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lovelykd 's review for:
All These Beautiful Strangers
by Elizabeth Klehfoth
Thank you Edelweiss+ for this advanced eGalley of All These Beautiful Strangers.
Charlie is the daughter of billionaire real estate mogul Alistair Calloway, and a junior at the prestigious Knollwood Academy--a prep school for the Ivy League bound. When Charlie is tabbed to become a member of the exclusive A's, she gains access to information that may hold the key to her mother's (Grace) disappearance nearly a decade prior.
However, the deeper Charlie digs (both into the A's and her mother's turbulent relationship with the Calloways), the more dangerous things become, for Charlie, in the present.
The book is being advertised as one that will be a hit with those who enjoy Gossip Girls and Pretty Little Liars. Personally, I've never read or watched either, but the A's reminded me of the secret society showcased in the movie The Skulls, and Ren (a character who was a presence throughout and the de facto leader of the A's) was as conniving and wretched as Kathryn (from the movie Cruel Intentions.
If you know either of those movies, then you have an idea how despicable and shallow many of these characters will be. That said, there are a number of likable characters as well, and they were a delightful break from some of the more annoying and disturbing ones.
Early on, Charlie is on-board with doing whatever it takes to become a full-fledged member of the A's, but soon becomes disillusioned and wonders if said membership is worth the loss of her moral compass.
The mystery of Grace, Charlie's mother, is captivating, but when the answers arrive, they're hardly unpredictable.
There is no BIG reveal because, honestly, you'll put the pieces together long before Charlie does.
However, that won't make this any less enjoyable to read because Charlie's voice is interesting, and the characters around her--Drew (her best friend), Leo (a tomcat with a heart), Greyson (a childhood friend), and Dalton (a potential love interest/foil)--make for entertaining interactions.
The book itself offers mostly first-person narration from Charlie, but there are also key chapters from Alistair and Grace--which give insight into their peculiar love story, but also shows us where things went wrong between them, and the key events that led to Grace's departure--and those clues are what aids the reader in figuring things out before Charlie.
I couldn't put the book down, the closer I got to the end, and would have zero trouble recommending it to anyone who wants a quick, fun, thriller to read.
Charlie is the daughter of billionaire real estate mogul Alistair Calloway, and a junior at the prestigious Knollwood Academy--a prep school for the Ivy League bound. When Charlie is tabbed to become a member of the exclusive A's, she gains access to information that may hold the key to her mother's (Grace) disappearance nearly a decade prior.
However, the deeper Charlie digs (both into the A's and her mother's turbulent relationship with the Calloways), the more dangerous things become, for Charlie, in the present.
The book is being advertised as one that will be a hit with those who enjoy Gossip Girls and Pretty Little Liars. Personally, I've never read or watched either, but the A's reminded me of the secret society showcased in the movie The Skulls, and Ren (a character who was a presence throughout and the de facto leader of the A's) was as conniving and wretched as Kathryn (from the movie Cruel Intentions.
If you know either of those movies, then you have an idea how despicable and shallow many of these characters will be. That said, there are a number of likable characters as well, and they were a delightful break from some of the more annoying and disturbing ones.
Early on, Charlie is on-board with doing whatever it takes to become a full-fledged member of the A's, but soon becomes disillusioned and wonders if said membership is worth the loss of her moral compass.
The mystery of Grace, Charlie's mother, is captivating, but when the answers arrive, they're hardly unpredictable.
There is no BIG reveal because, honestly, you'll put the pieces together long before Charlie does.
However, that won't make this any less enjoyable to read because Charlie's voice is interesting, and the characters around her--Drew (her best friend), Leo (a tomcat with a heart), Greyson (a childhood friend), and Dalton (a potential love interest/foil)--make for entertaining interactions.
The book itself offers mostly first-person narration from Charlie, but there are also key chapters from Alistair and Grace--which give insight into their peculiar love story, but also shows us where things went wrong between them, and the key events that led to Grace's departure--and those clues are what aids the reader in figuring things out before Charlie.
I couldn't put the book down, the closer I got to the end, and would have zero trouble recommending it to anyone who wants a quick, fun, thriller to read.