Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

27 reviews

agxxo's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I KNEW IT.

The only reason it’s not a full five stars is because the ending was kind of open ended. 
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allisonsmith120's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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fallingquinnlove's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Read this book in a day, couldn't put it down; felt extremely predictable in some respects
(Obviously, if you pick Bram's girlfriend, he is going to pick Saundra. Don't intentionally make enemies with people who scare other people for fun!)
, but with enough twists to stay interesting. Very easy to read; kind of the perfect book to get me out of a reading slump (I haven't read YA in years, but I think that's why it worked). 
My main thing, I think, is the fact that it felt like it wanted to be a movie. It's extremely visual, and in the way that it borrows intentionally and makes explicit reference to a lot of horror movies (as opposed to horror books), I think there's something genuinely lost in the development of it as a book. I imagine it along the lines of "Do Revenge" or "Bodies Bodies Bodies".
Also, be prepared for Gen-Z language that feels a little out of place, particularly outside of dialogue.
It was when Saundra's POV had a line about how Rachel had been acting a little "sus" and someone else had a line about thinking that someone else should "prob/def break up".
I'm Gen-Z and it's not inaccurate, but it doesn't feel consistent with the mood that Moldavsky seems to want to create.
Overall though, I did enjoy it, I enjoyed the twists and the motifs
Everything to do with masks, especially Bram's masks, was brilliant. And I loved the Frankenstein motif, obviously, with the projector scene and the fact the masks are Frankenstein but painted, and everything about Thayer's Shelley lore drops. I also really liked what was being said about class divides in NYC schools.
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julsreadinglist's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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tors_tomes's review against another edition

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dark mysterious
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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cactuspunk's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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themoodreader's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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snovella's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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house_of_hannah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5 Stars

I went into this without reading the description, so everything was a surprise for me. Despite the page count this is actually a pretty quick read. The font is quite large, so I was flying through the pages. The pacing was weirder though; it simultaneously felt fast and slow. It's one of those where it feels like there's always something happening, but also not at the same time. It's hard to describe.

Who needs enemies when you have these people as friends ? My god, everyone was the absolute worst friend in this book. What awful people ! It felt like the characters in this club were trying to force themselves together even though they only had one common interest. We also never really got to see who they were outside of the club, so it just seemed like everyone was being miserable the whole time.

Don't get me started on the Fear Tests ! Once they explained what those were all I could think was, "This is the US, someone is going to get fucking shot". I have absolutely no idea why they never thought that people would fight back, or maybe have a gun in the house. It really just seemed incredibly stupid and naive. I was never surprised when someone got hurt.


I did really enjoy the horror references ! I think there was only one that went over my head as I had not seen the movie before. Usually books only reference horror classics, so it was neat to actually see some very modern movies represented. I did find it unbelievable though that that many people in the same grade were obsessed with horror and had seen every movie. I would have jumped on a group like that in a second if it existed when I was in high school though. 

I did end up being quite engrossed in this book. It made me feel anxiety as to what was going to happen next, and it raised my heart rate a few times. However, the plot is predictable, none of the characters are likable, and I wasn't a fan of the ending. I closed this book thinking about how dumb the Mary Shelley Club actually is, and how their whole concept is actually quite disrespectful to the horror genre rather than embracing it. However, in the end, it does keep with the theme: people are the true monsters. 
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jjames_mal's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This YA horror/thriller follows Rachel an outcast at her prestigious prep school who finds comfort in horror movies after her own traumatic experience. After witnessing a prank meant to terrify her classmates, she learns about the Mary Shelley Club, a secret club obsessed with fear and horror.

I usually hate books about trials and games, but I loved this one. I loved how we are quickly thrust into the Mary Shelley Club and while there is mystery we also have a pretty good idea what's going on. I also love books about people getting obsessed with things, and the Mary Shelley Club sure is obsessed with horror, and their excitement is super contagious even through the page. I really liked the ending (couldn't really care about the romance) and I liked the feeling this book left me with. 
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