Whilst I liked this I‘m *really* disappointed to say I didn‘t love it. I usually adore campus novels and, with such high expectations for this author, this just fell a bit short.

There were too many characters with at least one unnecessary storyline, meaning there wasn‘t the emotional heft of previous books.

It felt too matter-of-fact, with a lot of the book taken up with faxes between medical professionals which, while interesting, also detracted from the emotional side of the book. There also wasn‘t enough exploration of the MC and her supposed ‘difficult‘ new roommate.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This took me back to my schooldays reading mallory towers, the 4 Mary's, watching St trinians. It is laugh out loud funny and having gone to an all girls school the mass hysteria and effect of male teachers is all too accurate.

While I absolutely loved Rebecca Wait’s last book, Havoc felt (appropriately enough, given the title) like a novel with too many ideas. While each of them taken individually - the nuclear-holocaust-obsessed boarding school with quirky governors; the strange sickness spreading amongst the girls; Ida’s backstory; Eleanor’s backstory; the neurologist’s letters to a London expert (oh, and his inevitable backstory); Louise’s attempts to be expelled - was compelling and just the right side of weird, but the total sum of so many stories and backstories was overwhelming.

A quirk read, based in an English boarding school in England in the 80's (not quite Mallory Towers :) ) Some very interesting characters and I enjoyed the twists and turns in the story. Good vacation read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Ida finds herself at a remote boarding school that is decidedly odd. Why she's there is something of a mystery, as is the reason behind weird spasm shown by various girls. Something is up at this school and through perspectives from the girls and faculty, Havoc slowly reveals a fascinating story. Thanks to riverrun and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Our grip on reality is more fragile than we'd like to accept. When I went through a phase of reading a lot about schizophrenia, I came to appreciate how tenuous our understanding of the world and ourselves is. We don't necessarily understand the brain and all its capable of that well, nor necessarily how it affects our bodies and our perception. Usually, we don't have to think about this too much nor worry too much about whether anything might set us off. But if your right arm were to suddenly start twitching and spasming, that would be concerning, wouldn't it. Especially if the person sitting next to you is developing the same symptom. Are you both being poisoned, perhaps? Are you going mad? Narratives around what is usually considered mass hysteria, or mass psychogenic illness, can sometimes fall on the wrong side of a blurry line, where they go for easy answers. In Havoc, Rebecca Wait takes a situation ripe for exploitation, a messy girls' boarding school, and turns it into a story that shows not just gentleness towards its characters but also a desire to understand what is behind events such as psychogenic illness or conversion disorder.

Ida arrives at St. Anne's not so much because she really wants to be there, but because she no longer wants to be at home. We're not immediately told why, but as we get to see St. Anne's through her eyes it becomes very clear that this school is odd, extremely so. Are there ghost? Do some of the buildings seem to trap its inhabitants? Did Ida's roommate throw a previously roommate out of a window? And are the nuclear fire drills really necessary? All of that is strange enough, but when one student begins to develop odd spasms, which then spread to her classmates, everything becomes decidedly weirder. Havoc is told largely through Ida's perspective, but it is enriched with chapters from Eleanor's perspective, a teacher at the school, and letters from a local medical resident to his former colleague, trying to figure out what is happening at the school. Out of these three stories, Wait braids together a narrative about belonging, love, isolation, and both the strength and fragility of our minds. I think I enjoyed Ida's storyline the most, because of the development we see in her and the way Wait continued to surprise me with her. The doctor's storyline however, entirely told through letters, was also really touching.

One thing I really enjoyed about Havoc was how Rebecca Wait captured the insanity that is being a teenage girl surrounded by other teenage girls. I went to a mixed high school, but nonetheless got some experience of the intensity of that time. It is not all bad though. Within that intensity, deep bonds can develop and you can be encouraged to become more truthful about who you really are. It can also make you do silly things though. That mix, at once so genuine and high on hormones, is difficult to capture without somehow making fun of it, but Wait manages it. There are legitimately funny moments in Havoc, which are just so out of left field that you can't help but laugh. Wait has a knack, I think, for characterisation that works itself out largely through showing. We get to know Ida through her actions and then, occasionally, when she reveals herself through speech, we get to reconsider what we know about her. I really enjoy getting to work at it in this way and there are major pay-offs to it throughout Havoc. I'm definitely going to look around for more by Wait!

Havoc is a great book, full of well-earned twists and turns, told in intriguing ways. It is a book about girlhood, about the pressures of family and the world, but also about the unhinged chaos of teenagehood.

I was a big fan of girls boarding school stories as a preteen so I was intrigued by this one Set in the 80s in a south coast fading dilapidated girls boarding school
The story follows a new girl at the school he gradually becomes aware that things are not quite right amongst her fellow students. One by one the girls start to behave strangely some fitting some fainting and some are having abnormal body movements. As things escalate the board of health is called in to investigate as several children are hospitalised
The story then follows quite an amusing, “who done it “with lots of potential culprits have the girls been poisoned is it something in the water? Is it mass hysteria? What are the significance of hidden poison in the attic and the wardrobe?

