I really enjoyed this book because the characters are well built and the book slowly gives you time to care and enjoy the secrets as they unfold.

What makes this stand out is the Agatha Christie references and I enjoyed the fact the main characters, including a well thought of lecturer were female.

It doesn’t reinvent the wheel but I don’t want that from a book, I want a good read that takes me away from reality and this does that well.

My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing U.K. for a digital edition via NetGalley of ‘The Truants’ by Kate Weinberg in exchange for an honest review. It was originally published in August 2019 with its paperback edition released on 25 June 2020.

This is a campus-based drama that focuses upon Jess Walker, who is attending East Anglia University in Norwich to study English Literature.

She is there specifically to take any course by maverick professor, Lorna Clay, who penned a cult best-seller titled, ‘The Truants’. Lorna is also known for “‘rescuing’ female authors who had been lost or dismissed from the canon as irrelevant.” The course Jess takes focuses upon the life and work of Agatha Christie. Christie’s 1926 disappearance, the plots of her novels and her knowledge of poisons are threads that run through the narrative.

Jess starts hanging out with a tightly-knit group that are Lorna’s ‘pet’ students. They begin the share secrets, experiment with drugs, and have sexual adventures. Yet the dynamic between them quickly darkens. In this kind of drama this likely won’t end well.

The premise of an outsider becoming part of select group of students centred on a charismatic teacher and shenanigans taking place naturally has echoes of Donna Tartt’s modern classic, ‘The Secret History’. Inevitably this is mentioned in some advertising and while I understand seeking to attract readers to a debut author, I never feel comfortable when such comparisons are made and prefer a novel to be allowed to stand on its own merits.

Certainly I felt that ‘The Truants’ was well written and had its moments yet I never felt particularly engaged by its characters or storyline.

I also felt that ‘The Truants’ wasn’t quite sure if it was a mystery, a literary novel, an homage to the work of Agatha Christie, a coming-of-age novel or more likely a combination of all the above. It’s quite character-driven, which works well in literary and coming-of-age fiction but crime fiction and mysteries usually are more plot driven. It’s a delicate balance to achieve both and I didn’t feel that ‘The Truants’ quite managed this.

In addition, it seemed implausible for Clay to consider Christie as one of her ‘forgotten’ female authors, though in context male crime authors and indeed genre fiction of any kind is dismissed as irrelevant by the literary canon. Still, I liked the title of Clay’s course: ‘Murdered by the Campus’ that again stressed the dismissal by academia of crime fiction. I certainly would sign up for it.

Clearly, ‘The Truants’ worked for many readers though overall I found it an okay read that just didn’t overly wow me.

Kate Weinberg captures the reader from the start of The Truants, in the first pages you are aware that something has happened. As you read on you get to know Jess and the friends she makes in the first few months at university but not everyone is as genuine and honest as she thinks they are - including herself. The events that unfold through the story change the course of her life.

I was given a copy of The Truants by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

A disturbingly involving read. Nothing turns out to be as it first appears. Relationships are tragically interwoven.

When Jess Walker attempts to narrow down the books she might use for her dissertation on Agatha Christie, her charismatic tutor, Lorna Clay, suggests that she adds to her selection of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Absent in the Spring not another novel, but Christie’s autobiography. What is it that these three books all have in common? It is the fact that the conduit between the content and the reader is an unreliable narrator. In a novel where the telling of stories features heavily, be they the texts studied in class or the tall stories of the Tuesday Club, unreliable narrators abound and both the characters concerned and the reader have really to be on their toes in order to work out who can be believed and who is spinning a tale.  

Jess has gone to what is clearly (although never actually so identified) UEA specifically because of her desire to work with Lorna Clay. Once there she becomes part of a foursome with the beautiful Georgie, the faithful Nick and the older and mysterious Alec. Alec, coming from a controversial journalistic background in South Africa, is not afraid of challenging anyone and, despite the fact that he is ‘officially’ Georgia’s boyfriend, Jess is soon captivated by him. But, there is a mystery about his past just as there is about Lorna, her time at Cambridge and her sudden recent change of job. In a novel which at times has telling overtones of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, Jess finds herself caught up in an ongoing series of events the extent of which she only gradually begins to understand. As she, along with the reader, starts to unpick the truth beneath the stories she has been told, a second Christie trope begins to emerge, namely the question of whether or not it is ever acceptable to kill an individual in order to save the lives of the many.

