This gave me strong The Secret History vibes but I enjoyed the treachery of Weinberg's The Truants so much more than that novel.

I liked the fact that Weinberg takes the trope of a magnetic professor who cultivates a clique of students and leads them into destructive behaviour and subverts it by casting the character as a woman, Lorna Clay.

I loved the novels use of poison, both literally and in terms of toxic relationships, the exploration of sexual jealousy, manipulation, grooming and betrayal. Lots of emphasis on stories, lies and fantasies.

A dark book that shows how we can choose to present different versions of ourselves. A great read.

I loved loved loved this. The twists, turns and darkness - exactly what I look for in a postmodern novel referencing Christie. The characters felt real - I studied an English degree and felt exactly the same about some of my rockstar lecturers.

The second half took me to a different place to where I thought the book was originally going to go, but it really worked. Recommended highly!

Jess is captivated by The Truants, a work of literary criticism by the lauded academic, Lorna Clay, and eschews Oxbridge to study under Clay in an unnamed Norfolk university. Once there, Jess becomes part of a small group of friends whose lives intertwine with that of Clay.

The story has initial similarities to The Secret History and these characters all have their secrets and their hidden desires. Events occur over the course of two terms and loyalties are tested amid betrayals and disappearances.

Disappearance is a theme of the novel as Clay has a course on Agatha Christie and her first lesson focuses on Christie's disappearance which has never been fully explained. There is also some emphasis on the unreliability of first person narrators, which causes the reader to question the truth of Jess' version of events. And there is a mystery to solve.

Events and characters are engaging and the writing is strong. There are a few issues with the sexual politics - female characters vent their unhappiness on other women rather than a faithless man and Jess appears to be coerced into unprotected sex.

The resolution, if it can be called as such, is unconvincing and the coda unnecessary. Nevertheless, this is a strong debut and well worth the read.

Jess Walker emerges from a difficult childhood to take up a place at University, partly inspired by her admiration for one of the tutors, Lorna Clay who includes in her lecturing a study of Agatha Christie books from a feminist perspective. Jess makes friends with a small group of students plus a maverick journalist. Their tight-knot group is rocked by differing loyalties and betrayals, leading them to a long-standing mystery and further tragedy. An engrossing and well-written novel; I shall follow Kate Weinberg’s future books with interest.

I really don’t know how I felt about this one.

It was such a slow start – and basically slow throughout.

I found some of the relationships between characters to be weird.

*2 stars*

The Secret Mystery

A young student exchanges the possibility of Oxbridge for the concrete buildings of an East Anglian university in order to study under a celebrity lecturer who specialises in, um, the fiction of Agatha Christie. Some strange things occur to her, not least observing a couple having sex in a hearse. She is soon attending tutorials with the scholar and has met the mysterious hearse owner. What follows is a cross between an Agatha Christie novel and a light version of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. Our heroine is nowhere near as clever as others imagine her to be – not least in how long it takes her to work out who the female in the hearse actually was, and what is the male’s dark secret.

A death occurs. Is it murder? If so, who is the culprit and how was it done? This is all mildly intriguing and the red herrings, the Christie style settings and the various relationships hold the interest for the most part. But it is derivative stuff and the scenes which correspond with similar ones in the Secret History showcase the gulf between the two novels. Good examples are the first Christie tutorial which seems to last about five minutes (time it!) and the funeral scene which reminds the reader of the agonising funeral scene in Donna Tartt’s story.

A beautifully written story with an unremarkable protagonist, The Truants takes us on a winding, heated ride (in a hearse, no less) through some pretty jumbled up lives and loves.

REASON TO READ

A solid debut. Coming of age thriller with some interesting interesting twists and turn.

REVIEW

Is this book comparable to Agatha Christie or The Secret History? - No. Is it a good debut from Kate Weinberg? Yes.

I’m not going to lie, this book takes a while to warm up and pull you in. However it is worth sticking with. It’s a familiar story to many of us, of leaving home and forging a new life at university. It’s a story of meeting new friends who will help you forge your own identity and seeking new experiences. The story runs the whole gamut of emotions from love, lies, dangerous desire, obsession and betrayal.

I dont think the book ever fully achieved what it sets out to do, but the characterisation is good, with some dark humour and there is an interesting twist on the whodunnit genre. I look forward to reading what Kate Weinberg will do next.

A good debut ⭐️⭐️⭐️out of five.

An atmospheric campus-novel which I enjoyed reading. There are some enigmatic characters and a dark undercurrent which kept me turning the pages. I thought the headiness and sense of intellectual euphoria of the first days at university were especially well-drawn and I liked the setting. The story is not the most original but I enjoyed following Jess as she navigated friendship, love and belonging and found her own path.

A very readable novel with strong characters and an interesting love triangle / square. The main characters are all interesting and have distinctive personalities,which makes the book easy and interesting to read. The Agatha Christie theme running through the novel also makes it stand out and would make the novel a great choice for fans of this author!

Initially, I was annoyed and irked by the teenage angst and rather vain self dramatisation of Jess - the main character. There seemed to be too much time spent mapping out her cringe inducing internal monologue.
However, the story improved as the pace increased. As momentum built up and we were ‘shown’ Jess develop, rather than being ‘told’ - a superior, compelling tale unfolded. Once it was plot driven, the characterisation developed naturally, which enabled us to empathise more and journey with Jess.
Must admit was hoping for a tantalising twist at the end, but was denied as the dust settled into a suitable, believable but rather unsatisfying ending.

