One of the best "digging up the past" books I have read in a while. Characters you will love and hate that make this story completely gripping!

Book Title: The School Reunion
Author: Shalini Boland
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: January 16, 2024
My Rating: 4.4 Stars!
Pages: 232

A story written by author, Shalini Boland is automatically put on my TBR shelf ~ Yep! I am a fan ~ this is my eleventh novel!
Story alternates between the POV of Chloe and Dean.
We know Chloe but don’t know much about Dean nor his connection to the reunion.
We learn that Dean is a single dad raising his young son in his childhood home. He has had some business dealing that didn’t do well. He never wanted to more into his mother’s home has memories he wants to forget. However is financially forced to do so.

When thirty-one year old, recently divorced Chloe Flynn got the invitation from West Cliff School of an upcoming class reunion she was not thrilled. West Cliff is a private school and Chloe attended on a full swim scholarship. She can still remember being teased by Abigale and her clique and called ‘Fishy Flynn’
Besides the whole point of attending a class reunion is to showoff that everything turned out wonderful for you! Right!!

However when school friend Harriet Walsh encourages her to attend she decides – why not? Turning the clock back fifteen years might be just might be fun.
Additionally perhaps Nathan Blake will be there! Chloe still regrets letting him get away.

As the reunion gets closer, threatening emails are being sent to Chloe – telling her to stay away from the reunion. Se blocks that e-mail address however they change email address and continue.
When the reunion arrives Chloe has her suspicions as to who has been sending the message. Her plan is to seek them out.
Additionally Chloe finds Nathan and they hit it off. Beautiful rich Abigale Matthew has been hitting on him all evening and tells Chloe to back off. Things get out of control with Abigale as well as with Chris Tamber high school sweetheart.
Chloe mention as buried secret from the past and wants it to remain buried but is afraid that it is going to emerge- and it does!

Ms. Boland does not disappoint. I knew to expect a shocking ending but it was still a surprise.

Also want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 16, 2024

Another excellent thriller by Shalini Borland. I always enjoy Shalini’s books, and The School Reunion is another great read.
Chloe receives an invitation to a school reunion. She is reluctant to attend. School does not hold the happiest of memories for her, although she excelled at swimming, she was not the most popular student and has not stayed in contact with any of her classmates. She is also dealing with issues in her personal life which makes her reluctant to discuss her current situation with her old alumni. Will Chloe attend, and if so what will she find? Who will greet her and what secrets will be uncovered?
An excellent read, highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A school reunion is the perfect opportunity to show off to your old schoolmates. To prove how successful you've become, what you've achieved in your life. But when the invite to her reunion drops in her emails, Chloe is horrified, after all she feels she hasn't achieved much, recently divorced hasn't got a high powered job why would she put herself through it. But she changes her mind at the thought of meeting up with a guy from school she always had a crush on.
Dean isn't happy, he has money worries and a feud with a successful business man. Will his life change for the better.
As with all the Shalini Boland books I've read this was a quick page turner, the build up of the story and characters some you know and a mysterious voice. On the night of the reunion it soon becomes apparent that past secrets are going to be revealed
I was gifted this advanced copy from Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer with no obligation to leave my review

Chloe's school reunion was shaping up to be quite the stressful event, especially given her past encounters with a group of bullies and her wealthy ex-boyfriend, who isn't accustomed to being told no.

Freshly divorced and going through the motions, Chloe thought it might be fun to catch up with old friends. However, as the reunion drew nearer, Chloe began receiving menacing emails, warning her to stay away. Was this just a prank, or was there something more sinister at play?

In general, I enjoyed the book, although it took some time for me to fully get into it.The story starts off slowly, gradually building momentum towards the reunion. The author takes their time to set the scene, introduce the characters, and provide background information before plunging into the main action.

It's not until the middle of the book that the plot really starts to pick up speed, particularly during the reunion.

Shalini Boland skillfully crafts compelling characters and dynamics that allow for a thorough exploration of their personalities. The writing is filled with intricate details, sometimes almost too much, as she paints a picture of each character, location, and scene.

I found Dean ( the second POV) to be quite likable, while my opinion of Chloe constantly wavered back and forth. However, I was caught off guard by some unexpected occurrences.

