The Lesson by Lisa Bradley was a slow start for me and a bit convoluted.
The three main characters, Evie, Simon and Jenny are hard to read. As they told their stories it became clear that at least one of them was lying, delusional or an outright sociopath. Sympathy towards any of them quickly dissipated as events (slowly) unfolded. The plot was decent and dealt with allegations of potential sexual abuse or at least issues of power and trust. No spoilers so I won’t go into any detail other than to say the twists to the underlying story and links between characters were well constructed. The pace did pick up and the book was actually very enjoyable so stick with that first bit to get to the unfolding and conclusion. Overall a very good three and a half star read

I really enjoyed this book. Evie is in her second year at university. She decides to make a complaint after having sex with Simon, one of her lecturers. It was consensual, but he failed to declare it to his department. Evie is determined to make him pay and is supported by Jenny, another lecturer. However, as the story unfolds, none of the characters are what they seem, and all have secrets and ulterior motives. I liked the way the story was told from the perspectives of the 3 main characters. The ending is quite complex but overall this is a very good read. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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Evie is a student at Duke of York university. She reports her lecturer, Simon Davidson, for having an intimate relationship with her (even though it was consensual) as she doesn’t want other students to be victimised by him. She want to teach him a lesson. Really? Well it’s not that simple.

The story is told from the POV of Evie, Simon and Jenny, another lecturer in the English faculty. None of these characters are particularly likeable and they are all unreliable narrators so it is hardly surprising that you aren’t clear what is going on for quite some time. Oh the twists and the turns. I was all in for a story about a sleazy teacher getting his comeuppance but by the end of the book you are seriously wondering who the bad guy really is. None of the characters were blameless in this rather tawdry tragedy. And it really was very tawdry!

It could have been a lot better yet I spent the first half of the book bored senseless while all the pieces were slowly moved into position. Then, for a short time I thought I knew where the book was heading - but no. This was another one of those that simply had too many twists. It was all just too much, too melodramatic, with too many moving parts. There really isn’t much more to say. I finished the book, which was not a given until I got past the halfway point, and I did want to know what all the drama was about so three stars for effort. Thanks to Netgalley who provided me with a free copy, I am providing this review voluntarily.

Young student Evie reports her one-night stand with her English professor Simon to University HR. Simon seems to be involved into another incident from previous year, so Evie's story is totally believable. And someone just has to teach him a lesson!

But what is the real truth?

Fast paced, full of twists and turns, paranoia and many angles to the plot. Characters are diverse and everybody hides something. The topic is also very current at the moment.

Recommended for all thriller lovers.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4043759801

I was given this book in return for a review and would give it 3.5 if I could.
The Lesson starts slowly with a suggestion that it will be a #Metoo type story where a lecturer has taken advantage of a student. It continues in that manner for some time until it takes off in many directions all at once. It’s a clever story with a monstrous villain but at times it’s quite difficult to keep up as there are so many twists happening at once. It’s an exciting read at times as long as you can keep up.

I frequently judge a book by how much I think about it after I have finished reading it. I have spent a lot of time thinking about the plot since completing the book. It developed quite slowly and then rushed to a conclusion that was not totally unexpected but also not guaranteed predictable. After the slightly slow start which drew the reader in, I could not put the book down and ended up reading it into the small hours of the morning. It is a gripping psychological thriller, uncomfortable in places and I would highly recommend. So by my judgement it is a very good book..

There are rules which shouldn't be broken, but what happen if you step too far? Evie, a second-year student at University, has a secret relationship with an English professor. She's been used, and to stop Simon, she is reporting what happened between them to HR. As a result, her life is changing in a nightmare. Some people blame her, thinking that she isn't that innocent. Village Vixen, the secret blogger, is one of them - firmly defending Simon.
The book started a bit too slow, but it is written from three different perspectives-narrators make it all more interesting. There are lots of twists and turns, which shows uni life from the different edge. Surprising. The plot is very complicated and convoluted. The ending was a bit squeezed when too much happens in a short time. Overall well written, gripping story with well-presented characters - although you don't know whom you can trust.
If you are a fan of dark, psychological stories, that book is definitely for you.

Thank you, NetGalley and publisher, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Evie has just started her second year at University. She is young, beautiful and popular. She should be having the time of her life, except she has something to hide - a one-night-stand with her English Professor, Simon. Not wanting any of his other students to be used in the same way, Evie reports their relationship to University HR. But hours later, Village Vixen, the student gossip blogger, is baying for blood. She's found out about the accusation and is firmly on Simon's side. But how could Village Vixen possibly have known? Evie can't help but feel like she's being watched. As paranoia and fear set in, the one thing Evie knows for sure is someone has to teach Simon a lesson.

