#BookReview: The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

Synopsis: New girl Rachel Chavez is eager to make a fresh start at Manchester Prep. But as one of the few scholarship kids, Rachel struggles to fit in, and when she gets caught up in a prank gone awry, she ends up with more enemies than friends.

To her surprise, however, the prank attracts the attention of the Mary Shelley Club, a secret club of students with one objective: come up with the scariest prank to orchestrate real fear. But as the pranks escalate, the competition turns cutthroat and takes on a life of its own.

When the tables are turned and someone targets the club itself, Rachel must track down the real-life monster in their midst . . . even if it means finally confronting the dark secrets from her past.



Goodreads | Amazon

Rating: 3 Stars
My Review: It seems that I have had a love/hate relationship with horror stories this year.  This one was great on the horror side but the characters were kind of meh.  The story itself I did enjoy but the bad characters just over powered that love.  I think that if you don't care as much about characters vs. plot you will enjoy this one. 

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-After a violent home invasion that leaves Rachel, who is Latina, with a traumatic secret, her mother takes a job at an elite Manhattan prep school where Rachel also enrolls-a fresh start for both of them. The teen immediately connects with bubbly classmate Saundra, but for the most part keeps to herself. When she uncovers, and is eventually invited to join, a secret club that revolves around horror movies and tropes, the contrived fear and catharsis that horror has brought her since her attack helps her feel at home with the club members, even as tensions she doesn't quite understand are always near the surface of the group's dynamic. As the group runs their Fear Tests-harmless horror scenarios each member is challenged to enact on their classmates-Rachel's past begins to catch up with her and she realizes the club might not be as harmless as she imagined. Loyalty, revenge, and the uses of fear are themes in this fast-moving thriller, and questions of how the plot does or does not add up in the end are eclipsed by fun horror references and a complex protagonist readers will root for. There is a minor love triangle among Rachel and two members of her group, but her friendship with enthusiastic, loyal Saundra is especially well developed. VERDICT A great choice for teens who enjoy horror and are looking for a quick read.-Beth McIntyre, formerly at Madison P.L., WIα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.  --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Review

“A smart, serpentine, propulsive thriller with an ending that will make you gasp. Don’t try to read this one right before bed if you want to sleep.” ―Jeff Zentner, award-winning author of Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee

“This club is SERIOUSLY. MESSED. UP. I loved everything about it.” ―Lygia Day Peñaflor, author of All of This Is True

“A bright, smooth candy apple with a razor blade inside. Goldy Moldavsky continues her white-hot streak of unmatched brilliance in the world of contemporary YA.” ―Derek Milman, author of Scream All Night and Swipe Right for Murder

"This twisty tour de force from Moldavsky (No Good Deed) is at once a gripping teen melodrama, an incisive meditation on fear, and a love letter to horror and the genre’s tropes." ―Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"An atmospheric page-turner about loving scary movies, longing to belong, and uncovering the many masks people wear." ―Kirkus Reviews

"Moldavsky manages to both pay homage to and poke fun at traditional horror tropes, dialing up the cheesiness at points to then replace it with true terror, and the final fear test is keenly chilling." ―The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

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Posted in: 3 Stars, Edelweiss, Henry Holt and Co., Netgalley, Review, Young Adult