Scan barcode
allisonsmith120's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Alcohol, and Drug use
Minor: Sexual assault and Vomit
heykidzspellingisfun's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
ukalaylee's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Minor: Drug use
sunshinestark's review
5.0
Perfect for fans of horror, The Mary Shelley Club starts off strong and ends with just the right hook to grab you, making you want a sequel immediately. Filled with references to old, new, well known, and more obscure horror movies, we have a group of students obsessed with horror who play a twisted game with one goal: make their target scream. When Rachel moves from Long Island after a traumatic home invasion, she never expects to be initiated into the Mary Shelley Club. The club plans elaborate pranks meant to terrify others, and it's all a game - the person who creates the best scenario wins. But as the game progresses, it's clear someone is sabotaging them. With danger closing in, Rachel isn't sure who she can trust. All she knows is she has to survive, and she won't go down without a fight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence
caseythereader's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Thanks to Henry Holt Books for the free advance copy of this book.
đź“š Friends, every single YA thriller I've ever read, I hated. I also hate horror movies, I do not like to be purposely scared. Enter THE MARY SHELLEY CLUB. Whew, I could not put this down! I had to know! I guessed wrong! I kept guessing! I trusted everyone, I trusted no one. I loved it.
đź“š This book is not only a look at the weird things rich people do to keep busy, but also their classism and racism, plus an exploration of PTSD and the varying ways people cope with it.
đź“š I will say, if you like your thrillers to have action on every page, this might not be it for you. But I wanted to see each club member's Fear Test, so I didn't mind a little repetitiveness because it still moved quickly.
đź“š Friends, every single YA thriller I've ever read, I hated. I also hate horror movies, I do not like to be purposely scared. Enter THE MARY SHELLEY CLUB. Whew, I could not put this down! I had to know! I guessed wrong! I kept guessing! I trusted everyone, I trusted no one. I loved it.
đź“š This book is not only a look at the weird things rich people do to keep busy, but also their classism and racism, plus an exploration of PTSD and the varying ways people cope with it.
đź“š I will say, if you like your thrillers to have action on every page, this might not be it for you. But I wanted to see each club member's Fear Test, so I didn't mind a little repetitiveness because it still moved quickly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Violence
pastelwriter's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Let me start this review by saying that this has been the first book that isn’t a romance to have me hooked to the pages by the end of the novel. I finished reading this earlier than I anticipated because I really wanted to know once and for all who the culprit behind everything that happened was. I may have rated this 3.5 stars but don’t let that make you think I didn’t enjoy this reading experience. I really had so much fun reading this book.
For the majority of the book, I was sincerely just Vibing. I found the book very easy to read and gripping. It wasn’t until the like 75% mark that I was really glued to the pages, but before then I was certainly invested. I found the writing style compelling. The pacing of the story wasn’t super fast, but it never felt like nothing was happening. There was a steady build-up to the conclusion of the book.
In addition, from early on I knew I would enjoy this book no matter what because the humor in this book was definitely my jam. I highlighted so many passages in this book because so many of the things characters said was genuinely funny to me.
I also really liked the characters here! Rachel was definitely a character I enjoyed following. I love her need for control—her urge to gain agency over the traumatic experience she had. I love how she was trying to use horror movies and the Mary Shelley Club as a coping mechanism. All in all, she was a great lead.
I also liked Rachel’s best friend Saundra. She wasn’t the deepest of characters, but she was sweet and reliable. She was always in Rachel’s corner even if it could cost her social capital. She also was always encouraging Rachel to have a normal teenage life and experience, and that was so important for Rachel who could have easily stayed home all day just watching horror movies or hanging out with the Mary Shelley Club.
Speaking of the Mary Shelley Club. Thayer, Bram, Felicity, and Freddie the rest of the members in the group were all compelling in their own ways. Thayer was cute as hell. I definitely developed a soft spot for him. His interactions with Rachel were primarily so sweet that I couldn’t help but love him. The fact that Rachel early on just Got Him and his humor and his way of being was just so valid.
Bram and Freddie were like two sides of the same coin. I had so many fraught emotions when it came to these two boys. I loved them. I hated them. I wanted to trust them. I didn’t trust them. I wanted to know everything about them. I wanted Rachel to get away from them. I wanted Rachel to get closer to them. I wanted it all. They were playing with my heart from the very start because deep down I’m but a simple bitch. I didn’t even mind the love triangle vibes because in so many ways the two of them were so unreliable.
The only “con” I have to mention is that a big part of me was confused as to when this book was set. The characters talked about Miley Cyrus, Pitbull, and Lady Gaga (specifically the Paparazzi song), and I was just confused. The teens didn’t always sound like teens nowadays so that’s why I was like ??? I’m confused. But really it wasn’t a big deal. I was just confused. Still. I’m willing to chalk this up to the fact that we’re dealing with characters that are super rich.
Anyway. Something else I loved about this book is that we follow Rachel, a working class kid, who is transplanted into this world of super rich kids. She clearly feels the divide between them and herself. Yet she finds solidarity with the Mary Shelley club. Sure, most of them are still rich kids, but at least they get her interests. They don’t judge her for the things that happened in her past. They just join forces to pull off these Fear Tests where they prank other students to scare them. It was just pulled off really well—especially with the solidarity Rachel and Freddie build because they’re both kids that come from much humbler backgrounds than their peers.
