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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
To round out my 2024 reading, I binged this one in a day. It’s a mix of Mean Girls, Pretty Little Liars, and Gossip Girl. Kept me engaged throughout but maybe that was my deadline of finishing before midnight on 12/31 keeping me going.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Murder and a surprise gay at the end what more could you ask for?? This book was absolutely wild from start to finish. I greatly enjoyed that the ending was not what I expected from a typical YA novel. Not to say the the characters didn’t get on my nerves more than once but I still enjoyed it overall. The mention of eating disorders wasn’t great. It wasn’t well addressed and generally completely unnecessary. Other than that, which is most certainly not a small detail, the book was not bad. I was not expecting anything great and I was pleasantly surprised.
I loved this book up until the very last chapter. It was not a satisfying ending in my opinion. And the amount of f-bombs was a bit ridiculous and unnecessary. But the book did keep me guessing and I'd recommend it to mystery readers!
i could definitely see some plot twists coming but idk the reason for the murder caught me off guard… like all for an essay???? bro is crazy
This book was so very close to receiving a 3-star rating from me, but the last 40 pages really had my jaw DROPPED, so I would consider a 3.5 but goodreads doesn’t have those.
Obviously with the recent exposure of what’s been christened “Operation Varsity Blues”, the relevance of the book doesn’t need to be questioned. I think it does go to target a larger conversation of how people who are excluded from the benefits of certain systems seek to join the ranks of those systems instead of making them accessible to all.
The main character, Olivia, is labeled poor in the eyes of her peers who attend an upper echelon prep school for the children of government officials, celebrities, businessmen, etc. She’s taken in by the group that calls themselves “The Ivies”, and while she believes she reaps the benefits of their despicable behavior, she goes to find that they’ve been excluding her all the while. She’s more upset at the fact that they’ve been scheming behind her back, than what the actual schemes were.
This book was a nice genre change for me, because I’ve really bee in in my romance era for MONTHS, and I feel like I want to diversify the types of books I’m reading this year. The teen girlies need to PUT THE COHO DOWN, and start reading books that are actually appropriate for their age, because the damage being done is irreparable. It’s actually been a while since I read a normal book, depending on your standards of normal.
One critique is that a lot of characters were forgettable/one-dimensional and maybe that was an intentional dig at rich spoiled white kids but it made for a difficult read when I couldn’t remember why certain character’s name drops were important. Another is that the ending was cheap and lazy. The killer’s motivations didn’t make nearly enough sense to justify what he’d done. Maybe because they’re teenagers, and the person was unstable their reasonings didn’t have to make sense, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Obviously with the recent exposure of what’s been christened “Operation Varsity Blues”, the relevance of the book doesn’t need to be questioned. I think it does go to target a larger conversation of how people who are excluded from the benefits of certain systems seek to join the ranks of those systems instead of making them accessible to all.
The main character, Olivia, is labeled poor in the eyes of her peers who attend an upper echelon prep school for the children of government officials, celebrities, businessmen, etc. She’s taken in by the group that calls themselves “The Ivies”, and while she believes she reaps the benefits of their despicable behavior, she goes to find that they’ve been excluding her all the while. She’s more upset at the fact that they’ve been scheming behind her back, than what the actual schemes were.
This book was a nice genre change for me, because I’ve really bee in in my romance era for MONTHS, and I feel like I want to diversify the types of books I’m reading this year. The teen girlies need to PUT THE COHO DOWN, and start reading books that are actually appropriate for their age, because the damage being done is irreparable. It’s actually been a while since I read a normal book, depending on your standards of normal.
One critique is that a lot of characters were forgettable/one-dimensional and maybe that was an intentional dig at rich spoiled white kids but it made for a difficult read when I couldn’t remember why certain character’s name drops were important. Another is that the ending was cheap and lazy. The killer’s motivations didn’t make nearly enough sense to justify what he’d done. Maybe because they’re teenagers, and the person was unstable their reasonings didn’t have to make sense, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
I don't normally read/love "mean girl" books. It can make an interesting mystery to have a book full of terrible people (so anyone could have done it) but it's not really my cup of tea.
That being said, reading the book was an overall enjoyable experience for me. I was invested in the mystery and while I saw some of the plot twists coming, I didn't see all of them.
I didn't love the ending or the solution to the mystery, but I didn't hate it either.
That being said, reading the book was an overall enjoyable experience for me. I was invested in the mystery and while I saw some of the plot twists coming, I didn't see all of them.
I didn't love the ending or the solution to the mystery, but I didn't hate it either.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Actually really enjoyed this!! I’m notorious for hating too many twists but I thought Donne did a greeaatttt job of setting up multiple suspects and actually had me guessing who it actually could be until the reveal. Haven’t had that in a long time!!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated