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evarano's review
1.0
This was awful. I DNF @ 35% but skimmed very quick and read the end. I listened on audio until the DNF. First off, this is so boring and way too long. The chapters are sooo long. It feels like this book is three stories shoved into one. There’s the secret society, the mother’s disappearance and the mother and father’s relationship with their POV. It was too much. I don’t see why there needed to be the mom and dad POV, it ended up being repetitive when Charlie found everything out anyways.
This didn’t feel like a YA, the characters swear and try to seem cool, but would never actually talk like that in real life. None of the characters are likeable, they all do weird and awful things, especially the relationship between the mom and dad and how that came to be. Charlie’s relationship with Leo, her cousin, is so weird, the had kissed, they cuddle, it’s so odd. Leo is horrible to everyone, especially women. Charlie makes jokes about suicide and shacks up with an older guy who’s a childhood friend. It’s all just odd. There equally was both too much and not enough of any one thing. This is not a thriller, it’s more a mystery? Anyways, so boring and waste of time.
This didn’t feel like a YA, the characters swear and try to seem cool, but would never actually talk like that in real life. None of the characters are likeable, they all do weird and awful things, especially the relationship between the mom and dad and how that came to be. Charlie’s relationship with Leo, her cousin, is so weird, the had kissed, they cuddle, it’s so odd. Leo is horrible to everyone, especially women. Charlie makes jokes about suicide and shacks up with an older guy who’s a childhood friend. It’s all just odd. There equally was both too much and not enough of any one thing. This is not a thriller, it’s more a mystery? Anyways, so boring and waste of time.
clairedrinkstea's review
2.0
Another book about an entitled rich girl (Charlie) not realising that her family is really quite crap and the secret society she wants to be part of in her super expense and super elitist boarding school is just full of bullies and control freaks.
I didn’t care about any of the characters or the mystery. I listened to the audiobook and upped the speed to x2.5 just to get through it because I don’t DNF books. Thank goodness for libraries and I didn’t pay actual money for this.
Quote where Stevie is 100% accurate: "They're horrible," Stevie said. "The A's. It's a bunch of egotistical, self-entitled rich kids running around acting like gods. It's a bunch of stupid pissing contests."
"I don't think it's exactly like that," I said.
"It is exactly like that," Stevie said. "I don't know why you can't see that."
Quote that really made me dislike Charlie: “I never felt ashamed when people brought up that I came from money I didn't earn, just as I never thought people who didn't come from money should be ashamed of the fact that they didn't have it. In my mind, you were dealt the cards you were dealt, but it was how you played them that mattered.” Was this a really poor Cruel Intentions moment? Whatever it was, it was cheap.
The running theme with Charlie is that she’s self-centred and this NEVER goes away. Quote: "You're a Calloway," Leo said. "We're all narcissists. It's, like, genetic." I laughed. "I guess," I said.” and my goodness she displays it. It frustrates me that she essentially comes out winning from the entire debacle.
One of my WTF moments. Charlie is making out with her cousin Leo for blackmail/revenge when she is being initiated into the secret society. So many red flags: “When Leo kissed me now, there was an urgency to it, a feeling that almost made me forget for a moment where we were. A feeling that almost-almost-silenced the quiet clicking of Ren's camera.”
Her “selfless” act at the end to put the secret society called, in my opinion very lamely, The A’s, did not redeem Charlie. At best it was closure over her moms death. That’s it.
One thing I’d be happy to get clarification on as it’s bugging me and frankly I don’t want to have to read the whole book again and performing a search on the ebook proved fruitless… Charlie (a junior) starts dating Dalton (a senior). Her dad and his mom (Margo) were engaged and he broke it off when he got together with her mom Grace (they’d actually eloped) and Grace was pregnant at the time with Charlie. In none of the flashbacks does it mention baby Dalton. I remember Margo is a career driven at the time so babies and especially babies from a previous relationship don’t fit her 10 year plan. It would also not have been something the Calloway’s would particularly embrace in their eldest sons life partner. Makes me suspicious. I totally expected and would have found the story more entertaining if Charlie and Dalton were siblings.
I didn’t care about any of the characters or the mystery. I listened to the audiobook and upped the speed to x2.5 just to get through it because I don’t DNF books. Thank goodness for libraries and I didn’t pay actual money for this.
