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romanaromana's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
2.5 stars.
(Here are some content warnings. Nothing in this review).
My rating feels a little harsh given that I generally had a nice time with Prep, but I can't ignore the fact that a large chunk of the mystery lowkey remains a mystery to me. I'm confused.
I think in her eagerness to keep things unpredictable, Kara Thomas overdid the red-herrings and over-complicated her mystery in this novel. Clues and possibilities are absolutely heaped on readers, with Anne finding out a lot from her snooping. But all of this information remains frenzied and disconnected for the majority of the book, which left me confused and struggling to remember and untangle it all when the truth was eventually revealed. I've ignored this same issue in previous crime reads, but I need to stop denying the truth: it's a pretty big deal if I don't understand what actually happened. It takes away almost all the satisfaction of having the case solved, to be honest.
Aside from the investigation, the supporting feature of Prep was romance, which I was also disappointed by. I was confused by it in a different way to the mystery, in that, I didn't completely understand why the romance was there in the first place. Anne's interest seemed to spring out of nowhere and I just didn't much care for it.
And. Well. It didn't help that there were two boys.
Yes, you read that correctly. Today I am openly criticising a love triangle. I'm ashamed of myself to be honest.
But look, romance with one of the boys was unnecessary, so two of them was really pushing it and just introduced a pointless conflict in Anne's life that distracted from the mystery at the worst possible moments. I would have preferred Thomas dedicate some energy instead to Anne's relationship with her parents, perhaps. Or maybe to fleshing out some of the mystery stuff that had me so baffled.
Good things, good things...
- I really liked Anne's character. She was confident and determined and consistent.
- Setting was fun! Can't really go wrong with an old boarding school.
- I actually cared about the victim much more than I expected given that we spend so little time with her. So that was nice.
I'm not sure I'll go out of my way to find the next in this series, but maybe I'll give it a go if it pops up somewhere. I still think Kara Thomas has more to offer than what I've encountered so far.
(Here are some content warnings. Nothing in this review).
My rating feels a little harsh given that I generally had a nice time with Prep, but I can't ignore the fact that a large chunk of the mystery lowkey remains a mystery to me. I'm confused.
I think in her eagerness to keep things unpredictable, Kara Thomas overdid the red-herrings and over-complicated her mystery in this novel. Clues and possibilities are absolutely heaped on readers, with Anne finding out a lot from her snooping. But all of this information remains frenzied and disconnected for the majority of the book, which left me confused and struggling to remember and untangle it all when the truth was eventually revealed. I've ignored this same issue in previous crime reads, but I need to stop denying the truth: it's a pretty big deal if I don't understand what actually happened. It takes away almost all the satisfaction of having the case solved, to be honest.
Aside from the investigation, the supporting feature of Prep was romance, which I was also disappointed by. I was confused by it in a different way to the mystery, in that, I didn't completely understand why the romance was there in the first place. Anne's interest seemed to spring out of nowhere and I just didn't much care for it.
And. Well. It didn't help that there were two boys.
Yes, you read that correctly. Today I am openly criticising a love triangle. I'm ashamed of myself to be honest.
But look, romance with one of the boys was unnecessary, so two of them was really pushing it and just introduced a pointless conflict in Anne's life that distracted from the mystery at the worst possible moments. I would have preferred Thomas dedicate some energy instead to Anne's relationship with her parents, perhaps. Or maybe to fleshing out some of the mystery stuff that had me so baffled.
Good things, good things...
- I really liked Anne's character. She was confident and determined and consistent.
- Setting was fun! Can't really go wrong with an old boarding school.
- I actually cared about the victim much more than I expected given that we spend so little time with her. So that was nice.
I'm not sure I'll go out of my way to find the next in this series, but maybe I'll give it a go if it pops up somewhere. I still think Kara Thomas has more to offer than what I've encountered so far.
nikolinaza's review against another edition
4.0
Thank God after all these slow books, I found a fast-paced one.
mehsi's review against another edition
4.0
Not a long review, but a short one just to say what I thought of the book. :)
This book was really nice and good, though -1 star since it was kinda hard to get through it. It picked up pace around the middle part, but it is a shame it felt so slow.
I like the characters, though I felt the plot was a bit over the top. Nuclear bombs? Mysterious codes? Spies? Don't go into this book thinking it is just a light hearted book about a girl getting kicked off her old school and getting involved in a murder in her new school. It is way more than that.
I also didn't really like the fact that she was stringing 2 boys along. You can't like 2 boys and think they won't notice or they will be fine with it.
I might try book 2, not sure yet though.
This book was really nice and good, though -1 star since it was kinda hard to get through it. It picked up pace around the middle part, but it is a shame it felt so slow.
I like the characters, though I felt the plot was a bit over the top. Nuclear bombs? Mysterious codes? Spies? Don't go into this book thinking it is just a light hearted book about a girl getting kicked off her old school and getting involved in a murder in her new school. It is way more than that.
