Tradition by Brendan Kiely

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 352

Publisher: Penguin

Released: 3rd of May 2018 

Powerful. Privileged. Popular.

The students at Fullbrook Academy are the elite of the elite, famous for their glamour and excess. Their traditions are sacred. But they can hide dark and dangerous secrets.

Jules is in her senior year with one goal: to get out and start her life at college.

Jamie is a sports star on a scholarship; Fullbrook is his chance to escape his past.

After a school party ends in disaster, the two of them discover a terrible truth. Can the two of them stand together against Fulbrook's most toxic traditions?

What I Have to Say 

This is an important book about privilege and tradition and how that can translate into rape culture at an elite boarding school. It's about standing up and changing things. 

Jules is a feminist. Right from the start of the book, she's standing up and trying to make the school a better place by handing out leaflets about women's health to the incoming freshmen students. Jamie is a little different. He's very much the big burly football player, coming into Fullbrook for a clean slate after bad things happened in his home town. It's hard at first to work out what his role in the story is, but I liked the way he changed over time and grew closer to Jules and the others. 

The way that the school handles things. The way that Jules is shut down and silent at every time that she tries to stand up for what's right, shows how important it is to stand up for what's right in every way you can. 

It's definitely a book that will stay with me for a long time, the iconic scenes that I'll remember long after I've forgotten many of the other books I've read this year. A must read for anyone who cares about feminist issues and activism. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with this copy for review.