Studies At The School By The Sea is the fourth ( and I think maybe the final) book in the School by the Sea series by Jenny Colgan. Each book in the series takes us through a year in the life of the students and staff at a posh English boarding school. When it is decided that the rough and tumble Philip Dean students should interact with the privileged Downy School students, things get interesting.

It was nice to revisit all the familiar characters but also interesting to meet some new ones. This was not my favorite book in the series but still very enjoyable. A quick, easy, entertaining read, it is well worth the time. As I stated earlier, I have heard this is the last book in the series but I am hoping for a fifth installment.

If you haven’t read any thing by Jenny Colgan, you really should give one of her books a try. I have read quite a few of her books and they are all delightful. With interesting characters and relatable plots, you can go wrong with a jenny Colgan book.

Oh how I love this series....I say it about every Jenny Colgan book, but absolutely charming, just delightful. It reads as a movie, there's no negative or upsetting issues, just escape. That being said, it's not hokey or unbelievable. I feel like Maggie's an old friend. I somehow relate entirely, as a 44 year old, to all of the 16 year Olds. This book hits on so many levels. The writing is flawless and the plot is solid. An absolute At.

In the fourth in Jenny Colgan's School by the Sea series, teacher Maggie has ditched her long-time fiancé and embarked on a romantic relationship that has been brewing throughout the series. David no longer teaches at the boys' equivalent of the posh girls' boarding school where Maggie is employed, but at a definitely-NOT-posh local school that serves a more financially-stressed community.

We are still following three of Maggie's students, each with her own challenges and eccentricities, but this time there is more emphasis on joint events that bring the 16-year-olds at both schools together for remote activities. The students have the opportunity to mingle with children their age who can't imagine attending the others' school and who learn that they just may have some unexpected commonalities.

I was hoping that Maggie and David would get it together and give their relationship a higher priority, but again they let obstacles get in their way, to everyone's frustration. Maggie still feels the pull of her home in Scotland, especially when her ex-fiancé has a crisis and she feels she has to abandon a planned European adventure with David.

I love Jenny Colgan's comforting books, but this is not one of my favorite series of hers. I was especially confused by the description of this book. Colgan originally said there would be 6 books in the series, but the description indicated this is the last, dealing with the graduating students. I'm pretty sure they have one year left before graduation, so the description is misleading. There is one new character, a popular football player from the poor school, who feels like he will invigorate the next in the series, if there is indeed one. There is also a cliffhanger with Maggie and David, which may again be derailed by problems at home.

My thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

It took a lot of reading for me to get “into” the characters and story, but worth it to see the characters storylines tied up. Colgan’s boarding school story has plenty of angst, teenage and adult. She does have a knack for creating her characters back stories.

Elite boarding school vs. underprivileged school, rich vs. poor, motivated vs. lazy and confident vs. insecure - each theme is well depicted in the characters and story.

The main characters of Maggie & David were frustrating due to their inability to communicate and connect as couples should, I felt this dragged on a bit too much and then was quickly wrapped up without depicting adequate character growth.

I always read the book before I look at comments, so I did not realize that this was an unfinished “sequel” to a series. That explains my reading frustrations.

Enjoyable read, but not the Colgan writing I have come to love and expect.

Another gem of a read from Jenny Colgan in the School by the Sea series. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for chance to read this novel. It’s a great story about Maggie, the young teacher in her 4th year as English teacher at the girls boarding school.
I enjoyed how the story progressed and hope there is a 5th in the series.

Studies at the School by the Sea by Jenny Colgan

I enjoyed this book somewhat but not as much as previous Colgan books.
As an American reader there were several things that could be explained better
The most obvious
1. invigilator is not a term used or known in American - maybe use proctor, or explain the term
2. GCSE - Americans are not familiar with this, what is the importance/significance of them- what is a good/bad mark or a usual mark.
3. Because of the GCSE issue the last chapter made no sense to me at all- I didn't understand what that all meant or signified for the characters.

It would have been more satisfying to have a paragraph about each character instead:
ie. Fliss aced her exams with an average score of 8 (of 10) and continued at Downey Girls for the next 2 years.
all those numbers mean absolutely nothing to me

The relationship between the two MC, Maggie and David was very tedious in moments. How is it possible these 2 had a relationship and were completely unable to discuss their fellings or where the relationship was headed.
I also felt it was unrealistic that Maggie would have canceled her whole summer vacation with her newly blooming love for an ex. Even if she wanted to go home and see if he was OK, no need to hang around- maybe join David partway through.

I also felt like they made such a big deal about moving to England from Scotland and how far away it was- get real- a short flight or a lovely train ride- not like moving to Australia which was how they made it sound.

All in all I really enjoyed the relationships between all the students- I felt Colgan captured that emotional era in a life well.

Sweet and uplifting, though it was hard on me to see the people impacted by her troubles deciding between two different possibilities of life. Always enjoy reading Jenny Colgan, though this was not one of my favorites.

Thank you to @netgalley and @AvonBooks for this ARC. Maggie, a literature teacher at a posh school and Danny, an English teacher at an underprivileged school start dating. They have the brilliant idea to bring the two classes together for different activities. I mean, what could go wrong with the privileged and not so? Can their relationship make it through? This book isn't the usual Jenny Colgan and not my favorite but was a quick read. #StudiesattheSchoolbytheSea #SchoolbytheSeaSeries #JennyColgan #March2024