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 couldn't 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 in this fast-paced, unputdownable read—even if it means framing her for Isabella’s murder.
Oh God, I wanted so badly to like this! It had a great premise and I love mysteries, but I could barely stand it! Or, rather, her.
My biggest issue with this book was definitely Anne. I knew there might be a chance I wouldn't like her, but I knew that there would be some kind of character development. And there was!But all that changed was her snobbishness, and that wasn't where my annoyance with her ended. She was so assumptive and paranoid too! The slightest thing and she would suspect someone in the murder without giving them a chance. Soon enough she had about ten suspects and was nowhere closer that she was before her "investigation". There was this one moment I hated when she called someone else "nosy". It was pretty hypocritical considering she was breaking into offices and stealing things. Anndddd she also judged Lee (a suspect) without even talking to him. And he just...gah! She also acted like she knew Isabelle better than her other classmates when she only knew her for a week compared to their years of knowing her!
But I did admire her quick thinking and how she tried to do what was right. I sort of loved how the popular crowd just seemed to gravitate towards her and that it wasn't that cliche "Queen Bee Turned Loser" scenario. She was snarky and fun, so I sort of love/hated her (although she did annoy me more than I wished.)
The mystery was absolutely amazing and I had no idea who the killer was and what to expect. I loved how many clues Anne discovered, to the murder and other...scandals. It was fabulously deceiving and wonderfully plotted, and I have to hand it to Taylor--she sure knows how to write a suspense. It was a super fun adventure and an engaging mystery for sure!
The romance...love triangle, le sigh. Anne just sort of latched onto the two most "important" guys. School Golden Boy Brent and dead roommate's delinquent brother. It was kind of awkward, but I absolutely loved Brent. He was sweet and adorable and I loved how he acted around Anne! On the other hand, Anthony...well, I didn't really understand him. Kara Taylor did manage to create awesome realistic characters, I'll give her that but they weren't really easy to connect to or really understand.
While a brilliant novel, the main character and supporting characters brought my rating down by a lot. I definitely would've enjoyed this better if I could've ignored Anne's...misgivings, but I couldn't and was just irritated the entire book. The mystery was absolutely brilliant though, and I seem to be a black sheep in this, so I recommend giving it a go!
Pages: 305
My biggest issue with this book was definitely Anne. I knew there might be a chance I wouldn't like her, but I knew that there would be some kind of character development. And there was!But all that changed was her snobbishness, and that wasn't where my annoyance with her ended. She was so assumptive and paranoid too! The slightest thing and she would suspect someone in the murder without giving them a chance. Soon enough she had about ten suspects and was nowhere closer that she was before her "investigation". There was this one moment I hated when she called someone else "nosy". It was pretty hypocritical considering she was breaking into offices and stealing things. Anndddd she also judged Lee (a suspect) without even talking to him. And he just...gah! She also acted like she knew Isabelle better than her other classmates when she only knew her for a week compared to their years of knowing her!
But I did admire her quick thinking and how she tried to do what was right. I sort of loved how the popular crowd just seemed to gravitate towards her and that it wasn't that cliche "Queen Bee Turned Loser" scenario. She was snarky and fun, so I sort of love/hated her (although she did annoy me more than I wished.)
The mystery was absolutely amazing and I had no idea who the killer was and what to expect. I loved how many clues Anne discovered, to the murder and other...scandals. It was fabulously deceiving and wonderfully plotted, and I have to hand it to Taylor--she sure knows how to write a suspense. It was a super fun adventure and an engaging mystery for sure!
The romance...love triangle, le sigh. Anne just sort of latched onto the two most "important" guys. School Golden Boy Brent and dead roommate's delinquent brother. It was kind of awkward, but I absolutely loved Brent. He was sweet and adorable and I loved how he acted around Anne! On the other hand, Anthony...well, I didn't really understand him. Kara Taylor did manage to create awesome realistic characters, I'll give her that but they weren't really easy to connect to or really understand.
While a brilliant novel, the main character and supporting characters brought my rating down by a lot. I definitely would've enjoyed this better if I could've ignored Anne's...misgivings, but I couldn't and was just irritated the entire book. The mystery was absolutely brilliant though, and I seem to be a black sheep in this, so I recommend giving it a go!
Pages: 305
Genre: Suspense/Drama
Series: Prep School Confidential #1
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: July 30, 2013
Rating: 2.5
Aww I won a copy of this book! I have seen mixed reviews and I usually have similar feelings as you with books! I hate books with characters that are hard to connect with
ReplyDeleteGah I can't read this because you gave me it BUT, once again, I'm positive it was a fantastically amazing review as always <33
ReplyDeleteI have a copy of this one, but I just keep pushing it off for some reason. I like spy/mystery novels sometimes, but lately, the ones I have read haven't really grabbed me. The paranoia of the main character will definitely annoy me. Great, honest review.
ReplyDeleteJennifer
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