Although the book failed to keep me in suspense or completely captivate my attention, I still found it to be an enjoyable read, and the conclusion more than compensated for the slow beginning.

Shalini Boland fans will absolutely enjoy this book.

Thanks to netgally and Thomas and Mercer for an advanced copy. Opinions are voluntary and my own.

I did quite enjoy reading this book. It had me hooked to the end even though I did find it a bit unrealistic at the end especially the way Chloe's character changed to what was portrayed before. Somehow to me the personalities did not match. But I still enjoyed the book.

People either dread high school reunions and avoid them like the plague and then there are those like me who enjoy going and catching up with former classmates. Chloe Flynn, who is recently divorced and working a job that she isn't passionate about has received an invitation to her high school reunion. She hopes she will run into the one who got away, Nathan Blake.

She is anticipating seeing him again even though she has been receiving messages telling her she better not come. What's a girl to do? Who is sending the messages, why is Chloe being threatened?

Dean is a single father who is struggling. His mother has recently passed away and he has a client who refuses to pay him for his work. How does he tie into the story?

I enjoyed both Chloe and Dean's POV chapters. This was a nicely paced book that kept me guessing until close to the end. I had no idea what was going to happen and kept turning those pages wanting to know more. There was a nice number of twists and turns throughout the book with a very shocking reveal which I did not see coming at all!!!!! Very nicely done.

Gripping, shocking, well written, and dramatic.

Wow another great book by this author. If you like a good psychological thriller with great characters and loads of twists and turns this book is definitely for you . I thought I’d worked out the ending but it was another surprise that I wasn’t expecting. This author just keeps getting better and better. I’d definitely recommend this book. 5 stars from me

If you ever want to attend your school reunion, stop 🛑 right here because THE SCHOOL REUNION will make you think twice.

Chloe isn’t having the best time in life currently and is hoping attending her school reunion will be a bit of a boost for her. She desperately wants to see Nathan, but there was someone else that wanted see her….. and a few that didn’t. That feeling was mutual though.

There was so much teenage angst in this book that reminded me of what being in high school was like which is a hard pass. As a book though it was stellar.

This was fast-paced with a lot going on. I had no idea where it would end up but I felt like this book was a sinkhole that was swallowing me up and wouldn’t let go. The build-up was great, the characters were amazing (even the horrible ones), and the end was explosive! This was Shalini Boland at her finest.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for this ARC!

Another brilliant book from this author storytelling at its best which kept me involved in the storyline from the beginning until the end.

Plenty of twists and turns all the way with a fantastic ending which brought everything to a satisfactory conclusion.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer (Amazon Publishing) for this brilliant ARC which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Chloe has recently been divorced and feeling a bit lonely. She doesn’t have any friends on her own. The ones she had were mostly connected to her ex- husband Ben and the relationship she has wit her mother is not the most caring one. So, when she receives an invitation for a school reunion, she is reluctant to go at first, as she was bullied at school. But she takes no heed, and she thinks it might be a fresh start she needs and might meet Nathan who she had a crush on, fifteen years previously. But she starts getting apprehensive when she also gets a threatening email telling her that she shouldn’t go to the reunion. What do they want and why?
I am kicking myself that I haven’t read much of this authors work. Because ‘The School Reunion’ is a fabulous read. This is gripping and full of suspense and keeps to guessing who is threatening her right to the end. With a twist at the end left me wanting more. Is there another episode to this story? I hope so. 5 stars me.

Have you ever attended a high school reunion?

Not me! No thanks!😝

Our MC Chloe, just received an invitation for her reunion and her initial thought was identical. No way! But after reconnecting with one of her high school besties she decides to go for it!

There is one man she wants to see…Nathan! Elusive, but he’s someone Chloe has been thinking about for a long time.

Then of course, there are the classmates she’d rather skip over…and they feel the same way about her! That would be the Mean Girls! As nasty in the book as they are in real life!🙄

And let’s not forget, there’s also her high-school boyfriend who she’s tried to put behind her. Question is, is he ready to let her go? (Oh, that high-school tension and drama!)

This book has a bit of a youngish feel to it. I wouldn’t call it YA but you definitely get the adolescent vibe in their behaviors.

