What a fantastic book! If you love Elin Hilderbrand's books you won't want to miss this one! The characters stay with you long after you finish the book. Highly recommend!

I have never stepped foot on a boarding school campus in my life but it is my favorite setting for a book. Oh how I loved this one. What an amazing cast of characters….East is the best bad boy I have read about in awhile. I read this in one sitting and I wish I could give it more than 5 stars. Spoiler- The only thing I think I missed somewhere…the reading of Cinnamon’s email? I was dying to know what it said!

I’m always going to love everything Elin Hilderbrand does, and The Academy is no exception. A perfect blend of Gossip Girl drama and Gilmore Girls heart, it pulls you into an elite New England boarding school where privilege, ambition and scandal collide. The awesome mother daughter writing team craft a fun cast of students navigating friendships, rivalries and family pressures—plus the secrets. With sharp dialog and an intoxicating setting, this is the ultimate binge-worthy read. Already counting down to book two!

P.S. Loving Elin’s new Nantucket-inspired clothing line!

Please tell me there will be a book two! I am not ready let go of these characters. I want to know what Senior year brings. What does East have up his sleeve and will he and Charlie move forward? What about the letter from Cinnamon? Will that’s friends sit of the sofa and tread it together on Graduation day?
This group has had their fair share of ups and downs. I found myself so invested in the characters the building of them is impressive. Thank you for a good high school story.

It’s move-in day at Tiffin Academy and amidst the happy chaos of friends reuniting, selfies uploading, and cars unloading, shocking news arrives: America Today just ranked Tiffin the number two boarding school in the country. It's a seventeen-spot jump – was there a typo? The dorms need to be renovated, their sports teams always come in last place, and let’s just say Tiffin students are known for being more social than academic. On the other hand, the campus is exquisite, class sizes are small, and the dining hall is run by an acclaimed New York chef. And they do have fun—lots of parties and school dances, and a piano man plays in the student lounge every Monday night.

Shelby Cunningham is going to be an extremely amazing story teller. Elin Hilderbrand is a fantastic story teller. They are the Duo you didn't know you need.

Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham’s The Academy is an engaging, character-driven novel that masterfully blends the drama of elite prep schools with heartfelt relationships and high-stakes intrigue. Set at the prestigious Tiffin Academy, this novel pulls readers into a world where academic ambition, social maneuvering, and hidden scandals collide.

With a rich cast of students and faculty, The Academy explores complex relationships, personal struggles, and the ever-present pressure to succeed. While the sheer number of characters can be overwhelming at times, the authors do a great job of centering the narrative around a few key figures, making their journeys compelling and immersive. Simone Bergeron, in particular, stands out with her intriguing backstory, especially for readers who have experience in academia.

One of the novel’s standout elements is the introduction of ZipZap, an anonymous app that exposes secrets and disrupts the school’s carefully curated facade. This digital-age twist adds a layer of suspense, making the book feel modern and relevant while maintaining the timeless appeal of classic prep school dramas.

With strong writing, well-developed characters, and a plot that keeps the pages turning, The Academy is a must-read for fans of boarding school fiction. Whether you’re drawn in by the intrigue or the richly drawn academic setting, this collaboration between Hilderbrand and Cunningham makes for an addictive and entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to see this new book by Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter! I loved the new setting at a boarding school. Students are heading back to Tiffin Academy for another school year and are shocked to find that their school jumped up in the rankings to the number two boarding school in the country. After a year that ended with a popular student committing suicide, this feels like a fresh start of what promises to be a great year. Everything seems to be going well for Tiffin - the sports teams are doing well, kids are behaving, and there are two new, young teachers. Then an app called Zip Zap hits the scene. No one can figure out who is writing the posts and how they seem to know things people want to keep private. The scandalous posts start to cause issues because now no one's secrets are safe.

The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham is an absolute page-turner! It’s set at Tiffin Academy, a prestigious New England boarding school that suddenly gets a huge boost when it’s ranked as the second-best school in the country—despite some very questionable features like rundown dorms and sports teams that always come last. It’s the kind of place where the students are more about the parties than academics, but there’s something magnetic about it all.

The drama really kicks off when a new app called ZipZap starts spreading scandalous gossip about everyone on campus—teachers, students, and staff are all fair game. You’ve got Davi, the influencer queen bee, Simone, the young and mysterious history teacher, Charley, the new student who’s trying to stay under the radar, and Cordelia, the quirky admissions director. Everyone is hiding something, and as the year unfolds, the secrets start unraveling in the messiest, most addictive ways.

This book is full of twists and turns, and it's such a fun, juicy ride through the ups and downs of high school life at a boarding school. If you love a good drama with a mix of secrets, gossip, and scandal, The Academy is a must-read!

