The Academie by Susanne Dunlap
The Academie by Susanne Dunlap
Review of The Academie
Title & Author:
The Academie by Susanne Dunlap
Publisher:
Bloomsbury
Publication Date:
February 28, 2012
Pages:
368
Source:
ARC from PublisherEliza Monroe-daughter of the future president of the United States-is devastated when her mother decides to send her to boarding school outside of Paris. But the young American teen is quickly reconciled to the idea when-ooh, la-la!-she discovers who her fellow pupils will be: Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte; and Caroline Bonaparte, youngest sister of the famous French general. It doesn’t take long for Eliza to figure out that the two French girls are mortal enemies—and that she’s about to get caught in the middle of their schemes.
Loosely drawn from history, Eliza Monroe’s imagined coming of age provides a scintillating glimpse into the lives, loves, and hopes of three young women during one of the most volatile periods in French history. – Goodreads
I had ridiculously high expectations for The Academie by Susanne Dunlap, and in a weird way it met them, but is also fell flat at the same time.
Let me try to explain. The Academie is one wild ride of a book. There’s so much scandal and drama and overdramatic and scheming characters, all of which I loved to bits. I loved Eliza and Hortense and I even kind of liked Caroline, despite the amount of times where I rolled my eyes at her.
And for most of The Academie, I loved the ride! Like I said, there’s a ton of scandal and secrets revealed and it was cool being a part of that.
Unfortunately there were a few plot elements in The Academie that left me feeling a bit confused, and the end of the book was like HOLY WHAT. There’s a huge, and I do mean huge, twist towards the very end that I didn’t see coming – I had to reread it like twelve times to make sure it actually happened, and I’m still kind of confused as to why it happened.
The Academie was my first book by Susanne Dunlap and while it wasn’t one of my favourites, I’ll be reading more from her very soon. The Academie was a roller coaster of historical fiction and scandal, and while I think you should give it a shot, I’m warning you now about the WTF ending.
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I had the same feelings. You know, I liked it enough to read it kind of fast and not really put it down, but as I read it, I kept saying to myself, “meh,” or “!@%$@! What was that?!” or “holy crap, where did THAT come from?” It was…weird. But I know that Susanne Dunlap writes lots of historical fiction and I love that, so I’ll probably check out something else by her.
Amy @ Tripping Over Books recently posted..Tripping Over April
[Reply]
For me, this one was just sort of ‘eh’. I really liked her writing style, but just couldn’t get into this one for whatever reason.
Thanks for the great review.
Jac @ For Love and Books recently posted..Review: Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke
[Reply]
I don’t usually read a lot of historical ficiton, but this one keeps drawing me in.
fakesteph recently posted..ROW80 Round Two: Goals
[Reply]
It has such a pretty cover, so that’s probably why I want to read it so much. Everything I’ve seen says almost the same thing you (Tara), Amy, and Jac say. Eventually, I’ll get around to it I’m sure. And the cover is so pretty!
Asheley (@BookwormAsheley) recently posted..My Thoughts On: Ashes by Estevan Vega
[Reply]
Every single review I’ve read so far has either been negative or ‘meh.’ This was a book I had really looked forward to! It sucks that everyone’s so disappointed with it.
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