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A review by clairedrinkstea
All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth
2.0
Another book about an entitled rich girl (Charlie) not realising that her family is really quite crap and the secret society she wants to be part of in her super expense and super elitist boarding school is just full of bullies and control freaks.
I didn’t care about any of the characters or the mystery. I listened to the audiobook and upped the speed to x2.5 just to get through it because I don’t DNF books. Thank goodness for libraries and I didn’t pay actual money for this.
Quote where Stevie is 100% accurate: "They're horrible," Stevie said. "The A's. It's a bunch of egotistical, self-entitled rich kids running around acting like gods. It's a bunch of stupid pissing contests."
"I don't think it's exactly like that," I said.
"It is exactly like that," Stevie said. "I don't know why you can't see that."
Quote that really made me dislike Charlie: “I never felt ashamed when people brought up that I came from money I didn't earn, just as I never thought people who didn't come from money should be ashamed of the fact that they didn't have it. In my mind, you were dealt the cards you were dealt, but it was how you played them that mattered.” Was this a really poor Cruel Intentions moment? Whatever it was, it was cheap.
The running theme with Charlie is that she’s self-centred and this NEVER goes away. Quote: "You're a Calloway," Leo said. "We're all narcissists. It's, like, genetic." I laughed. "I guess," I said.” and my goodness she displays it. It frustrates me that she essentially comes out winning from the entire debacle.
One of my WTF moments. Charlie is making out with her cousin Leo for blackmail/revenge when she is being initiated into the secret society. So many red flags: “When Leo kissed me now, there was an urgency to it, a feeling that almost made me forget for a moment where we were. A feeling that almost-almost-silenced the quiet clicking of Ren's camera.”
Her “selfless” act at the end to put the secret society called, in my opinion very lamely, The A’s, did not redeem Charlie. At best it was closure over her moms death. That’s it.
One thing I’d be happy to get clarification on as it’s bugging me and frankly I don’t want to have to read the whole book again and performing a search on the ebook proved fruitless… Charlie (a junior) starts dating Dalton (a senior). Her dad and his mom (Margo) were engaged and he broke it off when he got together with her mom Grace (they’d actually eloped) and Grace was pregnant at the time with Charlie. In none of the flashbacks does it mention baby Dalton. I remember Margo is a career driven at the time so babies and especially babies from a previous relationship don’t fit her 10 year plan. It would also not have been something the Calloway’s would particularly embrace in their eldest sons life partner. Makes me suspicious. I totally expected and would have found the story more entertaining if Charlie and Dalton were siblings.
I didn’t care about any of the characters or the mystery. I listened to the audiobook and upped the speed to x2.5 just to get through it because I don’t DNF books. Thank goodness for libraries and I didn’t pay actual money for this.
Quote where Stevie is 100% accurate: "They're horrible," Stevie said. "The A's. It's a bunch of egotistical, self-entitled rich kids running around acting like gods. It's a bunch of stupid pissing contests."
"I don't think it's exactly like that," I said.
"It is exactly like that," Stevie said. "I don't know why you can't see that."
Quote that really made me dislike Charlie: “I never felt ashamed when people brought up that I came from money I didn't earn, just as I never thought people who didn't come from money should be ashamed of the fact that they didn't have it. In my mind, you were dealt the cards you were dealt, but it was how you played them that mattered.” Was this a really poor Cruel Intentions moment? Whatever it was, it was cheap.
The running theme with Charlie is that she’s self-centred and this NEVER goes away. Quote: "You're a Calloway," Leo said. "We're all narcissists. It's, like, genetic." I laughed. "I guess," I said.” and my goodness she displays it. It frustrates me that she essentially comes out winning from the entire debacle.
One of my WTF moments. Charlie is making out with her cousin Leo for blackmail/revenge when she is being initiated into the secret society. So many red flags: “When Leo kissed me now, there was an urgency to it, a feeling that almost made me forget for a moment where we were. A feeling that almost-almost-silenced the quiet clicking of Ren's camera.”
Her “selfless” act at the end to put the secret society called, in my opinion very lamely, The A’s, did not redeem Charlie. At best it was closure over her moms death. That’s it.
One thing I’d be happy to get clarification on as it’s bugging me and frankly I don’t want to have to read the whole book again and performing a search on the ebook proved fruitless… Charlie (a junior) starts dating Dalton (a senior). Her dad and his mom (Margo) were engaged and he broke it off when he got together with her mom Grace (they’d actually eloped) and Grace was pregnant at the time with Charlie. In none of the flashbacks does it mention baby Dalton. I remember Margo is a career driven at the time so babies and especially babies from a previous relationship don’t fit her 10 year plan. It would also not have been something the Calloway’s would particularly embrace in their eldest sons life partner. Makes me suspicious. I totally expected and would have found the story more entertaining if Charlie and Dalton were siblings.