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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Quick Stats
Age Rating: 14+
Over All: 4 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Special thanks to Penguin Teen for providing me with a free copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
I love Jessica Goodman. They’ll Never Catch Us, her previous novel, was one of my favorite thrillers of last year, so I had high hopes for The Counselors—and it did not disappoint!
Camp Alpine Lake is Goldie’s happy place. Every summer she goes to the posh camp for super rich kids on a scholarship, because her parents work there, and there is nowhere she feels safer. After everything that happened to her during the school year, she’s more desperate for camp and the friends that come with it than ever. But when a local boy is found floating face down in the river, dead—or maybe murdered?—Goldie has to face the fact that her favorite place on earth might now be the idyllic sanctuary she’s always thought it.
Is this a murder mystery? Yes. But It’s also so much more. Told in alternating time lines, we see Goldie’s summer, but also her past. We see her friendship with her best (camp) friends unfold over the years, we learn all about Goldie’s dark secrets from the school year, and we get to see how all of these things tie back to the body in the lake. It’s an intoxicating mystery, but it’s also a story of family, both blood and found, bullying, first love, and female friendships. I think The Counselors will appeal to anyone who loves a good contemporary, even if they don’t typically pick up mysteries.
I was so invested in every aspect of this book. The mystery, of course, had me utterly drawn in and on the edge of my seat, but I was also desperate to see more of these characters I grew to love, and to bear witness to the ups and downs of Goldie, Ava, and Imogen’s relationship, which though strong, definitely got toxic at times. Despite the toxicity, I couldn’t help but root for all these broken girls to figure things out and come back together.
I enjoyed the ending. It wasn’t the most shocking thing ever. I wasn’t thrown for an utter loop like I was with TNCU, but I was satisfied and I thought it packed a good punch. Watching the pieces finally fall into place, like the most satisfying puzzle, made up for the fact that the whodunnit wasn’t a huge surprise.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend it, and I really need to finally pick up Goodman’s debut, They Wish They Were Us.
Age Rating: 14+
Over All: 4 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Special thanks to Penguin Teen for providing me with a free copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
I love Jessica Goodman. They’ll Never Catch Us, her previous novel, was one of my favorite thrillers of last year, so I had high hopes for The Counselors—and it did not disappoint!
Camp Alpine Lake is Goldie’s happy place. Every summer she goes to the posh camp for super rich kids on a scholarship, because her parents work there, and there is nowhere she feels safer. After everything that happened to her during the school year, she’s more desperate for camp and the friends that come with it than ever. But when a local boy is found floating face down in the river, dead—or maybe murdered?—Goldie has to face the fact that her favorite place on earth might now be the idyllic sanctuary she’s always thought it.
Is this a murder mystery? Yes. But It’s also so much more. Told in alternating time lines, we see Goldie’s summer, but also her past. We see her friendship with her best (camp) friends unfold over the years, we learn all about Goldie’s dark secrets from the school year, and we get to see how all of these things tie back to the body in the lake. It’s an intoxicating mystery, but it’s also a story of family, both blood and found, bullying, first love, and female friendships. I think The Counselors will appeal to anyone who loves a good contemporary, even if they don’t typically pick up mysteries.
I was so invested in every aspect of this book. The mystery, of course, had me utterly drawn in and on the edge of my seat, but I was also desperate to see more of these characters I grew to love, and to bear witness to the ups and downs of Goldie, Ava, and Imogen’s relationship, which though strong, definitely got toxic at times. Despite the toxicity, I couldn’t help but root for all these broken girls to figure things out and come back together.
I enjoyed the ending. It wasn’t the most shocking thing ever. I wasn’t thrown for an utter loop like I was with TNCU, but I was satisfied and I thought it packed a good punch. Watching the pieces finally fall into place, like the most satisfying puzzle, made up for the fact that the whodunnit wasn’t a huge surprise.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend it, and I really need to finally pick up Goodman’s debut, They Wish They Were Us.
I'm forever a sucker for a summer camp story. I flew this read with excitement making it an easy binge read. The writing was pretty fluid. The story line? A hometown girl, living the life of the elite at her local summer camp all while hiding a major secret. Between the setting, a murder, big secrets, and semi-shady friendships The Counselors had it all for me!
If you're looking for a quick, solid read--look no further.
If you're looking for a quick, solid read--look no further.
slow-paced
I went into this book totally blind bc I loved the cover. I ASSUMED it was gonna be a spooky little slasher… it was about tax evasion and embezzlement at a summer camp.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Was left slightly disappointed by the murder mystery in this story. I did not like the victim or the love interest at all so it was difficult to sympathize with Goldie (also really hate her name). I found him to be a spineless cowardly jerk. I do not understand what she saw in him, or why she went through everything she did when he clearly did not care about her. The friends in this story were almost interchangeable and I had a little bit of a hard time keeping track of who was who. The big reveal was not surprising if you paid attention to the small clues throughout the story. Overall I kept reading to get answers to the mystery and not because I cared about the characters.
mysterious
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:
Complicated
Okay so the concept of a summer camp mystery love it, seems like a bop. And then she lost me. The guy, hot trash. Beyond problematic. The fact that author tried to make us like him even tho he was literally garbage is wild to me.
Okay this is the PERFECT YA Summer Thriller. It gave me MAJOR Pretty Little Liars and Riverdale (when it was good) vibes, and would be perfect for anyone in their late teens/early 20s. With that being said this was such a joy to read for me being in my late 20s that I think most would enjoy it.
I’m a sucker for anything set at camp. Going to camp myself when I was young, I almost immediately buy any camp themed book. I absolutely adored the relationship between Ava, Goldie, and Imogen and it felt so real. The description of the camp was also flawless and you felt like you were there.
Was it a bit slow moving at points? Yes, but I truly didn’t care because I was so sucked into the story. This isn’t a slasher and has next to no gore, so if that isn’t your thing this will be perfect for you.
I can’t think of a better or more fun summer read-highly recommend!
I’m a sucker for anything set at camp. Going to camp myself when I was young, I almost immediately buy any camp themed book. I absolutely adored the relationship between Ava, Goldie, and Imogen and it felt so real. The description of the camp was also flawless and you felt like you were there.
Was it a bit slow moving at points? Yes, but I truly didn’t care because I was so sucked into the story. This isn’t a slasher and has next to no gore, so if that isn’t your thing this will be perfect for you.
I can’t think of a better or more fun summer read-highly recommend!
I wasn’t super fascinated by the mystery part but only because the characters were so amazing. I really felt for all of them. It did leave me kind of sad though, because a young persons death is always tragic I think.
This is officially a 3.5 for me. Book was fun overall. The relationships between the three girls felt real altho their reasons for each keeping a pretty big secret seemed kinda silly. I was kind of expecting a little more murder or horror than there actually was, but in retrospect it probably kept it from being a little too campy. The ending wasn't necessarily telegraphed, but it wasn't too hard to guess exactly what was behind everything. It was still a fun, fairly light summer read and that's exactly why I picked the book up.