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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
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+cepbreed's review
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
My love for this book really crept up on me, originally I wasn't into the long exposition and drivel about another classic pack of mean girls but when the action picked up I was fully head over heels. The characters were unlikable and gritty, everyone is a suspect, and no one can be trusted. It falls into so many of those YA mystery novel tropes, but does them well enough to stay interesting. All of this really hit home for me though, and I literally mean home. I live so close to where all of this fictional action is taking place, and my brother is attending one of the cut throat colleges mentioned early on, its insane. Plus I'm a senior this year so admissions are my current hell.
Why try and redeem Avery at all? It would've been much better leaving her as a completely irredeemable bitch instead of changing her character to help the one-note-poor-girl MC. She was meant to be bad, they all were, even the MC, so I felt no remorse for any (minimal) consequences they received.
Songs:
Songs:
- Bang Bang Bang Bang - Sohodolls
- Are You Satisfied? - Marina and the Diamonds
- Teacher’s Pet - Melanie Martinez
- Boarding School - Lana Del Rey (unreleased)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, and Incest
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