Summary
Brynn feels trapped in her life. She lives on the “wrong” side of town. Her mom’s boyfriend Pete is a drug dealer. He’s even pulled Brynn’s childhood best friend into his cut throat life. Her only chance to escape is to chunk her way through high school and save up enough money to break free. She’s resorted to hustles and cons to squirrel away money for college. But Pete finds her cash, accuses her of stealing from him, and Brynne is left feeling even more trapped than ever.
Vale Hall could be her ticket out. Brynne feels so fortunate to have lucked into a chance at the exclusive prep school. And it turns out she has just the right skills for Vale’s mission. The headmaster, Dr. David Odin, offers his charges free room and board, a first class education, and money for college. In exchange, the students are trained to dig up secrets that Dr. Odin can use.
But as desperately as Brynne wants her Vale life to deliver all it promises, her past isn’t ready to let her go. And when it crashes into her attempt at a new life, Brynne could end up losing everything.
Review
The set up for this with Brynne’s home life is grim. This is brilliant because it makes the reader sympathetic when Brynne starts using her scamming skills to help out Dr. Odin on his plan. In fact, when Brynne gets into Vale, I felt like it was a reward for the reader – sure, there are questionable ethics involved, but at least she was out of her home situation. Her home life was stressful!
The book clicked for me when Brynne was auditioning for a spot at Vale. I had so many questions, I couldn’t read fast enough. I loved the way Brynne used her skills to read people. She’s got great instincts and intuition. If only she had the freedom to use her powers for good. The school was interesting, but the characters there were my favorite part of the story. I’d love more stories with these characters!
The book feels like a classic heist story, but with higher stakes. The author does a great job of twisting all of the pieces together. I loved the whole Vale journey for Brynne and the others. If you enjoy heist books, suspense, or boarding school stories, don’t miss this one!