I also didn't really like the fact that she was stringing 2 boys along. You can't like 2 boys and think they won't notice or they will be fine with it.
I might try book 2, not sure yet though.
emmad24's review against another edition
3.0
Anthony and Anne are perfect together. Brent can fuck off
halynah's review against another edition
5.0
Snarky, funny, exciting and delightful read! Highly recommended!
renuked's review against another edition
4.0
Fun with a more complex plot than expected! The sheer number of suspects was hilarious to try to narrow. Still I found it a little ridiculous that she managed to get tangled up in a federal investigation and still didn't trust the authorities to handle it. For once, I would like to read a mystery in which the main character cooperates with the authorities, and together they manage to solve it. That would be a real twist.
specificity's review against another edition
4.0
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
I reread this book for the first time in four years and I really, really enjoyed it.
There were so many suspects and this was a pretty complex murder with intertwined motives from each suspect, but the book managed to keep the plot clear without letting it feel too predictable.
Anne is incredibly smart — in general and for a YA heroine — and she shows a lot of growth and maturity with the events in this book. She's a delightful character and I honestly love her tendency to not get into serious relationships and not slut shame, which is something I find very frequent and very annoying in the average YA heroine who spends an entire trilogy debating whether to have sex with the boyfriend (and also slut shaming the 'enemy' girl). Alexis is the enemy girl for valid reasons — wealth, classism, political power, entitlement, and And Anne and the narrative criticize her for these reasons, not for something as stupid and inconsequential as sex.
Anne is very driven in her search for the truth, and is ready to regulate and re-evaluate her relationships with her two main love interests based on whether she trusts them enough or whether they're ruining her progress at investigation, which makes me love her so, so much, and also approve of the love triangle for once. It's barely a love triangle, especially since she's very clear that she's not up for anything serious just yet, and she has her priorities set which I really respect about her.
In conclusion, I love Anne Dowling and I love this series just as much as I did when I was sixteen.
I reread this book for the first time in four years and I really, really enjoyed it.
There were so many suspects and this was a pretty complex murder with intertwined motives from each suspect, but the book managed to keep the plot clear without letting it feel too predictable.
Anne is incredibly smart — in general and for a YA heroine — and she shows a lot of growth and maturity with the events in this book. She's a delightful character and I honestly love her tendency to not get into serious relationships and not slut shame, which is something I find very frequent and very annoying in the average YA heroine who spends an entire trilogy debating whether to have sex with the boyfriend (and also slut shaming the 'enemy' girl). Alexis is the enemy girl for valid reasons — wealth, classism, political power, entitlement, and
Spoiler
disgusting racism.Anne is very driven in her search for the truth, and is ready to regulate and re-evaluate her relationships with her two main love interests based on whether she trusts them enough or whether they're ruining her progress at investigation, which makes me love her so, so much, and also approve of the love triangle for once. It's barely a love triangle, especially since she's very clear that she's not up for anything serious just yet, and she has her priorities set which I really respect about her.
In conclusion, I love Anne Dowling and I love this series just as much as I did when I was sixteen.
christiana's review against another edition
4.0
I think the cover of this one does the novel a disservice. It looks light and fluffy, but it's quite a bit more than that. This really works as a mystery: it's possibly one of the best YA mysteries I've read. Although there were suspicious characters and tons of suspects, it was in no way formulaic. Almost all Anne's reasoning and decisions made total sense to me which I can't say for most mysteries/YA novels. Our protag even reminded me of one of my library teens, so that's impressive.
Unfortch, the love triangle felt a little forced to me. For me, neither of these guys feels like a prize or even has chemistry with our protag. And Anthony pulls a Jess when he Christiana is not buying it, PSC. NOT BUYING IT. But maybe I'm just burnt out on love triangles because WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE CAUGHT IN LOVE TRIANGLES?
I just googled "real life love triangles" and ok, fine, I guess it's a real thing for people, but it cannot possibly happen as much as it happens in fiction.
I probs will not continue with this series because the next one is not out yet and not available as a review copy. Let's be real, I will forget all about the next one by the time March(when it's due out) rolls around .
Spoiler
(except the whole "I'll respect Isabella's privacy since she locked things in this password protected case, at least for now." Come on, Anne, you'll snoop everywhere else for evidence, but that's the line? No.)Unfortch, the love triangle felt a little forced to me. For me, neither of these guys feels like a prize or even has chemistry with our protag. And Anthony pulls a Jess when he
Spoiler
gets all "don't act like you know me" when Anne wants to know if he really stole stuff from his sister and walks away from her after coming back just to see/talk/smooch our protag again.I just googled "real life love triangles" and ok, fine, I guess it's a real thing for people, but it cannot possibly happen as much as it happens in fiction.
I probs will not continue with this series because the next one is not out yet and not available as a review copy. Let's be real, I will forget all about the next one by the time March(when it's due out) rolls around .
margaux22l's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5