I gave this book a good try but it really isn't my cup of tea. I actually went to the university seemingly portrayed in the novel with it's parrodys of the real thing but it is not cast in a great light which saddened me. I now live, many years later, close by and it was and still is a great campus. I found the writing get style rather 'choppy' and difficult to get into or really enjoy. Perhaps I am the wrong generation for this work.

I appreciate that this novel represents great workmanship; the writing is crafted and fluent. However, I stumbled on my usual obstacle when it comes to this kind of work: a deep-seated antipathy for all of the characters. I read this in conjunction with a friend and after about 5% of the way in, she said she was resenting her job for taking her away from the joy of The Truants and I was saying 'I really hope these people all die very soon'. I just wanted to slap their self-absorbed, narcissistic, privileged faces! My main objection when it comes to books like this (worthily-written dysfunctional, white people angsting over whether or not they can occupy 100% of someone else's attention) is that if you want me to believe Lorna is so charismatic that she can enthrall everyone she encounters, you need to have her say or do something more compelling than sitting casually on a desk or having titian hair or murmuring about how Agatha Christie is a feminist icon. And if you want me to believe that all of the people that Jess comes across in exactly the order she comes across them, want to immediately have sex with her, you need to describe her in more detail than her having curly hair. And all of this set not in the thrilling, rarified intellectual-hothouse atmosphere of somewhere like Oxford, where pretentious teens predictably implode in a cloud of metaphysical poetry and May Balls, but in an establishment with all the sexy, gravitational pull of a motorway services games arcade. 'I ate an egg mayonnaise sandwich while sitting on a wall'. Oh did you? Did you really? How bewitching.

This is a contemporary novel, a coming of age story that is atmospheric. The main character both a love interest and a professor she idolises. Agatha Christie’s books are mentioned quite a lot and some of her stories are ‘spoiled’, so just beware if you are an AC fan! I found this book chaotic and it didn’t particularly appeal to me. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

I really wanted to love this book - and I’m not sure if the anticlimax I felt would have been as sharp had there not been Donna Tartt’s name thrown into the mix.

The book can stand alone on its own merits, the characters are interesting, it keeps you interested & intrigued- but for me there is no Secret History comparison, and sadly this was its undoing.

I wish I had read it without seeing that single line, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. Id absolutely recommend & think it’s a great read otherwise.

Lorna once asked: “What is it about an unsolved mystery that captures us so that makes us lean forward looking for an answer?”

At the heart of this mystery is Agatha Christie. There are references to her and her novels throughout the story. I am not familiar with Agatha Christie novels! Does she have heroes and anti-heroes? Probably not. Lorna a charismatic “Prof” at a British University is the ant-hero, and Jess (the student) is the hero (although as the story unfolds Jess’s status becomes suspect). The main cast includes a close friend Georgie who is eventually betrayed by Jess. Nick – Jess’s patient boyfriend, and Alec the South African cad who is an inveterate liar. Finally “Steady” is Lorna’s mature partner for most of the story.

As the characters are introduced Jess and Georgie attend Lorna’s classes at uni, and Jess becomes besotted with Lorna’s personality and charismatic lectures. Lorna is an expert in Agatha Christie’s novels. Jess falls in love with Nick but Alec is enchanting her. You might think this is just a romantic story! Alec jumps from one bed to another, and part of the mystery maybe who is next for his attentions! Even at this stage the novel is enchanting as the relationships between Alec and Georgie, Jess and Lorna evolve.

But, a mystery element is added to the mix with devastating effect. Alec is reported to have died in S Africa. The writing ramps up a gear, and an underlying menace is introduced. Jess’s trip to an island off Sicily with Lorna reveals more.

There are plenty of twists and turns before the big reveal. A great novel which Agatha Christie would have enjoyed. So good in fact, you do not want it to end.

I really enjoyed this story of a young, academically talented student, seduced both physically, intellectually and emotionally by a brilliant lecturer and a slightly more mature student. That 'fresher' feeling where every new experience feels life-changing, the thrill of stretching your mental and emotional wings and the slightly illicit sense of seperating yourself from your family are all captured beautifully. Overall, a dark and compelling book.

Thank you so much for the ARC of this amazing book! It had me hooked from the beginning - the characters were so intriguing, the writing so brilliantly descriptive and evocative, I couldn't put it down. I liked the uncertainty of the ending too, leaving us to decide the ending ourselves. I really liked Jess in a lot of ways, whereas in others I thought she was selfish and short-sighted (something we were all guilty of at 19!).

This is an excellent book that really gets under your skin - I highly recommend it!

