A review by librarianryan
The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

3.5

 

I waited so long to read this book.  I should have kept waiting.  Rachael was attacked in her home and accidently killed her attacker.  Flash forwards a year, she is in a new school, in a new city, trying to make friends and fit in.  But her trauma has brought on a love of horror movies.  She feels that by watching horror movies she can arm herself or train herself to not be frightened by what happened to her.  She ends up joining a secret society all about the love of a good scare.  The purpose of the club is to scare people with frights that are prank like.  But when people start getting hurt and even dying, this is no longer a prank, its life and death. 

 

This book moved fast.  It has a Gossip Girl crossed with The Game (old Michael Douglas Movie that is even mentioned in the book) feel with the poor kid in the elite private NYC school.  The only character I thought was genuine ends up dead.  The concept is interesting and does work.  The problem is it involves gamification, and that has been done much better.  I do like that the story moves quickly and at no time does the book feel like the 460+ pages it is, and while I did enjoy it, the most memorable part of the entire thing, is the cover.  While this is a standalone, and it does NOT have a cliffhanger, it has been left open for a sequel.