Published Date: January 3, 2023
Genre: YA, Mystery/Thriller
Rating: ★★★☆☆
REVIEW
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review. This is YA thriller is Ichaso's third book, and my first by her that I've read. I requested this as I was looking for a YA thriller that was reminiscent of Karen M. McManus and Maureen Johnson's books. What I got was something that tried to be similar but fell a bit short to what I was looking for.
SYNOPSIS
"It's been two weeks since Polly St. James went missing. The police, the headmistress of Torrey-Wells Academy, and even her parents have ruled her a runaway. But not Maren, her best friend and roommate. She knows Polly had a secret that she was about to share with Maren before she disappeared― something to do with the elite, ultra-rich crowd at Torrey-Wells.
Then Maren finds an envelope hidden among Polly's things: an invitation to the Gamemaster's Society. Do not tell anyone, it says. Maren is certain her classmates in the Society know the truth about what happened to Polly, though it's no easy feat to join. Once Maren's made it through the treacherous initiation, she discovers a world she never knew existed within her school, where Society members compete in high-stakes games for unheard-of rewards―Ivy League connections, privileges, favors.
But Maren's been drawn into a different game: for every win, she'll receive a clue about Polly. And as Maren keeps winning, she begins to see just how powerful the Society's game is―bigger and deadlier than she ever imagined. They see, they know, they control. And they kill."
MY THOUGHTS
The beginning of this book had exactly what I wanted. Intrigue, references to a cult, and an MC that will do anything to find her friend. It even seemed to bypass the trope of teens not asking for help from adults, since all the adults around her were convinced that Polly merely ran away. So Maren at first did go to people of authority and since they didn't believe her, she decided to strike out on her own and investigate. In that regard, I really liked it. In so many books/movies/shows, the conflict could have been avoided by just telling an adult, so I appreciate what Ichaso did to not fall trap to this trope.
Another thing I enjoyed was the pacing. I was able to read this fairly quickly because it was so fast paced. No part seemed to drag more than the other, and the hints sprinkled throughout the book were well timed enough to keep me interested in the overall plot.
Now, there were a few things that got on my nerves, or that I straight up didn't enjoy. The first being the love triangle. I will always hate how every single YA book seems to throw in a love triangle. It's always a girl who no one notices and doesn't fit in, who is thrust into a love triangle with the two boys who have nothing in common. I understand that I may not be the target audience for these love triangles, but I will never understand why an MC needs more than one love interest in just about every YA book.
Another thing I didn't enjoy is going to be a spoiler. As soon as it was revealed that teachers were also involved in the secret society, I lost all hope in this book. I immediately knew the principle was in on it, and as soon as that scene happened, no other "big" reveal held the same impact as it was supposed to. It made the ending completely predictable. I could tell that the reveals were supposed to have that oh crap moment, but they just didn't. I am of the opinion that if no adults were aware of what was happened, or at least not multiple, it would have been much better. The reveal that the head of school was involved would have held so much more of an impact. But the fact that multiple teachers were part of the society as well just brought the whole book down.
Overall, I think this book had a lot of potential, and I did enjoy the games and cult aspect of it. However, with predictable ending and the strange choices in plot made this not as enjoyable as I think it could have been.
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