Book Review Wednesday: The Legacies by Jessica Goodman

I love a good YA thriller, especially when it involves rich prep school kids. It's when I loved Jessica Goodman's first novel, "They Wish They Were Us". I have Goodman's other books waiting for me in my e-reader library but haven't picked them up yet.

However, when I got approved for an ARC for her newest novel, "The Legacies", I immediately jumped head first into the book. I was in need of something easy yet riveting to sink my teeth into and I forgot how much fun it is to become one with a story. Reading has been difficult for me lately, and I'm not sure if it's the books I'm choosing or if I'm just not focused enough but this pulled me out of a reading slump.

"The Legacies" will be released on July 25th and I think if you liked Jessica Goodman's other books, or generally just enjoy YA thrillers with Gossip Girl vibes, you're going to love this book.

Publisher's Summary

Old money. New secrets. One killer party.

Scoring an invitation for membership to the exclusive Legacy Club in New York City is more than an honor. It gives you a lifetime of access to power and wealth beyond any prep school doors and guaranteed safety and security as Legacy Club members always look out for their own. That is, after you make it through a rigorous week of events and the extravagant gala, the Legacy Ball.

So it’s not surprising when Excelsior Prep seniors Bernie Kaplan, Isobel Rothcroft, and Skyler Hawkins are nominated as Legacies; their family pedigrees have assured their membership since birth—even if they're all keeping secrets that could destroy their reputations. But scholarship kid from Queens Tori Tasso? She’s a surprise nominee, someone no one saw coming. Tori’s never fit in this world of designer bags, penthouse apartments, and million-dollar donations. So what did she do to secure her place?

The night of the Legacy Ball is supposed to be the best night of these seniors’ lives, a night of haute couture, endless champagne, and plenty of hushed gossip.

Everyone expects a night of luxury and excess.
No one expects their secrets to come out.
Or for someone to die trying to keep them hidden.

My Thoughts 

This book kicks off with a bang; you know someone is dead, you know it happens at the Legacy Ball so you spend the rest of the book trying to decipher clues as to who it was. I'll tell you right now, I don't think you're going to figure out the who, why, or how. It was a shock and I truly didn't see it coming.

"The Legacies" is the perfect combination of Pretty Little Liars, Euphoria and Gossip Girl. I love the New York City setting, the idea of there being a secret club amongst the high schoolers that is invite only, that goes on for generations... it's prime real estate for a story like this one.

There are multiple mysteries that are happening within the book aside from who was killed and who did the killing. You spend the whole book trying to unweave the webs that were created by our characters off page; who nominated Tori Tasso, the Dan Humphrey of the group, where is Bernie's mom, and what is the secret that Isobel and Skyler are keeping? 

I will say, I did not expect any of the answers to those questions and you cannot predict them so don't even waste your time. It was so thrilling to put the pieces together at the same time that our characters were and I enjoyed every minute. 

You are constantly flip flopping back and forth from the week leading up to the Legacy Ball and the aftermath of the murder, so you do have a general idea of who was not killed, which was a little calming because I was on edge the whole time trying to figure out who was the victim. 

The inner workings of the Legacy Club were very intricate and detailed; Goodman put a lot of thought into the story and the history of the characters, their parents, and the other members of the club.

The writing was perfection, you really got inside Bernie, Tori and Isobel's heads and got to know them. There was great character development from everyone, though I was not really a fan of Tori and Isobel. Something about them rubbed me the wrong way, and I really did not like Tori's girlfriend - I felt like she was very rude and dismissive of everything Tori was going through.

Bernie was my favorite character; she's Blair Waldorf with a soul and I was proud of her for sticking up for herself throughout the book. She was fun, relatable and interesting; by far my favorite character of the book.

As I said, I was very surprised at who was killed, how it happened and what the reasoning was; everything that happened at the Legacy Ball (and in the hours leading up to it) were high intensity and it added a quicker pace to the book which I appreciated; nothing is worse than a reveal that is held too close to the chest and takes forever to reveal. 

The story surrounding our main characters was wrapped up nicely and things didn't end with the killer/killed reveal, but there was so much left on the last page that I would be very surprised if we didn't get a sequel. 

The Legacies was an excellent book that I loved so much; it was well written, had good pace, an interesting story and flawed but developed characters. I cannot wait to read Jessica Goodman's other novels!

xoxo
B