Unlock The Secrets Of The Castle School (for Troubled Girls) Fashioned By Alyssa B. Sheinmel File Format Publication Copy

Dreyfuss is skipping school, skipping meals, and can only communicate in either tense silent stretches or a raised and furious voice.
A fake ID and a very real tattoo are the final straws for her parents and The Castle School brochures start arriving not long after.


The castle boarding school is set upon an isolated stretch of Maine coastline and is perpetually permeated with chill and misty air.
It is the perfect setting for every Gothic novel ever written and is now home to twelve 'troubled girls'.
What plagues each of them differs but they are united in their struggles from grief, unhappiness, loneliness, and never feeling like they quite fit in in the outer world.


I'll never not be intrigued by an isolated academic setting, but I grew to appreciate the focus on mental illness just as much as the chilling in every sense of the word! setting.
These twelve brave and resilient individuals were created with differing and diagnosed mental illnesses and addictions, Sheinmel portrayed their struggle with both authenticity and sensitivity and I highly appreciated the insight garnered into each of them.


Both the pain and suffering, the relapses into past habits, the coping mechanisms deployed, and the stories behind each were focused on, leading this to be a far more emotional novel than I was anticipating.
Each girl immediately had me empathising with their struggle whilst loving their individual personalities and my interest swayed from boarding school drama to the rawness and honesty they all exhibited.
I may have only been introduced to them mere pages before, but this author's writing had them immediately entering my heart and had me earnestly wishing the best for each of them.


I received a copy for this book in exchange for an honest review, Many thanks to the author, Alyssa B, Sheinmel, and the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire, for this opportunity, Let me start this review with a small warning: This book was entirely different from what I had expected it to be.
I was in a mystery mood, and even more in a boarding school mystery mood, and I found this book on Netgalley.
I was quite happy when I got the email that my request was accepted and that I could start reading.
However, this is NOT a mystery, It's something much better, hence my rating, but it might not be much better for everyone,

As a certified therapist this book touched me at my core, Quite often therapy and therapists in general are not being portrayed positively in media, especially not in media that targets young adults.
However, in this book we finally get to see what a good therapist can accomplish, Or, maybe better phrased, how a good therapist can help their client to accomplish a lot, And yes, therapy hurts and it's not always fun, but if it's done well it works and it helps and it changes lives for the better.


And Moira, the heroine of this story, does need some nudges in the right direction and a hand helping her find her way back to life again.
I don't want to spoil anything in this review of course, but Moira's journey is one of the most touching I've ever read.
I think it portrays mourning and the complexity and difficulty of it in a brilliant way, We spend most of the book in Moira's head and not only do we discover her past with her, but we also get a glimpse of the future waiting for her after this adventure.


Although none of the girls are at this school without reason, this book really portrays them as girls.
Not once does Sheinmel turn any of them into stereotypes, not once does she forget that these are people.
In between Moira's journey we get a brief chapter on how each of the girls ended here, in this place.
And all of those stories seemed real and respectful, All those twelve girls are just examples of how one can slowly lose oneself and the ones you care about and how it can happen to anyone.


If you're looking for a mystery or thriller, this is surely not your book, However, if you're looking for a touching read I cried, A lot. that really handles complex issues teenagers might deal with in a respectful and realistic way, this book is what you want and need.
This book is a beautifully written heartfelt tale about a girl dealing with her grief and the loss of her best friend.
This book is so good and written so well, The author really put a lot of thought into mental illness and it definitely shows, This book wasnt what I was expecting at all but I really enjoyed it, It helped me to look at the grief Im experiencing myself in a new way, Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review! sitelinkOriginally reviewed on Cyn's Workshop

What an excellent novel The Castle School by Alyssa Sheinmel is a remarkable novel about dealing with grief but also dealing with illness both mental and physical.
What is exceptional about this novel is the way that Sheinmel addresses disorders and mental illness, She does it in a very thoughtprovoking, emotional, and empowering way,

Intensely Written
The Castle School follows Moira, who is dealing with her grief at the loss of her best friend to cancer.
As her only real friend to her, the loss has hit her hard and put a strain on her relationship with her parents, her mother especially.
After getting a tattoo, her mother sends her off to boarding school,

The Castle School is a place for troubled teens and Moira has no interest in making new friends.
However, what the school and Sheinmel explore thorough this novel is that the school is more than that it is a haven for those suffering mentally, physically, and emotionally.


Sheinmel highlights the struggle some people go through, What is impactful is how she highlights how people suffering is not just suffering in one way but that the physical, mental, and emotional are intermingled.
As readers, we forget that and only see one, but through this lens, Sheinmel gives readers an emotional and insightful read.
Sheinmel builds the story and explores whom these girls are without casting shame on the characters, Sheinmel does not make the characters less because they have addictions or harmful addictions instead, she highlights the struggle these characters go through, making them intense and relatable.


As a story, The Castle School moves at an incredible pace, It is easy to get lost in the story as the reader gets to know who these girls are and how they are suffering.
Yes, the story follows Moira as she grows and learns to understand her grief and anger, but Sheinmel breaks up the story, without breaking the pace, but introducing these segments about Moiras classmates.
Sheinmel gives enough information to let the reader understand the characters, strengthening character dynamics,

Final Thoughts
The Castle School for Troubled Girls is a remarkable novel.
There is so much depth to the story and it is truly emotional, highlighting the depth of what these girls are going through.
Sheinmel addresses illness in all its form in a way that does not shame but instead tells them they are not alone.


