Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Legacies

This was fun enough! It was interesting and fairly layered, keeping me gripped throughout - I particularly liked the way that the 'on the night' sections kept you guessing as to who had fallen. There was also a lot of interesting stuff about class, and a little about addiction, although the latter could have been better explored maybe. I don't think it's Jessica Goodman's best, and some of the twists were a bit predictable, but definitely not a bad read.

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

An ultra-elite club invite to a scholarship student? But who nominated her and why? What sins of the past, and current sins got her in? And who ends up dead, and why?

I didn't know who was going to be the one who was dead until the reveal. However, I guessed the who killed them part. I also say other parts of the story coming, mostly revolving around the settlement. I did like how the past with Tori's mom intersected with the now and Tori's life.

However, most of the characters weren't very likable, which made the book a bit harder to enjoy. Though all the narrators were excellent!

It was overall a good thriller with lots of twists and turns.

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Jessica Goodman is always good for a quick, fun mystery/thriller read and this one is no different! This time, it's set at an event for private school students, trying to get into The Legacy club. But there's possibly something sinister going on in the background that leads to the death of one of the students.

People who like things like Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars will probably thoroughly enjoy this one! I found the mystery a little easy to figure out, but that's part of the reason I like coming back to these books. They always guarantee a twisty mystery and definitely make for quick reads.

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hobbithopeful's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Blackmail, secrets, and so many drugs! The Legacies was a tense and thrilling book that I devoured, eager to find out what had happened and who was the one who was murdered.
It took me a moment to gain my footing, it really dropped me right into the story at the beginning, I had to take a minute to be like...wait? What's happening? I soon became immersed in the opulent world of the rich and powerful, rich kids and murder really pair well together.
I really loved the Jewish representation, and how some characters had their heads on straight.
I felt like I spent so much of the book waiting for action, or waiting for a reveal. When the reveal did happen at the end it felt....like a let down? It was revealed as if it was a big twist and a huge shock, but I just didn't find myself that into it.
This is one of those stories where everything could have been avoided with communication and one conversation, which makes it a bit frustrating to endure.
There were quite a few characters in this book, and it just felt there were so many at times in order to drag the story out a big longer. It just felt like none of them had any depth. Not in a "shallow/rich" way, but in a one dimensional character kind of way. I didn't really feel like they were in any danger, nor did I care what happened to them at all. They just spent all their time partying and that was it?
Everything regarding Bernies' Mom just felt...meh.
I ended up loving Isobels' POV the most, as she spiraled deeper into addiction the writing really conveyed her mood and unstableness.
I don't know if part of the story was meant to criticize, or be a bit of a metaphor for classism, and what gossip and power does to people. If it was then I don't think it should have ended the way it did. Or maybe showing that rich people can get away with anything was the point of the book.
I liked the concept a lot, but I feel the execution could have been better. It didn't really feel like a murder mystery to me.
If you really like YA Thrillers, then give this a read. If you are on the fence about this book, maybe check out some reviews before delving in.

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mishale1's review

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I have loved all of this author’s books and was super excited for this one too. Like so excited that I stayed up till midnight to grab it with my BookishFirst points. I enjoyed the book but it felt slower to kick in than her other books. There was literally a mysterious dead body mentioned on page one, so it’s not that it didn’t start with a bang. But maybe pulling back to the timeline that started a few days before the death slowed the storyline’s pace a bit. I can’t put my finger on it, I’m only trying to explain why this earned a lower star rating from me. Beyond saying it took a little while to get into the plot, I’m not sure what to add. Perhaps it was a bit less exciting.

Anyway. Onward and upward. It was still an enjoyable book.

When a book starts with a mystery dead body we immediately have two questions as the reader:
1)Who died?
2)What happened?

This book centers around a short exclusive, very elite club called The Legacy Club.
If you make it into the Legacy club you’re basically set for life. The irony being, most people who get selected are already set for life.

This year is different. This year an “outsider” has been selected.

Meet three newly selected members and our main characters:

Bernie-the daughter of Esther and Rafe Kaplan. Very wealthy. Always gives off the right impression.
Isobel-the angsty artist. Also wealthy, best friends with Bernie and a bit of a wild card due to her substance issues.
Tori-daughter of diner owners. Not wealthy. The scholarship student.

This year, things are different when the scholarship student gets chosen. Tori is the only one who actually needs to win the $25,000 prize given to one new member.

There are secrets basically everywhere in this book. Where is Bernie’s mom? Why has she disappeared? What’s happened to change Isobel to much? Why did Tori get picked? Who picked Tori?

Lots of secrets to unravel throughout the story.

The ultimate reveal of who died and why might have been a little anticlimactic but I was glad that it wasn’t a character that I liked more :)

Will be looking forward to thus author’s next book.

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