The Tournament
The Tournament by Rebecca Barrow, published by Simon and Schuster on June 17, 2025, is a young adult thriller that explores the intense dynamics among three girls at a unique boarding school. With 416 pages, this edition delves into the lives of students at Gardner, a school known for its survival skills class and the prestigious Tournament, a competition that tests both physical prowess and personal relationships.
Readers will find a gripping narrative centered on Max, Nora, and Teddy, whose intertwined pasts complicate their quest for victory in the Tournament. As they navigate grueling challenges and confront their own motivations, themes of ambition, loyalty, and personal struggle emerge. The story captures the essence of dark academia and the complexities of LGBTQ+ identities, making it a compelling addition to the genres of literature and suspense.
Official synopsis Publisher
Three girls with entangled pasts compete for glory in their private school’s annual tournament, putting their survival skills and their relationships to the test, in this young adult thriller that’s “Shakespearean…stunning…dark academia at its finest” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
Gardner isn’t like other boarding schools. They take in those who’ve been rejected everywhere else, they offer a survival skills class that has students killing and gutting animals, and then there’s the Tournament.
A competition available only to seven elite seniors, the Tournament is revered by the entire student body. They’d do almost anything—including completing a series of grueling physical challenges—to win the champion’s cup.
And this year, three seniors make the Tournament more cutthroat than ever.
Max, the ruthless scholarship student who can’t afford any distractions, not even her ex best friend Nora’s stupid confession of love at the end of last year that ruined everything between them.
Nora, who always put herself on the sidelines so Max could have everything she wanted, but might just be ready for center stage now that Max has brutally excised herself from Nora’s life.
And Teddy, the transfer who’s on her last chance and will chase any high that can pull her back from the gaping, dark void inside herself that’s always threatening to pull her in.
If one of them wants to win, then they can’t let anything—or anybody—get in their way.
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