YA ARC Review: Killing November by Adriana Mather

Killing November
Author: Adriana Mather
Publication: Knopf Books for Young Readers (March 26, 2019)

Description: November is trapped.

At the mysterious Academy Absconditi, a school that's completely off the grid, there's no electricity, no internet, and a brutal eye-for-an-eye punishment system. Classes include everything from knife-throwing and poisons to the art of deception. And the other students? All children of the world's most elite strategists, in training to become assassins, spies, and master manipulators. November Adley doesn't know why she's been sent to this place, or the secrets that make up its legacy, but she'll quickly discover that allies are few in a school where competition is everything. When another student is murdered, all eyes turn to November, who must figure out exactly how she fits in before she is found guilty of the crime...or becomes the killer's next victim.

From the #1 New York Times  bestselling author Adriana Mather comes a captivating thriller that will leave you breathless.

My Thoughts: This was an entertaining and engaging boarding school mystery. November was raised in a quiet Connecticut town by her father and aunt after her mother died. Now seventeen and with her family in danger, she is sent to Academy Absconditi - a hidden and dangerous boarding school - where she learns many of the secrets of her past that the other students already expect her to know.

Worst of all for November is that someone is either trying to kill her or trying to frame her for the murders of some other students. Though she has more physical skills than she realized she had, she is totally ignorant of the politics and rivalries here at the school which trains the best of the best of the Strategia secret society.

She isn't totally on her own. Her roommate Layla and Layla's brother Ash are willing to make a deal to give her some information. Of course, trusting anyone in the school is dangerous. Everyone has an agenda that is hidden from November.

I liked the worldbuilding that creates a secret society begun in ancient times, a society whose members have manipulated history for all that time. I enjoyed learning about the ins and outs and rivalries in the world along with November. I really enjoyed November. She was smart, gregarious, and trained by her father to think outside of the box. She'll need all her skills to survive her time at Academy Absconditi.

Favorite Quote:

He plops on the couch. "Welcome to Academy Absconditi, November, where the scheming never stops, and where someone is always trying to push you off a ledge. You're in a dangerous situation. You're taking calculated risks to get out of it. But risks are still risks."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.