This is an adult novel (supposedly, but back to that later), in which a woman in her early 20s named Teddy has been banned from all the casino's in Las Vegas as they think she cheats. Teddy doesn't consider herself a cheater, though she does know that she isn't winning in a traditionally legitimate way because she can read players and work out when to play and when to fold. As the story develops, it becomes clear that Teddy is psychic, and she is invited to a school specialising in training to use her psychic powers to potentially make a difference in the world.

So, as I mentioned earlier, this is stated to be an adult novel, and the main character is a twenty four year old woman. I have two problems with this though. Firstly, Teddy feels like a teenager throughout most of the novel, both with her actions and also with just how the book is written, as it feels very YA. I don't have a problem with YA, and enjoy it a lot, but I don't enjoy things being marketed incorrectly. The only time Teddy felt like the age she was meant to be, was at the beginning of the book when she was in the casino's gambling. My other problem is that the storyline feels like a combination of Harry Potter and The Magesterium series, which again would be fine as I enjoy both of those. In theory this could have been marketed as an adult equivalent, with dark themes and all the excitement that those series have while in the school setting. This didn't work for me though, as the writing, pacing and plot, along with all the student characters, just felt like they could have slot into the previously mentioned series easily, as they felt the same age. It's a real shame that this is something that everyone seems to be picking up on, as these were the only things that made me dislike the novel and it feels like it could have been so easy to avoid.

So onto more positive things. Teddy as a main character (outside of the age issues), is a little annoying at times, but in a believable and real way. It made her feel relatable, as she makes stupid decisions that some people would make in her situation. She is also an interesting character, that at times shows great strengths when trying to get through some of the school challenges. While on the topic of the school, it is hardcore. The reader gets a lot of details about the lessons the students have, about the tests they have to complete, and this was probably one of my favourite aspects of this book.

Twists are present a lot, and both Teddy and the reader struggle to know who to trust, and who to be wary of. Teddy goes on her own journey with this, and meanwhile I was sat playing the guessing game too. I did guess correctly, though I did change my mind may times, as the book gives you lots of red herrings. I don't feel like my correct guess detracted from my enjoyment of this though.

Overall I would highly recommend this book, I'm just a little disappointed in the age issue. This is a fast paced and easy read, which I couldn't put down.

This book went into my DNF pile. I just couldn't get into it at the moment. The pacing feels to slow for me. Great idea though.

I thought the beginning was really slow and I was put off by the missing words here and there and I thought about not finishing it:( Somehow, by the end, I was loving it. I can't wait to continue reading this series and see where it ends up. I was definitely hooked by the end:)

In many ways, this story is much like the several YA books in which teens discover they have some special abilities and are recruited to attend a secret school.. The School for Psychics is for a bit older crowd but the dynamics are similar for much of the book.

Teddy has been banned from every casino on the Vegas strip for “cheating” which she claims to have never actually done.. Teddy our main character has a gift of being able to "read" people. She is offered a place in School of Psychics with others like herself that have different special abilities. I thought the book would have picked up speed when Teddy arrived at this school but it fell extremely flat.

Its more of an YA novel and I dont think its my type.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

Teddy Cannon has picked up a nasty gambling habit and a rather large debt to a Russian loan shark. To make matters worse, she's now banned from most of the casinos in her hometown of Vegas. The first chapter opens with her entering a casino incognito and ends with her being recruited to attend a school ...for psychics. A mysterious man appears to throw the loan shark off her trail and allow her time to leave unnoticed while explaining to her that she isn't just a gifted gambler, she has psychic abilities that could be of use to the United States.
We follow Teddy through her first year at Whitfield Institute as she begins to learn about her psychic abilities and how to control them, and make friends with a small group labeled the Misfits. While it's no secret she was adopted as a baby, clues are left to suggest her birth parents were involved in a school similar to Whitfield before her birth and that their untimely deaths were no accident.
School for Psychics tends to jump between a few large plot lines and the people with ill intent were so glaringly obvious, I found myself rolling my eyes each time a confrontation was about to occur and then was foiled by the smallest convenient interruption and then forgotten.
Interesting concept, likable characters, and a quick entertaining read. I can see the plots slowly culminating to divulge the full story at the end of the series and I'm invested enough in the overall story line to continue reading,
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for providing a digital ARC for review.

