New York Times-bestselling author Goldy Moldavsky delivers a deliciously twisty YA thriller that’s Scream meets Karen McManus about a mysterious club with an obsession for horror.
When it comes to horror movies, the rules are clear:
x Avoid abandoned buildings, warehouses, and cabins at all times.x Stay together: don’t split up, not even just to “check something out.”x If there’s a murderer on the loose, do not make out with anyone.If only surviving in real life were this easy…
New girl Rachel Chavez turns to horror movies for comfort, preferring stabby serial killers and homicidal dolls to the bored rich kids of Manhattan Prep…and to certain memories she’d preferred to keep buried.
Then Rachel is recruited by the Mary Shelley Club, a mysterious society of students who orchestrate Fear Tests, elaborate pranks inspired by urban legends and movie tropes. At first, Rachel embraces the power that comes with reckless pranking. But as the Fear Tests escalate, the competition turns deadly, and it’s clear Rachel is playing a game she can’t afford to lose.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play
My Review
The Mary Shelley Club is a young adult thriller that has a lot of pop culture references to the horror genre. It's fun. It's nostalgic at times. And it's also a really intriguing idea that plays out in a way that will leave you anxious for more.
I personally loved all of the mentions of different horror movies. As someone who grew up obsessing over everything scary and spooky, this book was perfect for me. I was especially thrilled to see a nod to Funny Games (and that infamous remote scene). Ugh. Such a good movie.
Anyway...
The story follows Rachel Chavez, a teenage girl who survived a home invasion and is now attending a fancy-pants prep school for rich, elite, snobby kids. Her mom works there, so she has an in, even though she's nowhere near the stratosphere the other students live in. Her only friend is a girl named Saundra. Saundra is a bit of a gossip, and kinda one-note (in her obsession with Bram) at times, but she's loyal and an overall good person.
Rachel feels like an outsider not only because she's not rich, but also because she loves horror movies and no one else seems to. She's an outcast and a loner...until she discovers a secret club at the school.
Finding her way into the Mary Shelley Club, Rachel joins with Bram, Freddie, Felicity, and Thayer as they nerd out over horror movies and plan some silly pranks to play on unsuspecting members of the school.
At least that's how it starts. But Rachel's desire to fit in with the group starts to crumble as the pranks escalate, and things slowly start to spiral out of control. And when one prank goes too far, Rachel's past comes back to haunt her.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was the perfect blend of suspense with a bit of mystery and romance thrown in. And as I mentioned before, all of the references to the horror genre made my morbid little heart go pitter-patter in my chest.
I found myself drawn to Rachel. She was like my spirit animal throughout the whole book. The obsession with horror, the desire to fit in with people, the not being a rich elitist like everyone else... it reminded me of myself when I was that age.
I also really liked Saundra, and, strangely enough, Thayer and Bram too.
The plot is easy enough to get sucked into, and it flows along at a nice pace. I didn't want to put it down, although real life got in the way quite a bit while I was reading. It's definitely an exciting read.
If you're a fan of YA horror/thrillers reminiscent of Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer, give The Mary Shelley Club a whirl.
5 stars!
Author Bio:
Goldy Moldavsky was born in Lima, Peru, and grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where she lives with her family. She is the New York Times–bestselling author of Kill the Boy Band and No Good Deed. Some of her influences include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the esteemed works of John Irving, and the Mexican telenovelas she grew up watching with her mother.
GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hosted by:
I love horror movies so this sounds like a good one for me.
ReplyDelete