Perhaps I should review this book for a predominantly YA audience, as I was not feeling it as a twenty year reader of Elin’s previous books. She collaborated with her daughter, and while I applaud this joint venture, for me it was pretty clear who wrote what. I just could not get into the storyline or characters. But that’s not to say that others won’t enjoy. We are taken into the world of New England boarding schools, which is rich w fodder. Secrets abound. Lives will change for all. Recommended for public libraries. After all it *is* Elin Hilderbrand. .

This book was an absolute delight. Juicy, mysterious and fun set against a richly drawn setting. I loved how the authors used so many different narrators and felt that it added a lot to the story, especially when it switched between faculty and students. I wish I could step onto the campus of Tiffins, it was described in such an interesting, beautiful way. There was one end that didn’t get wrapped up which makes me hopeful that the authors will continue to write within this world. This is going to be such a fun read for Fall 2025!

I was a bit skeptical about a type of book from Elin - without a Nantucket Summer read - however I really enjoyed this - much more than I expected. Looking forward to the continued success of the mother daughter duo and can't wait to for the next installation of the series

Elin Hildenbrand is a great story teller and I have always loved her books. A good escape, great for a weekend afternoon read and this one did not disappoint either. Thanks for the advanced read.

I struggled to fully engage with this title. Rather than having a smooth, cohesive flow, it felt as though two distinct writing styles were at play. The adult storyline was well-written and flowed naturally, but the student sections lacked clarity in terms of point of view. The author’s opinions were frequently inserted directly into the narrative, making it difficult to form my own judgment about the students. While I understand this is an ARC, I also noticed several sentence fragments throughout. Overall, the premise had great potential, but it didn’t quite live up to it.

It’s move-in day at Tiffin Academy, and this year not only brings the new ranking as second-best boarding school in America by America Today but also a new fifth year student. Charley Hicks.
Charley Hicks is an outcast- she’s a book worm, confident in her self (and old school style) and is not interested in making friends.
As the year progress so does the rumors. Friendships and relationships and secrets are made and broken.

I’ve read most of Elin Hildebrand’s work, and while I’m excited she’s taking a soft retirement approach- I still wanted a little more from this book.
This book definitely has a Hilderbrand book feel- lots of different characters and their POV. With each POV of view we get a hint at secret or backstory. Typically, we see the resolution with these dangled carrots, but not in this book. I didn’t realize when I started this book that it was part of a series which ultimately left me disappointed at the end. There was so many secrets building up but not resolution.
UGH, I want to know what’s on that email attachment.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for this ARC in return for my honest review.

BOARDING SCHOOOOOOL, take me away! I love this setting for a story; it's exciting and leaves me wanting more in similar settings. This was overall a really well constructed story. Really cool to see Elin and her daughter writing together! Shelby, welcome to the club! :)

This was fantastic! I do not read adult books very often, especially by household name authors such as Elin Hilderbrand. I enjoyed this one very much!

I had a very hard time determining who was speaking in many parts of the book. Lots of things in the book were predicted, which isn’t always a bad thing. This book covered a few deep topics suicide & eating disorder, but we’re never discussed at all except to say Cinnamon was no longer there, Charlie took her room, and Davi was throwing up. How did she stop doing this? Did she seek a counselor? Were her parents confronted? Lots of big lead ups with no answers..Dubs email from Cinnamon? Guess that will be another book?

This one started out slow for me and I almost threw in the towel at 30% but I kept going and ended up really enjoying the book. I feel like there were too many characters to try and keep track of and really disliked most of the adults (maybe I was supposed to?), but I loved the setting and the teens, and am looking forward to the next installation.

Book Review: The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand

Elin Hilderbrand’s and Shelby Cunningham's The Academy is an addictive, character-driven novel that perfectly blends the elite drama of Gossip Girl with the heartfelt relationships of Gilmore Girls. Set in a prestigious New England boarding school, the story immerses readers in a world of privilege, ambition, and scandal, all wrapped in Hilderbrand’s signature storytelling and Cunningham's first-hand knowledge.

The novel follows a diverse cast of students navigating friendships, rivalries, and family pressures while uncovering secrets that threaten to upend their lives. The richly drawn characters and their intertwining stories make for an unputdownable read, full of sharp dialogue and emotional depth. Hilderbrand masterfully captures the intoxicating allure of an exclusive academic setting, where power plays and whispered secrets keep the pages turning.

If you love stories set in elite circles with a mix of heart and intrigue, The Academy is a must-read. It’s the perfect escape for fans of coming-of-age drama, where every chapter feels like an episode of a binge-worthy series.

Boarding school with so many characters (you'll love some and you'll hate others). Charley is every girl that didn't fit in and would rather read than socialize. What a dream to be able to leave a home life that just isn't satisfactory to go to boarding school. though.. I'm a fan of Elin's and I love the addition of her daughter, Shelby. What a fun, enlightening read.