Night School: Number 1 in series

The only thing I really knew about this book going in was it took place at a boarding school, that's what sold me. Allie is sent away by her parents to Cimmeria Academy after one too many times in trouble with the police and her current school. Allie doesn't know anything about Cimmeria so neither do we as the reader. I didn't know if this book would be paranormal or spy or just teenagers at school. Without giving too much away, throughout you are given small answers here and there, like who to trust and maybe hints at what is happening behind the scenes but there's so many more questions to be answered (probably why this is a several book series). I love the characters Allie, Carter, Rachel, Sylvain- they are why I will continue reading the books and of course with the boarding school setting.

When I first requested this ARC from Eidelweiss , I thought that it was going to be a boarding school about Vampires hence the Night School part. However, when I first started reading it we meet Allie who has been arrested three times in the past year and is now as a last resort being shipped off to boarding school at Cimmeria Academy. Here I am still wondering about the Vampire connection and this strange Night School , when things start to happen as Allie has a series of nightmares , some of the students are acting weird and Allie doesn't seem to fit in with the school. As the novel goes along, we hear that Allie and her new friend Jo heard a noise like a growling dog only to be told it was a fox and then a student is found murdered. What is going on at the school ? When Allie learns that only legacies tend to be accepted , she goes digging into her files and discovers a whole different life than she could imagine and it all points back to her mother ? What is her mum hiding and why did her mum attend the academy ? What is going on here that people are dying and no-one is talking about it ?
By the end of the book , I have an idea of what's happening but to be honest I am still not entirely sure which is why I had to go out and buy the second book off the store - Night School: Legacy to find out more.
Night School is one story that is filled with twists and turns and at the end of it , you will be still like Huh ?? and it will make you and I mean make you go out and purchase Book #2 just to find out what is going on

#This was an ARC from Eidelweiss Books.

After a series of arrests and unfortunate incidents with authority, Allie is sent to Cimmeria Academy where there's no cell phones, no computers, just good old fashioned education. She makes friends quickly with Jo, and we can't forget the boys Sylvain and Carter who both have warnings about the other for Allie. Despite all the rules, Cimmeria soon feels like home to Allie but not long after mysterious things start to happen and people even end up hurt.

Night School was absolutely nothing like I thought it would be. For some reason I had the pre-conceived notion that this was going to be a paranormal type book with ghosts, vampires or other other wordly creatures. There was a ton of intrigue and suspense, and was a fantastic YA thriller. The characters felt real and relatable. Nothing in this came forced or cheesy which is honestly what I expected.

There were some things that I felt were lacking. I felt that for the first book in a series I was strung along a bit longer than what made me comfortable. At times, even though things were always going on, the pacing of the book felt a little ho-hum. There were these hints of a secret underground group, The Night School, but we didn't find out much about it until the book was almost over which left me feeling a bit disappointed.

Regardless, I still felt that this was an interesting read. This book was absolutely thrilling and haunting for the majority of it and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

Since the Harry Potter days, I've always loved boarding school books. So as soon as I saw this book, I've wanted to read it, I'm not sure why but it sounded like something I'd enjoy and enjoy I did, in fact, it became an instant favorite! Also, the fact that it's set in London and it's British is an extra bonus. I love British books!

Night School has just about everything I love in a good escape. Mystery, intrigue, excitement, driven character and a heart pounding plot. I loved the atmosphere! It's set in an old and odd Gothic mansion turned into a school called Cimmeria Academy. That's where Allie's parents sent her as a last resort after being arrested-again- and decided they had enough and dropped her off at the academy doors, in summer no less. Allie was all for hating every second of her stay, but the school seemed to settle her in a way that she finally feels happy and after what happened to her brother she didn't know if that was ever possible again. Soon enough strange things start happening around Allie, some of the students are even getting hurt and Allie is starting to question exactly what kind of school she got landed in.
She really has no idea....

C.J. Daugherty writing is fabulous!! I love how easy it was to get into this story. She doesn't rush her characters or the plot along. The pacing is perfect and it's quite detailed. The school itself is like it's very own character, it has a very enchanting quality to it, traditional, impressive and intimating at the same time. I loved how expressive the grounds are. The garden and the church and then there's the library and the books and the art, I quickly feel in love with everything about it. I also loved the way the characters moved along. From classes, homework, dinners to romance and mysterious mishaps along the way, we get the full effect and it was really nice to be able to sink in a story that didn't feel rushed for a change. I got to know these characters really well, understanding them better. Some may find it a bit slow moving but I never felt bored, in fact I was genuinely interested in every aspect this book had to offer.

