In this breathtaking debut that reads like Gossip Girl crossed with Twin Peaks, a Queen Bee at a blue-blooded New England prep school stumbles into a murder mystery.
Anne Dowling practically runs her exclusive academy on New York’s Upper East Side—that is, until she accidentally burns part of it down and gets sent to a prestigious boarding school outside of Boston. Determined to make it back to New York, Anne could care less about making friends at the preppy Wheatley School. That is, until her roommate Isabella’s body is found in the woods behind the school.
When everyone else is oddly silent, Anne becomes determined to uncover the truth no matter how many rules she has to break to do it. With the help of Isabella’s twin brother Anthony, and a cute classmate named Brent, Anne discovers that Isabella wasn’t quite the innocent nerdy girl she pretended to be. But someone will do anything to stop Anne’s snooping —even if it means framing her for Isabella’s murder.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
The story opens right in the middle of the action which cemented my decision to keep reading. Especially in first person, it is so easy to info drop right at the beginning so when writers don’t I’m like
You’ve got your resident trouble maker with
a “don’t care” attitude which is…a little stereotypical of the genre but so are
teenage girls.
The entire cast, in fact, is quite “Teen
Movie” which makes it that much more interesting when they all seem to have a
dangerous secret: the rich bitch, the hottie jock, the outcast, the sheep, the
misunderstanding parents, the misguided teacher(s). And then there’s Anne; the
rebel without a cause until her roommate turns up dead and the police seem to
be in the pocket of the rich and scandalous. Even the poor victim, Isabella and
her mysterious, violent twin brother seem to have deadly secrets that make
everyone a suspect.
All of my notes for 75% of this book were
just
There were so many questions on top of
secrets on top of more questions that I just kept sitting up higher and higher
in my chair as I read. Definitely an engaging murder mystery from beginning to
end – and that’s end with a question mark because of course it ends on a
cliffhanger and I have to anxiously await book two to find out the answers.
And while all this murder and mayhem was
going on Kara Taylor also managed to tell a story about a teenage girl trying
to fit in and avoid falling for the wrong guy (again). For the record, I’m
totally Team Brent (the resident hottie jock). Honestly though, the amount of male that seemed to gravitate towards
were was a little
But then I remembered…teenage girl. Rebellious teenage girl.
Duh.Overall this was a great YA read and I can’t wait for the sequel.
And now for random notes taken while
reading that aren’t really spoilery but they need to be said:
·
Anne’s Dad’s a dick.
·
Hot guy is hot.
·
I can hear the squealing chorus
of sheep. Ow.
·
Very Mean Girls.
·
Dun dun dun
·
Anthony stop being cool and
angsty, you’re like 16.
·
I wish my phone could light up enough
to successfully navigate some tunnels.
·
Dun dun dun
. No! Don't do it!
. What are you, crazy?
. No! Don't do it!
. What are you, crazy?
·
*Fake Russian Accent* Very
interesting.
·
I believe Lee.
·
What happened to Jill?
·
Dun dun dun
·
Oh Remy; sweet, naïve,
annoyingly innocent Remy
·
Dun dun dun
. Don't...what? No. Stop. Idiot. No. Gah!
. Don't...what? No. Stop. Idiot. No. Gah!
·
WHAT THE HELL? I DID NOT SEE
THAT COMING!
^That last one was the last five-ish
chapters of the book rolled into one because…how did I not see that coming? Well played Ms. Taylor.
...but not literally...
Conclusion: thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Read it!
Kara has a BA in English/Secondary Education from Stony Brook University. She loves New Girl, sushi, and puppets that say rude things. It’s her dream to own a bakery someday.Kara was inspired to start writing in part by her grandmother giving her Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and in part by her father’s bizarre antics, such as blow-drying his car. Her father looked like Borat in the 80′s.
Kara lives on Long Island with a Chihuahua named Izzy and a kitten named Felix. Her favorite authors are Gillian Flynn, Maureen Johnson, and Nelson Demille. She writes full-time, both on the PREP SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL series and on an untitled television pilot for Warner Brothers Studios.
www.karamtaylor.com | twitter.
AND THERE'S A GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Great review! Glad you enjoyed it :)
ReplyDelete