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booksandbargains's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Well that was a good start to 2023!
Having enjoyed 3 of the authors work before, and being a sucker for anything even slightly musicals related this book had me hooked!
I didn't like some of the mental health portrayal in this one, and some language used I was unsure of, but kn the whole it kept me gripped and I didn't want to put it down!
Having enjoyed 3 of the authors work before, and being a sucker for anything even slightly musicals related this book had me hooked!
I didn't like some of the mental health portrayal in this one, and some language used I was unsure of, but kn the whole it kept me gripped and I didn't want to put it down!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Body shaming, and Cancer
kba76's review
3.0
On paper this sounds like an idea that might work...four very different writers (all very good at what they do) each take a section of story and work it into a whole novel.
Our story focuses on a group of girls at the Orla Flynn Academy, a stage school where there are some definite divas...and not just among the students. A fairly tight-knit group of four friends. We’re given some backstory about one of them bullying another last year, but things are better. At least, until odd things start to happen to the girl who should have been expelled for bullying. Coinciding with this is the Head’s attempt to smooth things over, the arrival of a new student who might act as the gel the group needs to bond them.
From the outset we’re never quite sure of the truth. We get shifting views from the mothers, and as the weird events get progressively more dangerous we can see there’s something we’re not being told.
Though the style of telling worked well (with each chapter adding something else to the mix) the book just fell a little flat for me at times. The characters were all fairly unlikeable, and I didn’t feel we had enough invested in any of them to really care one way or another what happened.
Our story focuses on a group of girls at the Orla Flynn Academy, a stage school where there are some definite divas...and not just among the students. A fairly tight-knit group of four friends. We’re given some backstory about one of them bullying another last year, but things are better. At least, until odd things start to happen to the girl who should have been expelled for bullying. Coinciding with this is the Head’s attempt to smooth things over, the arrival of a new student who might act as the gel the group needs to bond them.
From the outset we’re never quite sure of the truth. We get shifting views from the mothers, and as the weird events get progressively more dangerous we can see there’s something we’re not being told.
Though the style of telling worked well (with each chapter adding something else to the mix) the book just fell a little flat for me at times. The characters were all fairly unlikeable, and I didn’t feel we had enough invested in any of them to really care one way or another what happened.
violetnosegay's review
DNF
it was boring and the amount of different perspectives was too chaotic
it was boring and the amount of different perspectives was too chaotic
ppeachlo's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
faysieh's review
5.0
London and a performing arts school where a group of 4 girls, Bel, Sadie, Ruby and Jess are causing trouble, not just any trouble but the sort of antics that can get a girl expelled. Is Ruby jealous of Jess? Is that why she placed a mutilated ballerina in a music box, playing an audition piece, in Jess's locker? This question is the starting point for a novel based on secrets, lies and a lot of acting.
The mothers of the 4 girls, Elise (Sadie), Carolyn (Jess), Bronnie (Bel) and Kendall (Ruby) are all seated in the headteacher's office seething, competing, hiding and then horrified that Adam Rackie's response is not any form of punishment but instead the introduction of new girl Imogen to help change the group's dynamics. Will this tactic work or will it cause more trouble?
Everyone in this novel has plenty to hide, the girls as well as the mothers. There is a darkness lurking, bluffs and double bluffs and no-one appears to be able to tell the truth.
The story is narrated by the mothers mostly and divided into acts. Whilst I did guess who the culprit was, there are still plenty of twists and turns to surprise, delight and confuse the reader as the story delves into yet more sinister incidents, a death, a fall, a noose, a graffitied bench and a roof tile falling that just misses its mark.
Who is after who, and who is who they say they are?!
Read in one sitting I loved this book, co-written by such wonderful authors to bring about a cohesive dramatic tale of jealousy, deceit, revenge and tragedy.
Definitely worth a read!
