Hey everyone! How are you? It feels like the summer is passing by too fast, and though I’m excited for September to come around, I will definitely miss all the free time to read. As promised in my last post, I’m back with a review of “The Class”, by Erich Segal. This, I believe, will be my first adult novel review posted on here! A while back (in January), I read “Doctors”, also by Erich Segal, and just devoured it. I finally got around to reading this one mid-June, so here are my thoughts on the book!

The Class by Erich Segal

~4.3/5 stars

~ ages 15 to adult

~ Spoilers (with warnings before)

~ From world-renowned author Erich Segal comes a powerful and moving saga of five extraordinary members of the Harvard class of 1958 and the women with whom their lives are intertwined. Their explosive story begins in a time of innocence and culminates in their dramatic twenty-five reunion at which they confront their classmates. Always at the center stands Harvard–the symbol of who they are and who they will be. They were a generation who made the rules–then broke them–whose glittering successes, heartfelt tragedies, and unbridled ambitions would stun the world. It is a stand-alone novel. (from Goodreads)

This book, like Doctors, was so incredibly addicting. It’s an over five-hundred page novel about 25 years in the lives of 5 of the Harvard class of 1958. If you heard that, you would not think it would be as interesting as it was, and I can hardly understand how this is such a good book, even after reading it.

The best part of this book is certainly the characters. I feel like I know the five graduates as real human beings and true friends. Within the first couple of chapters, I was hooked on their lives. Each of the graduates were such complex people, and I truly enjoyed reading about their journey from the first day of freshman year to their 25th reunion. I did not want the book to end, but I could not stop myself from reading on.

My favorite of the five was Andrew Eliot. He was just such a decent, kind, nice person, and my heart went out for him so many times during the book. One of my favorite parts was him at the 25th reunion, with his daughter, and him being recognized by his classmates.

(MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD)

I was absolutely destroyed by the two deaths in the book. Jason, who was my second favorite of the five, died in such a perfect and ‘him’ way, but it still broke my heart. Then came the end of the book, and with it, George’s suicide. It was unexpected and devastating, but (after much deliberation) I think it really was the perfect ending.

(END SPOILER)

Aside from the fantastic characters, the Segal’s writing is also impeccable. There was not a boring page in the entire novel. The plot is captivating and characters are just amazing. I look forward to reading the rest of his books.

While I did enjoy ‘Doctors’ a tiny bit more than this one, I still highly, highly recommend this book. If you’re looking for a classic, well-written, captivating, and sophisticated fictional novel, this is the book for you. Read it!

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought about The Class in the comments below!