Schottisches Schloss als Symbol für Dunbridge Academy

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A boarding school in Scotland, a head boy with a girlfriend and the search for a missing father: Dunbridge Academy: Anywhere by Sarah Sprinz is one of the most successful German new adult novels of recent years and is now also available in English as Anywhere. We analysed reader opinions in German and English and summarise what readers love and what they criticize.

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At a glance

  • Author: Sarah Sprinz
  • Published: 2022 by LYX in German; English edition 2023 by Hachette UK as „Anywhere“
  • Series: Dunbridge Academy, book 1
  • Genre: New adult, boarding school romance
  • Tropes: Academy romance, forbidden love, slow burn, found family
  • LovelyBooks (Germany): 4.2 out of 5 from more than 1,100 ratings
  • Goodreads: 3.89 out of 5 from almost 40,000 ratings (German edition)

What is it about?

Seventeen-year-old Emma spends an exchange year at Dunbridge Academy in Scotland, the boarding school where her parents met. She wants to find out why her father left the family years ago. Head boy Henry helps her search, but Henry has a girlfriend, and Emma has no intention of getting her heart broken.

What readers love about Dunbridge Academy

  • The boarding school atmosphere: Readers describe a cosy, slightly dark mood, and one blog is reminded of Hogwarts.
  • Easy to read: The flowing style, short chapters and two perspectives go down well.
  • Emma and Henry: Many find the relationship more real and less melodramatic than in other new adult books.
  • Grief and family: Blogs praise how sensitively loss and an absent father are handled.
  • The friend group: Grace, Tori and Sinclair make readers want the next books.

What readers criticize

  • Henry’s girlfriend: The most common complaint. Many readers see the setup as emotional cheating.
  • Too many threads: According to several reviews, the search for the father is resolved too early and the ending feels rushed.
  • Pace: For some the middle drags, others miss a spark.
  • Not enough dark academia: Readers expecting dark boarding school secrets find a light love story instead, and the Scottish setting is underused.
  • Explicit scenes between teenagers: Some readers object that the leads are not yet adults.
  • The English edition: Several English-language reviewers find the sentences clunky and blame the translation.

Content notes

According to reviews, a trigger warning is printed at the end of the book. Readers mention grief and loss in the family, a parent who left, infidelity and explicit scenes. The German publisher recommends it from age 16, and the UK edition is labelled 18+.

Success

According to its German publisher Bastei Lübbe, Anywhere was number 2 on the SPIEGEL annual paperback bestseller list for 2022, the leading bestseller list in Germany. Rights have been sold to 13 countries, including the UK.

What writers can learn from it

  • An existing couple is a risk. If a character starts out in a relationship, the path needs very careful handling.
  • Subplots need a plan. If the main thread ends too early, the second half loses momentum.
  • A setting makes a promise. A Scottish boarding school raises expectations you should use.

Conclusion

Dunbridge Academy: Anywhere is a cosy boarding school romance with heart and a friend group readers love to return to. Fans of light new adult with atmosphere will be happy. Readers looking for real dark academia or a story without a love triangle probably will not.

Sources

For this overview we analysed the following reviews and articles:

Ratings as of November 2026.

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