The book starts off with Teddy Cannon who's in disguise gambling in Las Vegas since she was banned from most casinos. Teddy is a "psychic" who knows exactly what the other players are going to do and responds in turn. She's in a whole lotta debt and needs to pay it back so that's why she's there. In this casino, however, she's approached and is offered a chance to work on her skills. She then goes to a school for psychics where she must pass a test to study there.

I was pretty excited to read this book because it sounded interesting. I mean, a school for psychics? What could be better (or worse)? But honestly, there were parts of the book that were moving really slow and it made me feel like I didn't want to keep reading. Near the end, however, things did pick up which made me more invested.

Teddy is a bumbling twenty-something looking for ways to fix her mess-ups. She's dropped out of college, has a gambling problem, and epilepsy that seems unchecked to boot. She doesn't know what to do with herself, and trying to win big one last time at a casino she's already been kicked out of seems (to her) like the right thing to do to set herself on a good path, or at least one where she doesn't get her butt kicked by the Russian mobsters trying to get their money back.
My biggest complaint about School for Psychics is that the writing style didn't feel conducive to the story line. Archer continued to stop throughout the book to give updates on Teddy's feelings that didn't keep the story moving and felt often misplaced. Some of Teddy's thoughts were mere jokes, and sometimes repetitive jokes that made me want to roll my eyes. I was not a fan of her personality, and having further insights into the way she thought did not help me enjoy the experience further.
None of the side characters were very developed either, and they constantly seemed shifty and untrustworthy throughout the story. That made it a very one-sided, Teddy-heavy read, which you may guess, was not the most enjoyable for me.
The redeeming factor of the book was the overall premise and big mystery. Psychics being trained for military purposes, but also a government cover-up about what happened to some of the early psychics being trained for the military was an interesting premise indeed. Unfortunately, as this is the first of the series, the big mystery was barely revealed, and I don't think I'll have the energy to continue down the road with Teddy to uncover what's truly going on.

School For Psychics by K. C. Archer was one of the first books on NetGalley that caught my eye. I only recently joined, and I wasn’t expecting any of my requests to be honoured, but I’m glad that this one was.

School For Psychics has an exciting start in Las Vegas where Teddy uses her gift at the poker table. Gambling with high stakes is certainly a thrill, but the poker table isn’t where the thrill stops. The whole book is action packed and you might want to save the last few chapters to read in one go because you don’t want to stop halfway.

Harry Potter with psychic abilities and government conspiracies.

What I really like is the science. The psychic abilities are explained through science and Archer has done a great job at that. A poor explanation, or the lack of, would’ve killed the setting. The story wouldn’t be believable.

While this book technically doesn’t fall into YA because Teddy is 24, I think it can be enjoyed as YA. I sometimes forgot that the characters are all in their twenties and some already finished higher education. It just feels like school story, much like the last two Harry Potter-books.

I rate School For Psychics with 4,5 stars, highly recommended for people who want a fast-paced story about gifted people who get involved in secret organizations.

When I first saw this book, I thought it would be some YA book about a group of kids with psychic powers that go to some sort of Hogwarts school to hone in on their powers and some magical fantasy thing would play out.

Boy, was I ever wrong.

This is a book about actual adult psychics who are training at a school so they can apply to work for different law enforcement agencies. No fantasy anything. So that was a big let down. In other words, don't judge a book by its cover.

But if someone out there wants to write a fantasy book about psychics and stuff...

Anyway, back to this book. Despite my misgivings over what I thought the book would be about (because God knows I hardly if ever read the synopsis), what it ended up being was actually very cool. It reminded me of my days of wanting to go into one of the federal law enforcement agencies when I was in my 20s. But to add a psychic to the mix, well, that would be very interesting. It would definitely put a new spin on solving cases.

People with psychic abilities are limited in what they can do and see. That is something this book stresses a lot. Just because a person is psychic, it doesn't mean that they'll get a clear view of everything. I have to say it was rather interesting to see how each student worked on developing and controlling their powers.

This type of book though would not be a good story without some strange sinister plot happening, one that has yet to be revealed. In this case, trying to figure out who is sabotaging, why students are going missing, and what this overall feeling of something not settling quite right is all about. That's what will hook you in to reading the next book (which I plan on doing next week).

