School for Psychics

SCHOOL FOR PSYCHICS
by K.C. Archer

Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: April 3, 2018

From Goodreads:

Teddy Cannon isn’t your typical twenty-something woman. She’s resourceful. She’s bright. She’s scrappy. She can also read people with uncanny precision. What she doesn’t realize: she’s actually psychic.

When a series of bad decisions leads Teddy to a run-in with the police, a mysterious stranger intervenes. He invites her to apply to the School for Psychics, a facility hidden off the coast of San Francisco where students are trained like Delta Force operatives: it’s competitive, cutthroat, and highly secretive. They’ll learn telepathy, telekinesis, investigative skills, and SWAT tactics. And if students survive their training, they go on to serve at the highest levels of government, using their skills to protect America, and the world.

In class, Teddy befriends Lucas, a rebel without a cause who can start and manipulate fire; Jillian, a hipster who can mediate communication between animals and humans; and Molly, a hacker who can apprehend the emotional state of another individual. But just as Teddy feels like she’s found where she might belong, strange things begin to happen: break-ins, missing students, and more. It leads Teddy to accept a dangerous mission that will ultimately cause her to question everything—her teachers, her friends, her family, and even herself.

I was provided an eGalley of School for Psychics by NetGalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I started this one, I was in love with it. I loved the main character, Teddy, and the pace of the book was great. Right into the fire. Tension, intrigue, humor, and a lot more.

Then it kind of pumped the brakes on me.

Once Teddy got to the school (the school for psychics) everything seemed to move at a snail’s pace. I realize a book can’t be full speed the whole time, when would we have a chance to breathe? There’s a balance between spots to breathe and action (or at least tension and intrigue!)

I think what really did it was a sudden obviousness of age. Before getting to the school, Teddy seemed like an adult. She is an adult, but she also acted like an adult. Then, she gets to school, and it’s like a bunch of teenagers at some kind of boarding school. I have nothing against teenagers, unless they’re adults acting like teenagers.

The relationships were odd as well. We were constantly told that certain people were important to Teddy, but no one ever felt important. Teddy walked around like a sociopath who didn’t have feelings or emotions, but was capable of telling us that someone was her closest friend.

The psychic elements of the book were described beautifully. It’s a tough thing to visualize, especially since if it was real there wouldn’t be anything to see. The author did a great job of describing these ‘invisible visuals.’ 

When the action did happen, it was well done as well. The pace quickened during these parts and kept me turning the pages as quickly as I could. I just wish there had been a little more of it.

Even though I wasn’t blown away by School for Psychics, I enjoyed the read and if a sequel is produced, I’d definitely check it out.

Fun fact about this post: I predicted a 4+ star rating on this in last week’s First Impression Friday… I was off, but not massively.