This was a problemetic book for me on many grounds.
1. It wasn't able to hold my attention, or keep me involved.
2. There are a lot of triggers which made it a bad book for me.
3. I didn't enjoy it.

I tried really hard to get into this book, but from the opening line it was hard to like. The writing was choppy and all the characters seemed cheesy and predictable.. I forced myself to get at least to the second chapter, just in case it was just the opening, but it didn't improve at all. I don't like to give up on books but I couldn't make myself read this one. The plot seemed laughable and I wasn't tempted by any of the characters or beginning threads of the plot to continue. I'm honestly disappointed, because the blurb seemed really promising. I think the plot bones are decent, from what I can gather, but the writing, development, and style are all very poor when put into practice. I would honestly probably not read from this author again.

Trigger warnings for this book: extremely graphic sex scenes, Islamophobia, negative comments toward the LGBTQ+ community), non-consensual kissing (more than once), unhealthy “relationships”, violence, slavery…

The story revolves around Safia who gets an opportunity to study at a very secret college named Alex Academy. It is an academy that only a Dr!acted number of candidates are privileged enough to attend. The college system is fun competitively on the basis of points that each student strains by completing assignments, placing habits and doing something for the school.
I loved the beginning and middle part of the story even though some of the scenes were quite dark. The ending however disappointed me and left me confused. The idea itself was interesting but poorly executed and the school system itself I did not understand at all. It needs a lot of editing. I just could not enjoy it.

Really was not a fan of this book. DNF'ed about 3 chapters in. The writing style wasn't for me at all.

Thank you, NetGalley for a chance to read this.

The idea behind this book is great; it's just really badly executed.
I could also have done without the fantastical drug deal, the weird relationship with her not-boyfriend, and a female student being harassed that early on.

First, I appreciate the chance to read and review this book. This review will contain spoilers.

I chose it for an advance read copy because it sounded interesting from the blurb. Unfortunately the book didn't really live up to the expectations. There were things I liked and things I didn't. I enjoyed the character development of the main character and her family, however, the other students who were important to the plot didn't get the same attention which did increase some of the mystery but were then never fully explained. I enjoyed the dark academia vibe with the school being isolated and seemingly run by the students with a point system used like cash, But some of the things were disturbing like being able to "own" another student though it did provide a plot point. However, the "shocking" revelation of the lead being or wanting to be a dom in a dom/sub relationship was pointless really as nothing really came from it. Also there was some mild Islamophobia that was equally unneeded. And the conclusion of the book was unsatisfying and confusing. It seemed to have been cutoff in the middle of a scene and didn't actually conclude anything. If there is another book on the way, I would be happy to read it IF it explains this book.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and was happy to continue as I thought things would be explained. However, I had to read the last chapter twice to make sure I didn't miss some key point that would make it more clear but alas there was not anything I missed it just ended in an unsatisfactory and very open manner which left me more confused than satisfied. If half ratings were allowed I would have given it a slightly higher 2.25 rating.

Too explicit for me so I will not be providing a review. Thank you for providing me this e-arc, but I will be unable to finish it.

Trigger warnings for this book: extremely graphic sex scenes, Islamophobia, negative comments toward the LGBTQ+ community), non-consensual kissing (more than once), unhealthy “relationships”, violence, slavery…

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
The story revolves around Safia who gets an opportunity to study at a very secret college named Alex Academy. It is an academy that only a Dr!acted number of candidates are privileged enough to attend. The college system is fun competitively on the basis of points that each student strains by completing assignments, placing habits and doing something for the school.
I loved the beginning and middle part of the story even though some of the scenes were quite dark. The ending however disappointed me and left me confused. The idea itself was interesting but poorly executed and the school system itself I did not understand at all. It needs a lot of editing. I just could not enjoy it.

I did not like this book at all!!!
It has some really problematic content as well as the plot was underwhelming!

The storyline was nice - this book had a potential to be a lot better.

- That problematic content was - Negative comments towards LGBTQ community ❌
- Toxic and relationship violence ❌
-Slavery ❌

The premise of this was so appealing to me yet unfortunately this didn’t live up to the promise! I think trigger warnings completely need to be added to NetGalley as this has a lot of dark themes including islamophobia, homophobia and sex slavery to name a few

I wanted to love this one. I really did. But as other reviewers have mentioned the problems and the massive amounts of traumatic triggers made it really difficult; particularly since they weren't handled quite as deflly as needed to make it feel like an intrinsic part of the story. Instead it just felt like a writing assignment with no true direction.

