I was definitely intrigued by this book. I've actually read a previous book by Zoella but while that was a fluffy tween romance, this was marketed as a mysterious tale of a secret society at a boarding school. My hopes weren't hugely high as it was a series and YA thriller series tend not to work for me, and sadly I was right.
Firstly, there is nothing hugely wrong with this book. It sets up a decent enough mystery and has some really cool moments. I think its biggest flaw is the characterisation. We have two main narrators, Ivy and Audrey. Ivy has been at the school for several years whilst Audrey is an american who has recently moved to the UK and joined the school. At first, both characters are fairly distinct and bring their own personalities to the table. As soon as the mystery starts though, they both turn into protagonists of an Enid Blyton book. I stopped being able to tell who was speaking, who was narrating and the whole thing became an ode to Famous Five mysteries and the like.
When the mystery changes pace again, some of their original personalities came back but again, they stopped being so distinct. That's when they also started to make some really dumb decisions. After finding a huge clue about the potentially accidental drowning of one of Ivy's friends, Audrey suggests going to the police. Ivy...insists they don't and burns the evidence. Sure, maybe she has a mysterious reason for doing that. But that's not explored in this book which means in the context of this book, it's at best a dumb decision and at worst, should ring major alarm bells for Audrey.
Overall, this series is fine if you belong to the age group its aimed at. I wish the characters were more distinct and interesting because I would probably read at least the next book if that were the case. Alas, this is not a series I am interested in continuing on with as the mystery just isn't strong enough to keep me invested.
Overall Rating:
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