The mothers of the 4 girls, Elise (Sadie), Carolyn (Jess), Bronnie (Bel) and Kendall (Ruby) are all seated in the headteacher's office seething, competing, hiding and then horrified that Adam Rackie's response is not any form of punishment but instead the introduction of new girl Imogen to help change the group's dynamics. Will this tactic work or will it cause more trouble?
Everyone in this novel has plenty to hide, the girls as well as the mothers. There is a darkness lurking, bluffs and double bluffs and no-one appears to be able to tell the truth.
The story is narrated by the mothers mostly and divided into acts. Whilst I did guess who the culprit was, there are still plenty of twists and turns to surprise, delight and confuse the reader as the story delves into yet more sinister incidents, a death, a fall, a noose, a graffitied bench and a roof tile falling that just misses its mark.
Who is after who, and who is who they say they are?!
Read in one sitting I loved this book, co-written by such wonderful authors to bring about a cohesive dramatic tale of jealousy, deceit, revenge and tragedy.
Definitely worth a read!
penguinpups31's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
snazzybooks's review
4.0
Book reviews on www.snazzybooks.com
The Understudy is an entertaining, twisty story set in the world of teenage drama school students and their pushy parents. There’s plenty of cattiness within its pages, as we see things through the eyes of four different but often just as unlikable parents. You love to hate them, and their bratty children, as the novel continues, and more secrets come to the surface.
The book is quite unique in that it’s split into sections, which each author writes, and I loved this sense of each author taking their turn – if these sections weren’t marked you wouldn’t know they were written by different people, as they’re all very in sync with their writing, but it’s interesting to know that each auhor had their own chance to put their stamp on the story. When I have read books with multiple authors, it’s usually a collection of short stories, not when the authors all collaborate on the same story (and certainly not when it’s not two or three authors but four!), so it was a different experience for me – but as I mentioned, it all flowed together so well that you wouldn’t know you were reading the work of more than one author.
The story perfectly captures the bitchiness of teenage life as well as the way this bleeds into their mothers’ lives – some more than others. I can imagine their need to protect their daughters, but the way some of them behave is beyond what most would consider normal. Although there’s a lot of high school angst and melodrama, the story stops short of being too much by having a constant, unnerving undercurrent of people not being who they say they are. I definitely rolled my eyes at the characters on multiple occasions, but that feels intentional – as the reader, we’re not supposed to like them, just be intrigued as to what is really going on! There were also some parts which I feel you would have to suspend your disbelief for
I enjoyed this novel – it’s an easy, fun and entertaining read.
Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for providing a copy of this novel, on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.
The Understudy is an entertaining, twisty story set in the world of teenage drama school students and their pushy parents. There’s plenty of cattiness within its pages, as we see things through the eyes of four different but often just as unlikable parents. You love to hate them, and their bratty children, as the novel continues, and more secrets come to the surface.
The book is quite unique in that it’s split into sections, which each author writes, and I loved this sense of each author taking their turn – if these sections weren’t marked you wouldn’t know they were written by different people, as they’re all very in sync with their writing, but it’s interesting to know that each auhor had their own chance to put their stamp on the story. When I have read books with multiple authors, it’s usually a collection of short stories, not when the authors all collaborate on the same story (and certainly not when it’s not two or three authors but four!), so it was a different experience for me – but as I mentioned, it all flowed together so well that you wouldn’t know you were reading the work of more than one author.
The story perfectly captures the bitchiness of teenage life as well as the way this bleeds into their mothers’ lives – some more than others. I can imagine their need to protect their daughters, but the way some of them behave is beyond what most would consider normal. Although there’s a lot of high school angst and melodrama, the story stops short of being too much by having a constant, unnerving undercurrent of people not being who they say they are. I definitely rolled my eyes at the characters on multiple occasions, but that feels intentional – as the reader, we’re not supposed to like them, just be intrigued as to what is really going on! There were also some parts which I feel you would have to suspend your disbelief for
I enjoyed this novel – it’s an easy, fun and entertaining read.
Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for providing a copy of this novel, on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.