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themermaddie's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
oooooh very conflicted about this one bc i liked a lot about this book, and my main gripe with it is the actual plot itself. on one hand, the dark academia vibes are great, i enjoyed the writing/characters, there was a good exploration of themes like classism, intra-asian racism, bullying, wealth, privilege etc, and i liked that the twists kept me guessing. unfortunately, i think the twists kept me guessing bc the plot just felt so random that i couldn't have possibly guessed what would happen next?
i felt like it was obvious that the final villain was always going to be danny from the very beginning, but maybe that's just based on the model of this type of story; it's always someone closest to the protagonist, right? i will say he was a genuinely likable and charming character, and i really did like him. i liked that he wasn't always just evil, and that you can clearly see that he ends up taking mr werner's side in the end because that's who he believes. he truly believes that everyone was out to get his uncle and that he was a great man, because he can't believe that his uncle would do anything bad. i liked that this ending, where all the rich parents banded together to make the whole mess go away, showed how rich ppl will always stick together and protect one another, even if they seem anti-establishment or more liberal like danny thought he was. in the end, danny refused to hear that werner could do wrong, and ended up killing sophie for basically slander. in the end, even if they were fighting, danny always had his rich as god parents to bail him out while lia didn't. i also liked that danny and lia essentially gaslit each other back and forth for basically the whole book after the murder hahaha
speaking of the murder, what a weird turn for this story to take. i LOVED the depiction of lia's anxiety and guilt – all the experiences she goes thru here are beautifully and viscerally depicted – and i liked the warring angel and devil voices on her shoulder trying not to lose herself but also the self-preservation kicking in. at the same time though, i was expecting something a bit more.... sophisticated. something a little more GGGTM #3? the only reason that lia didn't get immediately caught for murder is bc the cops were incompetent. like, as the story progresses, trying not to get caught for literal murder takes up a lot less of the plot than i was expecting. then it's trying not to get caught with drugs, a decent amount of partying, computer hacking, trying not to get expelled, and just a handful of other hijinks. the path was so winding that it almost didn't make sense sometimes. sophie's death is dismissed as a suicide so early on that when it comes out that danny killed her it doesn't really feel... important? just kinda gets buried under a myriad of other shit going on.
i'm not opposed to a ton of overlapping plotlines, it just felt like they never converged and in the end it kinda felt like, wait, what was the point of this story again? danny gets juvie but with rich boy floaties, lia gets an ankle monitor, mandy gets a slap on the wrist, and draycott just goes on as normal. not to criticise too much, but these types of dark academia stories usually end with the setting being changed by the characters; instead it feels like draycott just returns to status quo with more gossip and DD getting shut down by stacy. that's just one head of the hydra, the kids still suck and they'll just find another way to bully each other. it didn't feel very revelatory, more like just watching the biggest scandal of the year.
i loved all the side characters, i thought they were so fun and silly. mandy kim sucks in a way that makes me gleeful to watch her be horrible, all the school administration are their own brand of slimy and self serving (except for the track coach who was wonderful actually), GRACE and her well-meaning bimbo heart, also lia's mom as an off-screen presence was absolutely perfect. i just really enjoyed how filled up this cast was.
special shout out to beth and stacy; it's just funny that beth was like "i'll show my strict asian mother that i can be the best daughter!!!!" and then became a drug kingpin, and that stacy was such a useless lesbian that she was an initial red herring.
favourite bits: the cultural aspect of all JQS books is a shining star as always. i love the presence of chinese/indo culture and how it's woven in, the way that race always seems to play in even when it's not about race felt very authentic to me. i'm not ABC(I?) but i love reading about JQS's third culture kid protagonists and The New Girl was no exception.
next, this book is never slow! extremely fast paced and never boring, even when i have no idea what's happening, i had a good time along for the ride anyway.
lastly, STACY AND LIA SHOULDVE GOTTEN TOGETHER AT THE END. why were there so many hints they would??? as a lesbian who has had my fair share of homoerotic female best friendships, stacy and lia were clearly walking that line. throwing in stacy's random new girlfriend in the epilogue is not going to distract me! anyway stan my girl stacy
oooooh very conflicted about this one bc i liked a lot about this book, and my main gripe with it is the actual plot itself. on one hand, the dark academia vibes are great, i enjoyed the writing/characters, there was a good exploration of themes like classism, intra-asian racism, bullying, wealth, privilege etc, and i liked that the twists kept me guessing. unfortunately, i think the twists kept me guessing bc the plot just felt so random that i couldn't have possibly guessed what would happen next?
