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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
☆ ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an unbiased review ☆
This book was captivating. A college admissions scandal with murder involved? Sign me up! (Not for the murder, for reading a book about it)
The characters are deeply complex and kept me changing my mind about who the good guys were with every chapter. I usually don't read mysteries because far too often the end is obvious, but this one was insane. Every time you think you've solved it, there's a plot twist. It all clicks in the end in the best way.
There's some dark academia vibes mixed with modern spy technology, a great cast of diverse characters, and some seriously wild plot twists. You will DEVOUR this book. I read it in one sitting!
This book was captivating. A college admissions scandal with murder involved? Sign me up! (Not for the murder, for reading a book about it)
The characters are deeply complex and kept me changing my mind about who the good guys were with every chapter. I usually don't read mysteries because far too often the end is obvious, but this one was insane. Every time you think you've solved it, there's a plot twist. It all clicks in the end in the best way.
There's some dark academia vibes mixed with modern spy technology, a great cast of diverse characters, and some seriously wild plot twists. You will DEVOUR this book. I read it in one sitting!
3.5 stars
I found Alexa through youtube and wanted to read her new book because dark academia is right up my alley.
What I liked:
1) Fast-paced - we get to the murder, the investigation, the drama right away. Not a lot of unnecessary dialogue.
2) Rich cliquey bitches and drama
3) I didn't hate the main character. Okay, that's a pretty low bar, but I think it's important if you're reading a book from one character's viewpoint - you should feel some connection with them.
What I didn't like:
1) Not enough character development. I wish we could've seen more Sierra and Margot in the book. Avery also seemed like an interesting character, but we get to know very little of her except that she's a ruthless rich bitch who would do whatever it took to get into Harvard.
2) The ending. Oh God, that ending really knocked off the stars for me. I get for Murder mysteries, you really have to suspend belief - but you really expect me to believe what happened at the end?? Make it make sense because I felt like it was grabbing at straws to come up with that ending.
Overall I didn't hate it and would recommend it for a fast YA thriller.
I found Alexa through youtube and wanted to read her new book because dark academia is right up my alley.
What I liked:
1) Fast-paced - we get to the murder, the investigation, the drama right away. Not a lot of unnecessary dialogue.
2) Rich cliquey bitches and drama
3) I didn't hate the main character. Okay, that's a pretty low bar, but I think it's important if you're reading a book from one character's viewpoint - you should feel some connection with them.
What I didn't like:
1) Not enough character development. I wish we could've seen more Sierra and Margot in the book. Avery also seemed like an interesting character, but we get to know very little of her except that she's a ruthless rich bitch who would do whatever it took to get into Harvard.
2) The ending. Oh God, that ending really knocked off the stars for me. I get for Murder mysteries, you really have to suspend belief - but you really expect me to believe what happened at the end?? Make it make sense because I felt like it was grabbing at straws to come up with that ending.
Overall I didn't hate it and would recommend it for a fast YA thriller.
this book is simultaneously super entertaining and super stupid at the time. it’s remarkably self aware and written with an excellent sense of timing, but the majority of the characters feel 2 dimensional at best. if you like academic whodunnits, I’d read this one over most others.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
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:
Yes
This was like 70% fun and 30% good. I wanted to read a school centered book as I am going into my final year of highschool, and I read this real fast but it was not that great. I've read one other of Alexa Donne's books and also thought it was not that great, but was hoping for improvement.
Didn't vibe w the main character or any of them really.
Didn't vibe w the main character or any of them really.
ehhh! I was excited about this one but it ended up disappointing me. Premise is basically: Prep School girls are trying to get into Ivy League schools, and the head honcho leader girl assigns schools to each girl so there’s no competition (AKA if you're in their social circle, you're only allowed to apply to ONE school) but actually there’s a lot of internal completion and then one of them dies?!?! That was intriguing, but the motive behind the girl’s death was SUPERRR lame and the ending... was just lame. Plain and simple. It was like too much social commentary about college admissions in a YA murder mystery. It all felt really misplaced and fell flat for me
dark
mysterious
sad
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:
Complicated