Quote where Stevie is 100% accurate: "They're horrible," Stevie said. "The A's. It's a bunch of egotistical, self-entitled rich kids running around acting like gods. It's a bunch of stupid pissing contests."
"I don't think it's exactly like that," I said.
"It is exactly like that," Stevie said. "I don't know why you can't see that."
Quote that really made me dislike Charlie: “I never felt ashamed when people brought up that I came from money I didn't earn, just as I never thought people who didn't come from money should be ashamed of the fact that they didn't have it. In my mind, you were dealt the cards you were dealt, but it was how you played them that mattered.” Was this a really poor Cruel Intentions moment? Whatever it was, it was cheap.
The running theme with Charlie is that she’s self-centred and this NEVER goes away. Quote: "You're a Calloway," Leo said. "We're all narcissists. It's, like, genetic." I laughed. "I guess," I said.” and my goodness she displays it. It frustrates me that she essentially comes out winning from the entire debacle.
One of my WTF moments. Charlie is making out with her cousin Leo for blackmail/revenge when she is being initiated into the secret society. So many red flags: “When Leo kissed me now, there was an urgency to it, a feeling that almost made me forget for a moment where we were. A feeling that almost-almost-silenced the quiet clicking of Ren's camera.”
Her “selfless” act at the end to put the secret society called, in my opinion very lamely, The A’s, did not redeem Charlie. At best it was closure over her moms death. That’s it.
One thing I’d be happy to get clarification on as it’s bugging me and frankly I don’t want to have to read the whole book again and performing a search on the ebook proved fruitless… Charlie (a junior) starts dating Dalton (a senior). Her dad and his mom (Margo) were engaged and he broke it off when he got together with her mom Grace (they’d actually eloped) and Grace was pregnant at the time with Charlie. In none of the flashbacks does it mention baby Dalton. I remember Margo is a career driven at the time so babies and especially babies from a previous relationship don’t fit her 10 year plan. It would also not have been something the Calloway’s would particularly embrace in their eldest sons life partner. Makes me suspicious. I totally expected and would have found the story more entertaining if Charlie and Dalton were siblings.
rc_hof's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
jansbookcorner's review
1.0
I didn’t realize this is a YA book until I got into it. That explains some of the issues I had. I could tell it was written for a much younger audience. It also was too long - draggy and it didn’t call to me to pick it up. A few plot holes and just overall I didn’t care for it. A one star is rare for me, but unfortunately that’s where this one falls.
aliceb0505's review against another edition
5.0
Den var så bra! Jag vet inte hur hag ska beskriva min reaktion mer än att jag älskade den...
yannedition's review
2.0
The main character is annoying af. Everything she does feels inconsistent. Also, she literally thinks she is "not like other girls" and that she likes to hang out with men more because women are difficult. Which is absurd to me because all her male friends are scandalous!
Almost everyone here is toxic and annoying. I couldn't root for anyone. I just wanted to know what happened to Grace but even that, it was... just okay. I feel like the ending was a bit rushed.
The only reason I gave it two stars was because of Grace and Alistair (...and Teddy)'s story. And also, the part one of the book. It was interesting at first but it got boring chapter after chapter.
Almost everyone here is toxic and annoying. I couldn't root for anyone. I just wanted to know what happened to Grace but even that, it was... just okay. I feel like the ending was a bit rushed.
The only reason I gave it two stars was because of Grace and Alistair (...and Teddy)'s story. And also, the part one of the book. It was interesting at first but it got boring chapter after chapter.
vonderbash's review against another edition
5.0
(Stefan from SNL voice) This book has everything! Fancy prep school, rich people drama, missing person mystery, powerful secret society, ghosts, blackmail, romance, multiple narrators, mysterious deaths, bitchy rich moms, petty crimes, lies, flashbacks, everything!
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
Al vanaf het moment dat ik de blurb van dit boek las, voelde ik een bepaalde aantrekkingskracht. Mijn nieuwsgierigheid was officieel gewekt. Ik was me er wel van bewust dat het boek ook zomaar een tegenvaller kon worden, maar dat wilde ik met heel veel liefde zelf ontdekken. Dus, toen ik dit boek als recensie-exemplaar ontving, was ik dan ook ongelooflijk blij! Niks leuker dan een boek krijgen waar je toch al benieuwd naar was.