There are a lot of chracters to get to know, but each one has a unique role. Allie of course is our main protag and I really like her. She's had a hard go for awhile there but once we get to know her she becomes a different person right before our eyes. She's got a good head on her shoulders, she knows how to hold her own and even though life at the academy can be challenging she kept her head up and didn't stop fighting for what she believed in.
Jo is a great girl, she has issues, but I liked how natural their friendship felt, same goes for Rachel as well. All the secondary characters; Isabelle, Jules, Lucas, Lisa, Katie and Gabe were all well developed and most of them kept surprising me along the way.
As for the boys? Sylvain is a hard one, he's a charming guy even really likable in the beginning, but he did something that I usually don't find forgivable, but wonderfully enough, somehow Daugherty made him redeemable in my eyes and my heart actually went out to him by the end of the book.
But at last, Carter West owns me! At first this guy was so hot and cold I couldn't form a proper opinion of him till half way throughout the book. But once I hit a certain point there really is no turning back when it comes to Carter, he's the real deal and I absolutely loved him to bits! He and Allie shared some really fantastic moments. These two are so stubborn but the chemistry is intense and very sexy.

This story line is not at all what I thought it was going to be and probably my favorite part of the book.
When you look at the cover, read the title and the blurb that follows it, what is the fist thing that pops in your mind? For me, it's paranromal.
I thought for sure there would be some kind of paranrmal element in this book, it surly reads like one. It makes you feel anxious throughout the entire novel, like your missing the bigger picture or trying to grasp a clouded thought that slips away right before you remember it. This may seem frustraing and even unsettling, but it was actually the opposite for me. It made me want to savor this book instead of rushing to end it. It almost has a teasing flavor that made it so much fun trying to guess the punchline before the big reveal. Sadly, I couldn't for the life of me guess what this book is truly about -what Night School is truly about- so I'm not going to tell you guys, your just gonna have to read it and find out for yourself;)
I will say that this was nicely done, not only is it believable but it's also pretty creative and so not predictable.
If there was ever a book out there that needed a sequel, then this book would be it. My head is spinning and I physically need to know more! I have so many questions about, well, everything so I'm so glad another book is in the works. It simply can not end here!!

Bottom line, I loved this book guys. It was a blast to read and while I usually zip through books like candy, I wanted to savor this one for as long as I could. It's fun, funny, puzzling and incredibly alluring.
An enjoyable experience and a outstanding debut!!

What a fabulous book!

Allie is emotionally broken after the disappearance of her brother. Her petty crime-ways force her parents to enroll her in an exclusive boarding school for the ultra rich in the countryside, far from London and her past. As she slowly becomes comfortable, makes friends (and love interests) and thinks she can redirect her life, mysteries about the school and its inhabitants begin to consume Allie. Why is she a student when everyone but she has money and Legacy - family ties to the institution? And what is the mysterious and ultra secret Night School that some of the advanced students belong to? There is mystery and death in this gothically-beautiful place, and Allie is set on uncovering its secrets.

I just loved everything about this book. The descriptions and characters are wonderful, and I had really no idea where the plot was going, which is good because I hate when I can figure everything out early on. This one will keep you reading well into the night!

the store recommended this book for me, and by the title I jumped to vampires being involved. I was way off base, but holy cow! The story kept me engrossed throughout, we kept getting pulled deeper and deeper into this giant conspiracy and never told what is going on or why Allie is being targeted. I NEEDED to know what was going to happen. Then my mind blew every time we did learn a small piece of information because you never see it coming. I’m getting ready to start the second book, eager to learn more.

This story begins when Allie gets arrested, again. This is the last time for her parents, so they send her away to a school she's never heard of. Now, she's got to figure out who to survive being the new girl, when everyone seems to be out to get her, and also figure what this strange school is hiding. Along the way, she makes new friends, new enemies, and a whole lot of crazy things end up happening. But Allie isn't going to give up until she learns everything that people are hiding from her.

This book was okay. It wasn't great, but not bad either. I liked the whole idea of the story, and the characters were pretty interesting too. Although it felt like the ending fell kind of flat. I was expecting a little bit more, and just didn't get it. But this was a nice book to pass the time with. It had a lot of suspense and intrigue as well.

Ever since her brother disappeared a year and a half ago Allie has been taking more and more drastic actions to get her parent's attention and as a way of pushing her grief and worry to one side. Now she has taken one too many risks and been arrested for the third time and her parents are at their wits end. Before she can blink Allie finds herself packed off to a distant boarding school. Life at Cimmeria is very different to any other school she has ever been to, the lessons are hard, the rules are strict and punishments for breaking them are severe. Allie thought she would hate the restrictions that the school has in place but as she settles in she starts to appreciate her new life and quickly makes friends. Not everyone is pleased to have her there though and when mysterious events start to occur Allie finds herself falling victim to a nasty hate campaign. Who is really behind the incidents though and just what are the students who are members of the mysterious Night School actually doing in their spare time?