Overall, I definitely recommend this book. I had a lot of fun reading it. I think that if you love horror and enjoy self-aware and meta media, you will enjoy this.
P.S. The main reason I didn’t rate this higher than 3.5 stars was because I couldn’t believe how much of a class traitor Freddie was. Lol. Like, listen. I just can’t believe Freddie would turn on Rachel when they were both working class Latinx kids in a school full of rich kids with so much money they were in a different stratosphere. Like, I could never. I was hoping the twist would be that Freddie and Rachel would turn against the other members of the group. Like, sorry, but I’m different. Down with the rich. Lol.
But seriously. I was hoping so badly that the antagonist wouldn’t be Freddie, and it was really because I wanted him and Rachel to turn against all these rich kids. Which is to say that I’m not against the two of them turning “evil." Freddie turning evil wasn’t inherently my issue here. I can stand behind antagonists in fiction in the sense that I can find a well crafted villain very compelling and can even root for them.
So, I guess my other issue here is that Freddie played me like he played Rachel. I was really rooting for him. His interactions with Rachel really had me swooning. I really bought that he was interested in her and genuinely liked her. He was always so kind, and I really am a sucker for sweet soft boys which is what he portrayed himself as. So, although I wasn’t really surprised that he was the antagonist because the seeds for it were definitely planted, it still hurt because ultimately I guess I’m a sucker for the tope of lovers who do evil together. Why couldn’t I have my two Latinx kids saying "eat the rich"? Oh well. Freddie really could have been baby, but he went ahead and turned against Rachel. So sad.
For the majority of the book, I was sincerely just Vibing. I found the book very easy to read and gripping. It wasn’t until the like 75% mark that I was really glued to the pages, but before then I was certainly invested. I found the writing style compelling. The pacing of the story wasn’t super fast, but it never felt like nothing was happening. There was a steady build-up to the conclusion of the book.
In addition, from early on I knew I would enjoy this book no matter what because the humor in this book was definitely my jam. I highlighted so many passages in this book because so many of the things characters said was genuinely funny to me.
I also really liked the characters here! Rachel was definitely a character I enjoyed following. I love her need for control—her urge to gain agency over the traumatic experience she had. I love how she was trying to use horror movies and the Mary Shelley Club as a coping mechanism. All in all, she was a great lead.
I also liked Rachel’s best friend Saundra. She wasn’t the deepest of characters, but she was sweet and reliable. She was always in Rachel’s corner even if it could cost her social capital. She also was always encouraging Rachel to have a normal teenage life and experience, and that was so important for Rachel who could have easily stayed home all day just watching horror movies or hanging out with the Mary Shelley Club.
Speaking of the Mary Shelley Club. Thayer, Bram, Felicity, and Freddie the rest of the members in the group were all compelling in their own ways. Thayer was cute as hell. I definitely developed a soft spot for him. His interactions with Rachel were primarily so sweet that I couldn’t help but love him. The fact that Rachel early on just Got Him and his humor and his way of being was just so valid.
Bram and Freddie were like two sides of the same coin. I had so many fraught emotions when it came to these two boys. I loved them. I hated them. I wanted to trust them. I didn’t trust them. I wanted to know everything about them. I wanted Rachel to get away from them. I wanted Rachel to get closer to them. I wanted it all. They were playing with my heart from the very start because deep down I’m but a simple bitch. I didn’t even mind the love triangle vibes because in so many ways the two of them were so unreliable.
The only “con” I have to mention is that a big part of me was confused as to when this book was set. The characters talked about Miley Cyrus, Pitbull, and Lady Gaga (specifically the Paparazzi song), and I was just confused. The teens didn’t always sound like teens nowadays so that’s why I was like ??? I’m confused. But really it wasn’t a big deal. I was just confused. Still. I’m willing to chalk this up to the fact that we’re dealing with characters that are super rich.
Anyway. Something else I loved about this book is that we follow Rachel, a working class kid, who is transplanted into this world of super rich kids. She clearly feels the divide between them and herself. Yet she finds solidarity with the Mary Shelley club. Sure, most of them are still rich kids, but at least they get her interests. They don’t judge her for the things that happened in her past. They just join forces to pull off these Fear Tests where they prank other students to scare them. It was just pulled off really well—especially with the solidarity Rachel and Freddie build because they’re both kids that come from much humbler backgrounds than their peers.
Overall, I definitely recommend this book. I had a lot of fun reading it. I think that if you love horror and enjoy self-aware and meta media, you will enjoy this.
But seriously. I was hoping so badly that the antagonist wouldn’t be Freddie, and it was really because I wanted him and Rachel to turn against all these rich kids. Which is to say that I’m not against the two of them turning “evil." Freddie turning evil wasn’t inherently my issue here. I can stand behind antagonists in fiction in the sense that I can find a well crafted villain very compelling and can even root for them.
So, I guess my other issue here is that Freddie played me like he played Rachel. I was really rooting for him. His interactions with Rachel really had me swooning. I really bought that he was interested in her and genuinely liked her. He was always so kind, and I really am a sucker for sweet soft boys which is what he portrayed himself as. So, although I wasn’t really surprised that he was the antagonist because the seeds for it were definitely planted, it still hurt because ultimately I guess I’m a sucker for the tope of lovers who do evil together. Why couldn’t I have my two Latinx kids saying "eat the rich"? Oh well. Freddie really could have been baby, but he went ahead and turned against Rachel. So sad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Gore
More...