When Rosemary cannot get in touch with her parents for her mom‘s birthday she catches a train to check on them. She learned her mom was at the hospital and has an enlarged heart but she also learn she has a new job at Mercy rock Academy for girls. What her mom doesn’t tell her is that it is a reform school for two weeks after starting her new job she goes home on a Sunday to visit and find out one of the girls in her class is actually the daughter she gave up years ago. Rosemary is 34 years old and single after an indiscretion with a boy she met while sneaking out of the house something happened that her mom would never let her live down but soon after she finds this out from her mom she passes away. It is left up to Rosemary to find out the details and what she finds out will be a life changer. There is way more to this book than the week summary I have given I was just so disgusted with this book because I love historical fiction but I love it to be historically factual. The first time she meets one of the students the student ask her if she is a lesbian, no this is a word that wasn’t even in the popular vocabulary in the 1950s it wasn’t until the early 1970s that it wasn’t classified as a metal illness. Not only that she discusses things with the girls that maybe a teacher in the 21st-century would discuss it with them but this was supposed to be the 1950s and I can grant you know girl who was well bred who is going to be discussing sex with their teacher openly like it was A-OK and Rosemary made it sound like it would be fine if they did have sex with someone as long as it was their choice. Let me just say this is a 1950s not only is it going against some kind of law it isn’t up to Rosemary or any teacher to totally negate what a child’s parents tell him especially not back in the 50s when everyone went to church I just found that so unbelievable and it totally threw me off the book although I finished it I started not even caring who Hotel walls because this all sounded so made up. Now I know historical fiction is made up but if you don’t have a great grasp on that Abra don’t write a book on it it’s just ridiculous sounded crazy to me. If historical accuracy isn’t a pet peeve of yours you may like this book because the summary did make it sound like a great book but because I’m a lover of history and historical accuracy I did not. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I’m leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

A suspenseful and twisty historical fiction. I love stories that take place in multiple time lines and this one did not disappoint.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this story about Rosemary the Home Economics teacher which is split in pre WW2 and in the McCarthy era in Seattle. Rosemary is forced as a teen to give up her daughter for adoption and the decision affects her actions afterwards. Her relationship with her mother is always fraught but nevertheless she goes back to look after her mother when she is ill and takes a job at a reform school for girls at her mothers insistence. She sees herself in a trio of troubled girls and I read the developing relationship with a sense of dread. This is a great original telling of the impact of the anti-commie politics of post war USA on a free spirited woman. The story also deals with the fear of a nuclear attack and how the ordinary population tried to prepare for it. As for the reform school trio-I was afraid for Rosemary just by reading about them!

This is the type of historical fiction I love - it makes me very grateful to be a women living in present day. Rosemary was such a likeable character even with all her flaws. I found myself drawn to her story and past and loved how she forged her own path even though society had their own expectations for her. As a teacher, I appreciated how drawn she was to helping students no one else wanted to help. The warnings about the girls are there but Rosemary continues to overlook them, even at risk of losing her job. The ending was perfect for me and fit the era completely.

I thought this was a very interesting one. The whole premise of the school for "wayward" girls. Rosemary was so right to push against the rigid curriculum that the school had for her to teach. It was outdated and she thought it best to be up to date with the times.
I loved the back and forth in getting to see Rosemary became who she was.

I haven't read much in the years following WW2 and I liked getting to see the years of my parents births through Rosemary's eyes

A unique story told during the Cold War Era, following the main character Rosemary. It is a time in history that I have not read much about and that along with Rosemary as a character I couldn't put it down! Rosemary was a wonderful character to follow throughout the story as she navigates her heart and policy. Who is to be trusted? You will have to read for yourself to find out! Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

This story starts out slow but after a few chapters it picks up and sucks you right in.

In the beginning it switches from early 1950s to late 1930s and back. It was nice to get insight into 1950s America. It felt well researched.

Definitely an interesting read!

Rosemary is a home economics teacher who cannot get over the fact that she gave a child up for adoption when she was young. She wanted to keep the child but her mother pushed her to give it up. Her mother gets her a job at a reform school so she can move home. When her mother dies she finds out that one of the girls at the reform school is her daughter. When her daughter was adopted her birthdate was changed. She could be one of three girls. Rosemary becomes to close to the girls and step over the line in trying to figure out who is her daughter. This can lead to unexpected consequences.

