The Hawthorne School is an intriguing suspense thriller that hooked me immediately with the setting of an other-worldy school, the main character of Claudia – a young single mother who wants the best for her child – and the gothic style of the writing. The pull to keep reading only built as the story developed, as I saw the danger the main characters were falling deeper and deeper into and wondered how it would end for them. The Hawthorne School starts with Claudia, a single mother struggling with the sense that she is failing her four-year-old son Henry, who is a handful at home and at preschool. When she hears about the Hawthorne School and finds it is a beautiful haven encouraging children to develop in their own time while they immerse in outside play, music and art, she knows it is where Henry needs to be. Then the head of the school makes it possible with the generous offer of reduced tuition fees in return for Claudia giving volunteer hours at the school. She grabs that offer with both hands, shifts Henry, and his behaviour immediately improves. So much so that Claudia initially ignores her instincts that something is off with the school. When she can’t ignore it any longer, realising the school is in fact a dangerous cult, they are already in too deep to simply up and leave. Then it’s a life-and-death race to the finish… I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend this gothic-style suspense thriller. 4.5 stars.

I enjoyed this story but found it a bit predictable. I found myself figuring out what was going to happen quite early on. It was an enjoyable enough read but felt it could have been a bit more suspenseful to keep the reader engaged.

Aside from the astonishing naïveté shown by Claudia, and the, to my mind, lack of interesting characterisation I quite enjoyed this book. The ramblings into the world of spirit guides etc left me underwhelmed and the somewhat obvious conclusion annoyed me. I think somewhere in the book is the making of a good story (and a potentially good film) but I feel that the author should have tightened the story line and somehow made it more exciting.

Nonetheless my thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Thank you to netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Claudia is struggling, she has recently lost her mom and is finding life as a single mom of a difficult child very over whelming. She meets a new friend in her apartment complex who’s daughter is the complete opposite of Henry and Maggie swears it’s the school she attends!

Claudia tours the school and is immediately taken with the caring nature of the head mistress as well as the teaching and enchanting old building.

She soon discovers things are not as they seem and sets out to uncover the truth!

A Quick read and fairly fast paced. Although I found the plot and twists quite predictable; it was a good read. The ending happened quickly and was very sudden, expected it to be a little more involved than it was.

This books combined elements I’ve never seen addressed in one book, without taking on too much at the expense of quality. It had dark academia (I’m automatically on board) and whether you can relate to the struggles of having a child that some schools don’t know (or care to learn how) to support, the author makes the universal stress of wanting to offer your child the support they need abd the best possible educational setting, and the anxiety that as parents we are never doing enough or getting it right. Those anxieties set the stage for an excellently crafted mystery with unexpected elements and a lack of annoying, over the top plot resolutions. Really enjoyed this one!

THE HAWTHORNE SCHOOL by Sylvie Perry is a psychological thriller for fans of creepy schools and cults.

Claudia is a young, single mother with no family for support, only one friendly acquaintance, and Henry, her out-of-control four-year-old son. After constant run-ins with Henry’s pre-school over his behavior, Claudia’s at her wit’s end. Until Maggie, the acquaintance, tells her about The Hawthorne School, a private, non-traditional school.

When Claudia visits the Hawthorne School - its focus on nature, music, and art seems perfect for Henry. Zelma, the director of the school, explains that Claudia can volunteer in exchange for Henry’s tuition. It seems all too perfect. At first.

Then Claudia notices that things seem off. But Henry’s doing so well that she’s afraid to leave.

An isolated, former convent in the woods gave the perfect unnerving atmospheric vibe for the slowly increasing tension. Secret tunnels, locked rooms, shadowy figures, forbidden woods and hidden ceremonies are the perfect creepy contrast with children in classrooms.

Zelma’s turns of being the kindly grandmother stand-in, then the emotional manipulator felt scarily authentic. The scenes where she gaslights Claudia were unnerving.

I wish the author had leaned harder into the Midsommar/Rosemary’s Baby vibe. Discovering what the school really is won’t shock the reader. It’s clearly telegraphed early on in the story. So discovering why it exists is the intriguing part of the plot and I’m not sure that the actual reveal is enough of a payoff. No spoilers but I wish the book had ended a bit sooner on a more ambiguous note - all of the ends neatly tied up felt unsatisfying. And the final sentence just made me roll my eyes with its cheesiness.

This story follows Claudia, a single mum who wants to do what ever she can for her son, including providing him with a top notch education. Her son Henry struggles with some behavioural problems, but Claudia comes across Hawthorne School and thinks this could be the place for Henry to thrive.