i felt like it was obvious that the final villain was always going to be danny from the very beginning, but maybe that's just based on the model of this type of story; it's always someone closest to the protagonist, right? i will say he was a genuinely likable and charming character, and i really did like him. i liked that he wasn't always just evil, and that you can clearly see that he ends up taking mr werner's side in the end because that's who he believes. he truly believes that everyone was out to get his uncle and that he was a great man, because he can't believe that his uncle would do anything bad. i liked that this ending, where all the rich parents banded together to make the whole mess go away, showed how rich ppl will always stick together and protect one another, even if they seem anti-establishment or more liberal like danny thought he was. in the end, danny refused to hear that werner could do wrong, and ended up killing sophie for basically slander. in the end, even if they were fighting, danny always had his rich as god parents to bail him out while lia didn't. i also liked that danny and lia essentially gaslit each other back and forth for basically the whole book after the murder hahaha
speaking of the murder, what a weird turn for this story to take. i LOVED the depiction of lia's anxiety and guilt – all the experiences she goes thru here are beautifully and viscerally depicted – and i liked the warring angel and devil voices on her shoulder trying not to lose herself but also the self-preservation kicking in. at the same time though, i was expecting something a bit more.... sophisticated. something a little more GGGTM #3? the only reason that lia didn't get immediately caught for murder is bc the cops were incompetent. like, as the story progresses, trying not to get caught for literal murder takes up a lot less of the plot than i was expecting. then it's trying not to get caught with drugs, a decent amount of partying, computer hacking, trying not to get expelled, and just a handful of other hijinks. the path was so winding that it almost didn't make sense sometimes. sophie's death is dismissed as a suicide so early on that when it comes out that danny killed her it doesn't really feel... important? just kinda gets buried under a myriad of other shit going on.
i'm not opposed to a ton of overlapping plotlines, it just felt like they never converged and in the end it kinda felt like, wait, what was the point of this story again? danny gets juvie but with rich boy floaties, lia gets an ankle monitor, mandy gets a slap on the wrist, and draycott just goes on as normal. not to criticise too much, but these types of dark academia stories usually end with the setting being changed by the characters; instead it feels like draycott just returns to status quo with more gossip and DD getting shut down by stacy. that's just one head of the hydra, the kids still suck and they'll just find another way to bully each other. it didn't feel very revelatory, more like just watching the biggest scandal of the year.
i loved all the side characters, i thought they were so fun and silly. mandy kim sucks in a way that makes me gleeful to watch her be horrible, all the school administration are their own brand of slimy and self serving (except for the track coach who was wonderful actually), GRACE and her well-meaning bimbo heart, also lia's mom as an off-screen presence was absolutely perfect. i just really enjoyed how filled up this cast was.
special shout out to beth and stacy; it's just funny that beth was like "i'll show my strict asian mother that i can be the best daughter!!!!" and then became a drug kingpin, and that stacy was such a useless lesbian that she was an initial red herring.
favourite bits: the cultural aspect of all JQS books is a shining star as always. i love the presence of chinese/indo culture and how it's woven in, the way that race always seems to play in even when it's not about race felt very authentic to me. i'm not ABC(I?) but i love reading about JQS's third culture kid protagonists and The New Girl was no exception.
next, this book is never slow! extremely fast paced and never boring, even when i have no idea what's happening, i had a good time along for the ride anyway.
lastly, STACY AND LIA SHOULDVE GOTTEN TOGETHER AT THE END. why were there so many hints they would??? as a lesbian who has had my fair share of homoerotic female best friendships, stacy and lia were clearly walking that line. throwing in stacy's random new girlfriend in the epilogue is not going to distract me! anyway stan my girl stacy
emskidua's review against another edition
4.0
Jesse sure knows how to write an ending. Holy cow. I will say, this one didn’t get me as much as the Obsession did… but it still holds its own against most mainstream YA Thrillers! The characters were good! I think I felt what I was supposed to when I was supposed to feel it.
haylisreading's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
After reading adult thrillers, young adult thrillers usually pale in comparison. But I really enjoyed this story and the writing! I have one of this author’s adult novels and it only makes me more excited to read it.
ameserole's review against another edition
3.0
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The New Girl seemed like it was going to be a pretty good YA mystery thriller book. I haven't disliked any of Jesse's book (yet), so I was excited to jump into this one. After meeting Lia, I found her quite enjoyable at times. Not all the time but most of it.
From the beginning, it didn't seem like she was going to really fit in. Especially when it came to the wealthier crowd. She's walking into Draycott Academy on a track scholarship, and she just wants to do what she loves: running. Unfortunately, she has to deal with certain bullies on a daily basis. It also doesn't help that some of the teachers are scheming for more money either.
Throw in a dead body or two, and you are thrown into an interesting mystery. Honestly, so many people were acting suspicious throughout this book. I couldn't really narrow it down to one person until a certain thing happened. So, when the big reveal came - well, I wasn't that surprised.
In the end, it was still interesting and pretty easy to listen to. I'm glad that I got the chance to jump into this book before it gets published.
The New Girl seemed like it was going to be a pretty good YA mystery thriller book. I haven't disliked any of Jesse's book (yet), so I was excited to jump into this one. After meeting Lia, I found her quite enjoyable at times. Not all the time but most of it.
From the beginning, it didn't seem like she was going to really fit in. Especially when it came to the wealthier crowd. She's walking into Draycott Academy on a track scholarship, and she just wants to do what she loves: running. Unfortunately, she has to deal with certain bullies on a daily basis. It also doesn't help that some of the teachers are scheming for more money either.
Throw in a dead body or two, and you are thrown into an interesting mystery. Honestly, so many people were acting suspicious throughout this book. I couldn't really narrow it down to one person until a certain thing happened. So, when the big reveal came - well, I wasn't that surprised.
In the end, it was still interesting and pretty easy to listen to. I'm glad that I got the chance to jump into this book before it gets published.
go_maggs_go's review against another edition
2.0
I think I've just read too many mystery thrillers set in boarding schools that it's going to take something really different to raise the bar for me.
combiyu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
gabbyreads2654's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25