived at Fullbrook on a hockey scholarship but from a much less privileged background, is bound to be an outsider, though his sports prowess gives him an “in” with the other guys. But does he really want to be a part of their crowd?

Fullbrook is an institution soaked in tradition, many of them outdated, many which should never have existed in the first place, all rarely if ever challenged. This reaches its height, or depth, in the ghastly concept of the Winter Ball and *shudder* the Senior Send-Off. (At least I assume that’s what it was - unfortunately the formatting of the ARC I read removed all incidences of “ff”, “fl” and “fi”, rendering it as Senior Send-O).

I’ve never been to a school like Fullbrook, so I don’t know how accurate the portrayal is, but it seemed unfortunately believable (although, can there really be schools where girls wear cocktail dresses to class every day??) and several scenes will be painfully familiar to many. Jules being repeatedly characterised as “crazy” because she speaks up is a phenomenon which can and unfortunately does happen everywhere.

Tradition undoubtedly has its heart in the right place and is a good read, but can feel heavy handed at times. 

I never really felt that I “got” Jules, or even her friend Aileen, as a character. Whether that’s down to a male writer, I don’t know. They often felt like vehicles for certain attitudes and experiences rather than real people. To be fair, that’s true of some of the male characters, too. That said, I did like the relationships between Jules, James, Aileen and (Jules’s gay friend) Javi. There were some nice moments between James and Javi in particular.

There’s a telling moment when James, playing in a hockey game, hears his own supporters chanting at the less-privileged opposition school (“That’s all right. That’s okay. You’re gonna work for us someday”) and it really brings it home to him who and what he’s now representing. The story is very strong on the entitled arrogance of the young men and also clearly shows how young women can often be complicit in perpetuating their behaviour and stifling dissent. Perhaps this could have been explored more, but I’m not sure there was room for this.

It’s sad that James, whose basic decency (and underpinning if unstated assumption that women/girls are people too) should be the norm, feels so unusual - though the story does point out that when it comes right down to it, there are other boys who support him.... well, one or two of them. 

A good read, well written and thoughtful and, as I said, with its heart firmly in the right place, but did feel heavy handed and thinly characterised at times.

So happy to be given a whole budget to replenish our senior shelves in the school library. The books in there are far from appealing at the moment and I have been delighted to find books here that will intrigue, captivate and engross my senior students. 

This is a fantastic read with characters they will be able to connect with, a pacy narrative and an ending that will provide plenty to talk about. I loved it and feel that this is not only a compelling read, but an important one. 

It's great to read a book that does not feel formulaic and gives some credit to their reader's intelligence too. Young people are very fussy about the books they choose to read and in this time-precious day and age it really has to be something above and beyond the ordinary to get them to put down their devices and get their noses stuck in a book.

 I think this is one book that will capture their imagination and keep them turning the pages until the end. This is definitely going onto my 'must-buy' list and I really look forward to seeing what the young people themselves think of this timely, clever and powerful novel.

A prestigious preparatory school steeped in history and toxic outdated views, Tradition follows the stories of Jules and Jamie. One here on a hockey scholarship and one desperate to stay unnoticed, both of them desperate to survive the academy and expose its dirty secrets for all to see. 

Tradition feels very much like a ‘now’ novel. At its heart it’s a story about the concept of tradition and hurtful masculinity in a close knit environment and it’s links to rape culture. It’s the stifling inability to control what you’ve already been through, and the idea that it really is still a ‘man’s world. I applaud the author for tackling such a subject. It’s often hard to broach a subject like this in a sensitive way, and I think for the most part the author achieves this. It’s told via a dual POV, which helps give a broader sense of opinion and perspective while also allowing for a greater degree of storytelling. 

However, it was very slow pace wise. Nothing really happens for at least half of the novel, and by this point I was rapidly loosing interest. I also wasn’t that taken with the characters. There’s no depth to them, no subtlety. They’re really lacking in emotional development, which in this kind of story is really important so the reader can bond with them. As such, I personally wasn’t invested in the characters or what happened to them. I felt at times that even though they had separate POVs, it was hard to differentiate between them. The voices were too similar. 

It also suffers from a lack of originality. In the wake of the #metoo movement we’ve seen an influx of these novels, and unfortunately the story suffers because of this. It’s been told before, and often with a higher degree of individuality. 

An ok attempt, that perhaps could have been elevated with my colourful characters.

An honest and powerful read.

This novel which is designed for young readers leaves such an important message of speaking out and questioning the ‘tradition’. Tradition follows the story of Jules’ and Bax’s experience during their first college years at Fullbrook, a prestigious school.

Kiely explores controversial and unspoken topics of sexism and rape culture, which is extremely prevalent in the current media campaign of ‘Me Too’.  As well as this, it explores the issues within ‘lad culture’, in which we see the way Bax is peer-pressured to engage in some of the ‘traditions’ and how this results in him being pushed to the outskirts of the hockey team.

I would really recommend this book to anyone as it’s both thought-provoking and an engaging novel; particularly through the character and relationship development between Jules, Bax and their friends Aileen and Javi. 

Lucy 

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

'Tradition' by Brendan Kiely

Synopsis: When Jamie and Jules meet, they recognize in each other a similar instinct for survival, but at a school where girls in the student handbook are rated by their looks, athletes stack hockey pucks in dorm room windows like notches on a bedpost, and school-sponsored dances push first year girls out into the night with senior boys, the stakes for safe sex, real love, and true friendship couldn’t be higher. As Jules and Jamie’s lives intertwine, and the pressures to play by the rules and remain silent about the school’s secrets intensify, they see Fullbrook for what it really is. That tradition, a word Fullbrook hides behind, can be ugly, even violent. Ultimately, Jules and Jamie are faced with the difficult question: can they stand together against classmates—and an institution—who believe they can do no wrong?

I know that NetGalley allowed me to read this book in exchange for a review about the books content and I know I am supposed to look past any typo's and missing words and sentences that generally don't make sense but... but, FOR THE LIFE OF ME I CANNOT TAKE IT ANYMORE.

The thing that got me the most, were the words that required an 'F' and 'I' but missed those specific letters entirely, leading to words like 'rst' instead of 'first', 'stued' instead of 'stuffed' and 'blus' instead of 'bluffs'. This may not seem frustrating but when you're not even a tenth of the way through, and stumble at every paragraph because those letters are missing from a word, and you have to struggle for 10 seconds to understand what's being said, then it gets really irritating. And if I'm brutally honest, if there was anything decent in that 9% I have read, then I may have put up with this bullshit formatting for the promise of very interesting content but so far its just been a lot of set up and I don't care for any of the characters.

If the synopsis sounds like your type of thing, then I would advise you to look through the first few pages of the finished copy book for those missing 'F's and 'I's. If they have them, great! I hope you enjoy your book.

Tradition explores some very serious and timely issues around rape culture and the different treatment afforded to girls in the education system in this specific context.  In the current media storm around #MeToo and the repeated appearance of the girl-sent home-from-school-due-to-clothing story, this book forms part of the important conversations that we need to have about what we teach our children about their value and place in society.

The story is told in alternating viewpoints from two main protagonists, one male and one female, one new to the school and one all-too-familiar with its traditions.  This dual perspective allows the author to layer explore different perspectives, but ultimately both main characters share the same values, they just have different experiences of male privilege and female oppression.

That Brendan Kiely takes the issues he is exploring seriously is not in any question, as he maintains a sombre, almost menacing tone throughout the story which steeps the reader in anxious tension from the first page.

This strength is also something of a flaw in the story however, as combined with the dark tone, the emotional tension of the two main characters starts high and builds quickly.  Jules in particular is distraught, almost-frantic, over health flyers and tampon protests from our first introduction to her.  This effectively emphasises the looming sexual threat that fills the corridors at Fullbrook Academy, and shows that the main characters are aware and affected by this traditional old-boys atmosphere.  It also leaves the author nowhere to take the characters emotionally by the time the crisis event occurs.