I am a sucker for a campus novel, even more so when is it clearly set on a campus I happened to know. At the point where Georgie is quoted as having said these mattresses are like lying on sacks of Jerusalem artichokes, my immediate thought was, you have mattresses? The last time I slept in student accommodation there it was on a one inch sheet of foam; except I slept on the floor because it was more comfortable. When you add into the mix a well written first novel built around the ideas prevalent in Agatha Christie‘s work then for me you have a winner. I very much enjoyed this book and I’d recommend it to anybody who has fond memories of either the Tartt novel or of Christine’s output. Kate Weinberg has gone straight on to my list of authors whose books I automatically add to the tbr pile.  

With thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy.

Jess is off to university, a way to escape from her large family where she mostly feels ignored. Once at university she meets Georgie, Nick and Alec they soon become best of friends and life is great nights out, days out and her dream Tutor Lorna.

Things start to take a twist when Alec and Jess start feeling sparks for each other although Their both in a relationship with other people.

A twisty book full of promise.

About halfway through, this book really comes to life. Before that happened, I was almost ready to give up on it as I wasn't sure I cared enough about the characters. I'm glad I stuck with it though, as it really does turn into something wonderful.

The descriptions of the island and what happens there are definitely worth waiting for.

A real page-turner which kept me hooked to the end. Some of the characters felt a little larger-than-life (hence 4 stars rather than 5), but definitely a good read.

Weinberg suggests it took her a long while to write "The Truants" and the careful prose and taunt plotting are evidence of this. I read it, coincidentally, with the same care and attenrion to detail, occasionally going back to reread a section which had surprised or puzzled me.
Weinberg chooses the appealing setting of an English university near Norwich set "now", so there is lovely mix of history and modernity threaded tnrough the book.
Jess enrols because Lorna Clay is a lecturer there. Clay is the author of a book which has captured Jess' spirit and enchanted her. Lorna, as she is called throughout the book, is charismatic and mysterious, having had to leave Cambridge because of a scandal involving a young woman.
A foursome develops with Jess and her partner Nick and two of the beautiful people, Georgie and Alec, with Lorma swirling in and around the group. Perhaps symbolically, they spend a lot of time truanting. The mystery surrounding Lorna intensifies as she favours first Georgie, then Jess.
There is much talk of "triangles" and Agatha Christie stories, all in university-speak-English literature, underpinned by manipulation of Jess by all but Nick. She is the naive and thus unreliable narrator. She can only tell us what she sees and at 18, then 19, this is a vulnerable, perhaps fragmented, view.
This is both a mystery and an analysis of human connection or more correctly, disconnection. Towards the end, Weinberg leaves us unanswered questions, Agatha Christie style, the answers to which we can mull over as we close the book. Satisfying, yes. Well-written, yes. My wobble in not giving 5 stars was that the mystery may well have obscured wonder of the story.

This was a slightly odd book. It was very beautiful in a lot of ways, but I think what was bothering me slightly about it was that there wasn't enough beneath the beauty: I didn't really believe in any of the characters. That said, there's a good, twisty mystery wound into the narrative and it's very readable - I definitely enjoyed it.

You could probably describe this novel as a rite de passage for the central character, Jessica Walker, because from the first day she starts at her new university as a fresh-faced eighteen year old, her life starts to accelerate on a rollercoaster ride which leaves her irrevocably changed. But, there again, you might see the book as a bit of social history, a travelogue and even a detective story. Yes, there is a murder or, maybe, there isn't!

The story is set at a barely concealed University of East Anglia in Norwich where Jessica first meets a privileged and chaotic friend, Georgie, then sees the love of her life, Alec, (although she doesn't know it at the time) going at it in the back of a hearse and begins to form a relationship with one of her lecturers, Lorna Clay, which slips outside the professional. Lorna's specialist subject of the moment is Agatha Christie which leads to two of the key themes of the book, concealment and getting away with murder and that's where the story proper starts to unfold.

How it does this is complicated because the third theme is to do with triangles and as Jessica's relationships develop there always seem to be other people involved. She is well described as young and gauche; drunk a lot of the time, confused about herself and what she wants and, at times, played, if not actually manipulated, by other characters.

The university is an incestuous place and intense. Lorna Clay's better qualities are drawn from a well known UEA academic, Lorna Sage, although reading the story I was often reminded of a younger Germaine Greer and that single-minded determination to overturn whatever applecart came into view. Jessica often seems genuinely, and authentically, confused as she struggles to make sense of this world before Alec’s involvement turns it upside down.