This was a compelling read, one with so many twists and turns and characters that have so many hidden agendas you have no idea who to trust which keeps the reader on their toes right until the end. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Absolutely fantastic read. I have loved this and been completely unable and unwilling to put this one down.
This is a great read which I will be highly recommending.

This was really intriguing and a very good read. Loved the ending, it was brilliant. This is my first book by this author and wont be the last.

There were great red herrings - want to say more but just cant - worried about spoilers. Just do yourself a favour and read it. Slightly worried about my children now going off to uni.

I was given an advance copy by Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own

This was a brilliant read.

Just in to her second year at university Evie has a one night stand with her professor.
Rather than enjoying all the joy that university is meant to bring Evie realises that this is wrong after the event and worrying about the potential of this happening to others she tells the university, hoping to stop this going any further.

Soon after the anonymous student blog is publishing stories about it and is completely on the side of the professor!? Why on earth would anyone be on the side of the professor?

There are twists, misdirections, suspense and thrills.

I loved it.

This is a psychological thriller told from three different perspectives. It starts really slowly but soon speeds up. At the end I wasn’t really sure who to believe. Maybe that’s the idea. Overall I enjoyed it and I would recommend.

A good follow up novel to Paper Dolls by Lisa Bradley,
A good plot with plenty of twists and a clever narrative from different perspectives.
Perhaps the plot ended up getting a little too convoluted and some characters were perhaps unnecessary but overall I enjoyed this and would recommend!

This was a compelling read, one with so many twists and turns and characters that have so many hidden agendas you have no idea who to trust which keeps the reader on their toes right until the end.

It centres around Evie and a complaint she raises about a male tutor, in the climate of #metoo it would seem that the sympathy would lie at Evie's door, but the 'Village Vixen' has other ideas, this mystery blogger lays the blame firmly with Evie and defends the tutor, Simon. Despite this Simon is suspended and it's left to the other personal tutor and all round student hero, Jenny to pick up the pieces.

Evie relies on her housemate Bronte for support as well as Jenny to bring Simon to justice.

Simon has bigger issues and is not going down with out a fight.

Like I said, trust no one and just enjoy this thriller of a story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. This is my honest opinion.

A gripping campus-set psychological thriller the main character Evie has a one night stand with her English professor and there starts her nightmare after reporting him to HR.
Would recommend.

I as underwhelmed here. The story is told by three incredibly unreliable narrators, which was a good call - this is what kept me reading rather than giving up on the story - I needed to know hat they were all hiding. But at the same time, it was quite drawn out, and any of the dark and dramatic moments felt too out of place and over the top for what was happening. I skim read a lot of it, keen to find out who was telling the truth, but bored by long chapters with little action. The reveal and twist didn't redeem it. Sorry.

An interesting premise for a book. Three narrators, all of whom you distrust. Centred around elicit student/lecturer relationships. He said/she said. Every character is loathsome which makes it very hard to choose sides and determine who is telling the truth. Clever writing on the part of the author Also clever was to give an ending from a view point people generally wouldn't expect Even though, in my case I did expect it, I thought the book was definitely leaning that way , it didn't feel like a "right" ending. Very brave of the author.
You don't always have to love characters but you do need to care about them. In this case I felt I didn't want a "winner" but there was one. For this reason I dropped a star. I wanted to "care" more about the "winner" and be pleased they had succeeded and I wasn't

This was great debut and I am definitely going to read more from this author. I absolutely love campus based thrillers and this was a great one, lots of twists and turns. Started a bit slow but had a smashing ending.

Some interesting characters in this book and it doesnt portray university life in a very good light , but a good read with a twist I hadn't expected

This book started at a slow crawl, then it eventually starts to get interesting. The characters are interesting and I did really like Jenny at the start, then she booted Enid across the room, she tried to drown her and if that wasn't enough she tried to set her tail on fire, those three incidents really ruined the story for me, I don't think the plot needed animal abuse in it, Jenny was bat shit crazy enough without the added element of torturing her poor cat. That was the turning point for me in respect of my not liking Jenny at all. Simon was a very clever character and the twists all came together really well at the end. I was so sad Evie died though, I wanted her to keep on fighting but unfortunately she trusted the wrong people and her life ended dramatically alongside the weirdo Harvey, he was just strange full stop. The plot was true to life and you hear about teachers and student relationships, which is so wrong on many levels. I did enjoy the book but I can only give it four stars because of the slow start and the animal abuse. I will definitely read another book from Lisa because I believe she has more stories to tell.