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lujisa's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Bullying
annieslibrary's review
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Rape, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, Death, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Grief, Gaslighting, Bullying, and Adult/minor relationship
collinsd's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, and Cursing
Minor: Death, Incest, and Infidelity
emma_reads_sometimes's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
cappuccino136's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Being a member of the clique of girls called the Ivies at Claflin Academy means being willing to do whatever is necessary to get into your Ivy League school and secure your high flying future. Sabotage, lying, cheating, that is where it begins. Does it end with murder? Peak behind the curtain of ultra competitive college admissions. It is not pretty or for the faint hearted. The characters get as much attention as the turns of the plot in this young adult thriller. This is an exploration of friendship dynamics between a group of smart and ambitious mean girls at the top of the social pyramid of a very elite boarding school. There is also a theme of class differences. One unlikely member of the Ivies alliance is a scholarship student who worries about if she will get a good enough financial aid package to be able to go to the school of her dreams. There is a snarky sarcasm that lightens the tone. This was quite an enjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
annaem's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
isabella_ramensky's review
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So I read this book because of Alexa’s youtube channel and was not disappointed.
I am a little younger than the girls in this book and go to school in America so I related to them on a lot of levels. College stuff and whatnot.
A lot of the plot twists were predictable but not in a bad way, in a everything fits together way. And figuring it out was fun.
I thought some of the slang fell a bit flat. Considering the author is older than her characters it makes sense though. mostly I laughed and cringed a tad when something felt off. only happened a few times though.
SPOILERS BELOW:
I liked how you still didn’t really know who it was until Olivia found Tyler’s computer.
On that note though, I got while reading that he mentioned Emma being strangled and it was a little infuriating watching Olivia not notice. I feel like she did that a lot which makes sense as a character thing I guess but still.
Also I ended up loving Avery (which I didn’t expect) even though her getting away unscathed and going to Princeton annoyed me so much.
I was pretty disappointed in what happened with Ethan. I mean I guess that was the point but I really liked how he and Olivia worked together. I mean he was a little cringy and the Harry Potter line was weird considering the age of the characters. Nobody talks about it super much.
I wasn’t super satisfied with Tyler’s motives and confession either. Not sure why, but something was missing. <spoiler end>
Also, I liked Olivia and the detective’s conversations.
Overall I really liked this book.
I am a little younger than the girls in this book and go to school in America so I related to them on a lot of levels. College stuff and whatnot.
A lot of the plot twists were predictable but not in a bad way, in a everything fits together way. And figuring it out was fun.
I thought some of the slang fell a bit flat. Considering the author is older than her characters it makes sense though. mostly I laughed and cringed a tad when something felt off. only happened a few times though.
SPOILERS BELOW:
On that note though, I got while reading that he mentioned Emma being strangled and it was a little infuriating watching Olivia not notice. I feel like she did that a lot which makes sense as a character thing I guess but still.
Also I ended up loving Avery (which I didn’t expect) even though her getting away unscathed and going to Princeton annoyed me so much.
I was pretty disappointed in what happened with Ethan. I mean I guess that was the point but I really liked how he and Olivia worked together. I mean he was a little cringy and the Harry Potter line was weird considering the age of the characters. Nobody talks about it super much.
I wasn’t super satisfied with Tyler’s motives and confession either. Not sure why, but something was missing. <spoiler end>
Also, I liked Olivia and the detective’s conversations.
Overall I really liked this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Racism, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Gun violence, Outing, Incest, and Eating disorder
spookystag's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Racism, and Sexual content
thetealdeal's review
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Racism, and Homophobia
jillkaarlela's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
This YA suspense/mystery had all of the high school cliques and stereotypes flipped in such an amazingly clever way, really making you understand/question motivations and how far people would go for what they wanted. A true position of the question of “do the ends justify the means?”. There was also a main theme of what it is like to be a scholarship (aka not rich) kid at a school full of extremely rich kids, and the extreme weight and pressure of college admissions today. This book was anything but predictable, I was on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this murder mystery book, especially for people who liked “One of us is lying” by Karen McManus and “Good girl’s guide to murder” by Holly Jackson.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing and Toxic friendship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
I would say this is about a 14+