Mind-boggling with never-ending twists, this was very much like reading an Agatha Christie novel. To begin with, I felt like I'd been dropped into a scene that was already happening with a narrator whose eyes were glazed over but reading more, this just added to the novel! An interesting read.

Definitely want to be there for this not truant.
Beautifully written with good description and character insights.
I confess I have never read any Agatha Christie, don't know why as I am quite fascinated by her, I have visited Greenways, one of her homes a number of times.
The story is told from Jess's point of view a middle child of a dysfunctional family, when she meets Georgie at University and gets into a supportive and meaningful friendship, she is happier than she has ever been. Once life is complicated by romance, events take a turn for the worse. Lorna the charming, mysterious lecturer is a complex character with secrets who befriends Jess. Alex he Journalist is a charismatic character who charms everyone.
A satisfying, engaging novel.
Thank- you Kate and NetGalley.

GREAT book! Can understand why it was Waterstones paperback of the month in June.
I really enjoyed this read, it was a nice break away from the other serious topics I’d picked and started to read.
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Based on the foundations of Agatha Christie’s romantic triangle principle; the story is narrated by the main character Jess, and a wider group of students at University in Norwich. Jess is in awe of her English Literature lecturer (Lorna) who is an addictively charismatic author and academic.
It’s not long before Jess becomes best friends with Georgie and soon after that Georgie meets a mysterious, hearse driving, South African journalist (Alec) visiting the University, which turns romantic.
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Whilst Alec is in a relationship with her friend Georgie, Jess has Nick but is infatuated with Alec and she’s not sure, but thinks he feels it too. Constantly wanting him at the risk of jeopardising her own relationship and her friendship with Georgie, which is better than any friendship she’s had before.
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They start partying, drinking and taking drugs together as things begin to spiral and their tangled paths start to unfold; masterful manipulation, love and loss, fragility of emotions and their impact on people.
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There are frequent warning signs about Lorna throughout, despite her support, nurture and care towards Jess. Accompanied by the twisted tales and lies Alex has woven into his life, to manipulate and unhinge women.
All lead to creating an unsolved mystery and perhaps the perfect crime.

At university in East Anglia, 19 year old Jess attracts a set of compelling and attractive friends, including her much older tutor, Lorna, who is teaching a course on Agatha Christie. Intense friendships cross boundaries and lead to betrayal, disappearance and death, with strong echoes of the stories Christie herself wrote.

I stuck with this book and I finished it but I found it hard-going.. We are supposed to be in 2012 but it feels totally romanticised and archaic - first year undergraduates and lecturers are best friends and everyone has an Aga and a pony. The characters correct each other if they say 'who' in place of 'whom', but then the author occasionally remembers to throw in a reference to a mobile phone, just so we remember we are not actually in the 1930s. As a character, Jess goes on an interesting journey but she's very flat, she has no quirks or discernible character, and it's hard to care about what happens to her.

The idea of echoing Agatha Christie through the narrative was interesting, and I did like the way the novel ended.. I know the author has talked about her difficulties writing this book and I admire her for her persistence, but it was not an engaging read.

“What is it about an unsolved mystery...that captures us so. that makes us lean forward. looking for an answer? Is it just the challenge of cracking it ourselves or do we rather hope that it will never be solved? Because in solving something, in pinning it down,in reducing it to one reality, something of the magic is lost. Don't we all hope, even the fiercest realists among us, that there is another answer that transcends our understanding? A heaven above us, after all.”

Jess Walker is the middle child of a middle class family, keeps to herself and is about to embark on a new journey to university. As part of a tightly-knit group led by a maverick lecturer, Jess starts to experiment with a new version of herself. As well as finding herself at university and coming face to face with her new found heroine, Lorna Clay; Jess is starting to question what is the true cost of an extraordinary life?
I loved this book. Such vibrant characters that I feel like I had met them all at one point whilst at uni myself. The connections between the characters was enticing and a few plot twists set throughout the book just made me want to read more.
I was disappointed with the ending for Lorna. I wanted to find out so much more about her and the rest of the group. I wanted more about everyone and to find out more about Alec’s death. But I understand that it is Weinberg’s intention for her readers to come to their own conclusions.
I especially enjoyed the strong themes that are discussed throughout the story; motherhood, mentoring, life and death and symbolism. I was captivated by the characters and the choices they made, the connections they had between them and how it all unravelled towards the end. Jess being such a relatable unsure character, especially at that age and when you're away from home for the first time everything can be so dazzling, it is easy to see why she made the choices she made.
The biggest appeal for me was the thriller aspect and the connection to Agatha Christie and her novels. It was fascinating to read about the connection with the characters that Christie has, especially Lorna.
Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable story and one I would recommend to others easily. Saying that however, there is a lot of sex throughout the story and drug use including one character having an overdose, also there is discussion about abortions as one of the characters experiences it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a beautiful rhythm to it as we follow the lives of the key players. It was very well written and had just the write amount of mystery to carry a frisson of intrigue.

