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vaniavela's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
A corrupt teacher, bullying, murder and drug dealing. Welcome to Draycott Academy.
Lia wishes she had been told before she entered.
High school sophomore Lia Setiawan arrives at Draycott Academy on an athletic scholarship. Surrounded by her overly wealthy classmates, she feels totally out of place. After watching a classmate get dragged off campus and no one does anything, she tries to uncover Draycott's dark secrets, while dodging all the threats trying to stop her. This novel is about cheating, corruption, murder, bullying, violence, drugs and unethical teachers.
One thing I really enjoyed about the book was seeing the role that culture and heritage played in Lia's life. She is half Indonesian and half Chinese-Indonesian, and there are a lot of interactions with people she connects with or on the negative side, who have a racist attitude. There are also sprinklings of Indonesian and Mandarin dialogue.
Overall, The New Girl is an amazing teen thriller that will please fans of books like The Good Girl's Guide to Murder. I had a lot of fun reading this book and couldn't put it down.
There were moments when I was screaming at the main character not to do something she was about to do. I love the manner in which the author depicts Lia's feelings of guilt and how it affects her decision-making.
I received this ARC in audiobook format and loved the narrator's voice. She was very good at changing her voice depending on which character was speaking.
Anyway, you should read it if you like crime mystery thrillers, Lia's experience being Indonesian and Chinese-Indo, twists and turns that keep you on edge.
Reasons you probably won't want to read it: the story concludes abruptly, there is a lot of rich teen drama, sometimes the characters are one-dimensional (their only characteristic is being bully).
TW racism, bullying/harassment, casual peer pressure, substance abuse, mentioned drug dealing, overdose, eye trauma, implied eating disorder, threat of violence in a relationship, strangulation, drugging
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Gore, Murder, Xenophobia, Torture, Drug abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Blood, Bullying, Addiction, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Violence
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