Love love loved this book. Some parts could be a little boring but overall it was enjoyable.

School for Psychics is a fun and easy read. The premise is fun and exciting though the story ends up being the same as many YA plots.
Teddy is at a low point in her life. She lives in a (detached) garage at her parents, she's been kicked out of all the Las Vegas Casinos for cheating and she's in huge debt to a bookie. But Teddy doesn't cheat, well, not in any traditional sense. Teddy reads people. SHe knows when to fold and when to raise. It is not until a recruiter from a school for psychics saves her from her bookie, that she realizes she has a gift and there are ways to use it.
The plot is unique and fun. The school is training those with special abilities to servc=e in governmental enforcement helping the CIA and FBI with cases that traditional methods can't solve. But nothing is ever as it seems and Teddy must realize she must learn right and wrong on her own.
Teddy is super powered; this happens in pretty much every book I read and it makes it hard to identify with the character. I can only think of one novel, where the main character was status quo of their particular group. By the end, the book has turned into something that echoes Divergent and The Mortal Instruments.
A fun premises with promise, I hope the next books can break the YA tropes.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for inviting me to read this Advanced Galley of School for Psychics.

Teddy Cannon has gotten herself in quite a pickle. She owes a lot of money to a Russian mobster, and is now at the Vegas Casino table (a place from which she's been banned) in order to scrape up enough money to pay it back before he decides to send her to places unknown. Unfortunately for Teddy, luck is not a lady on that particular night. She ends up losing more than she's gained, putting her adoptive parents lives at risk, right along with her own.

Enter Clint Corbett. Clint alerts Teddy that her ability to spot a bluff and be so successful at cards isn't random, but innate. She's a psychic.

Corbett offers Teddy the chance to enroll at a special school for people with her particular talents. In exchange for her enrollment, he'll make sure her parents are safe and her debts are paid. So, Teddy takes the opportunity for a fresh start and embarks on a new path. However, once at the school, Teddy begins to realize there are other dangers lurking that she never could have imagined.

The story here was well-written and entertaining. You get a real sense of who Teddy is, but you also come to appreciate those in her supporting cast--Molly and Nick, especially--and it's easy to see why this is only Book 1: by the time it ends, there are still a ton of unanswered questions, and lots of connections left to unravel.

I don't tend to enjoy science fiction or fantasy, but this one held my interest until the end.

The pacing slowed at times, but picked up just as quickly.

Teddy could come across a bit too snarky at times, but it wasn't bothersome--especially when you considered she had good reason to be skeptical--and I appreciated the presence of such a strong female lead.

I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it, either. I don't know that I sustained enough of an interest to seek out the next book in the series, but that has more to do with a general disinterest in the genre than one with the story itself.

I wanted to like this book but it just felt like a bit too much. I don’t know... interesting premise but it went a little too heavy at times and then a little too YA at other times (but a bit mature for YA). Plus there were times when all the technical aspects of the psychics went over my head a little bit.

Teddy is in a downward spiral. Making bad decisions that are quickly catching up to her, putting herself and her adoptive parents in some real trouble. Her only choice? To go to the School for Psychics - where her debt will be wiped clean - she'll just need to serve four years of her life... and that's providing she even passes the entrance exams. (Which we know she does, because hello... this is just BOOK ONE!)

This eclectic cast of characters are in their 20's... not teenagers anymore, but not quite full adults yet either. Oh, don't get me wrong, when I was in my 20's, I certainly thought I was an adult.. but nope... hell, I'm in my 40's now and still don't feel like an adult so.... 😉 They're sent to this school for various reasons and all have their own skills to bring to the table... and their own secrets to keep.

