"Monsters lurk where you least expect…Charlotte has always felt ordinary compared to her two best friends at the prestigious Weston Preparatory Institute. Not enigmatic and daring like Ariel or beautiful and brilliant like Devon, Charlotte has never quite met the standards of the school—or those of her demanding mother. But with Ariel and Devon by her side, none of that mattered. They became the family she never had.
Until the unthinkable happens—Ariel commits suicide. And less than a month later, so does Devon.
Everyone accepts the suicides as tragic coincidences, but Charlotte refuses to believe that. And when she finds mysterious clues left behind by Ariel, Charlotte is thrust down a path that leads to a dangerous secret about Weston Prep. There’s a reason Weston students are so exceptional, and the people responsible are willing to kill to protect the truth"
Honestly? I think this was just too flippant about suicide to be an enjoyable thriller. Or paranormal prep-school sci-fi story? I'm not even sure what it is.
I struggled with Charlotte. I understand being upset about the suicide of your best friends, but it felt like her inner monologue was glamorizing suicide. She kept thinking things about "not being brave enough" to join her friends in the dark.
There was an interesting story line, but it was boring at the same time. Everything felt so dramatic and overemphasized. For me, it got old really fast.
Overall, it was a quick read with an intriguing ending, but it lacked a spark and a layer of tension that I was expecting from a story like this.
I'm rapidly realising the if you stick a whole bunch of characters in a high-achiever school you get:
• girls who are cruel sociopaths for no real reason
• murder
• the main character will be nice and unassuming
• conspiracy theories
• threat of expulsion
• ONE SINGLE BOY THAT EVERYONE WANTS BECAUSE THERE IS ONLY ONE BOY ON THIS PLANET
• suicide
• running through the dark woods to drink alcohol
• bad parents
• and the protagonist suddenly realising they are not the nice unassuming girl they thought they were
The cliches just piled up and I knew what the ending was going to be right at the start so either I read too much and I am sorry or this book needed more of imagination.
It's also my pet peeve when characters introduce themselves by tell us how boring they are and unfortunately it is true. Charlotte was boring. She drinks this mysterious thing after her two best friends commit suicide, which is never a good idea, and weird things start happening. She starts becoming super strong and numb.
So I understand that she couldn't control what was happening to her body but do you know how fun it is to read about emotionless people? Nada. Honestly a paper fork that's been through the dishwasher has more personality. I needed emotion to care about the story and it's always hard when a book starts off with pivotal characters being dead. I never knew Devon or Ariel so it was hard to care about them?
There is also a lot of heavy topics here, but they seemed so glazed over. I am 0% okay with most of the way it handled suicide. From the offhanded comments from Charlotte, to the way no one at the school even seemed to care? Also I don't think that Charlotte's eating habits where healthy and this was never addressed. She sounds like she had a borderline eating disorder and no one cares. I think it should've held more weight instead of being like an "ooh shock factor" thing. There's this part where one of the girls burns down an animal shelter and murders dozens of helpless animals. This is covered in ONE PARAGRAPH and it's so callous and shocking and awful and yet really doesn't do anything for the story. It's so off-handed. I felt kind of sick. I love animals.
However I do like books about girls who enjoy being feminine and this book had competitive fencing in it. (I do fencing myself so I was very chuffed.)
Age Rating 14+ as I said flippant about suicide and eating disorders.
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