This is a book about regret and teenage girls who are finding their power in the world. The girls are manipulative and it is easy to get too involved. I did not expect what would happen in the end. A book that keeps you guessing is an excellent read.

Thank you to #netgalley, #MeganChance, and #LakeUnionPublishing for a copy of this book.

A Dangerous Education by Megan Chance
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rosemary is a young and rebellious teacher in 1950s America. When she takes a job at a boarding school for wayward girls at her mothers insistence, she doesn't expect to discover that her daughter that she gave up for adoption 17 years ago to be there. She finds herself somewhat intrigued and drawn in by the three senior girls and their clique despite being warned by the other teachers to keep her distance. Which one of them is her daughter though and will she reveal herself???

This was a gripping read from the beginning. It provided enough intrigue to keep the pages turning and become invested in the story line and characters. I like that it was told with dual timelines which I really enjoyed. It is a great historical read with mystery and thriller elements threaded through.
Thank you to @netgalleyuk for the advanced reading.

This was an interesting story. I never thought much about what it might have been like to live during this time period and the fear of a bomb and communism.

As a teacher I did have trouble with Rosemary's decisions regarding the students. She definitely crossed lines that didn't seem realistic. Of course, there is always THAT teacher but I would never like that teacher.

I will also say this book took me a while to get into it but about half way through I did get sucked into the story.

This book was given to me through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
I found "A Dangerous Education" by Megan Chance to be an addictive, dark, interesting & well written story that pulled me in right away & didn't let me go until its final page.
I enjoyed the author's writing style, how she told the story by using the dual timelines, past & present.
I recommend this book for
fans of dark academia & historical thrillers.
I would love to read another book by
Ms. Chance.

The recipe for this twisty historical fiction is part mystery and part litfic-style family drama, plus a splash of dark academia and a healthy dash of feminism. It’s an engaging read with well-realized main characters, set against a wonderfully-realized historical backdrop, and I definitely recommend it!

Rosemary — a young, progressive teacher — takes a job at a boarding school for troubled girls, at her mother’s insistence: and she knows that the daughter she gave up for adoption is a student there (she just doesn’t know which one). But when she begins her job, she finds herself drawn in by the insular clique of the three girls who are the right age, despite her new colleagues’ warnings.

This really was a great read: the characters seemed very real, the plot was pacy and engaging, and the author did a stellar job of blending a number of genres! (Though some things about the ending felt a little dissatisfying, and there were a few plot threads which seemed less resolved than I would have liked.)

The thing that really shone for me, though, was the setting: the time period in which the story was placed felt like a character all its own, McCarthyism the real “villain” of the story. It was a perfect fit, a thoughtful and compelling addition to the story.

Definitely recommended; if you’re already a fan of historical fiction, you’ll enjoy it, and if you’re new to the genre, it’s an excellent first dip into it. Thanks so much to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the advance copy!

This book follows Rosemary who is a home-economics teacher. The story is set in 1954 and whats expected of Rosemary is to teach the girls how to become perfect housewives. Rosemary has her own regrets from back when she was a teen and she isn't too pleased with the strict school system. .
Although the book was well written and kept me interested most of the time it got pretty dark and i found myself having mixed feelings about this book.

I went back and forth between 4 and 5 stars for this book. There was so much that I loved about this book. I adore and hate books that take place in this time period. I adore the nostalgia and the look into a life I didn’t live. But I also get so angry at some of the pervasive beliefs. It makes me so mad. But that’s the point. Unfortunately, there were parallels to events that happen in our country now, specifically in Florida, when it comes to banning curriculum and certain books. Well done and hats off to the author. This is a modern day Crucible……point out what is wrong in our country right now! And I don’t know if there is a connection to that or not, but such a coincidence if there is with the incorporation of the House Un-American Committee. Genius! You will fall in love with the main character. You will feel heartache for her situation. You will applaud her efforts and you will yell at her for some of the stupidity by her and others as well!

Amazing well written portrait of humanity. This book highlighted what it is to be flawed,and to be human.

