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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
No
I’ve had this one preordered for months, and I was so excited to see it show up on my doorstep today! Like any great thriller, I had to read the whole thing in one sitting. It had all the elements I truly love to see in a YA novel: Rich, conniving boarding school assholes, a broke underdog/scapegoat, and of course, a murdered girl. I love the cutthroat (/murderous) high school experience, and this one most certainly delivered the shit out of it.
dark
mysterious
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
Really enjoyed this book! It had a great combination of that soapy almost CW drama but was also grounded, realistic, and not Betty-defusing-a-bomb-in-Riverdale levels of ridiculous. If you want a thriller read that can be both, I recommend this. This is the balance I crave in Thrillers: an interesting premise or setting, a juicy drama filled murder, but real characters with depth behaving believably. I want an extreme mystery but not an outlandish cast.
It had messy characters with realistic flaws and honest feelings about everything that comes with them. But what I really love and need from a thriller it delivered on: it kept me guessing until the end and wasn't completely predictable, and wrapped up everything. Some things I guessed earlier, some not at all, but I was never certain and it didn't come out of left field as to be unguessable and thus cheap. The pacing was spot on for me and I finished this in two days. We kept getting clues and red herrings at an even pace, and side plots - in this case a romance - didn't overpower the mystery or take away from it, nor devolve into cringey eye rolling moments. We had parents behaving like real parents, cops and detectives doing their actual jobs, and teens investigating whilst still behaving as teens.
The setting was interesting and engaging, and I would pick up another thriller by Donne easy. As Donne is a YouTube personality, I think it can be hard for people to know if the review they're reading can separate that from the work, and wonder if reviews aren't just super fans leaving biased five star reviews, or the other extreme- haters intentionally bombing it. I can say I genuinely enjoyed this book and think it was well written, and find that each of Donne's book have only improved in quality. I will be checking out her other works because of the merit of the work itself and not a subscriber count. I am in general a very generous reviewer, but this is a very high five star book for me and in my top five reads of 2021 thus far. I mean, I can't prove I'm not just some super fan gushing, but I hope I have left enough receipts of what I liked without spoiling the story as evidence of my opinon. Finally, I'll end this review of what I think might turn away readers to help people decide.
One thing that may bother some readers is that it is a very telling narrative in parts - mostly the beginning - with lots of exposition dumps from our protagonist. It doesn't read as "natural" thought as Olivia, our MC, is explaining direct to the audience. This didn't bother me in the slightest as Olivia has a great voice as a character and is interesting to read. I also needed this information to set the stage for me - I know next to nothing about college admissions and Ivy leagues even though the premise of it was fascinating to me (which is why I picked it up). These bouts of explanation from Olivia on how it works was precisely what I needed to get into the stakes of the novel and actually worked to hook me in! I wouldn't have wanted it done another way. However, I acknowledge that it may not be to some peoples preference and could be grating to some readers. Especially if you already know a lot about how college admissions work you may very well find the beginning slow or over-explained. I think it's worth pushing through if you're interested in the content as the info dumps lessen overtime and are mostly in the beginning to set up readers like me, but it IS something to be aware of.
It is also a YA Thriller, and is focused on teen characters who do still make decisions as teenagers do and aren't perfect investigators making always smart decisions. I'd say the decisions made are believable to teens and realistic - not "there's a serial killer in the woods let's split-up" levels of stupid. But The vibe of the book IS still a bit soapy and drama filled and you do get some of that. For some, that is part of the charm, but for others not so much. If you like a YA Thriller like "Sadie" by Courtney Summers but hated "One Of Us Is Lying" by Karen McManus, this might not be for you. I think Donne is more sophisticated with her plot and characters, and far less predictable than what I've read of McManus thus far, but she does fall on the same spectrum of YA Thriler style. I'd say a closer comparison to Donne is Kara Thomas.
It had messy characters with realistic flaws and honest feelings about everything that comes with them. But what I really love and need from a thriller it delivered on: it kept me guessing until the end and wasn't completely predictable, and wrapped up everything. Some things I guessed earlier, some not at all, but I was never certain and it didn't come out of left field as to be unguessable and thus cheap. The pacing was spot on for me and I finished this in two days. We kept getting clues and red herrings at an even pace, and side plots - in this case a romance - didn't overpower the mystery or take away from it, nor devolve into cringey eye rolling moments. We had parents behaving like real parents, cops and detectives doing their actual jobs, and teens investigating whilst still behaving as teens.
The setting was interesting and engaging, and I would pick up another thriller by Donne easy. As Donne is a YouTube personality, I think it can be hard for people to know if the review they're reading can separate that from the work, and wonder if reviews aren't just super fans leaving biased five star reviews, or the other extreme- haters intentionally bombing it. I can say I genuinely enjoyed this book and think it was well written, and find that each of Donne's book have only improved in quality. I will be checking out her other works because of the merit of the work itself and not a subscriber count. I am in general a very generous reviewer, but this is a very high five star book for me and in my top five reads of 2021 thus far. I mean, I can't prove I'm not just some super fan gushing, but I hope I have left enough receipts of what I liked without spoiling the story as evidence of my opinon. Finally, I'll end this review of what I think might turn away readers to help people decide.
One thing that may bother some readers is that it is a very telling narrative in parts - mostly the beginning - with lots of exposition dumps from our protagonist. It doesn't read as "natural" thought as Olivia, our MC, is explaining direct to the audience. This didn't bother me in the slightest as Olivia has a great voice as a character and is interesting to read. I also needed this information to set the stage for me - I know next to nothing about college admissions and Ivy leagues even though the premise of it was fascinating to me (which is why I picked it up). These bouts of explanation from Olivia on how it works was precisely what I needed to get into the stakes of the novel and actually worked to hook me in! I wouldn't have wanted it done another way. However, I acknowledge that it may not be to some peoples preference and could be grating to some readers. Especially if you already know a lot about how college admissions work you may very well find the beginning slow or over-explained. I think it's worth pushing through if you're interested in the content as the info dumps lessen overtime and are mostly in the beginning to set up readers like me, but it IS something to be aware of.
It is also a YA Thriller, and is focused on teen characters who do still make decisions as teenagers do and aren't perfect investigators making always smart decisions. I'd say the decisions made are believable to teens and realistic - not "there's a serial killer in the woods let's split-up" levels of stupid. But The vibe of the book IS still a bit soapy and drama filled and you do get some of that. For some, that is part of the charm, but for others not so much. If you like a YA Thriller like "Sadie" by Courtney Summers but hated "One Of Us Is Lying" by Karen McManus, this might not be for you. I think Donne is more sophisticated with her plot and characters, and far less predictable than what I've read of McManus thus far, but she does fall on the same spectrum of YA Thriler style. I'd say a closer comparison to Donne is Kara Thomas.