Jamie, or Bax, is also tightly wound, but this can be attributed to the secret trauma in his recent past, but Jules seems traumatised before The Event (and evidently rightly so – the atmosphere is undoubtably toxic) and therefore during and after the turning point of the plot her reactions can only slightly escalate and the reader is almost desensitised to the dramatic tone by the finale, which I am certain is not the effect the author intended.

I did really like the character development and relationship building, especially those between Jules and Javi, Javi and Max, Bax and Aileen, Javi and Bax.  I especially liked that friendships once formed had to be maintained and worked on.  Likewise the ending felt realistic and proportionate, with no huge events but a small pebble of change that may eventually gather an avalanche.

Overall this is a serious and thought-provoking book, with little action but a lot of emotional weight.

 


Way up in the sky the man in the moon has something like sad eyes, as if his pale face gazes down with pity, as if he wishes something better for us, or maybe wishes we ourselves were the ones who were better.  I’m sure I’m sober, not drunk, just going a little crazy to think like that, but I think it anyway, because I feel that way.  Sad.  Like this whole stupid paradise, this very good school, is nothing but a fancy promise, a broken one, a big lie.  And worse, that I’m actually a part of it.

– Brendan Kiely, Tradition

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Fullbrook is an elite school that prides itself on its traditions. But some traditions are not only best left in the past but should never have existed in the first place. It's a place of learning, privilege, toxic masculinity and girls who are complicit in the bad behaviour. Anyone who dreams of speaking out is ostracised, its all about going along with tradition. So when a group of four students unite against the system, even in small ways, they become a target for the bile the traditions create. This novel has certainly come at the right time, in view of the current climate of people finally discussing date rape and the ongoing "me too" debate. Since its so current it would be easy for a writer to throw out a novel based around the stories we've heard, with an "inspiring" lead character who despite all that is against them beats the system. But no, Kiely has instead taken the harder route and penned an affecting novel that sensitively deals with a really tough subject without ever been graphic, or giving an unrealistic idea of how people really act and react in these situations. It's telling that the scenes that affected me the most were when the fourteen-year-old freshmen girls are gathered for a lesson by the senior girls that involves them practising oral sex with a banana. To get them ready... It really hits home that so-called toxic masculinity isn't reserved for the masculine, too often they are aided in their behaviour by girls. Something I really liked about this novel is that if you take out the mobile phones it could be set now or twenty years ago and shows how nothing ever changes. It left me feeling sad but also glad these books are been written. It wasn't discussed before at all but I feel sure that when she's old enough I'll be steering my daughter to books like this and my nephew too. So, after all that (if you got this far) did I enjoy this? Well yes, despite the subject matter it is actually an enjoyable read. The author has created a quartet of main characters that are easy to like and root for, and yes shed a tear for. I'd highly recommend this, especially for teenagers.

James Baxter (Bax) is on his last chance after an incident at school injures another pupil. Given a scholarship to Fullbrook, school of the rich and privileged, due to his skills on the ice as a hockey player, Bax is unsure if he will fit in. He meets Javi, Jules, and Aileen who are all on the outside too in their own ways. Jules was part of the popular crowd, dating one of the most eligible guys on campus but things went wrong, and when Jules is sexually assaulted at a party one night, things get a lot worse.

I found this to be a mixed bag for me. The topic of rich white young men getting away with sexual assault is a timely one and the story itself was sensitively handled. The characters of Javi and Bax were believable but I found the female characters, especially Jules, just hit the wrong note at times. That being said, I thought it was a good read and would probably read it again in the future. 

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Penguin Random House UK Children's, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

Disappointing. The story never really got going and the characters were unlikable.  Not a patch on 13 Reasons Why, and if you are looking at this hoping it will be similar my advice would be don't both, it is not even a poor imitation.