There’s also a selection of teachers who might might not be involved the disgraced male teacher who arrives halfway through term with his past employment history under suspicion, the reclusive teacher who doesn’t fit in with the other others we meet them one by one
Ultimately, I enjoyed the start of this novel more than the end. It was more fun when all the options were open and we didn’t really know what was causing the problems. I found the way the novel was concluded less enjoyable.
The author has a clear easily read writing style writing in a witty style The book was an easy read.
I read a copy of the novel on NetGalley UK in return for an unbiased review the book was published in the UK on the 3rd of July 2025 by Quercus books.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, StoryGraph, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com
It will also appear on Amazon and waterstones

This was brilliant! My first book by this author but won’t be last. Funny at times but also deeply moving and sad, and dark. Set in 80s in England. Highly recommend.

this was . . . just all right, i suppose. it was partly my fault because i thought it’d be more on the literary side, but it was just your average campus thriller. some of the characters were a little silly, but it was still quite fun in parts.

This is a darkly funny, emotionally layered mystery that blends satire, suspense, mystery and psychological depth with a coming of age story.

I must admit that I didn’t realise quite how like a St Trinians novel this new book from Rebecca Wait would be. If I had I might not have chosen to read it.. I. Glad i did though as it was highly entertaining and made me laugh out loud in parts. Just what I needed.

What a hilarious book! It really took me by surprise - I cried with laughter on a bus, sent specific lines to my friends, and have already recommended it to multiple people. The humour is subtle and dark and I really loved it. I especially liked the Ida POV chapters - the girls all had such distinct personalities and were all so weird and believable as teenagers, which is so rarely done well. The relationship between Eleanor and Matthew was less of a success for me - it seemed to happen quite fast and I didn't really pick up on the chemistry between them, which is the only reason this wasn't a 5* for me. That said, I had the best time with this book. One of my favourite reads in months.

Dark, mordant, sparkling 1980’s boarding school with a wonderful cast of misfits

Oh this was utterly glorious, moving, enthralling and witty. I am so cross I have finished it, even though the ending was satisfying and excellent. Spat out back in 2025, forced to leave the company of Ida, Louise, Elinor, Doctor Halliwell, nuclear Armageddon obsessed Miss Christie and all I’m slumped and disconsolate.

Wait’s tale of a very substandard fee paying girls’ boarding school whose nearest geographical neighbour is Roedean (which St Anne’s is patently NOT) reminds the reader of several other, wonderfully written, equally quirky tales of fervid adolescence. Such as The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, shades of Shirley Jackson, Oh Caledonia. This is mainly a school, where it seems, parents want to get rid of their annoying daughters, don’t care too much about standards, but do like the cachet of private education for their troublesome little angels or demons.

Ida, 16, living in a small island community off the coast of Scotland, with her depressed mother and cross, stroppy younger sister, is bullied and despised, through being tarred by her mothers’ shameful past. We will discover what this is, later. Ida, who is quiet, and generally eager to please, secretly applies to a whole raft of boarding schools for scholarships as far away as possible. St Anne’s accept her with more than open arms, and things are clearly far from conventional right from the start.

Ida is roomed with Louise, a girl with a history of some violence, desperate to be expelled – hence her increasingly antisocial behaviour.

Elinor is the geography teacher, who seems to be an archetypical spinster, disappointed and ashamed after a failed love affair. She too has been room paired with a bossier, stroppier person, the classics teacher Vera

A mysterious malady – or possibly several – strikes down one pupil after after another. Foul play of some kind, or at least some profound indication of unhygienic or environmental malpractice is suspected, bringing in investigations by the police, local medical officers, journalists, governors and parliamentarians.

Matters medical and investigative are handled by the one way correspondence of neurological consultant James Halliwell a caring, suffer fools not at all gladly, witty delight, desperately trying to get outside clarification and guidance from a former colleague.

Although the subject matter is often quite dark, the light touch – and wonderful WIT is a sheer delight. Though this is scattered throughout there are a couple of extended standouts, one, the Open Day and the performance of a complex dramatic piece, which doesn’t exactly go smoothly, and the other the minutes of a complex meeting between various administrative chiefs, trying to disentangle all matters medical

Though bereft to have finished this, highly recommend read, I have gratefully discovered Wait is NOT a debut novelist and there is a back catalogue to explore.

Havoc by Rebecca Wait

St Annes, a boarding school for girls on the south coast of England, is rocked by unexplained events following the arrival of Ida, a 16 year old scholarship girl fleeing a family scandal in Scotland.

I absolutely loved this book - I predict it will be one of my contenders for book of the year! I loved the setting - 1980s at a (mediocre) girls' boarding school - and the alternate viewpoints of Ida and teacher, Eleanor. Great 1980s details - Thatcher, Cold War, threat of a nuclear bomb - brought it all back to me! And I loved the characters - Miss Christie (?!) and Vera particularly. Funny, poignant, compelling... it's the full package! Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

2.5-3 stars

I can't explain how much I love Rebecca's books - Our Fathers was a particular favourite, and I was thrilled to get a copy of her new one. But sadly it didn't live up to my expectations.

