This is a story of unabashed guurrl power for the #MeToo movement. A disgraced English teacher finds herself in a new job at a private boarding school teaching creative writing. She never expected what came out of her first assignment. What she learns sets in motion a ball that keeps on rolling right to the fiery conclusion. Told from multiple POV's (too many?) It's learned that there is a devious group of male students going about rating the girls on their ability to give oral sex. Once the girls learn about it, watch out! They're kicking ass and taking names.
I found this to be a fast, entertaining read that kept me interested in what was happening in a light sometimes humorous way. I recommend this one to those of you who want a quick read where the girls rule!

The Swallows by Lisa Lutz was a thought provoking story and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishers for the opportunity to read The Swallows, by Lisa Lutz. Teaching teenagers is not always easy, as Alex Witt discovers when she signs up to teach writing at Stonebridge Academy. Alex has stressfully left her old school, but is super stressed when her assignment is creative writing and fencing. After standing her ground about the fencing classes, she settles into her writing classes by having them fill out an anonymous questionnaire, which opens up old secrets and sparks new fires amongst the students. As the girls, led by Gemma, decide they will stand up to the Ten, a group of students who feel they run the school, the sparks will fly. The Darkroom, which houses the boys vicious antics, should be destroyed. This book opens up lots of questions about the responsibilities adults have to protect young adults, how boys treat young ladies, and what will be the consequences of their lack of commitment. Although the girls use some forceful tactics and lives are changed forever, the subject matter is timely and needs to be addressed.

Review Loved this book! I will be recommending it to my reader friends. I am a teacher, so right off the bat, the voice of the protagonist spoke to me. “Some teachers have a calling. I’m not one of them.” She grabbed me and the story didn’t let go. Alex Witt has relocated to a semi decent prep school to teach English. She left a prestigious prep school under some mysterious circumstances and needs this new job. I liked how the author didn’t try to make anyone likable in this book. Don’t get me wrong, Alex is likable- but the author let all the characters have “warts” so to speak. The storyline focuses around a pervasive culture of misogyny at the school. Sadly, it echoes real life. There are a few plot points that are a stretch.
But overall this is an entertaining, likable, and ultimately thought provoking book about the difference between justice and revenge- where is the line? Who says? Read this book for your BOOK CLUB!

A high school story involving scandal, sex, lies, and some strong female characters. The Swallows is pretty amazing. We have a teacher who left a scandal (and also has a famous dad), some high school boys who are part of a rather salacious situation, and then there are the high school girls, who seem to take on everything, and rise above all the BS. I really loved this book. It wasn't quite "dark academia" but it seemed as close as you can get without actually "being". Anger and shock tore through me several times. As did hope and laughter.

I really wish this story wasn't close to reality, but I'm afraid it's closer than I'd like it to be.

Overall, good material, great story and compelling characters.

This novel features much of the wry humor and plot twists of Lutz's mysteries, but also tackles serious subjects, many surrounding dysfunctional sexual mores of teens - issues of abuse, feminism, empowerment, bullying, the fallout of social media, etc. Also quite a funny send-up of the myth of the male genius writer.... Evokes titles such as Prep, and Mrs. Fletcher,

My biggest frustration with this book was the number of “important” characters. With many different points of view and storylines to follow, I found that even by the end of the book I was still questioning which character was which. Some of the smaller plots seemed unnecessary. Overall, it was an entertaining, quick read but I was left hoping for a bit more.

Too many characters to try to keep straight, and too many I didn’t like or couldn’t find a connection with; too much build-up to not much of anything; too many deviations from the main story; too little to keep me interested enough to read with much discernment, so I gave up a little more than half-way through - this one wasn’t worth my time.

I was thrilled when I was approved by Random House on netgalley to read this book because I adore Lisa Lutz so much. Drama at a boarding school a la The Spellman Files?? Yes, please! While the humor and tone was a bit darker in this book when compared to The Spellman Files, I was still captivated from the very first page to the last. It almost had a Whisper Network feel to it, in that field finally get fed up being treated as sexual objects and revolt - with some unintended consequences. Again, I had different expectations going into this novel, but I was not disappointed with where it went in the least. Quite possibly in the running for best book I read all summer - and I've read some good ones. I can not recommend this enough.

The Swallows takes place at Stonebridge Academy, a New England prep school where students and faculty live on a beautiful bucolic campus at the edge of a small town. Alex Witt, a bit of an iconoclast, takes a job teaching there. When many of her students in an anonymous first-day assignment claim to love or hate the Darkroom, she discovers a deep conspiracy at the heart of the school’s social structure.

Told by Alex, the feckless Finn Ford, the warrior Gemma, and the shy conflicted Norman, the story covers just half a year at the school. There are several threads woven together with a tragic teacher named Claudine who is martyred to her mother, it seems. There are student and teacher romances and underneath it all, a sociopathic reign of terror against the girls of Stonebridge warred by the “editors” of the Darkroom.



The Swallows was a fast read. I was intrigued and entertained, often amused by Lisa Lutz’ wit and humor. When Witt decides to encourage the girls she teaches to value themselves more, creating a decision tree for whether or not to give a blowjob, it was called a blowchart. It was clever and the blowchart is included. However, at times her wit seemed out of place in the face of what actually was happening. The story is actually grimly disturbing. I don’t object to humor, but the tone of the book seemed off, or more accurately, the tone of the book at the beginning suggested something less sinister. Even the title is a pun, a horrible one. This clash of purpose is sometimes jarring. Nonetheless, I didn’t lose interest for a minute.

The Swallows will be released on August 13th. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Swallows at Penguin Random House
Lisa Lutz author site

I was late to everything in the 36 or so hours it took me to read this book. Personal training session: late. Doctor appointment: late. Dinner? Oh sorry guys, we're eating at 9pm tonight.

