A review by erinbro1
All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth
3.0
As a borderline young adult thriller, this book really impressed me. Elizabeth Klehfoth packed a ton of plot and background story into this novel, and somehow it mostly all worked. The central story of a secret prep-school society and the missing mother of one of its members is pretty outrageous, but most of the character's motivations were entirely believable to me.
This book isn't classified as a young adult title, and I think that's only because the narration switches from teenage Charlie to both of her parents, all at different points in the timeline. Most of the book's weakness lies in the chapters narrated by Charlie's parents though, because I don't think we get to know them well enough to fully understand what happened between them.
I'll admit to being attracted to the book initially as a quick, breezy read because of its stunning cover and boarding-school setting, but this novel goes much deeper than the description suggests. A lot of the themes ended up being extremely relevant given recent current events involving privileged people trying to cover up their sordid past in order to get and stay ahead.
This book isn't classified as a young adult title, and I think that's only because the narration switches from teenage Charlie to both of her parents, all at different points in the timeline. Most of the book's weakness lies in the chapters narrated by Charlie's parents though, because I don't think we get to know them well enough to fully understand what happened between them.
I'll admit to being attracted to the book initially as a quick, breezy read because of its stunning cover and boarding-school setting, but this novel goes much deeper than the description suggests. A lot of the themes ended up being extremely relevant given recent current events involving privileged people trying to cover up their sordid past in order to get and stay ahead.