I'm interested in seeing where this story leads us.

Definitely worth the read.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book to be interesting and gave it a solid 3 stars. It reminded me a bit of X-Men with all of the characters having different supernatural powers.
It was a decent read with good writing, well developed characters and enough action to keep me engaged. Not super exciting but easy to get through. Recommended to those who like YA, fantasy and the paranormal.

I thought this book was okay. Some of it moved a little slow for me and felt predictable. I enjoyed Teddy's character and her sense of humor.

Teddy Cannon is a smart, intuitive young woman. So much so that she's been banned from many of the casinos in Las Vegas. Yet the rigors of getting an education and earning an 'honest' living never really sit well with Teddy. She's always been good at reading other people at the poker tables and that's where she's most comfortable. When she is discovered in a casino and about to be forcibly run out, a stranger intervenes. A stranger who is looking to recruit Teddy. Teddy, it seems, is not just good at reading people ... she's actually psychic. The stranger runs a school for people like Teddy, training them to develop their skills and work for a branch of law enforcement set out to help people in a way that only someone like she can.

School has never been her 'thing' and she knows it will be a challenge, but the fact that there are others with special abilities, is encouraging and Teddy decides to give it a try. But there are secrets at the school that Teddy begins to uncover that will continue to change the way she sees those who are supposed to be her friends.

I really had a lot of fun with this book right at the start. Author K. C. Archer gives us a slightly stereotypical YA female protagonist, but Teddy isn't a mooning little girl who develops passionate crushes on the cute guy in the book ... well, that's not entirely true. She does do <em>precisely</em> this. The difference here is that this isn't the heart of the story. This is a little side action which sometimes feels included just to have all the bases covered for the YA audience.

The introduction of Teddy and her introduction to this school for psychics is really well done. It is engaging and exciting and we get a good feel for the struggles that Teddy faces as she learns about her abilities. The friends, students, and instructors we meet along the way are nicely fleshed out and this takes on a very nice tone such that it feels quite believable.

But then we get into a new plotline.

Teddy learns some things that muddy her views on the school and those around her. This new storyline is clearly devised to build a larger story arc that will encompass multiple books. But somehow this new development is not nearly as interesting as what we were getting in the early stages. And while it becomes a definite YA novel with a group of students taking on the adults in their world, which is a fairly common trope in YA, it also becomes less believable. It was definitely a head-smacking moment when the students managed a crime against, and inside the building of, the FBI.

There's a lot of fun here, and I am intrigued, but at the end of the book, I wasn't as satisfied as I was during the early chapters. How the stories play out in future books will decide the fate of this series, since the characters and the premise are definitely interesting.

Looking for a good book? <em>School for Psychics</em> by K. C. Archer is an adventurous YA fantasy that has a lot going for it, but falls just short on delivering a strong story.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the premise of this book. A girl who's unsure of what her powers can do, or even that she has powers, is talked into going to a school to learn how to refine them. That said, it started off fairly slow and I was having some trouble getting into it. Once Teddy's lessons started, though, the pacing really increased and I enjoyed the way the plot progressed from then on. There were a number of twists that kept me engaged throughout the book, and by the end I was on the edge of my seat, ready for a sequel. It was definitely a solid start to what looks like a great series.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This felt very much like a YA book masquerading as an adult story; just because the heroine is in her 20s rather than a teenager doesn't mean that the story isn't *written for* teenagers. And I really think it is; from the whole "we're at a magic academy" trope through to the heroine's inability to figure out her own emotions at any given point (there's even a love triangle!), this was a book that deals with teenage problems in a teenage way. There are definitely fun moments along the way, but if the author and publishing team could've been more upfront about where this book belongs, then I think readers would take to it more than they seem to have so far.

I spent most of the book reminding myself that these people are 20-somethings, not teenagers.
The school vibe was more high school than college and that made the story lose all its momentum for me.
For example: at one point one of the girls asked our mc if she had a crush on anyone....those words were used exactly. A 'crush'.
Granted this was over margaritas.
It was just the way they acted, the vocabulary they used, how they interacted with the instructors.
Honestly this would have done much better as a YA than a NA. A few changes here and there (turn down the sexy parts, which were all closed door so no danger there. Cut out the going out for drinks, we all know you have to sneak that shit when you are underage.) and it would have been a YA.