I couldn't really get into this book myself, but it's well written and the characters are interesting enough that you want to find more out about them. It has a messy feel to it which reflects real life and the addition of the Agatha Christie-esque characters and plot devices gave the book more depth. Perfect for 18/30 age group.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. The first part of the book started strong and I was intrigued by it however as it went along I just couldn't feel myself wanting to read the book. I was not intrigued and could quite easily put it down and not go back to it. I will say that I did end up wanting to know what happened so I was invested to some sort of degree, enough to finish the book and I will say the ending did not disappoint me. Maybe a shorter book with less in between would have made me enjoy this book a little bit more. Such a shame! But I will definitely look into more books by this author.

Unfortunately I just couldn't get into this. It seemed very slow, and took a long time for anything tangible to happen to the characters. It's well-written and perhaps is just not to my taste. I do see the comparisons to The Secret History, so if you enjoyed that I suspect you will also enjoy The Truants.

I loved this novel. It reminded me of the Secret History and I don't think you can ask for more. Full of nostalgia, intrigue, corrupt friendships.

Nineteen-year old Jess, naïve, socially awkward, something of a loner and outsider, is in her first year at university in Norwich, having chosen this particular in order to study under Lorna Clay, whose novel The Truants has received critical acclaim. Lorna is known as a maverick, a rule-breaker; she is beautiful, sharp, intelligent, self-aware and often finds one particular student who quickly becomes her favourite. Obviously this term it's Jess.

Jess quickly becomes friends with Georgie, outrageous, brash and completely off-the-wall, and quiet, gentle Nick who falls for Jess. Sadly for Nick, it's enigmatic South African Alec who causes Jess to swoon, blush, and have heart palpitations at the very mention of his name. But he and Georgie are an Item. What will she do if he shows an interest in Jess? Would she really endanger her friendship with Georgie by allowing her obsession to become reality? I t's all very tangled, but could it get any worse? Oh yes indeedy....

I found it difficult to feel any sympathy for any of these characters except, maybe sweet, gentle Nick. Jess and her obsessions are a bit OTT given the short amount of time she has known any of them. She's needy and whingey, possibly due to the lack of a close relationship with her mother, which is mentioned just a bit too often, as is Lorna's red hair and freckles. Alec is a user who promises the earth, the moon and everything else in the universe, to every female he beds. As for Lorna.. ah well, Lorna, Jess is told, is a liar, a cheat, not to be trusted.

Alongside all the goings on with these people is a WhoDunnit, but it takes a long, long time to get where it's going, and even then doesn't have a particularly satisfying conclusion.

Comparisons to Donna Tartt's Secret History have been made, but honestly, the only similarities are that it's a campus based novel with a narrator who is an “outsider”. Tartt's book has so much more depth to it than this. I think the author was comparing her writing to Agatha Christie's as there are so many references to Christie, her novels and her disappearance.

Although not falling into the category of chic-lit, it will appeal more to women than men. Is it a romance? I don't think so. A mystery? Possibly. Apart from a few inconsistencies, the book is well-written and I might well look at any future writing from this author, but I wouldn't seek her out specifically.

I can understand the hype! Kate Weinberg is a refreshing new voice in contemporary fiction. I loved her complex and off-beat characters and the Agatha Christie-like atmosphere throughout the story. Thanks very much for the ARC, and I look forward to reading more from her!

This is a brilliant piece of writing. At first go, you might not like the lead characters very much, but as time progresses you'll start to, if not care, become curious about them. The relationship between Jess and the engimatic Lorna is particularly compelling - in the end, I just couldn't put it down!

Jess is not the most forward girl around but when she reads a book called the truants she wants to study under the author Lorna. To this end she applies to a university in East Anglia where Lorna becomes her tutor. Jess makes a friend, a confident rich girl whose drug addiction is becoming a problem, she finds a boyfriend and falls in love with her best friend's boyfriend. As Jess' life spirals out of control she relies on Lorna, but is Lorna all that she seems?
About a third of the way through this book I was ready to give up then suddenly it burst into life and I began to understand the plot motifs. Lorna is a scholar of Agatha Christie and the author has taken lots of plot devices from Christie to create the characters in her book - the unreliable narrator, the drug addict, the fantasist, the foreign aunt etc. Once this clicked I actually began to really like the whole melodramatic story!

Jess enrolls at the East Anglia University in Norwich after she reads a book called 'The Truants' and becomes enthralled by it's author, Lorna Clay, professor of English Literature at the college. She quickly develops complicated feelings for both this charismatic professor and her new best friend's boyfriend, Alec.

Lorna teaches a class about Agatha Christie and this story mirrors some of the themes in Christie's mysteries and in her life, which I enjoyed. The ending was really fitting (which is all I'll allow myself to say to avoid any spoilers).

Weinberg did a great job of evoking strong images of the various settings in few words, but I feel that the characters, especially Jess, weren't as substantial as I would have liked.

I do think this book suffers from the comparisons to 'The Secret History' as it sets up expectations that this novel doesn't meet, and 'The Truants' can stand on its own.

I look forward to seeing what this author does in the future.

Thank you, #NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.