This really is a dream opportunity for Claudia as she can work at the school in return for the school fees needed to allow Henry to learn there. The school is surrounded by lush countryside, healthy food and lots of exercise for the children, Claudia can’t see anything negative. However, something is amiss, that as the reader, we can start to see before Claudia realises herself; Hawthorne is less of a school and more of a cult.

I enjoyed this book to a point, it was creepy enough to keep me entertained by I was bit disappointed by the ending.

That said, I would recommend to those interested in gothic type mysteries.

The Hawthorne School, just oozes greatness!!!!!!

I really enjoyed this book and I hated when it concluded! I just wanted more!

Who doesn't love a book that takes place in a haunting school setting? This was an extremely fast paced novel and kept me at the edge of my seat for hours. Each chapter had me more and more intrigued.

The story is based on single mom, Claudia and her son, Henry. Henry has some behavioral problems and Claudia is left in a position to look into the prestigious school, Hawthorne School. What is a bit unforeseen is not only will the Hawthorne School bypass the wait list but they will also let Henry attend the school for free as long as Claudia volunteers to help out.

Is this too good to be true?

At times the book was a bit predictable and I was annoyed with how naive Claudia was at times but everything tied into each other and had valid explanation. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the creep factor was a ten.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a little bump in the night kind of scare.

I had really high hopes for this book. But it wasn’t a win for me. The main character was so back and forth throughout the whole book. Constantly 5 lines of over analyzing one single decision. I couldn’t connect with her. I wasn’t rooting for her. I actually didn’t even care what happened to her. Or anyone else.
The cover is gorgeous and the writing is perfection. I could picture everything in my head. The visuals were incredible. Just couldn’t feel anything for the MC.

I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A unique premise with interesting insight into cult tactics. I really enjoyed getting to know the inside working of the Hawthorne School but did find some parts to drag a little.

This was just too dull for me. The protagonist was deadly dull, the setting never came to life, and the whole plot was so ludicrous (as well as dull) that IMO it would have needed a much more accomplished author to turn this into something exciting instead of just plain silly.

My main but by no means only issue was with main character Claudia. She was a real pain to read, she is such a pill (albeit a tremendously uninteresting one, which I guess makes her a sleeping pill?), always waffling, never able to stand up for herself or even just make up her mind... and we're stuck in her head to the very end, as the p.o.v. never changes throughout the whole story. I don't need Superhuman Mom (quite the contrary), but I also don't want to spend 300+ pages following the stupid non-decisions of a first-class wet towel. "Did she do this right? Oh no, she didn't do it right... she was fairly certain she should have gone about it some other way... What if she got told off?" etc. etc. Ten pages in, you're fairly certain you're dealing with a woman who is apparently in possession of no more than two working brain cells. It's just one dumb decision after another.
Now it might have been fun to turn this on its head and show us a murderous cult or whatever play a rube to her ultimate as well as totally deserved downfall, but unfortunately we're supposed to "feel for" poor put-upon confused little Claudia, and I'm afraid that's impossible to do, at least for me. She gives up her "calling" (massage therapy) at the drop of a hat, she sells her car and hands over her cell phone, her savings, her son's birth certificate and moves in with the school janitorial team because, um, that's what you do when you want your kid to join an exclusive private school, right? (And no, sadly this novel isn't a satire either.)
What happens when she sees her son's dad for the first time after he left her and their newborn boy, never to be heard from again, forcing her to give up art school and moving in with her mom? Does she kick him in the nuts or give him a piece of her mind (as well as a bill for four years' worth of missed child support payments) or simply leave the room? No. She marvels at how attractive he is and is ready to give him a second chance. Even though he still sounds and acts like a supreme self-entitled a**hole. If ever a character deserved to end up in a shallow grave in the middle of nowhere, it's Claudia Vera.