Had to DNF. Triggering Islamaphobia, homophobia, non-consent, slavery, abuse of minor, and just poorly edited grammar/punctuation that made it actually difficult to read.

While this book has an interesting premise that kept me reading, it was, on the whole, very badly done. It reads like it hasn't gone through any editing at all, with grievous grammatical and spelling errors. The sad thing is that it could have been a much better book if more effort had been put into it to rework the story and rewrite it a few times.

The plot was almost non-existent, with a setting that makes little to no sense at all. Purposefully dark and edgy but for no real reason and without any substance backing it up. The pacing was horrendous, dragging everything out to produce a novel-length book by hook or by crook. The characters were lazy and one-dimensional and completely boring. The way some of them were written, especially Safia and Hashmi were honestly disturbing. This book would greatly benefit from going through some sensitivity readers. Besides that, the questionable content, especially the sexual stuff, is very off-putting as they are overt and pointless.

It is my strong recommendation that this book come with content/trigger warnings prominently displayed. Some of the things in here really should not be viewed as typical or expected in society.

That said, the overall idea is still a good one.

TW's: Islamaphobia, anti-LGBTQ+ themes
The synopsis of the book was very exciting and interesting but it fell short in the actual book. The world-building was similar. It had an interesting premise and could have been delved deeper so much more than what was given in the book. I did like the characters in the beginning and the dynamics with how they interacted was very well done. However the story moved very slowly and then everything just crammed into a few pages. The characters also just all changed at a random point and it was very confusing to keep up with. I think the book and its plot had a lot of potential but ultimately fell short

A mysterious school for the rich and well-connected kids to stay, well, rich and well connected is made interesting by its bizarre bargaining system. The plot of Every Student Has a Secret kept me going but the intense amount of dialogue, the oddly inserted (ahem) sex scene, and the suddenly flat ending made me give this one only three stars. It feels like there is a lot of potential in the story that ended up going nowhere. I can see how perhaps that was part of the point of the story and I know some people prefer stories rich in dialogue so, for some people, this may be a perfect read.

⭐️⭐️ BOOK REVIEW TIME⭐️⭐️

Happy Pub Day to Every Student Has a Secret, the first book in the Apex Academy Series by Teddy Baire

Thank you to Little Fantasy Books for the copy!

This book follows the story of Safia Famosa, who gets unexpectedly admitted to an elite school where no one knows it’s true location, and everything is not what it seems. All of the students act brazen and carefree regarding their academics, and even some famous students attend. As Safia digs deeper into what everyone is up to at this school, she learns the system and that every student truly does have a secret, some less pretty than others.

I loved this book! From the beginning it was so easy and exciting to read and follow, and with such a mysterious back drop you can’t help but want to figure out what the school is all about. The characters are well-written and easy to relate to, and it makes you wonder what it would be like to be there with them. I am super excited about the next novel in the series, and am give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5 stars!!☺️Highly recommend this one if you are into YA or thriller books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an interesting read and unfortunately not in a good way. While the overall concept was intriguing it just was poorly executed. The writing wasn’t the strongest and some of the dialogue was a bit confusing at times.

The overall mystery of the academy and the betting system was interesting however, it could have been explored a little better. I am somewhat confused where the story is heading exactly especially because the ending felt rushed and unclear.

Overall, I think the idea of this book was interesting it just wasn’t executed properly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Explicit scenes of dubious/non-consent, grahic sexm, Islamophobia, slavery, abuse involving a minor, and homophobia made this one hard to read and like. I really did feel like the story had so much potential, what a great premise, "An Academy for the rich and wealthy, where students compete and earn points for power and statues."

Every Student Has a Secret had a fantastic description that hyped up the storyline way more than what was actually in the story. Right away you enter the action of this story and start to see the easter eggs that are laid early on in the first few chapters. These small clues help foreshadow much of what will happen to Safia and her family. But at the same time, there was gaps in the storyline throughout the whole story that left me confused throughout most of it. And then the ending fell very flat.

I didn't like this book. It was not interesting at all. There were many mistakes. Explicit sex scenes but the plot was really bland.

DNF at 31%.

the synopsis was interesting, but i unfortunately cannot finish this book. it reads as if it's a first draft that hasn't been edited at all. the dialogue doesn't work, it's very awkward. none of the characters have their own distingushed voice, so it's hard to figure out who is speaking, as they all sound exactly the same. i've only read around 250 pages from the ARC, but safia had absolutely no personality in those pages. she was very bland and uninteresting. the sex scene at the start of the novel was painful to read. it made me so uncomfortable.

thank you to netgalley for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review!