BREAKING

In the wake of her best friends’ suicides, a high school student uncovers disturbing truths about her elite prep school.

Charlotte is an average high school senior. She has average looks and earns average grades, no matter how hard she studies. If it wasn’t for her mother, a renowned and well-connected medical researcher, Charlotte would’ve been kicked out of prestigious Weston Preparatory Institute, where the students are all exceptionally gifted. Charlotte’s beautiful and daring best friends, Ariel and Devon, made life bearable for her at Weston. (Ariel and Charlotte are white; Devon is black.) The unlikely bond among three girls who “forgot we had mothers” became something more than friendship. They became a family. But when Ariel and Devon commit suicide a month apart, Charlotte’s search for answers leads her to a dangerous discovery that puts her life and the lives of others in jeopardy. Just as Charlotte played second fiddle to her two best friends before their deaths, her character just isn’t as compellingly written as those of Ariel and Devon. The book’s other characters are similarly bland or don’t get enough scene time for readers to really connect with them. This means the most interesting characters appear only in flashbacks and reminiscences. Nevertheless, plot twists and well-crafted intrigue will keep pages turning until the end.

Deadly secrets, sinister lore, fractured families, and an elite prep school: a decent recipe for entertainment