Jessica Goodman’s debut novel They Wish They Were Us is addictive and thrilling from start to finish. Jill and 7 of her friends were picked to join The Players, a secret society at their prep school, during their freshman year. But in the course of the initiation, Jill’s best friend Shaila dies at the hands of her boyfriend Graham—or does she? The story picks up again during their senior year, as Jill and the other 5 remaining Players are running the society and figuring out their futures. Graham is suddenly proclaiming his innocence, and Jill (as well as the reader) feels compelled to find out exactly what happened to Shaila.
I was originally hooked by the upper-class prep school setting, but found myself wanting and needing to know more about the individual characters, the Players society and all of the past “pops” they had to do, and, of course, what truly happened to Shaila. This mystery kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end! I very much enjoyed Jessica Goodman’s storytelling ability, writing style, and character development, and can’t wait to read more from her in the future!
I was originally hooked by the upper-class prep school setting, but found myself wanting and needing to know more about the individual characters, the Players society and all of the past “pops” they had to do, and, of course, what truly happened to Shaila. This mystery kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end! I very much enjoyed Jessica Goodman’s storytelling ability, writing style, and character development, and can’t wait to read more from her in the future!