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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
It's not that it's BAD - it's just extremely silly and everyone in it is astonishingly stupid and unpleasant.
From the first page - where we are told the school is for 'nothing but the best, the pupils are all the smartest and the richest - but then that is immediately contradicted by the next lines where Alyssa states she is not rich and isn't especially clever.
Alyssa's only actual skill seems to be her eidetic memory - which seems to appear and disappear as the plot demands anyway.
The story never explains what it is about this school that attracts the super rich and the parents of the super smart. They seem to have the same basic facilities as any slightly posh english boarding school. The school also seems to be extremely dependent on Lily's father's contributions - even though the £2 million in 5 years must have actually been fairly small change for a school populated by the fabulously wealthy. They seem to have good sports provision but there's very little mention of the education or facilities anywhere in this story.
And they all behave like very typical basic teenagers - these kids are introduced as having understanding of quantum physics, being set for the Olympics, maths geniuses etc - but that doesn't seem to affect the plot at all. If it's not relevant then what's the point in it? And why is the book so obnoxiously pointing out their correct grammar and vocabularies if it's not going to affect anything?
Lily is clearly mentally ill from her first appearance in the book and we later find out she was diagnosed as bipolar - but this is played off as her just being 'creative' by her mother - who is also seriously mentally ill. The story seems to be telling us that Lily's violent mood swings and instability are just cute quirks that were unfairly labelled and medicated. And we never get an answer on whether the school was actually following the plans put in place to keep her safe - like the nurse checking on medication etc. Or if they had provided Lily with any additional support.
This book also leans heavily on a trope I dislike and see in real life a lot - the idea that because someone isn't visibly grieving they aren't grieving. These teenagers, one of whom had only known Lily a few months, mock her brother and nickname him 'the automaton' because they don't feel like he's showing enough emotion at the death of his sister. I hate this expectation that's placed on grieving people to publicly perform grief for the satisfaction of others, where you're expected to cry and shake and panic or there's something wrong with you. They set themselves up as the guardians of Lily's memory, to the extent of stealing her diary and keeping it from her family, because they don't recognize or respect her family's grief.
And then the entire story takes a wild turn into politics. And this silly little book about a murder investigation at a school for rich geniuses re-centers itself on anti-semitism. Somehow this school for the uber rich is actually at the centre of a right wing extremist group headed by a teacher who collects teeth. Lily's death is because her mother is Jewish and her parent's media company was going to run an expose documentary on fascism.
It's all just very silly - which I could more easily forgive if it wasn't roping serious subjects like mental illness and racism into its silliness.
Especially as in the end we're told that her brother has moved on to create a rival news company to their father's and Alyssa's final thought on the family is 'I only hope that in the future they steer clear of conflicts with fascist and racists'. That's a terrible lesson to learn! You should always conflict with fascists and racists! Especially if you're going to run a media company! How could anyone's conclusion at the end of this story be 'try not to piss off fascists' and not 'fascists can go to hell'!? And yet that's where the story goes.
From the first page - where we are told the school is for 'nothing but the best, the pupils are all the smartest and the richest - but then that is immediately contradicted by the next lines where Alyssa states she is not rich and isn't especially clever.
Alyssa's only actual skill seems to be her eidetic memory - which seems to appear and disappear as the plot demands anyway.
The story never explains what it is about this school that attracts the super rich and the parents of the super smart. They seem to have the same basic facilities as any slightly posh english boarding school. The school also seems to be extremely dependent on Lily's father's contributions - even though the £2 million in 5 years must have actually been fairly small change for a school populated by the fabulously wealthy. They seem to have good sports provision but there's very little mention of the education or facilities anywhere in this story.
And they all behave like very typical basic teenagers - these kids are introduced as having understanding of quantum physics, being set for the Olympics, maths geniuses etc - but that doesn't seem to affect the plot at all. If it's not relevant then what's the point in it? And why is the book so obnoxiously pointing out their correct grammar and vocabularies if it's not going to affect anything?
Lily is clearly mentally ill from her first appearance in the book and we later find out she was diagnosed as bipolar - but this is played off as her just being 'creative' by her mother - who is also seriously mentally ill. The story seems to be telling us that Lily's violent mood swings and instability are just cute quirks that were unfairly labelled and medicated. And we never get an answer on whether the school was actually following the plans put in place to keep her safe - like the nurse checking on medication etc. Or if they had provided Lily with any additional support.
This book also leans heavily on a trope I dislike and see in real life a lot - the idea that because someone isn't visibly grieving they aren't grieving. These teenagers, one of whom had only known Lily a few months, mock her brother and nickname him 'the automaton' because they don't feel like he's showing enough emotion at the death of his sister. I hate this expectation that's placed on grieving people to publicly perform grief for the satisfaction of others, where you're expected to cry and shake and panic or there's something wrong with you. They set themselves up as the guardians of Lily's memory, to the extent of stealing her diary and keeping it from her family, because they don't recognize or respect her family's grief.