I have to admit that when I first picked up Night School I was expecting a fairly average story with some kind of supernatural creature (probably vampires) causing trouble at the boarding school. I thought I'd enjoy it but I didn't think it would particularly stand out from the many other paranormal books I've read that have a school setting. I'm very glad to say I was wrong and Night School was much more than I thought it would be. The story has a dark, Gothic feel to it and it really kept me on my toes trying to guess what was going on. There were so many plot twists and a lot of things took me by surprise. I loved the atmosphere of the book and I didn't want to put it down because there were so many questions I wanted answers to.

Allie is quite a messed up character when she arrives at the school, she comes across as quite self centred and very uncaring towards her parents but as you get to know her you quickly see how lost and lonely she is. Christopher wasn't just her brother he was also her best friend and his disappearance devastated her. She doesn't really have anyone to turn to now that he's gone so she started taking stupid risks and getting into trouble just to get some kind of reaction from her parents and to make herself feel more alive. It backfires in the worst kind of way when she is sent miles away from home to stay at boarding school but that is actually the best thing that could ever have happened to her. The rules and regulations are just what she needed to feel secure and the fact that she quickly finds new friends is a bonus. It didn't take me long at all to really like Allie and I was right there with her when people started giving her a hard time - I really wanted to step in on her behalf on occasions but she was more than capable of standing up for herself. I was glad to see that she had a few loyal friends who really stuck by her and gave her the support she needed though.

With two potential love interests I was a bit worried that we might end up with another messy love triangle but I'm really hoping that won't be the case. I didn't like Sylvain from the very beginning but after certain things he did I grew to really hate him. He did try to redeem himself a little towards the end but he's going to have to work a hell of a lot harder than that to make me like him. One thing I will say is that if Allie even thinks about giving him a second look I'll have to give up on the series because there are some things that I just can't put up with. Carter on the other hand was fab, he was cold and distant towards her in the beginning but they gradually become friends and when they start working together mutual respect starts to shift into something more. I'm definitely team Carter and am looking forward to seeing what happens next between them.

After the action packed ending full of shocking revelations I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel Legacy and thankfully I don't have long to wait. I'm impressed with C.J. Daugherty's debut and have a feeling that this series is just going to get better with each instalment. If you haven't read this book yet then I'd recommend getting your copy now - then you can join me reading the second book in January!

Originally posted here: [...]

Before starting my review, let me confess one of my (many) dark secrets: I am a sucker for boarding schools. That may be due because it's a totally alien concept in my country, but still. I love them, so I couldn't pass up this book when I read the summary. There was a weird school, a girl who seemed likeable and a mystery. Night School... even the name was promising!

And I cannot honestly tell I didn't like it, I was just a bit puzzled because I was expecting a paranormal young adult; instead there were no paranormal elements. That would not be a problem, except that I had totally different expectations about the book and when they were not met I was slightly disappointed.

The story follows Allie, a trouble girl who, after another arrest, is sent by her parents in a mysterious school she's has never heard before, where internet does not exist and lessons are way harder than usual. Here Allie meets Jo, Lisa, Rachel and seems to attract the attention of Sylvain, one of the school's most gorgeous guys, and Carter, another mysterious guy with a bad reputation. Then weird things start to happen and there is also a murder. The secret group called Night School seems to know something about it and Allie finds herself tangled up with something bigger than her but which involves her nonetheless. Oh, and there is also a bit of romance, which is always good!

There is a lot of suspense and tension revolving around the Night School group and their mysterious activities and not even at the end of the book I really understood what is their ultimate goal and the reason behind them. So many things are hinted, but the ending really left me wanting more, with tons of questions, curiosities. Of course I wasn't satisfied, I wanted more.

There isn't anything particularly new or original, but there is something very intriguing and fascinating and I couldn't put the book down. Allie is a girl that goes from being a rebel to being a good girl when she steps into the new school; a change I felt a bit too sudden, but she's a very likeable, if not predictable, character and I find it easy to relate to her. Same thing goes for her friends. They all have their personality (a bit of a cliché, but I really didn't mind) and I like them all. And there is also a love triangle. I know, I know, many of us are tired of love triangle, but again, I liked it. Sylvain is a very controversial character, for me, but towards the ending he surprised me. Carter is... very much interesting! I think there is a lot more to discover about them and I'll just have to keep reading this series.

