Spoilery Book Reviews

Higher Education by Kira McPherson

Back of the book

Sam is struggling to find her place at university. There are so many parts of her that don't seem to fit – her family doesn't understand her new life, and her new friends don't know the secrets that she carries with her: the sudden death of her father, her brothers trouble with the law, and her sense that she feels things that make her different.

That changes when a lecturer introduces Sam to Julia, his charming wife and a corporate lawyer who agrees to mentor Sam through her law school. Their closeness provides a way for Sam to understand who she is, and who she wants to become.

With time, this unspools into a dynamic of mutual preoccupation and boundary crossing, as they navigate their feelings for one another, the appropriateness of their relationship, and where it might be heading.

My thoughts.

I disliked this book.

Firstly, the were no speech marks throughout the entire book. I understand this is a deliberate choice, and it sucked. It made the reading more uncomfortable and a good example of what NOT to do. Punctuation exists for a reason, and I felt its absence sorely in every page.

What I disliked most was that I felt nothing happened. The blurb hints at a traumatic past with the sudden death of her father, turmoil in her current life, lots of emotionally exciting avenues to explore. Instead, any events that do happen are flat on the page. There are possible romances that go no where and don't include any longing or angst or hurt feelings. Her uni life is just background noise for time passing. She visits her family a few times to prove where she's come from, a low socio-economic background, and continues her life as normal.

I kept pushing through and reading because I kept hoping that something would happen. There were so many possibilities, such as family drama, something going wrong (or right?) at uni or love interest development. I was expecting an illicit and boundary blurring relationship between Sam and Julia, but almost nothing happened. By the time they finally actually broke boundaries and had a small make-out session, it was so close to the end of the book that I still felt all my time had been wasted. Nothing came of this event and they ended by going separate ways.

I have learnt the hard way too many times to not buy random books based on a whim. I bought this because the main character was going through uni, so my age, and has my name. While reading I was shocked to find it was set in Australia (a rogue mention of Woolies clued me in) and pleasantly surprised the main character was gay. That was the only pleasant surprise. I don't know what the point was or if there was a main plot other than Sam just muddling through her life, similar to how any other person's life looks: kinda boring when you turn it into a book.

TL:DR

This book had potential to be emotionally dramatic and impart a life lesson but instead it was about Sam just living her life. The teased inappropriate relationship has one make-out session at the end of the book and nothing else remotely exciting. Too long, don't read.