The Academy - Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham

The Academy

By Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham

  • Release Date: 2025-09-16
  • Genre: Fiction & Literature
Score: 4
4
From 849 Ratings

Description

From #1 bestselling author of The Perfect Couple Elin Hilderbrand, and her daughter, Shelby Cunningham: the irresistible, deliciously scandalous story of one drama-filled year at a New England boarding school.

It’s move-in day at Tiffin Academy and amidst the happy chaos of friends reuniting, selfies uploading, and cars unloading, shocking news arrives: America Today just ranked Tiffin the number two boarding school in the country. It’s a seventeen-spot jump – was there a typo? The dorms need to be renovated, their sports teams always come in last place, and let’s just say Tiffin students are known for being more social than academic. On the other hand, the campus is exquisite, class sizes are small, and the dining hall is run by an acclaimed New York chef. And they do have fun—lots of parties and school dances, and a piano man plays in the student lounge every Monday night.

But just as the rarefied air of Tiffin is suffused with self-congratulation, the wheels begin to turn – and then they fall off the bus. One by one, scandalous blind items begin to appear on phones across Tiffin’s campus, thanks to a new app called ZipZap, and nobody is safe. From Davi Banerjee, international influencer and resident queen bee, to Simone Bergeron, the new and surprisingly young history teacher, to Charley Hicks, a transfer student who seems determined not to fit in, to Cordelia Spooner, Admissions Director with a somewhat idiosyncratic methodology – everyone has something to hide.

As if high school wasn’t dramatic enough...As the year unfolds, bonds are forged and broken, secrets are shared and exposed, and the lives of Tiffin’s students and staff are changed forever. The Academy is Elin Hilderbrand’s fresh, buzzy take on boarding school life, and a thrilling new direction from one of America’s most satisfying and popular storytellers.

Reviews

  • Fun Read

    4
    By Anonymousxxxxxxxxx!
    If you’re a fan of books about boarding school drama 📓, rich kids 💳, and inconspicuous activities 🤫 then this book is for you! Lots of characters in this book, which was hard to follow in the beginning, but overall was a fun and easy read. Definitely falls into the young adult category in my opinion.
  • Oh east

    4
    By Hails1026
    Slow start but the ending was perfection.
  • Good read

    5
    By Reader Girl Tiff
    Something different for her but I liked it
  • The book is OK, but the author seems to have a chip on her shoulder about race and gender

    2
    By CHFR1776
    There are plenty of times in the book where the author unnecessarily plays a race or gender card and attacks people solely based on those immutable characteristics. It comes across is very racist and sexist sadly that she has taken to grouping and criticizing people based on skin color and gender. It is somewhat ironic because the intent seems to be to point out racism and sexism, but by doing so the author comes across as racist and sexist. Her favorite target seems to be against white males and grouping all white males together like that is just disgusting. Just imagine the backlash if it was any other group she was attacking. The story itself is OK but not fine literature.
  • What about Cinnamon?

    4
    By Stitchin757
    Enjoyed reading this book- BUT one very important story line was never resolved. I was disappointed in that.
  • I would not recommend this one

    1
    By adghiiytvvvfhi
    It was very trite. Not recommended, I kept reading it hoping it would develop into something more interesting and meaningful.
  • Least favorite and I’ve read them all!

    1
    By Passion for Books
    Unnecessary filth was added to what could have been a somewhat decent story. You are writing about minors… gross.
  • Enjoyable - a mix of classic Elin and YA

    4
    By Lisa in GV
    I will look forward to the next installment even though I had to look up a lot of generational acronyms :)
  • Hoping for a sequel !

    5
    By cccccc1962
    Such a fun read and even though I never attended boarding school, it took my back many many years. Great read and characters.
  • The Academy

    3
    By jkg7193
    Cute and fun read. Purposeful cliff hanger and I can see the next book for the rising seniors at the school.