A simmering psychological thriller about a dead teacher at an elite boarding school, the students who had every reason to want her gone, and the tangled web of rivalry and romance concealing the truth—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places.
At an elite boarding school, 8 students are selected for an exclusive program, but only one will walk away with a lifechanging opportunity to realize their creative dreams.
Effy is piecing together a story about the tragic betrayal that led to her mother’s death. Arlo hopes to publish a novel—but he’s also trying to start a new chapter with Effy after he broke her heart and ghosted 3 years earlier. Everyone has a compelling reason to be there—they all want a big break—but only the most ambitious will prevail as the students are eliminated one by one.
Their mentor is the one and only Meredith Graffam, an enigmatic writer, director and actress, whose unorthodox teaching methods push them past the breaking point. Under Graffam’s tutelage, the students reveal their darkest secrets, take unthinkable risks, and slowly start to turn on one another. But Graffam never expected they would turn on her . . .
**When We Were Monsters comes out September 2, 2025**
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
A “simmering” psychological thriller is a pretty apt description. A fairly classic way of starting a thriller, the author reveals who the victim is right away. These kinds of stories usually start then divulging from the beginning, and we slowly have our re-build up to the climax of how the murder happens. However, this book was slightly different.
This book had quite a strong tension throughout the entire story, so it really simmered the entire way. The story takes place over two POVs, Effy and Arlo. Eight students are brought to an exclusive two-week intensive program at a prestigious school for a chance to make their publishing/producing dreams come true. Quickly, it becomes a competition with too much at stake . . .
The main characters are quite good. I enjoyed reading both their points of views, and it was pretty interesting to following both POVs. That said, because they’re both at the same intensive “camp” and experiencing the same events, I’m not sure it was really necessary. They each kind of have their own tragic backstory, but this felt more like a plot device rather than an actual driving force. I liked their personalities and the way they drove the story forward, but I’m not sure how important their backgrounds actually were.
As I said previously, the suspense was pretty good. Even though the story was fairly predictable, and the dark academia setting is nothing really special, the way it was written still had a very good undercurrent of suspense from the start of the book to the end. In the same way though, there wasn’t much of a climax, and the big reveal (which to me wasn’t even a big surprise) didn’t feel like it changed much in the tension. It was really just one of those books that has a certain level of suspense and dread throughout the entire book. It was a “suspense vibes” kind of book in that sense.
If you’re looking for a book with that sense of impending doom for literally the entire book, this one is for you. I think I personally prefer an actual climax or twists and turns that have that kind of sudden scare factor, rather than this type of book which plays more to the paranoia and dread. That said, if that’s what you’re looking for, this book does execute it. The things that the students are forced to do are pretty alarming, and I could hardly put myself in their shoes—I feel like I would’ve run away much earlier.
Down the Rabbit Hole 