I started reading this book becasue I felt attracted to the premise of rich kids involved in murder msyteries. For some reason, the mix between the glitzy and the shady works oh-so-well. Prep School Confidential is the first of a three-book series written by Kara Thomas on the subject.
So let’s start with the voice. The main character’s voice, Anne, comes alive pretty easily. It’s fun to follow her around because she’s a heady mix between ironic and down-to-earth. She isn’t naive, which is refreshing coming from a YA character, and she’s used to being a Queen Bee just because she’s so put together and has it all figured out. She’s smart, in other words, and it’s fun seeing her investigate the murder. The secondary characters aren’t as appealing and are pretty much stereotypical, save for one of them, and *SPOILER* she’s the one that gets offed in the beginning of the story.
The bad thing about the book is that it’s kind of long for this type of story. It wouldn’t have hurt to cut a few chapters out and make it shorter, perhaps this would have added to the intrigue. I was getting kind of bored reading the last part of the book and wishing the murder would resolve itself soon. The voice had become commonplace and wasn’t as interesting anymore because the plot felt like it was dragging on.
Also, there’s a love triangle. Which isn’t surprising (did I mention this is a YA book?) and frankly I didn’t understand the appeal of one of the main character’s love interests–the rich kid. The other character was okay. Neither was particularly appealing, so the romance did sort of fall flat for me.
Even though this isn’t my type of book, I did enjoy reading it. Mainly because of the voice, like I mentioned, and also because the mystery is neatly resolved at the end and I confess I didn’t see it coming. However, the book ends with a cliffhanger that leads into another mystery, one I am not sure I will follow. Lately I have to really fall in love with the first book of a series in order for me to continue, or else I’ll just leave it at that.
This book is a great and fun read and I recommend it to anyone interested in YA murder mysteries with a touch of “Gossip Girl” dramatics on the side.
Rating: ***
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