Apparently the publisher has the nerve to advertise this as a "twisty read" (then again, the text also mentions a "Claudia Morgan" instead of "Claudia Vera", so I'm suspecting even the marketing team couldn't stay fully focused on this dud); the truth is, "The Hawthorne School"'s only accomplishment is its total lack of anything resembling a twist. This of course sets it apart from the current slew of overcooked thrillers featuring twists upon twisted twists to the point of utter idiocy, but it makes for pretty, well, dull reading. It's just plodding from A to B -- Claudia is unhappy with her (frankly awful) son, Claudia discovers The Hawthorne School, Claudia and her son get accepted, Claudia finds out that all is not as it seems, Claudia gets the hell out. That's it. That's *literally* it. Only Claudia is too dumb to realize what's going on; the reader probably has it figured out before they even crack the book open, it's so run of the mill.
There's no humor, no tension, no atmosphere, frankly, I'm surprised this even got picked for publication. At first I thought this read like a fairly uninspired Woman in Jeopardy-type tv movie, but it's too dull even for that. I mean we never even get a glimpse of what's going on with those kids in those woods; hints are (clumsily) made in the first few chapters, but then that whole business just falls by the wayside. This should have been SO SPOOKY! This should have been about a mother losing contact with her child on all kinds of levels, and that child slowly turning into something... different, something deeply uncomfortable! But no. Henry starts out as a tiny jerk and he stays a tiny jerk (personally, I would have dropped him off at That Freaking School and hightailed it out of there), and Claudia stays, well, Claudia. There's stuff going on in the woods? Oh no, should she go check it out? But then maybe the school mistress might be mad at her? So maybe she should just have some more of that dumb juice? So nope. No spookiness. Ever. As a folk nut I was also hoping for some sort of correlation between the school's name and the sinister goings-on in the woods surrounding said school, but no such luck. Apparently, it's just a name, and I'm an over-thinker.

On a stylistic level, I'm afraid this reads a bit amateurish. Lots and lots of repetition: Psycho Henry goes on about his >"spear guy! He comes! For real!"
"Your spear guy? What's a spear guy?"
The term "spirit guide" floated up in her mind. Where had it come from? The white book. Spear guy... spirit guy. Is that what Henry was trying to say?
"Henry, are you saying spirit guide?"<
The whole book is like this. The. Whole. Book. We get told, or rather our MC wonders about the fact, that Claudia and her hell spawn are the only residents of the fourth floor about six times. The author lets us know about Henry's "little wrists" about once per chapter, minimum. I hope you like the words The Hawthorne School, always with the capital T, because you'll encounter them about three hundred thousand times. Always with the capital T.
Plot-wise, it's probably a good idea not too think too hard about the logic behind The Hawthorne School's leaders and their means of client acquisition (which seems to rely maybe just a tad too much on people not reading the contracts they sign. At all). Maybe there are more Claudias around than I imagine, in which case: power to The Hawthorne School! But really, it's just too silly to ponder, especially since the author insists that The Hawthorne School is even branching out internationally... sorrydon'tthinkso. The whole thing only sounds plausible when you're a Claudia.
The resolution is a fairly rushed affair; after hundreds of pages of Claudia waffling this way and that way and back again and getting bent all out of shape about it, everything just seems to fall apart and is over in maybe ten pages, with some added padding of "news articles" and "web content" to add, I don't know, gravitas? Another unneeded explanation of oh-so-shady goings-on so puerile they're basically see-through?
I don't know. This probably should have been either a) a satire about faddy pseudo-"European" schooling and the lengths certain kinds of parents go to to ensure the best possible education for their underperforming offspring, or b) told from the point of view of an immature, insecure young girl who is NOT the mother but a student at The Hawthorne School and has to fight the intoxicating-yet-frightening pull of a dissimilation she can't even grasp. As a thriller featuring a supposedly grown-up woman facing off (ha!) a sinister cult intent on swallowing her son it just doesn't work.

Still, I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read an ARC of this title, and I'm sure other readers will be a bit more forgiving in their opinions.

This was a very suspenseful book. The writing was very good and I was very invested in the characters. I see a lot of reviews for this book saying that the book was predictable. Sure, maybe it is predictable but that is not the point. The point of the reading is seeing what all happens and the outcome of it all which happened to be a very good ending in my opinion.

Claudia Morgan is a single mother trying to do what's best for her 4 year old son Henry. Henry is a handful at school and at home constantly throwing tantrums and not listening to Claudia. When she hears about 'Hawthorne School' and it's different values on teaching she decides to check it out. Claudia begins to volunteer at the school to help pay towards tuition and Henry is almost like a different child. Surely this is the best decision she's ever made. Isn't it?


The writing of this novel was very good it held my attention and was very atmospheric making me feel like I was at the school myself. The chapters were very short and sometimes ended in the middle of a conversation which was sometimes annoying.

We know what's happening pretty much from the beginning of the book but I liked the fact that Claudia didn't know what was going on and watching her discover that things weren't right.

I wish the cult element had been explored more I feel it wasn't mentioned and dealt with enough. The abuse and drugging aspects were done very well

The characters were very well done and I enjoyed reading about them all.

The ending was a disappointment for me everything was very fleshed out and well done up until the ending which felt very rushed and convenient. I would rather have seen more of a struggle than for Claudia to have everything just given to her.

This was a very good novel though and would highly recommend.

