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November 27, 2017
Soccer captain Kay Donovan gets caught up in a game of murder and revenge in this sharp psychological thriller, Mele’s debut. Kay is at the center of a group of seniors who rule their girls’ boarding school. The girls find the body of fellow student Jessica Lane in a nearby lake, and as the school reels from her death, Kay receives an email—purportedly from Jessica—that forces her to expose her friends’ sins in order to keep her own secrets buried. As evidence mounts against Kay in Jessica’s apparent murder, the school turns against her, and Kay learns that cruelty does not go unrepaid. Feeling unmoored, Kay turns to Nola, a former target of the group’s bullying, but none of Kay’s relationships is without agenda, and Kay finds herself in the killer’s sights. Mele creates a cast of sharp-edged, prickly students; the fluid sexuality of various characters is handled well, and themes of betrayal and bullying are front and center. An eerie, unsettling thriller with deadly consequences. Ages 12–up. Agent: Andrea Somberg, Harvey Klinger.

November 15, 2017
For some girls, it's a killer getting into Bates Academy. For others, attending the elite prep school means getting killed.When Kay Donovan and her popular senior classmates uphold the tradition of skinny dipping in the lake after the Halloween dance, they're surprised to find the dead body of Jessica Lane, a fellow student. But it's not the first time Kay has seen a dead body--and someone knows it. As she, her friends, and other acquaintances begin answering questions for the police, the teen also receives an email from Jessica's account that takes her to a revenge website. There, Kay receives instructions to take down all her friends--this one for doping, that one for sleeping with a professor--or her own secrets will be revealed. The debut novel has all the tropes one would expect from a prep school mystery: plenty of backstabbing, predominantly white young socialites (except for Brie with "smooth brown skin"), and frequent parties with alcohol and sex. Yet this intertwined mystery that has readers figuring out Jessica's murderer and Kay's secrets (and their possible connections) is more than these cliches. The characters and their relationships are nuanced, especially bisexual Kay, who has intimate encounters with males and females.The blend of predictable prep school elements with unpredictable suspense makes this a fizzy read for fans of the genre. (Mystery. 14-18)

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December 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Steeped in scandal and profound tragedy, this is a dark and thrilling look at female friendships, the pressures of scholastic success, and mental health. Daring, popular, and athletic, Kay is well on her way to achieving her dreams and securing the best that life has to offer at the prestigious Bates Academy, despite her family's financial situation and lack of pedigree. Then a student turns up dead in the lake, cutting to the core of the school and Kay's friend group. A sinisterly mysterious mastermind begins pulling Kay's strings and setting her up as the murderer. Kay must carefully solve the puzzles while risking what she's worked so hard to achieve before time runs out, her past is revealed, and all is lost forever. A classic and frightening tale of betrayal and mental illness told in a fresh and contemporary way, this book is difficult to set down for even a moment. It is an intricately designed, beautifully written, and extraordinarily chilling story. VERDICT Recommended for fans of psychological thrillers and mysteries who want to be riveted until the very end.-Emily Grace Le May, Williams School, New London, CT

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 Murder, mayhem, and unreliable friendships take center stage in Mele's debut novel. Kay Donovan, a popular girl known for her soccer skills and her biting humor, gets more than she bargained for when she and her friends go to the lake, after a night of dancing, and a girl's body turns up, frozen and with her wrists slit. When Kay gets an email the day after, things take a dark turn, and she ends up ruining the lives of former friends and classmates in an effort to assuage her own guilt. As she embarks on the digital scavenger hunt in an effort to clear her name, Kay starts to wonder who is actually behind it all. To some extent, the pacing is inconsistent, and certain characters are static in the end, which may lead readers to wonder how certain relationships came to be. Mele, however, manages to weave a tale of mystery, intrigue, and revenge in the style of Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why (2007), but with its own twists to keep readers on their toes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2018
Boarding school student Kay is suspected of murder after she finds the body of a dead classmate. While Kay hides her involvement with past crimes, she discovers a creepy website instructing her to ruin her mean-girl friends or be framed for the murder. While some clues resolve quickly, Kay's narrative reliability--and culpability--remain tantalizing questions until the very end of this dark mystery.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)