STORY SUMMARY
Rose and Bel (short for Isabella) Enright are twins. They are not identical twins. They're from California, raised by their mom since their dad died when they were just 5 years old. Now they are in high school and their mom has just died of cancer. Their grandmother, a very wealthy East Coast widow, is now their guardian and she plans on sending them to boarding school (A very prestigious private school in New Hampshire). The name of the school is Odell Academy. Rose considers being a student at Odell a great opportunity. But Bel doesn't think so at all. She misses her friends and school in California and doesn't like the New England weather.
Bel soon becomes friends with the "wild" rich kids who pressure her into hazing Rose and Skylar (Rose's roommate). And that is when their relationship shatters.
Rose turns to her academic advisor and dorm mother, Sarah Donovan, a math teacher, for advice. Sarah is married to the very handsome English teacher named Heath. They are co-leaders of Moreland Hall, which has the reputation of being a very rowdy dorm. In fact, many of Moreland girls came from old Odell families. They were legacies. And were extremely wealthy. Rose sometimes babysits for Sarah and Heath's 2 preschoolers: Harper, age 4 and Scottie, age 2. She loves Sarah's chocolate chip cookies and the fact that she listens to Rose.
Bel, however, turns to Heath for help. In fact, she, along with other Moreland girls, has a crush on her English teacher. He's a very charismatic and ambitious teacher who would love to be headmaster one day.
Is Heath trying to help Bel....or is he taking advantage of her?
Can Sarah trust her husband who always seems to believe that the end justifies the mean?
The world of Odell Academy involves privilege, seduction, and manipulation along with the academic rigors.
And only one sister....one twin....will live to tell the truth.
MY THOUGHTS
I read this book in less than a week. It's fast paced and a thriller. It's also a mystery because you don't know for sure which twin is going to die. Until you do know.
There's a very unexpected twist at the very end...it blew me away although it didn't totally surprise me given the character's voice.
The character development and setting is strong and well thought out. The setting is so very typical of books set in New England that feature prestigious boarding schools but what made this a bit different was 2 of the main characters being the dorm parents.
What made me chuckle was the name of the school: Odell Academy. I wondered if the author got the name Odell from a very upscale private school I co-taught at one year called Susan Odell Taylor school. It's a school for very wealthy families in a city near me.
Themes in this novel: parental death; grief; teenage angst/dating/crushes; sexual misconduct; manipulation; hazing/bullying; betrayal; infidelity; privilege; power; ambition over ethics; violence/murder; suicide
If you like mysteries with a thriller type bent, this book is a good one.
I like that the author lets the reader know what happens to the twin who lives.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (Due to some mature content).
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8.
3 comments:
Sounds interesting. I will look for it. Thanks for the review.
OH, I read this one! I can't remember if I liked it, HA!
Sounds interesting but I don't know if I'm drawn to teen angst stuff so much. I have so many thrillers/mysteries in my piles that I may just add this to my library list and maybe it will make it to the top of the list one day soon.
Post a Comment