The narration is from Allie's POV; simple, immediate, I kept on turning the pages on and on and on trying to find a solution to the mystery and to discover the truth. And now... I absolutely need to know what will happen next.

not able to find something good to read; i decided to just start reading samples of books. after 4 book samples i finally git to night school and actually kept reading. i had no idea what it was about and usually being pretty good at guessing where a book was going i was surprised that this one went in another direction. needs some editing and some attention to detail but good overall. main character can be a bit less dramatic.

I picked up this book thinking from the title that if might be about a school of vampires. I was wrong. If you're a fan of PRETTY LITTLE LIARS book series you'll really like this one.

Allie has become a feisty rebel since her brother vanished. It reach the point where her parents sends her away to the mysterious Cimmeria Academy boarding school. While the term night school comes up ever so often in the book the night school itself doesn't have an over all impact on this book. Hearing this might be book one of a series that could change later on.

At the school Allie find herself a loner having trouble fitting in and making friends. The rumor mill is already spreading how she doesn't fit in. When students end up dead, in the hospital or missing; yet the police isn't called in, Allie starts her own investigating. She doesn't know who to trust and who might be out to get her. All she really knows is everyone is lying and keeping a secret that only she is being kept out of the loop of. Digging her investigation could bring the lies reach all the way to her own parents.

I really enjoyed reading this book!! I sometimes loose track of time and end up reading til 2 in the morning if its a good book...But this time I ended up reading all night litterally. I went to bed at like 4 in the morning!! I love this book but I would have enjoyed it more with less cussing.... Anyways, I recomend this book to ages 13+. If you are a lover of action without paranormal activity you shoild definitely read this book. :) :) :)

I really enjoyed this book, though I must admit that it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I understood this to be a paranormal or urban fantasy thriller, and while it contained elements of suspense and the unseen, it was what I would classify as a general thriller. However, this book grabbed my attention from the beginning and held on straight through the sequel. I definitely recommend this book for anyone enjoying a suspenseful or thrilling read with a bit of intrigue.

I have found a new favourite author and favourite series. C.J. Daugherty is now on my "must read" list, I'm such a fan.

This is the second book I read by Daugherty, and I love, love, love it. An amazing book to read, I loved everything about it. Yes, it really is that good.

Allie is a troublemaker. Ever since her brother disappeared she has been getting arrested and making a ton of trouble for herself. After her parents are forced to remove her from another school she is sent to Cimmeria Academy. Cimmeria Academy is a posh boarding school for academically inclined teens, set in the middle of nowhere and has a ton of its own secrets. Allie starts to make friends there and with the strict rules she is actually in a good place. Then strange things start to happen, dangerous things. Allie and her friends are on a race with time to figure out what is happening before it's too late.

I have to put this out there for anyone that may be thinking the same thing: this is not a paranormal book. I went into this thinking it was a paranormal boarding school; it's not. Goodreads may have led me astray. I spent approximately 75% of the book assuming some paranormal twist was going to happen... it's not. Contemporary folks, don't be confused like me

I really enjoyed the main character, Allie. I thought she was pretty intriguing. She had a lot on her plate, with her brothers disappearance and mixed with her parents standoffish attitudes, so she rebelled. I think this is pretty true to real life situations(while not necessarily the situations but the reactions) so it made her an extremely believable character. She was put into such a different environment and it was really interesting to see her feel her way out, learn who she could and couldn't trust.. oh yah, and get mixed up with some boys I really loved Carter as well. I thought he was a great character and he really intrigued me the entire time. I think there is going to be something revealed about him later on in the series, he just has this mysterious air. While I really enjoyed a lot of the characters I didn't necessarily love them. The entire book is based on suspense and mystery so I was constantly suspicious of everyone. The character building is great though and a lot of the characters are strong. I really enjoyed that there were such a huge amount of secondary characters that played important parts. Secondary characters are usually my favorites.

The mystery and intrigue in Night School was fantastic. I did not want to stop reading. As I mentioned above, I was extremely suspicious of nearly every character and determined to figure out who(or what... in my case) was doing these awful things to the students at Cimmeria. Now that being said, the pacing is slow. This is a pretty large book, at 400 pages, and nothing... absolutely NOTHING is revealed before 75%. There is a lot of build up, and you can tell it's coming but it just took so long. If it wasn't for the intrigue that surrounds the story I'm certain I would have thrown the book down. That's the one problem I had with Night School and unfortunately it caused me to not love it entirely.

That all being said, it's a great read and I will definitely be continuing the series. There is quite a big cliffhanger at the end so it basically forces you to read the next book. I'm dying to figure out how everything will play out and I have to admit I'm a bit interested to see where the love triangle will go.