En wat ben ik blij dat ik het boek heb kunnen en mogen lezen! Hoewel het niet zo spannend is als de achterflap doet vermoeden, daarvoor komt het echt gevaarlijke element van het verhaal te laat op gang en in het spel, heeft het boek me wel van het begin tot het einde geboeid. Ik wilde dolgraag verder lezen en zien hoe alle puzzelstukjes, die Charlie gedurende het verhaal verzamelt en die wij als lezer gedurende het verhaal krijgen, in elkaar zouden vallen.
Want hoewel het whodunnit gedeelte van het verhaal niet zo ijzersterk is, is het whathappened en het whydunnit gedeelte van het verhaal dat wel. Klehfoth heeft heel veel aandacht besteed aan het bouwen van de wereld waarin dit verhaal zich afspeelt, de wereld van de rijke snobs en de geheime clubjes, en er is veel tijd besteed aan het vormen van de verschillende personages. Door het gebruik van meerdere perspectieven, die van Charlie, Allistair en Grace, krijgen we een ongelooflijk goed beeld van de emotionele ontwikkeling van alle karakters en hun complexiteit.
Door de vlotte schrijfstijl en de goed gelukte dialogen leest het verhaal daarnaast ongelooflijk lekker weg. En naar mate het verhaal vordert wil je ook alleen maar sneller en sneller en sneller gaan lezen. Als aan het einde van het verhaal het hele plot ook nog een hele toffe moraal meekrijgt, ben ik definitief verkocht!
En wat ben ik blij dat ik het boek heb kunnen en mogen lezen! Hoewel het niet zo spannend is als de achterflap doet vermoeden, daarvoor komt het echt gevaarlijke element van het verhaal te laat op gang en in het spel, heeft het boek me wel van het begin tot het einde geboeid. Ik wilde dolgraag verder lezen en zien hoe alle puzzelstukjes, die Charlie gedurende het verhaal verzamelt en die wij als lezer gedurende het verhaal krijgen, in elkaar zouden vallen.
Want hoewel het whodunnit gedeelte van het verhaal niet zo ijzersterk is, is het whathappened en het whydunnit gedeelte van het verhaal dat wel. Klehfoth heeft heel veel aandacht besteed aan het bouwen van de wereld waarin dit verhaal zich afspeelt, de wereld van de rijke snobs en de geheime clubjes, en er is veel tijd besteed aan het vormen van de verschillende personages. Door het gebruik van meerdere perspectieven, die van Charlie, Allistair en Grace, krijgen we een ongelooflijk goed beeld van de emotionele ontwikkeling van alle karakters en hun complexiteit.
Door de vlotte schrijfstijl en de goed gelukte dialogen leest het verhaal daarnaast ongelooflijk lekker weg. En naar mate het verhaal vordert wil je ook alleen maar sneller en sneller en sneller gaan lezen. Als aan het einde van het verhaal het hele plot ook nog een hele toffe moraal meekrijgt, ben ik definitief verkocht!
smartinez9's review
3.0
This is one of those books that’s hard to rate. Decently-written and compelling, it did keep me engaged and guessing for the most part, although most of the twists I predicted fairly early on. That said, everyone is kind of detestable. Charlie is decently capable and crafty, though at some points slow on the uptake. She starts out pretty awful, leaning heavily on not-like-other-girls tropes, but is at least a little self-aware. The part that really irked me was her easy forgiveness of Leo and Dalton, which felt both 1. undeserved and 2. extremely out of character for someone who’s supposed to be a jaded loner who doesn’t trust easily. Leo, Dalton, and Uncle Teddy overall went rather unpunished on the deceiving women front. And isn’t Grayson like 22? When she’s 17? Also, her father is meant to be shrewd and calculating, but doesn’t figure out that Peter’s an investigator? It’s in his job title. While the overall commentary on wealth and privilege was solid, it wasn’t particularly nuanced or original. Half of the characters were blond, and I’m fairly certain there were zero POCs. Also, the fact that one of her closest friends is a scholarship student and that dynamic is never fleshed out was disappointing.
Def could’ve done without the suicide jokes and the Leo thing. That was uncomfy.
Def could’ve done without the suicide jokes and the Leo thing. That was uncomfy.
emilye3's review
4.0
At first I wasn’t sure how much I would like this book but then I was sucked in to the mystery and the secret society in this book. Charlie has so many questions about things that have happened in her life and she has finally decided to look for the answers and she isn’t expecting what she finds. I overall enjoyed this book but I was completely satisfied with the ending and how some things worked out.