Alex Witt is Stonebridge Academy's newest creative writing teacher. The academy, a sleepy third rate New England boarding school, seems like the perfect place to escape her problems for a bit. On the first day of class, she gives a simple question and answer assignment, to be done anonymously, and learns of some troubling practices among the student body. Alex quickly enlists a female student to help her upend the institutions 'boys will be boys' status quo.

The story line was over the top, darkly comic, and at times infuriating. I could not put it down. I still can't decide what genre this book is -- dark comedy? YA? Thriller? What I do know is that I loved it. A solid 4 star read.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for my free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. My review will be posted closer to the pub date on my Instagram page and Goodreads.

A timely novel about a boarding school with a scandalous tradition. I heard Lisa Lutz preview this novel at ALA, she went light on the details and I can see why, it’s hard not to give away the story. It’s not your typical boarding school story. I’d recommend it for readers who enjoy the slow buildup in the story to a shocking and satisfying conclusion.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. The characters and plot weren't engaging at all. I also couldn't get into the writing style. So disappointing, as I was looking forward to this one as one of my most anticipated for 2019!!!!

Full review to come on my blog closer to publication date.

Lisa Lutz has crafted an intricate tale of betrayal, revenge, secrets and shame. Set in a bucolic boarding school, complete with damaged adults the tension Ramos up to an inevitable dramatic conclusion.

**I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review of this book

The Swallows is the latest book by Lisa Lutz. Ms Lutz tells us the story by going back and forth from four main characters and their point of view. I've read several other books by this author and she never disappoints. I was given an early copy to review.

This is a story of adolescent boys in an exclusive boarding school who rate the girl’s sexual performance and post it on a secret website. At the end of the year they give the “winner “ the Dulcinea award. This is typical boys will be boys stuff. When the girls find out,all hell breaks loose. This is war. Think Sigourney Weaver in “Alien”,or Linda Hamilton in “Terminator.”. Maybe they took it too far,but I understand the need for revenge. The adults tried to help,but they were clueless and the students were clever and powerful. This is well-written and well-thought out.Lisa Lutz is a great writer and I highly recommend this book.

This book has kept me thinking and stayed with me days after I finished reading the last page. It was a fascinating blend of humor, darkness, and tragedy. I found this story of a gender war at a New England prep school to be a unique way of demonstrating misogyny.

There were times when things were sexually graphic and disturbing. This was more so since it involved high school students and a faculty that was, for various reasons, unable or unwilling to address serious issues. I found the lack of a single adult who was ethically and professionally competent and unafraid of high school students hard to accept as a reader and required a significant suspension of disbelief. This will likely not be as much of an issue for other readers.

I enjoyed the way the story unfolded, especially how it snuck up on me. What I expected to happen took an unexpected and gripping twist. I believe this is a book that is best read without knowing too many plot details.

I did find that story dragged in parts, and I think that perhaps some of the characters didn’t seem to serve a purpose. This started out as an enjoyable read for me, and I became less satisfied as the book progressed. However, there were many elements I liked, and I believe it met a goal of inspiring more thought about the issue of respect among genders. So, in the end, this is difficult to assign a star rating, but with a content caution for sexual predators, I think there are many readers who will enjoy this book.

Hig school creative writing teacher Alex Witt doesn't realize what she is getting into when she takes a job at a New England boarding school. Through a writing assignment that she has given to her students, she discovers an online forum where the boys give the girls scores for their sexual encounters. Alex soon discovers that this is a culture that is deeply rooted at the school. When the girls discovers the online forum, they vow revenge and the situation quickly escalates. Well written and timely novel that will keep the reader engaged.

Three and a half stars for me. I enjoyed this private boarding school story that revolved around a young instructor and her unusual approach to her students and their affairs. The teachers at this school are all a bit of a mess, intrigue abounds, and of course there is an elite student clique known as The Ten and a dangerous game being played by the students. The POV shifted around from teachers to students, but the definite protagonist here is the instructor, a bit of a shift from the usual secret society/elite school/mystery set-up where the focus is more on the students or one student.

An interesting take on the genre, with characters who are easier to like than we often find in books of this nature. Not entirely believable, yet not completely shocking either, which perhaps is a sad commentary. I think I would have liked this more had the focus been more purely on Gemma (student) and Ms. Witt. The POVs from some of the other characters were not necessary.

I'm not sure this story succeeds in showing the best way to combat "boys will be boys" stereotypes; the women are portrayed as behaving just as badly - probably accurate though. I think this book might have been better with more humor injected into it. It felt like it wasn't sure if it wanted to be one of those dark secret society intrigue stories, or if it was a more fun take on a female revenge type story. It works, but I think could have worked even better by going in the more fun direction.

I absolutely fell in love with Lutz's writing when I first read The Spellman Files in 2008. Any time I catch wind of a new book of hers about to hit the shelves, I can't wait to read it! And this one is another great read! It. actually has some of the same vibes as the Spellman series (there's even a Get Smart reference!) and Alex Witt reminds me a little bit of Isabella. The boarding school setting though. gives this one a slightly more YA edge to it - although the whole mystery revolves around the very adult activities of these teens.

The book offers several points of view, but the main characters are the best developed and really come to life the most - there are a few strands of plot and character that are a bit truncated. by the ending. And I definitely found myself laughing out loud several times here. I just love Lutz's writing style and sense of humor. The 2009 setting works well here to take the edge off of some of the technology. The short chapters invite the reader to easily justify reading just one more chapter and I can easily see this being a delightful one sitting read. I do think that the embedded artwork is fun, but found some of the omniscient asides to be a bit distracting. Overall, I really enjoyed it and am back to looking forward to seeing what she will write next!