If you enjoy boarding schools, mystery and suspense I absolutely recommend Night School. While the pacing is slow the suspense will keep you pulled in!

Originally posted at arielavalon.com

Allie has been a bit of a troublemaker since her brother Christopher ran away. Now she has been arrested for the third time this year and her parents have had enough. They ship her off to board at Cimmeria Academy for the summer term where she has no access to phones, stereos, computers, or the outside world at all. The rules are incredibly strict and then there is also the Night School classes that other students are not allowed to know about or watch. When Allie is attacked one night, it begins a string of events leading to a death during a dance and secrets around every bend. When it seems like everyone is lying, she must find out who she can trust, and quickly, before the danger catches up with her.

I want to say first, that this book is incorrectly shelved on Goodreads. Its listed under Paranormal and Vampires, and there are, regretfully, neither within it's pages. Seeing those shelves and then reading the summary, especially the part about the Night School had me super excited thinking that the story was going to be similar to Vampire Knight. As I met the characters (Especially Sylvain) I got more and more hopeful so part of my disappointment may be based directly on the book being mishelved.

The characters were fine. There are a few side characters that you feel might have more importance but end up fading away into the background. Others are kept so mysterious that it makes them poorly characterized. Allie drove me a bit batty. She starts out so troubled and sarcastic and then she flipflops as soon as she is in the academy and is suddenly a good student. Her panic attacks are random and some of them quite uncalled for. Its like the author has no knowledge of such things but wanted to make her more broken and added them in anyway. Having Carter tell her about his old attacks was just pointless. It was a "too little, too late" characterization. Then, Allie's lack of thinking about her family and old friends was misplaced and random. Its almost like the author went through and thought "Oh! I havent had her think about her parents in a while *adds in passing*. Oh! This person needs a bit more characterization *adds randomly*".

The story focuses too much on the love triangle. The anger/hatred/jealousy between Sylvain and Carter is too unexplained. There wasnt enough tension in the triangle and so the whole thing falls apart. You start out adoring Sylvain and then he becomes a wanker and you just fall into Carter the same way Allie does. Its like, why even have bothered with the triangle at all? Then, as things go by and Sylvain apologizes for being a wanker, Allie just ups and forgives him without worry. She still trusts him and its misplaced.

Because of the love triangle being so forefront, the story itself lags. The climax happens incredibly late and its horribly anticlimatic even then. You can tell that this was meant to be a series. The author wanted to make you asks tons of questions and give you few answers but in the end she makes you ask your tons of questions and gives you no answers. Nothing is cleared up or properly resolved. Everything is just swept under the run until company leaves, obviously to be tackled in the next book, which is always a poor idea. If you wait to tackle all the questions in the next installment you end up forgetting things or dragging on the story and annoying your readers.

Regardless of all the bad, I still enjoyed it. It was an enjoyable read with a frustrating ending is all. I think if the next installment were already out then I would have much warmer feelings for this novel.

I like YA Fiction, but sometimes the drama can be over the top. This book certainly had tension and drama, but it wasn't out of control. I found the characters interesting and complex. The story took a common theme -- boarding school -- but with a different twist. I finished the first book and immediately purchased the second because I wanted to find out what happens next.

Spoiler alerts:

I liked the idea of this story. But was really disappointed that nothing actually happened. All this build up and there was really not much to night school then like 4 kids and no super powers that you think they are going have?

Auther wasn't consistent either. At one point it's this huge deal to fallow the rules and not know anything about night school......when there's no fallow through on rules for most of the kids and everyone knows about night school.

But my biggest problem was the near date rape that was pushed under the rug and never addressed!!! Allie never told anyone about it...even cater knew and never told the headmistress and get this....the guy rapes a girl every year and no one has done anything about this!!!

Not only that but Allie even talked with this major pervert alone again and also says its fine for him to help guard her from being harmed or kidnaped in the end. But who'd going to protect her from him?? So stupid and completely disturbing. I won't be reading any more from this author. I have zero tolerancy for rapist.

I am so impressed with this author. I am. Dystopian junkie but this book has all the thrill an adventure in a more realistic setting. I'm not a YA.... But love this book. Going to reach the next book asap!

What a nice surprise! the store knows me so well. ;) Night School was on my recommendations due to a couple of YA series that I have enjoyed a lot. This was a great read that left me wanting more. I have got to know what happens next, so I see a series binge read coming on. :)

Was drawn into the book based on other reviews but found the storyline quite lacking and far from the descriptions. Wish I could give it a better rating but I won't be reading the other books in the series...