It's a fast paced story, there is always something new happening - almost too much to fit into an academic year – and much of it is unexpected. That's where the murder mystery comes in supported by an eccentric aunt with a touch of Miss Marple about her!

All in all, despite a bit of narrative exhaustion towards the end, this is a fun and entertaining book especially where all the triangles overlap or meet and, like a good novel should, it leaves you with unanswered questions and what ifs. It's well worth a read this summer.

I found this a strange book and not easy to get into. The writing style was quite old fashioned and the characters not easy to engage with. So I'm afraid not quite for me,

This is a very readable novel, it has a filmic quality which would easily translate to a Hollywood version but is actually set in England.
Jess is at university and meets a group of friends who have a profound impact on her studies and her heart. These are larger than life characters and there are love triangles a plenty.
I had expected more of a murder story than a romance but it has elements of both and will appeal to readers who love spending time with an ensemble cast . Raced through it.

Jess, Georgie and Lorna each have their demons in this Agatha Christie style book. There are many twists and turns and at times I thought all the main characters were equally bonkers..
However, for me it wasn't a gripping read but still I enjoyed it. I'm only giving this book four stars although please don't let it put you off this book I just felt it was lacking something and I cannot explain what. Give it a try. 4/5.

I enjoyed this. Good characters and an interesting story line. It took me a while to get into it but really enjoyed it overall. Definitely worth a read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for the arc of The Truants by Kate Weinberg.

This follows a girl whom is named Jessica Walker in which gets the book The Truants as a Christmas gift to in which is from her uncle and this book dramatically changes her life.... Seriosuly Smitten with the work of this author Jess ends up deciding and applying to University of East Angelia in which she can take the courses run by a specific Professor Whom is named Lorna Clay.... This is based on the life and works of Agatha Christie herself in which ends up Jessica, she ends up making friends with someone called Georgie Duncan who is dating an South African journalist whom is called Alec Van Zanten.

The story is from Jess's POV in which is a very interesting one as she initially observes life rather than partaking... Through the other characters she learns to tin which she should take risks which isn't like her. She is most naive
girl going...

5 Stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
recommend highly

I really enjoyed this book and I'm blown away that this is a debut novel as Weinbergs writing is exquisite; each sentence contributes to the plot and I adored her writing style.
The book was filled with symbolism and I was fascinated with trying to decipher what I thought each one was trying to portray.
The writing was so clever, I haven't read a book quite like it however, it was described & marketed as a thriller, which it was of sorts but not the usual type, but this didn't matter to me because it went so much deeper than your traditional psychological thriller. The way the author reflected on morals left you questioning each characters actions as well as getting you to reflect on how you would act in the situations.
Each character was so complex, I was fully invested everyones development and what was in store for them. Plus I loved all the Agatha Christie references and how this theme was deftly woven through the narrative.
I would really recommend giving it a read, its an insightful and gripping coming of age novel.

I loved this book. It is beautifully written, the characters are complex and engaging and the story draws you in quickly and does not let you go. I would recommend this book highly to anyone and everyone.

'The Truants' by Kate Weinberg tells the story of Jess Walker. Jess attends university excited at leaving behind the pressure of her family dynamics. She is taught by Lorna Clay, a charismatic lecturer/author, and develops friendships/relationships with Georgie, Nick and Alec (the latter a south African journalist who has returned to campus). Drawn to what appears to be a more exciting life, Jess attempts to push herself beyond her boundaries and break the rules. However, she finds that this life forces her to become an adult before her time, and to be filled with guilt.

'The Truants' is a highly readable book, but ultimately not one that holds up to close scrutiny. Whilst, I really enjoyed it and was drawn by the characterisation, some elements of the story felt too improbable and fictional, reducing the stories credibility. This meant that whilst I found myself happily reading it, it wasn't a book I grieved over when it ended or would add to my list of best reads. This coupled with a slightly moralistic view point, means that whilst well written it didn't quite do what I think it intended. However, it was definitely a good book to focus on during this weird time and I enjoyed all of the illusions to Agatha Christie.

Sadly this just didn't work for me. I didn't like any of the characters, they were all so self-absorbed and the plot felt clichéd. I did enjoy the classroom discussion of Agatha Christie though!