Thank you Penguin Teen Australia for this book in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis:
In Gold Coast, Long Island, everything from the expensive downtown shops to the manicured beaches, to the pressed uniforms of Jill Newman and her friends, looks perfect. But as Jill found out three years ago, nothing is as it seems.
Freshman year Jill’s best friend, the brilliant, dazzling Shaila Arnold, was killed by her boyfriend. After that dark night on the beach, Graham confessed, the case was closed, and Jill tried to move on.
Now, it’s Jill’s senior year and she’s determined to make it her best yet. After all, she’s a senior and a Player–a member of Gold Coast Prep’s exclusive, not-so-secret secret society. Senior Players have the best parties, highest grades and the admiration of the entire school. This is going to be Jill’s year. She’s sure of it.
But when Jill starts getting texts proclaiming Graham’s innocence, her dreams of the perfect senior year start to crumble. If Graham didn’t kill Shaila, who did? Jill is vows to find out, but digging deeper could mean putting her friendships, and her future, in jeopardy
Review:
At first glance, this gorgeous cover will draw you in. But seriously this cover is beautiful!
Under the cover, you have a mix of preppy kids and murder. Which sounds like my cup of tea, since nothing could make high school more interesting than dead bodies. Though I was surprised that the opening chapter reveals that the murder has already taken place…? So the book is set with the murder in the past and the history of the murder that is uncovered, which makes it interesting.
This was a vibrant read though I figured it all out a few chapters in (annoying secret power) other than that I thought this would be a lot darker than what it was? The murder gets buried under the love, the emails, the hook ups, the high school crushes and other stuff that girls focus on in high school.
While this is a gripping book it fell short because there was more couple interaction rather then murder and the spoiled atmosphere of the characters was hard to tolerate. I get that it adds value to the story, but bratty characters are poison in my tea.
Annoying characters aside, this was brilliantly written, so much so that the bratty girls actually irritated me so, applause for Goodman.
Overall this wasn’t a bad read, just expected it to be a little more dark that than what it was.
Rating: 3.5/5
Publisher: Razorbill
ISBN: 9780593114292