I liked the concept. Psychics being trained to be "contributing members of society". Another plus for me is this didn't end on a cliff hanger. There are some unanswered questions that will make a fan move to the next in the series but it was nicely wrapped up.

I would try another series by Archer but I probably wont pick up the next in this series.
Check out my full review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2821271506
I listened to this on Audio. I did enjoy the narrator.

The digital copy was provided to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A book worthy of its blurbs. I love the feeling of an unanticipated twist and turn in not only plots but also characters. On a pure reader tip, though fiction is a place of imagination, I love a work big enough for me to discover facts. In this book, I wanted a gift, a superpower to transform my world without the attending bribe. Quick and quirky as a sumptuous summer read.

Teddy Cannon has always had an unnatural ability to read people that has served her well in side-stepping trouble. When her luck runs out, a stranger offers her a place at the School for Psychics. Teddy enters unsure if she could really be psychic but quickly discovers that is the least of her problems.

School for Psychics has mystery, conspiracy, and a little bit of magic. I love that it is set in a world like our own, making it feel like we could run into Teddy and her friends on the street.

K.C. Archer really captured the university feeling, and I loved following Teddy as she sought to uncover the mysteries within this government-run school.

A pleasant novel, albeit not the most original one. It definitely relies on common tropes a bit too heavily, but it's certainly a pageturner. It was very easy to get through and the tone elevates it beyond the ideas.

While I loved the premise of this book something fell short for me. I struggled to connect with or understand Teddy and her choices which just left me frustrated whenever Teddy did something drastic and reckless. I liked her group of friends but I wanted more development and their friendship felt a little forced unlike other books about different people being tossed together in a school setting I’ve read in the past.
I loved the parts about the school set up and the required classes and I enjoyed learning more about the history of psychics in this world (and their use/abuse at the hands of government agencies), although I still don’t understand a lot of how it works/what the limitations of everyone’s abilities, especially Teddy’s, are (but maybe that will be addressed in the second book). I’m not sure I’ll read the next book in the series or not, I’m interested to see what happens but I’m not sure I can deal with more Teddy if she doesn’t grow as a person from the first book to the second.

This book was really a hidden gem! The cover of this novel is not really appealing, but the book is! This novel proves that you should not judge a book by its cover! The book is very fast-paced and filled with magic! I recommend this for fans of fantasy! This bus a book you should not miss!

A good introduction for a series, I'm excited to see how the series will develop! I couldn't get into it the first time I read it but decided to give it another try and I'm glad I did! I'm looking forward to the next book!

I didn't finish this book, but I have a good reason for it. Upon reading the blurb, I was very excited to have been approved to review this book. But once I started reading, I felt like I had been lied to. I could see where the plot was going, where the romance would be, what the characters would be like. The dialogue sounded younger than I expected adults to sound, and the actions of the characters were just as immature. I would have continued with it if there was just one thing that made me stay interested, but there really wasn't. That being said, I don't think the book was objectively bad (I don't think any books are). I just think it wasn't a good match for me personally. I would recommend it to lovers of YA or indie magic and mystery, though, since that was the audience that I thought it suited best.

I would give this book a 3.5 star rating.

This was a really enjoyable read. The story was pretty tropey but I thought the author did a great job of creating suspense throughout the story, the reader is constantly asking themselves who they can trust.

At twenty-three years of age, I definitely think I am more than a little out of the target audience age for School for Psychics. And this is glaringly obvious in a way that many other Young Adult and Middle Grade books are not. The characters were just far too juvenile and cliché for me to ever fully get on board with the pull that the plot had initially left within me.

Teddy Cannon is a gambler in Las Vegas, in disguise, having been banned from most casinos. She isn't really a cheat, but uses her magical ability to 'read' people in order to win.
Teddy's talent leads her to a school for psychics where she meets others like her and embarks on her studies.
This is a YA novel, with all rhe teenage angst you could want. I am a little old for this book, but I think it would strike a cord with a lot of 13 year olds.