As with any type of school, we have the split in cliques - for the School of Psychics we have the Misfits and the Alphas. Who doesn't love rooting for the underdog?! This book is full of YA cliches, with the smoldering bad boy, rebellious leading girl who finds her way, a puzzle to be solved, etc. - all interspersed with romance. I am NOT complaining. Personally, I found this book HIGHLY entertaining. I flew through this read and am SO glad that it's the first in a series! The ending left something to look forward to without it being abrupt and still finding a little closure.

I really enjoyed the sarcastic humor throughout this story and found this easy to read and action packed. It really wants me to try and move things with my mind again (never worked as a child, but hey.. maybe now 🤷). I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for book two!

Couple of tid bits for you all - seems K.C. Archer is a pseudonym and I can't seem to find for which author and I'm DYING of curiosity! If you know, please do tell! Also, I hear a rumor this has been optioned by the CW for a series... I think I may have to give this a look!

Happy reading all - seriously, give this a shot if you're into psychic abilities and YA fodder... and ENJOY!

We jumped right into the action in this book, which I liked. From the very first scene I wanted to root for Teddy, the book's heroine. Although I understand she's made big mistakes, she seems to have a good heart.

My goodwill towards Teddy started to fade once she began school, as her actions began to try my patience. It seems there's always a special exception for her, and she's always late. I had a hard time buying her character as an adult, because she acted so immaturely. Teddy's friends were all one-dimensional and lacking in depth. They never developed past their cookie cutter "I talk to animals, by the way my name is" introduction.

I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book, although not as much as I thought I would. The final third is when things really started to go off the rails for me. While the book cover described Teddy as, "She’s resourceful. She’s bright. She’s scrappy. She can also read people with uncanny precision." I found her to be none of those things. She held everything close to the chest and tried to bull through by herself, until she does a 180 and trusts people she has a great deal of reason to suspect. Their plan doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and then it immediately falls apart and new elements are added (why were there ropes involved suddenly?)

By the end of the book I was just beyond frustrated with Teddy, the rebellion, and the school. I won't be reading future installments, but I did appreciate getting to read this one for free at NetGalley.

Finally, and this might just be a personal thing, but I was irritated that Teddy slept with two men and immediately regretted it both times. Then berates herself for sleeping with them but also not trusting them enough to have a relationship or be vulnerable with them. I get that the author was trying to show Teddy's self-destructive behavior, but I really wanted a heroine who could at least own her own sexuality.

good characterization, "real" people who do silly things have other agendas and oh incidentally abilities you and I don't have. the outline has been seen before but this incarnation of a hero's journey was well written and enjoyable.

I was provided a copy of this ebook by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of School for Psychics reeled me in. The actual book was not a success for me. I found the main character, Teddy, to be confusing. Teddy is written as an adult, gambling in casinos, but then she is written as having the maturity of a young teenager, particularly once she arrives at the psychics school.

The book contains cliches galore, but it contains so many errors of time and place. I really wanted to like this book, such a great premise, but it was a fail for me.

An interesting idea, overshadowed by the revolving wheel of 'which enigmatic mentor figure do I believe today and which am I angry with'. The side characters blurred a little for me; only Kate, Molly and Jeremy really stood out. Teddy wasn't a pleasant person, alternating using and sucking up to her friends, so I didn't like her much.

The writing was good and the story was exciting, and it was a good idea. I just didn't enjoy the execution very much.


Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

Fun fantasy read with splashes of angstiness, #smellsliketeenspirit

This is an enthralling start to a new psychic series. The Whitfield Institute is gathering and training young adults with psychic powers to hone their talents, so that they can work with the FBI, police and other law enforcement to keep the country safe.
Teddy is a very successful gambler – so successful that she has been banned from every poker table in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, she needs to make a lot of money very quickly, so disguises herself to get into a poker game at one of the big casinos. Teddy has always been able to when someone is lying, so calling a bluff in poker is second nature. What she does not realise, is that this is a manifestation of her psychic ability. Even less does she realise, that the “flat-out gorgeous” guy at her table is not what he seems, and this is the one time that her ‘6th sense’ is going to go seriously wrong. Her only option is to take up Clint’s ‘offer’ of enrolment at the Whitfield Institute.
The set-up at the Whitfield Institute is very familiar – the recruits fit neatly into two teams – the Alpha jocks, and the Misfits. Teddy, of course, is a Misfit. Everyone gets a room-mate (something utterly inconceivable to any non-American – why can’t they have their own rooms, like adults?). Teddy is paired with Jillian, who converses with birds. The tutors come in ‘nice’, ‘sadist’, ‘nice & handsome’, and ‘irresistible’. Apart from the faculty, there is also a recruit, who sets Teddy’s pulse racing.
It was very fast-paced and twisted all over the place. Adversaries become friends, and friends start acting in suspicious ways. Teddy has always been bad at relationships, and always looked after number one. Now, she needs help, and has to finally choose where to place her trust.
There are secrets everywhere, covert missions, mental breakdowns, students who want to save the world, love affairs …. It all reminded me so much of the glossy US TV series “Quantico”, but with the addition of psychic talents (and better characters!). Hopefully, it will remain at this high level, and not descend into a ridiculous third series as “Quantico” did.
I really enjoyed this rollercoaster story, and I look forward to the next instalment.

School for Psychics is the first book in a series about a top secret university for students who possess psychic abilities. The school is divided into the misfits who had no idea they were psychic and as a result were always in trouble, and the students who come from long lines of psychics. The books seem like they plan to follow the school year format - where the book starts at the beginning of the school year and there are mysteries that do not get solved until the end of the year.

While the book was a fairly interesting read there were obvious plot holes. At one point a character is invited to attend a school saintened event, yet she had to sneak over on a contraband student boat. There were also human behaviors that sent up red flags that were instantly dismissed, only to become important at the end. When someone tries to kill you, you do not just brush it aside.

The book itself is well written. While it could be more polished, there were no major spelling or grammar errors. The writing did not always flow as well as it could though.

The story was interesting and had potential, however I do not think that I will be continuing on reading the rest of books in this series.

I’m not really a big fan of fantasy novels. Psychic powers? yawn… Schools for psychics? puh-lease. Didn’t we already do Harry Potter?

All of that being said, I *loved* the School for Psychics. K.C. Archer is a fresh, sassy, smart addition to the crime-fighting super-hero genre, and I can’t wait for the next edition!

3⭐️— Schools for Psychics by KC Archer
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Teddy is an adopted college dropout, misfit and in a horrible amount of gambling debt. Recruited by a school that trains psychics for government jobs, Teddy moved to the school without any other choice in her life. There, Teddy learns she has intense powers, as well as, the truth about her biological parents.
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I had a little bit of trouble getting into this one at first. It started slow and I have mixed feelings towards Teddy. She is overly sarcastic and a jerk. However, i liked the psychic part and the qualities that her classmates and professors bring to the book. But about 50% the book hits its stride. It moves faster and the action comes quicker. We see Teddy navigate this new world she is in, while the plot thickens. Because there are a lot of plot points.
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I didn’t love the book, but I didn’t hate it. I think it was good and I honestly will read the second one when it comes out. Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really different premise (at least for me)-Teddy Cannon is barely scraping by by "reading" others at the poker table in Las Vegas. Just before she's ready to lose everything to a loan shark, a man comes by to tell her she's pyschic and offers her the chance to go to a school for physics. At this fictional school, physics are taught to hone their powers and then are hired out into police or investigator jobs. Teddy has a real problem with trusting others-namely because she's always been able to tell when people are lying. This world is fully realized and the book definitely has a satisfying ending but it is also obvious that it will be continued into a series. I liked Teddy's sarcastic sense of humor but she did have some lessons to learn about trusting others. The character kind of reminded me of Rose from the Vampire Diaries series-although she is not a vampire lol.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC in return for my honest review.