This felt like it was lacking Rebecca's voice. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it and I will continue to love her books but this felt more...I don't know how to explain it. Her other books, I have loved them and they felt very unique, very much in her style, a bit left-field. This one felt more mainstream I suppose, more classic, and whilst I haven't got a problem with that, I did find myself missing that spark that she normally has.

Whilst there can be deviations, generally speaking, you can tell a book is by a certain author because they have a certain style that they carry through with them, even if they change genres. But if I didn't now this was one of Rebecca's, I don't think I'd have guessed it because it felt completely different.

What Rebecca does do really well is depict dysfunctional but very real families and characters.

I didn't think this was up to the standard of her previous books. It felt a bit flat. Her others are so full of feeling, but this one, for me anyway, seemed to stay on the surface instead of delving deep.

I wasn't really sure what it was meant to be. A family depiction? Toxic friendship? Dark academia? A psychological thriller? A mystery?

I can't say I didn't enjoy it, because I did, I think. I finished it in a day, it was easy to read, smooth to read. Interesting premise and well created characters. But it lacked anything that I relate to Rebecca Wait as a writer. And for that I was quite disappointed. Her others book...I still think about them long after reading them, but I think this one will be quite easy to forget about.

***SPOILERS***

***SPOILERS***

***SPOILERS***

DON'T READ ANY MORE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE GIRLS AND THEIR SICKNESS

***SPOILERS***

***SPOILERS***

***SPOILERS***

What I did like though was the inclusion of conversion disorder (not known as Functional Neurological Disorder) and non-epileptic seizures, which is a diagnosis I have and it's something I struggle from hugely, but it was a real delight (in a weird morbid way) to see it depicted in a book.

Havoc offers a vividly atmospheric setting with the boarding school particularly well described, creating a strong sense of place. However, the multiple perspectives dilute the emotional impact. While some characters, like Louise, stand out, others lack depth, making it hard to stay fully engaged. The humor felt a bit forced, and the central mysteries were predictable. Overall, a competent read but not the strongest example of Wait’s storytelling. Recommended mainly for fans of atmospheric, character-driven fiction.

With its themes of logic failing to impact the established emotional milieu, this would make a great Book Club read. Apart from one scene which had me in fits of laughter, most of the humour is quiet and wry, but that suits the story. The writing is smooth and easy to read, the characters are nuanced, and the plot provokes interesting questions.

I found myself immediately invested in Ida, a new student arriving at the boarding school. I wasn't so captivated by the voice of the teacher, but the setting is marvellous, the school being almost a character in its own right.

A witty, smart, funny, strange novel set at a girl's boarding school. I'm such a fan of Wait's storytelling and writing, this book does not disappoint!

One of the most entertaining books I've read for ages. It's very funny and there are shades of Cold comfort farm and St Trinians about it but there's also a darker side of dysfunctional families, nuclear threat and societal expectations. It took me a little while to settle into this but so glad I did. It's brilliant and bonkers.

I just love stories set in boarding schools. Hooked as a child on Malory Towers, The Naughtiest Girl series, Tom Brown, Jennings and even Billy Bunter, I’ve always found them fascinating. Such an introspective and enclosed world and I was delighted to be offered Havoc as a peek into the adult world of boarding schools. This just ticks all the boxes. Told from a dual perspective of pupil and teacher, it’s so original and incredibly funny. But it’s also poignant as we understand sadness beneath the veneer. There’s a failing boarding school, an off the wall headmistress, troubled geography teacher and a couple of recalcitrant pupils. Throw into that mix a mystery illness which is causing people to drop lime nine pins and let the mayhem begin.
This is a real page turner. It’s packed with eccentric characters who remain plausible and there’s an intense and introspective atmosphere as the story unfolds. It’s filled with dark humour and also explores more serious issues such as the mass psychosomatic illness phenomenon. An unusual, entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable romp of a read.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a review copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

This book is not quite as exciting as the blurb suggests and really, Eleanor's past engagement and Matthew's arrival are only incidental happenings. I thought the book might be a bit like the old Gordon Jackson film Death Comes to School but it is not, it is more like a version of Malory Towers, even the description of the school with its towers recalls Malory Towers, although this school has fallen on hard times. The head is called Miss Christie in a nod to Agatha Christie's books about such as Cat Among the Pigeons which takes place at a school and The Pale Horse which is named checked.

Having said that, it is a good read and very funny in places, often laugh aloud, wry humour. Vera is a hoot as is Angela. The teachers "quash" the girls and any silliness quite amusingly. i just love Dr Halliwell, his petty feuds with Dr Rhys, his faxes to George and the absolutely hilarious minutes of the meeting which begins "Item: Ejection of League of Friends from boardroom".

I think people who enjoy old style school stories will enjoy this more adult version and I see that the author drew on a book I have read - Terms & Conditions: Life in Girls' Boarding Schools by Ysenda Maxtone Graham.

It does flag a bit in the middle but only a little. It is really a book about conversion disorder (what used to be called mass hysteria) and that is interesting and doesn't overwhelm the rest of the story. I was quite sorry to leave them all at the end, I enjoyed the hints of the future and I wonder what will happen next.