The Truants

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Dark academia. Multiple mysteries. Untrustworthy cast of characters. This was definitely the book for me. The Truants emulates a nigh-on perfect slow burn, generating a pace that makes room for unexpected tragedies as well as silly student antics, drawing out multiple threads of deceptions and lies and a nearly unending river of narrative twists.” This was such a fascinating read that brought to mind two other dark academia favourites of mine - The Secret History and If We Were Villains. The way Weinberg introduced both the characters and the course topics covered was far more accessible than the prior two and, so, a more fast-paced and inclusive read was delivered.

TRUANT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary TRUANT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

It was atmospheric, intriguing, pretentious, and everything I want and more from a dark academia story, but I do have to say this centers more around a group of people who met in an academic setting where their lives interconnect and secrets are revealed, rather than the story centering around the academic institution and their studies. So I’d keep that in mind, if you’re looking for a dark academia read.

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Reading The Truants changes Jess's life. Why do you think The Truants speaks to Jess so powerfully? Is there a book you read when you were a teenager that changed you? What about as an adult? From the author of Looker comes this "compulsive and unforgettable novel" (Mona Awad) of razor-sharp suspense about two local librarians whose lives become dangerously intertwined.

truant | meaning of truant in Longman Dictionary of truant | meaning of truant in Longman Dictionary of

The camps became hubs of dancing, flirting, and jocular humor, and included children mingling with adults. Although Johnson worked on making sketches for years, he never completed a finished version of the “larger & more pretenscious [ sic] sugaring picture” that he wrote to patron John Coyle he had planned to make. —PH Weinberg’s gripping and luminous debut, The Truants, lays bare the lengths to which we will go to feel seen, even when this means being blind to the glaring faults of others. At once thrilling and heart breaking, The Truants is a novel that beautifully captures how easy it is to wound those we love and be wounded by them, and the long, anguished road to forgiveness that follows.”

A mesmerizing novel of infatuation and betrayal, reminiscent of Muriel Spark and Donna Tartt. Kate Weinberg makes a stunning debut!” The story follows Jess Walker during her first year at university, having enrolled because of her fascination of star professor Lorna Clay. Perfect for lovers of Agatha Christie and The Secret History, The Truants is a seductive, unsettling, and beautifully written debut novel of literary suspense--a thrilling exploration of deceit, first love, and the depths to which obsession can drive us.

The Truants - Kindle edition by Weinberg, Kate. Literature The Truants - Kindle edition by Weinberg, Kate. Literature

Lorna was easy. I based (all the best parts of) her on a charismatic female professor - and celebrated writer and literary critic - Lorna Sage, who taught me at the UEA. Jess’s voice is closer to mine, but it came more slowly. I wanted her to be an observer narrator and so she is deliberately less exotic than the others. But I also wanted her to be attractive to the other characters. So I worked hard at trying to get that right. Christie was 36 years old at the time of her disappearance. On the evening of December 3, 1926, she drove away from her house in Berkshire, England. Her car, a green Morris Crowley, was later found in a ditch close to the city of Guildford (40 miles away), and Christie herself had vanished. Rod has now learned how to get people to commit irrevocably to things they might later regret, and so the scene moves to a similar room in a very different place. It’s Durban, South Africa, June 20 2009, the early hours of the morning before the first Lions Test there. Rod lines up Messrs Hole, Moore, Cooney and Allen, who, after a long day and night in the bars, agree to everything he says, and then, crucially, clink his glass. A fine start to a recruiting drive that continues at Rosslyn Park Rugby Club and then in bar after bar, after drink upon drink, in country after country, as one by one the glasses are clinked and the unbreakable deal is made and another stalwart is added to the cause. And somewhere along the line Rod remembers the Just William books of his youth and conjures a name and brand that add the bit of magic such things do.This is a contemporary novel set on a college campus. There are mysterious happenings in the novel, but I wouldn't consider this a mystery. It's an intriguing read with some interesting elements. My favorite parts were those concerning Agatha Christie.