📖 BOOK REVIEW⠀📚
BOOK: The Swallows
AUTHOR: Lisa Lutz
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Published: August 13, 2019
https://amzn.to/2yKtFbQ
Revenge. Secrets. Lies. Hidden Identities. High School.⠀
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Told from different points of view, The Swallows tells of the sordid perversion of how men use women for pleasure and entertainment. But to be fair, the way this story is told doesn’t feel dirty. There is a sense of the audience coming aware, almost as if their innocence is breaking along with the characters as they find the truth. ⠀
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Ok maybe this is too deep. Let me get to the crux of it. The boys of Stonebridge prep have been talking about their sexual encounters in hidden corners of the school message board. But even deeper than that in the deepest part, an elite group is grading each encounter (a specific one I won’t mention here by name), for the Dulcinea award. Ms. Witt joins the school as a creative writing teacher and learns what is happening. However, the elite are willing to do anything to keep the secret, and have to a handful of previous teachers. Will the girls who are unwittingly participating rise up? Which teachers are in on the coverup? ⠀
To be honest, when I first got this book, I just expected a nice little mystery read. Boy was I wrong, and happy to be! I could not put this book down and literally finished it in 2 days. The story carries beautifully, and the pieces fall into place. There were a few questions still outstanding that I wish had been answered like ***SPOILERS*** Why did the announcer always tell the weather wrong and did it have some clue about the happenings (that would have been cool)? What was Rachel’s real role? While I understood the connection of Dulcinea, how was the name truly derived? Maybe these are important questions, just ones that this book brings up. You know it’s a good book when you want to know more.⠀
Small Summary:
It starts with this simple writing prompt from Alex Witt, Stonebridge Academy’s new creative writing teacher. When the students’ answers raise disturbing questions of their own, Ms. Witt knows there’s more going on the school than the faculty wants to see. She soon learns about The Ten–the students at the top of the school’s social hierarchy–as well as their connection to something called The Darkroom.
Ms. Witt can’t remain a passive observer. She finds the few girls who’ve started to question the school’s “boys will be boys” attitude and incites a resistance that quickly becomes a movement. But just as it gains momentum, she also attracts the attention of an unknown enemy who knows a little too much about her–including what brought her to Stonebridge in the first place.
Meanwhile, Gemma, a defiant senior, has been plotting her attack for years, waiting for the right moment. Shy loner Norman hates his role in the Darkroom, but can’t find the courage to fight back until he makes an unlikely alliance. And then there’s Finn Ford, an English teacher with a shady reputation who keeps one eye on his literary ambitions and one on Ms. Witt.
As the school’s secrets begin to trickle out, a boys-versus-girls skirmish turns into an all-out war, with deeply personal–and potentially fatal–consequences for everyone involved.
*****
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from Netgalley.