And then the entire story takes a wild turn into politics. And this silly little book about a murder investigation at a school for rich geniuses re-centers itself on anti-semitism. Somehow this school for the uber rich is actually at the centre of a right wing extremist group headed by a teacher who collects teeth. Lily's death is because her mother is Jewish and her parent's media company was going to run an expose documentary on fascism.
It's all just very silly - which I could more easily forgive if it wasn't roping serious subjects like mental illness and racism into its silliness.
Especially as in the end we're told that her brother has moved on to create a rival news company to their father's and Alyssa's final thought on the family is 'I only hope that in the future they steer clear of conflicts with fascist and racists'. That's a terrible lesson to learn! You should always conflict with fascists and racists! Especially if you're going to run a media company! How could anyone's conclusion at the end of this story be 'try not to piss off fascists' and not 'fascists can go to hell'!? And yet that's where the story goes.
So this is yet another book that has been sitting on my TBR pile since last year and I was already one and half chapters into it so why not finish it.
A summery for Young, Gifted and Dead:
Welcome to St Jude's Academy, the elite boarding school where the students are beautiful, talented and dangerously out of control...
New girl Alyssa is on a scholarship and feels like an outsider-she's not even that smart, apart from her freaky photographic memory. Then one day her room-mate Lily is found dead. It looks like suicide, but torn apart by guilt and grief, Alyssa is convinced that things aren't as they seem. Soon a jolted memory puts her on the trail of a sinister secret that might hold the clues to Lily's suspicious death.
But Alyssa is in too deep, and she's about to find out that some things are better forgotten...
Not a bad debut for Lucy Carver I have to say I was impressed with the fast paced writing and this book doesn't really drag on as much despite the length of some chapters in Young, Gifted and Dead for this particular type of story it worked in its favor and I'd say this is a who done it for young adults and another plus it's very easy to get into.
I am curious to see what happens to Alyssa in Killing You Softly even though there's no confirmation for a third book but hey I just hope these books get some more attention because they're pretty good.
A summery for Young, Gifted and Dead:
Welcome to St Jude's Academy, the elite boarding school where the students are beautiful, talented and dangerously out of control...
New girl Alyssa is on a scholarship and feels like an outsider-she's not even that smart, apart from her freaky photographic memory. Then one day her room-mate Lily is found dead. It looks like suicide, but torn apart by guilt and grief, Alyssa is convinced that things aren't as they seem. Soon a jolted memory puts her on the trail of a sinister secret that might hold the clues to Lily's suspicious death.
But Alyssa is in too deep, and she's about to find out that some things are better forgotten...
Not a bad debut for Lucy Carver I have to say I was impressed with the fast paced writing and this book doesn't really drag on as much despite the length of some chapters in Young, Gifted and Dead for this particular type of story it worked in its favor and I'd say this is a who done it for young adults and another plus it's very easy to get into.
I am curious to see what happens to Alyssa in Killing You Softly even though there's no confirmation for a third book but hey I just hope these books get some more attention because they're pretty good.
This was a reasonably enjoyable teen mystery set in boarding school. It was slightly darker than expected given all the reviews I read comparing it to Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series. I actually found it quite different to GG and would not compare the two. The only thing they seem to have in common is the boarding school setting and a teenage female protagonist. GG was light and ridiculous (I mean teen spy school with spy centric subjects), with a mysterious and annoying love interest, and lots of mystery pertaining to Cammi and her role in things. This one was a boarding school for gifted and talented kids but they were gifted in normal ways like math, sport and science. Alyssa's room mate Lily is murdered (although it appears a suicide at first glance)and she is determined to use her eidetic memory to work out what is going on. I enjoyed the mystery
Spoiler
and how it wasn't about Lily's pregnancy as it first seemedSpoiler
and how Alyssa's eidetic memory played into it. However I felt the character interaction and relationships needed a bit of development. I never got a real sense of connection and friendship between any of the characters including Alyssa and Jack. They weren't completely lacking, just a little flat (more tell than show I guess). Probably my favorite scenes were those featuring Lily's ex- Jayden. Oh I also liked how Inspector Cole was very interested in whatever Alyssa had to say and took her seriously. However, given that was the case it made some of Alyssa's decisions to investigate stuff on her own very frustrating and stupid given the police obviously took on board whatever she told them. So why not TELL them what you know/suspect instead of prancing into danger without informing anyone? Will definitely check out the next instalment.
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
That was my second time reading the book and I loved it more than the first time. It’s a book that I just can’t put down!!!! Can’t wait to start reading the second book.
Rating 3.5 to 4
Really enjoyed this book, the murder, the mystery! It left you hanging til the very end. Great debut... Review coming shortly!
Really enjoyed this book, the murder, the mystery! It left you hanging til the very end. Great debut... Review coming shortly!
I really enjoyed this book, the first few chapters are not the best, so stick with it. It took me several attempts to read past chapter 3, but once you've past that it's an AWESOME read. Also WARNING you may cry!
Simple and straightforward. Plot-driven instead of character-driven.
This was a great book and I got close to all of the characters it was just as good maybe even better than the next book.