I thought it was dark academia; it was a campy, over-the-top boarding school story filled with a lot of sexual exploits and secrets.

Very readable writing styles with gimmicky insertions for text messages and diagrams. I'll give credit to the writer for keeping the actions of the characters within the bounds of human cruelty (which is extraordinary, considering how cruel adults and teens can be), until the end, where the escalation is swift, unrealistic, and out of control.

I’ve rounded this up from a 2.5 to a 3 star rating because some of the themes tackled in this book are important and interesting and at times well done. However, this book was a tough read at times. It’s bigger than I expected which got me excited! The blurb was what sold it for me, I love books based in schools, especially mystery thrillers (yes I was a fan of the old school boarding school books and I’ve never really grown out of it!) so this Lisa Lutz book was screaming at me to be devoured. For me there were too many characters to keep track of - I sometimes got a little lost in keeping up with who was who and who did what. I didn’t hate the book at all - a 3 star rating does not mean hate! - but it was hard to follow and hard to swallow. No pun intended. It tackled a tough subject matter but I felt like it painted all boys as bad. And I don’t like books that make all men and boys the bad guy. There are good guys out there and I’m sorry, so so sorry if some people have been unlucky enough to never meet them. And yes it’s important to highlight the bad guys in books and it’s important to highlight the idea that some men and boys are bad and their actions are horrific. But I came away from this book feeling like the moral was: girls amazing, boys bad. Maybe I read too much into it. Maybe I’m too sensitive. But if all women were represented in the same way in a book or a film, the lack of diversity and the intense stereotyping would be brought up by every critic available. Why should it be any different of men are all painted the same way?

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc of this book from netgalley and the publishing company. Thanks! All opinions are my own. Book: The Swallows Author: Lisa Lutz Book Series: Standalone Rating: 1/5 Publication Date: August 13, 2019 Genre: Fantasy Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed Publisher: Ballantine Books Pages: 399 Amazon Link Synopsis: A new teacher at a New England prep school ignites a gender war--with deadly consequences. What do you love? What do you hate? What do you want? 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. Review: Another book I had to DNF. I’ve had this on my TBR for awhile and I was anticipating it, but in the end I couldn’t connect with the story or the characters. From what I did read (about 36%) I did like the writing but the plot had no point in my opinion. I just felt like we were talking circles and writing for the sake of writing, not for the sake of telling a story. Verdict: Not for me, but maybe for you.