See more reviews at sitelinkCyn's Workshop and follow me on sitelinkFacebook sitelinkInstagram sitelinkTwitter sitelinkTumblr sitelinkSpotify Podcast sitelinkYouTube sitelinkBookBub sitelinkGoodreads sitelinkLinkedIn i liked this.
i thought it was gonna be more of a boarding school mystery which i LOVEEEEEE but it was still good as a more mental health kind of book.

we saw the characters all going through their struggling and how they got to the school.
the main character moira was so interesting to follow, her growth was AMAZINGGGGGG!! i liked her a lot and i liked her journey,

okay some things i didnt like the romance kind of felt rushed random i wish it was developed more so in a less “random” sense.
the pacing was a tad bit off too, but i still really enjoyed reading this book and reading about all these characters.
The name of the schools on the van, but someone tried to paint over the words “for troubled girls.
”

On Moiras first night at the Castle School, another girl rattles off all the reasons her classmates are there kleptomania, cutting, anorexia, depression, drug addiction and more.
By the end of the book, each girls had a chapter telling you what led her to The Castle School.
Moiras convinced her mother sent her away because she was disappointed in her, for cutting class, losing all motivation to go to college, but most of all, for getting a tattoo.


When Moira and her roommate hear music late at night, they realize that the school may not be as isolated as it seems.
They discover a second Castle School, but this ones filled with boys,

The book hints at a bit of mystery with the two schools, but that ends up not being a big part of the story.
Instead, its a story of all the reasons we have to live and all the ways we try to give up.
Its a story of the kind of pain that takes over a life and changes it forever.
And its a sweet, sensitive story of damaged girls learning to care for each other,

Thank you to NetGalley and

the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book wasn't at all what I was anticipating, I was predicting it would be a dark academia novel, where sinister things happen to the girls at this school in the middle of nowhere.
It took some unexpected turns, and I love how the author gives the girls' backstories throughout the novel.
Even though it was different than anticipated, I really loved the story and how the characters changed over time, especially Moira.
I don't know what I expected from this book but it wasn't this, However, that's not a bad thing, I really liked Moira and I found a lot of the book to be suspenseful but it ended so beautifully and the theme of "everything is not what it seems" was really great.
I really liked the short chapters and Alyssa Sheinmel's writing, Definitely well done. I want to congratulate the author for her realistic, objective approach to multiple mental illnesses young people carry on their shoulders bravely and her amazing characters whose names and tragic stories are already imprinted on my heart!

Those girls though fights, struggles to adjust in the real life, their pure pains, challenges they face shook me to my core.


Starting from grief, chronic depression, selfharm, eating disorders, loss of speech, trichotillomania hair pulling disorder, alcoholism, drug addiction to PMS, were introduced so many different types of mental illness categories and those young hearts who are trying to survive as they have no idea how to deal with their pain.


Moira Dreyfuss just lost her best and only friend who got beaten by cancer, Her grief hold her back to live her life, She left her classes, giving up her college applications, fighting incessantly with her parents, having problems with her mother.


She thinks she can never please her so shes punished by being sent to a boarding school for the troubled girls located in Maine but it is actually and literally a gothic castle in the middle of nowhere.
And ironically Dr. Prince the highness of castle in charge of the place,

She reluctantly flies to Maine, welcomed by Randy later she finds out hes Dr, Princes son, homeschooled, lived in the very same castle with them, driven to the place, accompanied to her dark, cold, isolated room without any plugs to charge her phone.


The place already gives her chills with its disturbing and isolated vibes, makes her thing shes going to be prisoner and her parents punish her for not being the daughter they dreamed of.


Then she meetsother girls who suffer from different inner demons by showing different
ways to handle them.


ELEANOR her roommate, finding her relief by cutting herself
MEIpulling her hair because she doesnt want to be defined by her beauty.
Shes more than that.
VIRGINIA suffering from ADHD, She has hard times to concentrate and be the daughter her parents want,
GREY just like her name she sees everything grey, suffering from chronic depression
ALICE cannot be happy about her appearance, fighting with anorexia.

RYAN wants to keep her special treasure by suffering from kleptomania,
RAINA stopped talking after witnessing something so tragic and she never feels safe to come clean.

REVA she cannot stay at the same place for a long time, Shes at flight risk. She cannot restrain her uncontrollable instinct of running away,
BETH her sports injuries resulted with drug addiction,
HALSEY her desire to get approval of her inner circle pushed her to be an alcoholic.

CASSANDRAhaving problems with authorities, she cannot be told what shes going to do,

Those girls are also the MCs of the book, We read all of thems back stories, We easily empathize with them, understanding their compelling fight, aching for their heartbreaks, suffer, sadness, despair,

Moira thinks the castle is a prison and Dr, Prince keeps his own secrets, Hes not reliable. He cannot cure her. She doesnt need to be healed, She deals with guilt feelings about Nathans her only best friends death,

Then one night she realizes the lock of her room window is broken and as she climbs down and walk around the castle, she discovers another castle at the south side belongs to the boys.
But that castle is not dark, bleak, cold like the place they stayed, The boys seem like happy, dancing, cheering, They dont look like theyre troubled ones as like the girls she connects at the north side.


What was the mystery behind the two castles
And why Dr, Princes son Randy didnt stay with the boys at the castle

This is emotional, poignant, heartbreaking but also thought provoking, well written book with memorable characters and presents great psychological approach to those brave fighter/ survivor girls!

I enjoyed the conclusion.
Its about mental state, families, grief, true love, resentments, forgiveness, second chances,

Its truly one of the best works of the author,

Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for sharing this incredible arc with me in exchange my honest opinions.
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