Kate Weinberg has written an interesting novel which touches on many real life topics of concern. The book, although long, was a page turner. I did not want to out this down every night.

The Truants a cross between romance and mystery, a genre I don't think I've come a cross often.

Jess a new university student meets a group of friends straight away, but all is not what it seems. The novel takes you on her journey navigating the first year with highs and lows, love and heartbreak.

The moment you let go of any notion of Donna Tartt'ness the book itself is great, and the writing is fresh, witty and original. It left a light feeling of longing, like an aftertaste. The part on the island was the strongest. Really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well-written and held me captive. I read it in a couple of days as I was so interested to see what happened next.

I hope that there is a follow up!

The Truants is a hard book to categorize. It is a mish mash of literary fiction, mystery, a coming of age tale and even has the makings of a cult classic about it. 'Thriller' is not what I would call it as its gradual burn doesn't have the pulse pounding force that one might expect from a thriller. It gleefully defies classification which is one of the great qualities of The Truants.

Here, we follow a student freshly arrived at uni (Jess) who makes fast friends with a racier girl (Georgie). Together they form a small group of friends with the addition of Alec and Nick. But more importantly for Jess, she becomes friendly with best selling author and professor Lorna Clay who she idolizes from afar. Lorna lectures on Agatha Christie which gives fans of the queen of mystery a great refresher on more than a few of her books. Through this small cluster of people there are various shifts in dynamic as time goes on and, well, anything can happen. That's the beauty of this genre-free book. Almost anything can happen and does as we are not constrained by model or type. This is the point when curious events occur and I loved the free wheeling feel of this novel. It is so well written with characters the reader feels they know well when everything seems to shift slightly on its axis. I dare not tread any further on plot discussion as I don't want to let slip the crux of the story. But, I did enjoy it thoroughly and was keen to see where it would lead. The ending was not as I expected but that is for the best as we would not want a genre-bending novel to follow any preexisting formula, would we? Great stuff, well worth reading and I am looking forward to more novels by this talented yarn spinner.

I was sent a copy of The Truants by Kate Weinberg to read and review by NetGalley.
I really enjoyed this book; I was totally hooked right from the start with the beautiful writing. This novel is a real insight into human behaviour, love and friendship, with well-drawn and very believable characters. The story itself is so convincing and so emotive that I’m pretty sure that the author must have drawn on her own personal experiences. A joy to read and an easy five stars from me!

Having read the blurb for this one, I was expecting to read something along the lines of Donna Tartt’s "The Secret History". Indeed, a lot of the elements are the same: the fascinating lecturer who holds their students in such thrall; the campus setting; the gradual loss of naivety in the central figure… However, this is a very different kind of book.

Rather than being a thriller, this is a coming-of-age drama centred around Jess, who has gone to University in Norfolk specifically to study under her idol, the academic Lorna Clay. While there, she meets Georgie, Nick and Alec, and her previously sheltered existence makes way for adventure and friendship. There are, perhaps inevitably, love triangles (squares?, pentagons?) a-plenty, which lead off into numerous sub-plots. The characters aren’t necessarily all that likeable, but I was interested to follow their journey.

As a Christie fan, I enjoyed the references to her work throughout, but these weren’t pervasive. They do, however, contribute to the overall mood of this book, which is rather mysterious and winding. I enjoyed the pacing as well as the writing, and would certainly read more by this author.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

'Lorna had been a doorway into another world. Alec had, as well. I had followed them, crossing lines, and the world had flared with colour.'

A tale of a young university student being seduced into a world so very different from her own, where among the drab concrete buildings of an East Anglian university she finds an enigmatic lecturer and a group of friends who are so fabulously exotic and exciting. Then events take a darker turn and our main character finds herself in deep waters. Sounds familiar....?

I really wanted to like this more, but it all seemed too derivative, and utterly unbelievable. No university lecturer would even be remotely allowed to behave like that. And some of the plot details are just impossible to believe. And Jess speaks like no 18-year old I met when I was that age.

I admit to resorting to skimming through this. Others, I hope will enjoy this. But not for me, I'm afraid. Generously rounding up from 2.5 to 3 stars, because every book is the product of a singular passion and commitment by an author and it's more than I've ever managed!

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)