Thank you to crooked lane books and netgalley for providing me with the arc!

I didn’t know what to expect when I got the chance to read this book. Its described as a psychological thriller and I have to say I was a bit disappointed.
I almost DFN’ed this book exactly 50 percent into it. Not a lot happened in the first half of the book. Everything was laid out and established pretty quickly, but I felt as though we saw so many of the same things happening over and over again. The main character questioning herself and the The Hawthorne school but then assuring herself everything is fine, then again and again and again. A lot of repetition. This could easily have been significantly shorter in my opinion.

What was a little frustrating to read was the fact that the reader is aware of all the red flags and knows that trouble is coming. But it seemed to be such a surprise to the main character, even thought we saw her question the institution. Sometimes this worker but seeing happening over again and again it became frustrating to read. Therefore it was also pretty easy to predict the things that happened. I wished the tempo was a bit better. It started out pretty quickly and then slowed down a whole lot then got better towards the end.

With that said I’m really happy I did continue with the story, because after the half page mark it got significantly better! The tempo picked up more things started happening and we saw the main character finally coming to terms with her situation and also trying to escape the mess she put herself in. I enjoyed the ending too, even though I would have wanted for something else to happen, it was satisfying either way.

What parent doesn’t want the best for their child? What parent doesn’t sometimes feel overwhelmed by the responsibility? What parent doesn’t respond to offers to be guided, helped and offered the best for their child?

When Claudia finds that her four-year-old son, Henry, is being ‘difficult’ at nursery, she’s embarrassed and ashamed, thinking that her inexperienced, unsupported partnering attempts are to blame. It’s then that a teacher jokingly suggests that Henry might be better off at ‘The Hawthorne School’, an idea which is backed by Claudia’s only friend, Maggie.

The school itself is a seemingly magical place of wonder and perfect calmness, where the children are encouraged to spend time with nature and learn at their own pace, and Henry is instantly transformed into a model child. He adores his teacher, is calm and obedient at school, and only reverts to his previous behaviour when he’s at home. Claudia, understandably, wants as much of this school as she can get. And that’s the problem.

I found the character of Claudia to be completely relatable, and I could completely identify with her struggle to make the best decisions for your child without having the gift of hindsight. The setting of The Hawthorne School is also very appealing, and its old bricks, secret tunnels and forbidden forest will evoke a Hogwarts-like atmosphere for many readers.

If I’m honest, then I found that the plot took a while to get going and that the ending was rather rushed. Without giving away spoilers, I would personally have liked a few more glimpses of the characters from the end of the novel earlier on.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. I”d categorise it as a psychological suspense with a touch of fantasy and I think that it would be enjoyed by both YA and adult readers, although it may particularly appeal to younger parents. I’d certainly be interested in reading further titles by Sylvia Perry.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I found it to be a quick read. At times, it was a bit predictable, but the overall tone, mood, and pacing made up for it. Recommend!

The Hawthorne School didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but it was an extremely quick and creepy read, that I mostly enjoyed for the couple of hours it took me to read it. The time it took for Claudia to figure out that there was something sinister behind this “too good to be true” school, had me a little frustrated. I’m not a parent, but my danger radar would have been pinging madly away by the second visit. I kept trying to give her the benefit of the doubt because she was a single mother with a four-year-old son with behavioral issues, but my patience was stretched thin. The rest of the characters weren’t exactly one dimensional, but neither did I find them memorable. The mystery was a tad predictable, but I still wanted my suspicions confirmed and I was eager to get to the ending. The biggest strength of the novel was the beautifully detailed, atmospheric setting, and despite the flaws, the story still managed to be a page-turner. The Hawthorne School is another book I’m struggling with the rating. My first impulse was to give it 3 stars, but I’m rounding it up to 3.5, because as I said, it’s a very quick read and despite the issues I had, I was still entertained.

I want to start by saying I absolutely love the cover and synopsis of this book. Stories with creepy boarding or private school settings are truly my favorite. I loved the atmospheric feel to this storyline and the overall plot. I did feel, however, that the conversations felt a little repetitive and was slow to build. Other than that, the cult storyline was a lot of fun to read about.

Wowza, wowza, wowza! This is one of those books that will definitely keep you reading way past bed time! Deliciously dark, demented, and intriguing! Fantastically written, unique, and fast paced! I highly recommend this riveting tale that will have you questioning society in ways you do mot want to’.

Will make sure to buzz around and use top Amazon reviewer number on release!

A twisted story that will have you not wanting to put the book down. Loved the storyline as a whole and the characters were done so well it’s like they were real.