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A review by book0logy
The Truants by Kate Weinberg
4.0
My first visit to a bookshop after the lockdown in November was a special one. I had been fantasising about the feeling of peace you get amongst the shelves, and was excited to just simply be there after several months away. I didn’t go with a plan of books I wanted, a rare occurrence for me, instead I wanted to truly explore.
The Truants by Kate Weinberg was one of the first books that called to me. It promised a thrilling adventure set on the backdrop of University experience. This was what drew me in the most. I find it is quite difficult to find books written about this middling age between teenage experience and adult life. The last book I had thoroughly enjoyed was also a book set at University and I had found myself full of nostalgia for the whole thing. Weinberg’s novel also promised Agatha Christie style intrigued, which was another appealing factor to me as I had recently been craving that absorbing nature of a good mystery novel. The Truants went straight into the To Buy pile.
The Truants is a novel about a young woman, the relationships she forms at University, and the consequences of them. It has a foreboding atmosphere that compels you forward through its pages, searching for the mystery and then searching for its answers. I will be discussing numerous plot points in this review, and as such if you do not wish to know I will say my general thoughts now. The Truants was a book that filled a gap for me, it provided a story about the transition that happens to many at University. At some points, I think it got a bit beyond itself and made it difficult to relate to its characters, which wasn’t helped by the problems with pacing that were present in the middle. I recommend this book for those looking for an engrossing, character led read, rather than those who are looking for an Agatha Christie style mystery.
I did like this book, I found it very difficult to put it down. However, by the end I didn’t feel satisfied. Ultimately, it feels like there’s an act missing from the middle of the book. The first half weaves a delicate base for the novel, establishing Jess and her friendship with Georgie, her obsession with her tutor Lorna, her relationship with Nick, and her lust for Alec. The tension builds as her feelings for Alec threaten to surface, and she grows closer to Lorna. As I read, I found myself trying to predict the fallout, who would face the repercussions of their actions. However, when the tension was released, I felt it came too quickly. It felt undeserved, and I felt let down almost by the answers that were presented.
Away from this pacing issue, I felt that there was something slightly uncomfortable about the way that wealth was woven throughout the novel. Jess is from a very wealthy family, with all the trappings and comforts, and often uses very unattainable things to compare herself to the even wealthier character of Georgie. She steals because she can, for fun, in a way that I found very uneasy. This is a novel that focuses on the 1% and portrays it like its normal and that we can all relate. There’s an inherent poshness to it all.
To set the book outside of these hegemonic backdrops of Oxford or Cambridge was something fresh for me, but for the portrayal of University experience to still revolve around the quite outdated or exclusive idea of intensely personal relationships with tutors from day one was a bit disappointing. It made the events seem unbelievable to me, that a lecturer would start asking a first year student about her diss, for them to be comfortable enough to invite her over, it was a very alien idea of undergraduate.
Some aspects of the writing were incredibly repetitive, such as the image of drinking hot drinks out of a styrofoam cup, or using sleep as a break in the narrative. There was also the constant assertion that Jess was the pinnacle of intellect, yet she never displays anything that justifies so many of the characters being so obsessed with her.
The Truants is a novel that I thought about after I finished, and one that I would like to read again. It built its narrative so beautifully in the first half, and as a result I was desperate for answers. The answers, if disappointing, did not tarnish the careful writing and craft that went into it. I would be interested in reading another novel by Weinberg, and I recommend this novel to those who wish to escape with a quick read.
I gave this book 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Truants by Kate Weinberg was one of the first books that called to me. It promised a thrilling adventure set on the backdrop of University experience. This was what drew me in the most. I find it is quite difficult to find books written about this middling age between teenage experience and adult life. The last book I had thoroughly enjoyed was also a book set at University and I had found myself full of nostalgia for the whole thing. Weinberg’s novel also promised Agatha Christie style intrigued, which was another appealing factor to me as I had recently been craving that absorbing nature of a good mystery novel. The Truants went straight into the To Buy pile.
The Truants is a novel about a young woman, the relationships she forms at University, and the consequences of them. It has a foreboding atmosphere that compels you forward through its pages, searching for the mystery and then searching for its answers. I will be discussing numerous plot points in this review, and as such if you do not wish to know I will say my general thoughts now. The Truants was a book that filled a gap for me, it provided a story about the transition that happens to many at University. At some points, I think it got a bit beyond itself and made it difficult to relate to its characters, which wasn’t helped by the problems with pacing that were present in the middle. I recommend this book for those looking for an engrossing, character led read, rather than those who are looking for an Agatha Christie style mystery.
I did like this book, I found it very difficult to put it down. However, by the end I didn’t feel satisfied. Ultimately, it feels like there’s an act missing from the middle of the book. The first half weaves a delicate base for the novel, establishing Jess and her friendship with Georgie, her obsession with her tutor Lorna, her relationship with Nick, and her lust for Alec. The tension builds as her feelings for Alec threaten to surface, and she grows closer to Lorna. As I read, I found myself trying to predict the fallout, who would face the repercussions of their actions. However, when the tension was released, I felt it came too quickly. It felt undeserved, and I felt let down almost by the answers that were presented.
Away from this pacing issue, I felt that there was something slightly uncomfortable about the way that wealth was woven throughout the novel. Jess is from a very wealthy family, with all the trappings and comforts, and often uses very unattainable things to compare herself to the even wealthier character of Georgie. She steals because she can, for fun, in a way that I found very uneasy. This is a novel that focuses on the 1% and portrays it like its normal and that we can all relate. There’s an inherent poshness to it all.
To set the book outside of these hegemonic backdrops of Oxford or Cambridge was something fresh for me, but for the portrayal of University experience to still revolve around the quite outdated or exclusive idea of intensely personal relationships with tutors from day one was a bit disappointing. It made the events seem unbelievable to me, that a lecturer would start asking a first year student about her diss, for them to be comfortable enough to invite her over, it was a very alien idea of undergraduate.
Some aspects of the writing were incredibly repetitive, such as the image of drinking hot drinks out of a styrofoam cup, or using sleep as a break in the narrative. There was also the constant assertion that Jess was the pinnacle of intellect, yet she never displays anything that justifies so many of the characters being so obsessed with her.
The Truants is a novel that I thought about after I finished, and one that I would like to read again. It built its narrative so beautifully in the first half, and as a result I was desperate for answers. The answers, if disappointing, did not tarnish the careful writing and craft that went into it. I would be interested in reading another novel by Weinberg, and I recommend this novel to those who wish to escape with a quick read.
I gave this book 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️