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Reviewed by Andy Hutchings for Readers' Favorite
I’ve been thoroughly absorbed by Andrew Sweet’s young adult novel Brighton Academy, a science fiction tale that kicks off the Virtual Wars series. The story revolves around Larken Marche, a student at Brighton Academy who wants to take her love of Lofting into a career. But when a series of strange events at the Academy forces her to intervene in a friend’s private life, try to understand why she has a doppelganger, and even investigate a murder that her brother has been implicated in, the world outside Brighton Academy looms larger and more dangerous than she could have imagined. This book is a marvelous twist on the tales of teenage angst we see so often on bookshelves, expertly using the lens of science fiction to explore themes of identity in ways that made the concept constantly feel fresh and exciting.
A particular highlight is the characterization of Larken herself, who is at once familiar to readers as a teenage girl trying to make the most out of her time at school but also unfamiliar as someone who may be a clone and lives alongside technology we can’t imagine yet. Andrew Sweet’s excellent prose manages to keep readers invested in both halves of the concept at all times, expertly blending teenage drama with cyberpunk ideals. Brighton Academy is a perfect access point for readers interested in this genre, creating an accessible entry that quickly leads into a tense thriller that wastes none of its potential to explore big ideas and push its lead character to grow and develop as she heads towards the nail-biting conclusion.
