Summary
Greer is a new student – a scholarship student – at St. Aidan the Great School, or STAGS boarding school. It’s not easy to be the one who sticks out at a new school. But Greer isn’t one to try to be something she’s not. So she keeps her head down and tries to stay out of trouble. At least she doesn’t stick out like Shafeen, the only minority student at STAGS, or Chanel whose money is too new for the blue bloods at STAGS.
Greer’s luck seems to be changing when she receives an invitation to a weekend of “huntin’, shootin’, and fishin’.” Sure, it seems weird that it’s just the Medievals – the prefects and popular kids – plus Greer, Shafeen and Chanel. And there are no adults besides the servants. And there was that one girl who told her not to go…. But it’s an invitation from Henry de Warlencourt! He’s so handsome. And he welcomes Greer so warmly. While she doesn’t know anything about hunting, shooting or fishing, she’s sure it’s just going to be a nice weekend away from school. What more would it be?
Review
This was a slow-building story with a punch. The author does a great job of telling you something is coming that is going to rock the reader’s world while also letting the story unfold in its own time. Sometimes authors try this and it’s obnoxious, and you just want them to stop dropping hints and get on with it. But the author made this work for this story. As Greer dropped hints of what was coming, it amped up the tension for me and kept me turning pages. I liked Greer. The film references she makes are entertaining and communicate some extra layers to the story.
It’s hard to say I “liked” the book exactly. I liked trying to figure out what was really going on. The last section, though, made the whole book click for me. It made me sit up and start reading faster in order to see the whole picture. It left me wide-eyed and saying “wow” in the end.
If you enjoy school stories that set up on-the-fringe students against some sort of popular clique/mean girls group, definitely put this on your reading list. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
Thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for an electronic review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: ♥♥♥♥