Shalini Boland did a stellar job of keeping the reader (me) in the dark throughout. There was so much going on - both past and present. Leaving me clueless as to where she was taking me, absolutely glued to the pages. The ending came together for an explosive twist! Yay!

I always enjoy my reads by this author and looking forward to more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer

Thank you Netgalley & Thomas & Mercer for an eARC of The School Reunion by Shalini Boland.

I love this author, so am always thrilled when I see her pump out yet another bingey book!

Chloe gets an invite to her school reunion at the perfect time - She's divorced, broke and bored. She finds herself reuniting with old friends before the reunion (and potential love interests). Seems like things are looking up for her, right?

Everyone has some secrets, and someone is determined for them to come out. I really enjoyed the past vs. present chapters in this one to get things going. Also, multiple POVs. The story went in a direction that I was not expecting at all, which I loved! That being said, the ending felt abrupt and I wish we were left with a little bit more. 3.5 stars out of 5.

The School Reunion is another gripping book by Shalini Bowland. Chloe Flynn receives an invitation to her school reunion, unsure whether to go she only accepts hoping to see Nathan Blake there. Once at the reunion she is thrilled to see Nathan there and he seems very happy to see Chloe too. But as the night progresses Chloe feels something is not right. The ending to this book is absolutely jaw dropping. I can highly recommend this book and look forward to this authors next book.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for this ARC. The publication date is the 16th Jan 2024. I loved this book it was full of suspense and made me eagerly want to turn the pages.

My favourite character was Chloe as I would always wonder what would happen next for her. Overall, a suspenseful novel with lots of twists and turns that keeps you guessing until the very end!

To begin, I’d like to thank Thomas & Mercer for sending me an ARC of this book, and to NetGalley for facilitating. And finally, thank you to Shalini Boland!

No spoilers as usual in this review.

I’ll start by saying I’m a huge Shalini Boland fan. I have read all of her books and they never fail to disappoint. The characters are always so complex in their layers and motivations. This was no exception in that respect. I loved the chapter format coming from different characters and different points in time. And I loved the twist with regard to the unnamed narrative running throughout.

When I look back on it, actually not much was going on for a majority of the book and yet it was such a page turner because the characters were so interesting and a sense of suspense was being built up with every page. You knew something was afoot but not quite what, until the very end (which was a very satisfying ending by the way).

Even though I have said not much was going on, this doesn’t mean it was in any way boring, just that the art of this book was in the skilful build up to the climax. It was most definitely a book that I devoured and felt very invested in the outcomes for all of the characters.

Another brilliant read from Shalini Boland!

School reunions ... utterly and thoroughly blegh for me. Some of the girls I was in my last year with started to organise them a couple of years ago too and I was invited. I never went though. Why would I? I was happy I did not have to see a lot of them any more day after day. So why would I want to go and share a meal with them? To see the girls again I did like? No need to because those you had a good relationship with, you kept in touch with no matter what. 

So I kept getting invites year after year until covid happened. And now I have not received one any more. Did they stop organising them or did they finally realise I was not interested? I don't have a clue, but I don't care at all. :)

So now back to the book. The vibe was the same I felt. People who could not wait to go and those who could not be more unhappy with it. But most of them ended up going anyway...

It seems like nothing has changed. Bullies are sstill being bullies, annoying people have not changed either, but on the sunny side friendships are being rekindled and maybe a brighter future might be on the horizon for some, black clouds for others...

Love can last for a lifetime, but hatred can too and as per usual, secrets are there waiting for the moment to come and crawl out when you least expect it...

I could describe this author's books with a scorpion. The head gives you an idea that there is a threat, but the venom is to be found in the tail...

I have not read a book by this author I did not love. 5 stars

Thank you

I want to thank you for allowing me a preview of this title. I've tried to read this 3 times and just am unable. I've really enjoyed Boland books I have read in the past, but for some reason just could not connect with this one. I wish Boland great success, this just wasn't my cup of tea.

The School Reunion is another homerun by Shalini Boland. I loved everything about this book. I will be recommending it to everyone.

Wow what an amazing book, I literally couldn't put my kindle down, Shalini Boland 's books just getting better and better each time and I'm so excited to read more.