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june_moon 's review for:
S.T.A.G.S.
by M.A. Bennett
I have a thing for books set in boarding schools. There's something about the history, the snobbery, and always the secret societies that engrosses me. Knowing that STAGS was set in a boarding school and having seen the comparisons to Donna Tartt's The Secret History, I knew I had to read it immediately.
The story follows Greer, an average girl who gains a scholarship to the prestigious STAGS academy. It is basically a prep school for Oxford, and it's full of posh, luddite students who eschew technology and love "huntin', shootin', and fishin'." Take me back to Brideshead Revisited, why don't you? I love it. I also love that Greer, like myself, is a cinephile. Perhaps in lieu of a personality (for me and for Greer, let's be real) she is constantly referencing films she has seen and relating every moment of her life to the movies. Maybe even as much as the private school setting did I love the perfect framing of scenes from the book as scenes from films I've watched.
The plot of the book is juicy. Greer is invited on a weekend hunting trip with the elite of her peers and ends up playing the role of the young sister in a retelling of the Bluebeard story. That is, she has every reason to distrust these evil rich and especially the handsome Evilist Rich, but she naively ignores her better judgment. As in the Bluebeard story, she explores a manor full of doors and secrets and uncovers the truth of the "huntin'" trip in a forbidden room. It's all riveting until that happens, and then it becomes a little frustrating. Instead, the falling action drags a bit as it paves the way for book two.
My qualms with this story are beholden to its status as a YA novel: the writing is not as dark and beautiful as Donna Tartt's, there are pandering references to things that teens like (Vine and YouTube challenges are mentioned), and at times I just felt myself craving more. But that's really a me problem. Overall, this is a wonderful retelling of the Bluebeard story that functions as the first steps down a rabbit hole of a sequel that nearly promises to be bigger and darker. It's fun, readable, and I did enjoy my experience reading STAGS.
The story follows Greer, an average girl who gains a scholarship to the prestigious STAGS academy. It is basically a prep school for Oxford, and it's full of posh, luddite students who eschew technology and love "huntin', shootin', and fishin'." Take me back to Brideshead Revisited, why don't you? I love it. I also love that Greer, like myself, is a cinephile. Perhaps in lieu of a personality (for me and for Greer, let's be real) she is constantly referencing films she has seen and relating every moment of her life to the movies. Maybe even as much as the private school setting did I love the perfect framing of scenes from the book as scenes from films I've watched.
The plot of the book is juicy. Greer is invited on a weekend hunting trip with the elite of her peers and ends up playing the role of the young sister in a retelling of the Bluebeard story. That is, she has every reason to distrust these evil rich and especially the handsome Evilist Rich, but she naively ignores her better judgment. As in the Bluebeard story, she explores a manor full of doors and secrets and uncovers the truth of the "huntin'" trip in a forbidden room. It's all riveting until that happens, and then it becomes a little frustrating.
Spoiler
Perhaps because I had wished for the unveiling of a cult and an exploration of its deeply sinister rituals, I was a bit let down that the book never went that way, except to set up a sequel (which my hopes will now carry to).My qualms with this story are beholden to its status as a YA novel: the writing is not as dark and beautiful as Donna Tartt's, there are pandering references to things that teens like (Vine and YouTube challenges are mentioned), and at times I just felt myself craving more. But that's really a me problem. Overall, this is a wonderful retelling of the Bluebeard story that functions as the first steps down a rabbit hole of a sequel that nearly promises to be bigger and darker. It's fun, readable, and I did enjoy my experience reading STAGS.