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the copy of A Dangerous Education. I loved the premise of this book. Rosemary is a home ec teacher in a reform school for girls. She falls under the spell of three students while trying to discover which one is the daughter she gave up years ago. The book started out great and even though the dual timelines didn’t really grab me, it finally all started coming together.
Rosemary was an interesting character but was very naive. She was so determined to make the girls like her she fell for their lies and caved in to their desire to learn more about forbidden subjects. It was hard to like her or be on her side because she made so many foolish choices. The writing was uneven and sometimes totally threw me out of the story and sometimes made me not want to put the book down.
If you love stories about mean girls and treacherous teens you might like this book. I’m not sure the book was for me. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

1954, Seattle. Thirty-something Rosemary is a home economics teacher at a failing school for wayward girls from ultra-rich families, tasked with turning them into dutiful wives and mothers. When her mother dies, her parting message sends Rosemary into a tailspin of memory: in 1936, she was a runaway teenager in love, pregnant, and unwilling to surrender her child. Her mother’s message― “She’s there, at Mercer Rocks [School]” ―means her daughter is one of the three seniors, but with a falsified birth date, there’s no way to know which one. Now every interaction with the girls is coloured by Rosemary’s desperate need to know.

When the girls start asking questions which fall far outside the rigid curriculum, she has to make a decision. Looking back on her own life, she is all too aware that lies and prevarication caused her to fall into many traps and make mistakes she might not have made, had someone―her parents, her family, the school, the media, anyone―told her the truth. Sympathising with the girls’ dilemma, she decides to be open and honest with them about love, sex, birth control, pregnancy, abortion, and more. But with a staffing change comes an increasingly sinister shift in the girls’ demeanor, and Rosemary is drawn into their web of lies and deceit.

I would not normally choose a book about high school students, but Megan Chance has never let me down and I was gripped by this from the start. For those of us who remember domestic science classes, I doubt many gave thought to them from a feminist standpoint, or considered what the curriculum was teaching us, rather than what it was not. Chance’s knack of introducing quiet menace into her novels pulls the story along at break-neck speed. I couldn’t let go! Highly recommended for a unique look at the McCarthy era and its attempt to squeeze the individuality out of a generation of students.

A Dangerous Education.I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

There was something about this book that made me breeze through it in two sittings. It’s part mystery, part psychological suspense, part thriller, part dark academia. Told in dual timelines, Rosemary is seen as both a 17-year old rebellious teenager in the 1930’s, running away from home and falling in love with an 18-year old socialist, and as a 34-year old woman in McCarthy-era Seattle, teaching at a reform school for girls much like she was 17 years prior. Her life choices when she was 17 are coming back to haunt her in her present day, which makes for the suspense.

Rosemary, despite living through some serious situations, doesn’t seem to have grown up emotionally. She makes many naive and questionable choices throughout the book that are so frustrating to read, you just want to reach into the book and slap some sense into her. But I guess that’s the sign of good writing! It’s easy to get emotionally involved in Rosemary’s story.

Rosemary is a progressive feminist and is hiding it from her new employer, who wants her to teach home economics to reform school girls everything from baking brownies to how to make do after an atomic bomb attack. She’s meant to teach the girls about life with outdated texts, and when sex education comes up, to teach abstinence until marriage and no other information about being sexually active. Rosemary bristles under these restrictions.

It turns out Rosemary’s mother got her the job at the school because one of the girls there is her daughter, given up for adoption against her will 17 years prior. Before Rosemary can ask her mother more about it, her mother dies. Rosemary must figure out which girl is hers, while not revealing her identity to her daughter. And throughout the book, that gets harder and harder to do as she gets to know these three very manipulative young ladies.

There’s so much emotion and tension oozing off the pages, like I said, I devoured this book. I have to give props to the author for taking a chance on her ending of the book, and I appreciate the author’s note, which mentions that many of the things in the book were based upon real events.

Even though it was set in the past, it was oddly relevant to current times- the lack of a realistic sex Ed for example. I’d almost describe it as HANDMAID’s TALE meets BRIDGERTON, meets a cult. The girls at the school are manipulative and take advantage of the teachers. Rosemary is modern for the times and puts up with the girls’ manipulation because she has a secret reason for being at the school.

A suspenseful dark academia book that i enjoyed enough. It was an interesting story and written well. It was definitely suspenseful and intriguing as well as being dark and twisty.