First of all, thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me an eARC of this!
I'm not necessarily a huge mystery fan (prefer the TV or movie setting), but I immediately got pulled into They Wish They Were Us!
At Gold Coast Prep, you have a chance to be somebody. Every year, 8 freshman are chosen to test to be a Player. The Players are basically the cool kids. They're untouchable, looked up to, and you're practically guaranteed a spot at an ivy league school.
Jill is a scholarship student and a player. In order to get into Brown, she has to do everything possible to stay at the top of the class. But Freshman year, her best friend, Shaila Arnold, was murdered, and Shaila's boyfriend, Graham, was arrested. Only now, Jill is receiving texts from Graham's sister, Rachel, claiming Graham's innocence. Senior year is supposed to be her year, but can Jill Newman sit by and let someone potentially innocent spend the rest of his life behind bars?
I'm all for the drama in this book. Jill is lie the socially conscious mean girl who wants to change the way they do things. The character development for Jill was strong throughout the book, and you can see how she begins to change and see everything in a different light. She begins ot make connections with flashbacks from the past, and with the help of Rachel, they work their way to the truth.
I really enjoyed the writing style, and I like that we got so many flashbacks to really understand some of the moments reverenced by the other Players. While I liked that the author highlighted the advantage wealthy white people have in the criminal justice system, it could be frustrating ot read about all of these wealth, white kids. You really want to slap some of them for complaining about stuff they had no right to complain about.
Over all, I really enjoyed it, but I will say the elitist theme throughout the book could make it difficult to enjoy snippets! I would love to see this as a mini-series, though. It would make for some great, addictive TV!
I'm not necessarily a huge mystery fan (prefer the TV or movie setting), but I immediately got pulled into They Wish They Were Us!
At Gold Coast Prep, you have a chance to be somebody. Every year, 8 freshman are chosen to test to be a Player. The Players are basically the cool kids. They're untouchable, looked up to, and you're practically guaranteed a spot at an ivy league school.
Jill is a scholarship student and a player. In order to get into Brown, she has to do everything possible to stay at the top of the class. But Freshman year, her best friend, Shaila Arnold, was murdered, and Shaila's boyfriend, Graham, was arrested. Only now, Jill is receiving texts from Graham's sister, Rachel, claiming Graham's innocence. Senior year is supposed to be her year, but can Jill Newman sit by and let someone potentially innocent spend the rest of his life behind bars?
I'm all for the drama in this book. Jill is lie the socially conscious mean girl who wants to change the way they do things. The character development for Jill was strong throughout the book, and you can see how she begins to change and see everything in a different light. She begins ot make connections with flashbacks from the past, and with the help of Rachel, they work their way to the truth.
I really enjoyed the writing style, and I like that we got so many flashbacks to really understand some of the moments reverenced by the other Players. While I liked that the author highlighted the advantage wealthy white people have in the criminal justice system, it could be frustrating ot read about all of these wealth, white kids. You really want to slap some of them for complaining about stuff they had no right to complain about.
Over all, I really enjoyed it, but I will say the elitist theme throughout the book could make it difficult to enjoy snippets! I would love to see this as a mini-series, though. It would make for some great, addictive TV!