In this dark academia young adult thriller for fans of The Female of the Species and People Like Us, a teen girl’s search for answers about her mother’s mysterious death leads to a powerful secret society at her new boarding school—and a dangerous game of revenge that will leave her forever changed.Six years ago, Calliope Bolan’s mother drove the family van into a lake with her three daughters inside. The girls escaped, but their mother drowned, and the truth behind the “accident” remains a mystery Calliope is determined to solve. Now sixteen, she transfers to Tipton Academy, the same elite boarding school her mother once attended. Tipton promises a peek into the past and a host of new opportunities—including a coveted invitation to join Haunt and Rail, an exclusive secret society that looms over campus like a legend. Calliope accepts, stepping into the exhilarating world of the “ghosts,” a society of revolutionaries fighting for social justice. But when Haunt and Rail commits to exposing a dangerous person on campus, it becomes clear that some ghosts define justice differently than others. As the society’s tactics escalate, Calliope uncovers a possible link between Haunt and Rail and her mother’s deadly crash. Now, she must question what lengths the society might go to in order to see a victory—and if the secret behind her mother’s death could be buried here at Tipton.
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0Very Bad People had promise, but was ultimately a bit of a letdown. It’s got a fun boarding school atmosphere and intriguing set-up, and to its credit it does at least grapple with the kind of issues that let it be closer to true dark academia than a lot of the campus thrillers (especially high school ones) marketing themselves with that label these days.
On the negative side, though, there’s the rather flat, simplistic writing, an insipid protagonist who jumps to sooooo many conclusions (and is proven right every time, with no reason to be), and a love interest who has absolutely no personality or much point in existing. Furthermore, the two central plots don’t end up connecting in an interesting way and the twists and turns I hoped for in this kind of book just didn’t deliver. Between the events of the story and the ambiguous ending, I’m not sure the message received is the one intended. Or I guess I hope it’s not, because it kind of comes down on a wishy-washy “maybe social justice efforts go too far, actually” stance but without being willing to commit to that position.
That being said, it was a pretty fun, bingeable, if forgettable read. Good for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, People Like Us, and The Ivies.
Thanks to the publisher for the advance review copy.
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