The Castle School (for troubled girls) by Alyssa B. Sheinmel [book review]

About The Castle School (for Troubled Girls):

The Castle School (for Troubled Girls) is a YA Contemporary novel by Alyssa B. Sheinmel. The story follows Moira Dreyfuss. Not that long ago her best friend Nathan died. She’s devastated and has started acting out some. Her parents don’t know how to handle her and aren’t exactly sure how to help her through her pain. So they send her to The Castle School (for Troubled Girls) so she can get the help that she needs. But Moira knows the truth. She knows that they are sending her there to punish her. Now she just has to figure how to get through the next few months with no boys, girls who are completely different, and no cell service. On top of that, she has to talk to a man about her feelings that she doesn’t even know. Can he help her overcome what she’s going through?

What I thought about The Castle (for Troubled Girls):

So, I picked up The Castle (for Troubled Girls) because I love YA contemporary novels. I always like to change things up from horror and thrillers because eventually, they end up getting a little boring. So, another one of my go tos is contemporary novels. The main focus of most of them isn’t romance which is why I like them. On top of that, there’s just enough mystery and drama to keep me interested in the story. I’m glad I was given the chance to read and review this one before it came out because I absolutely loved it.

The Characters

The story follows Moira and we follow her through her panic and emotions. We see what it’s like for her to lose a best friend. Nathan was in fact her only friend. Now she’s gotten to the point where she doesn’t want to get close to anyone. On top of that, she’s acting out towards the people that love her the most. Her emotions and actions are very believable and something I can see just about anyone of any age acting like. It’s hard losing people. It’s sometimes even harder losing them at a young age because it makes you realize that you aren’t immortal. Losing someone at this age is like a punch in the gut and makes you realize that something can happen to you at any moment.

I really enjoyed reading through Moira’s point of view and how she’s able to overcome he experiences. She lets people in despite not really wanting to at first. Heck, I’m 31 and still have a hard time letting people in after losing my mom. That is not an easy thing to do.

The Plot

There are only a few things that I didn’t exactly like when it comes to the plot of the book. One thing is that I don’t remember Moira’s parents trying to take her to get help from someone in their town. Why would they drive hours away to get her help? I know I would have a little bit of anxiety dropping my kids off-hours away and not really getting to know their progress. Moira never calls them because she’s mad that they dropped her off there. In a way, I can’t blame her but I would still like to know how she’s doing.

I think the only other thing that bothered me is that it did seem like Moira recovered in some ways a lot quicker than most. Maybe she didn’t exactly “recover” perse but you get that impression anyway.

Other than those two things I absolutely loved the book. It kept my interest and kept me rooting for Moira. I wanted her to be happy. She deserved to be happy and so did the friends she made at the castle. On top of that, I’m really glad that she actually made friends there.

If you enjoyed this review then you might like my review for The Girl in the Headlines.