Let me start out by saying I ended up liking this book quite a lot. However, it took untill nearly the 40% mark for me to consider it "unputdownable". Before that, even though I was enjoying the story, I wasn't captivated yet. I honestly cannot explain it; I had to push hard to stick with it. The second half definitely picked up and I enjoyed it thoroughly. None of it is believable, but it was a whole lot of fun!

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for this arc. I offer my review freely.

An excellent book by Chelsea Ichaso. I enjoyed reading this cover to cover. It was a great read and I will recommend this book to my friends.

A new take on HS secret societies. This one made me think of Ace of Spades and The Mary Shelley Club but with a new twist. When a girls room mate goes missing she is determined to find her. She discovers a secret society and joins the group to find answers. But is the group responsible? Is more sinister work at play? A great edge of your seat thriller!

Thank you NetGalley for the preview. This was an excellent rainy weekend read. If you are a fan of secret societies, this is the book for you. It did take me a bit to get into the story, but once I did I was hooked.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Okay, so this is the second book I read from the author and I could tell that even if I didn't know this book was from Chelsea Ichaso. They're Watching You really caught my attention when I saw it was about a secret society, I was really curious and excited to read it.
The book was very entertaining. We have an interesting main character, a great pacing, a dark academia vibes with boarding school, dangerous games, plot-twists, a not-so-good-best-friend/roomate who disappeared and no one seem to care... If you like these things, you'll probably gonna like They're Watching You. Also, there's a love triangle, the only thing I really disliked but I rarely enjoy love triangles so it's fine.

4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this awesome YA, dark academia, thriller! This is about a girl named Maren who gets sucked into a secret society on her school campus when she infiltrates the group to save her friend that has recently gone missing. It has a great spooky atmosphere and mystery. If you like the tropes of secret societies, competitions and love triangles then you'll love this. It is pretty romance heavy so be aware of that but I found those aspects really fun.

When Maren Montgomery’s roommate suddenly disappears, Maren is sure that something sinister happened. And Maren’s suspicions are heightened when she discovers an invitation from the Gamemaster’s Society among her roommate’s things. Maren only heard vague rumors about the existence of a secrety society. But the invitation in front of her served as confirmation that a secret society existed at her school. Perhaps the society was the reason for her roommate’s disappearance.

Driven by curiosity and the need to locate her best friend and roommate Polly, Maren sets out to secure her own invitation to the Gamemaster’s Society. It was Maren’s hope that she would be able to uncover the truth about Polly from within the Society’s membership. A membership that could prove deadly.

They’re Watching You was an adrenaline packed read. The novel hooked me from the start and I could not put it down. I finished the book in two sittings. A first for me.

The characters are fleshed out and well developed. There’s quite a number of them, but it wasn’t too difficult to distinguish one from the other. Author Ichaso managed to capture the essence of private high school teens — the ones that have money and power, and the ones that don’t. I found Ichaso’s depiction of those high schoolers so real.

I loved the plot. There were a number of twists that kept me guessing all the way till they end. Add in some riddles to the equation and you have one heck of a novel that really tested my puzzling skills.

They’re Watching You is a definite must read if you’re a fan of Diana Urban, Cate Holahan, and Jennifer Mathieu. Five outstanding stars.

I received a digital ARC from SOURCEBOOKS Fire through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

A phenomenal teen mystery. I really enjoyed a new twist on the genre. I love any teen mystery that involves codes and secret societies and this one really delivered! It was superb!

This book wasn’t a favorite of mine. Secret society books are usually too far-fetched for my liking. The characters were unremarkable to me and I just couldn’t get into it.

This book was amazing. The characters and the plot. I was stuck in this story and felt like I couldn’t leave. It was haunting and creepy, beautiful and wonderful. We need more books like this.

This book was AWESOME. They had me questioning every character, heck I even said “is it me? Am I in this book?” Loved it, I want everyone to read it!!

An elite private school, a missing girl, and a secret society... what else could you ask for?

Polly is gone, and her best friend Maren knows that she wouldn't just run away, and when she finds a mysterious invitation to a secret society in Polly's things Maren begins to dig. If Polly was a member of this society they had to have something to do with her going missing. Once she makes it in, Maren hopes to figure out what happened but to do that she has to play the game. But playing is dangerous, society members are everywhere, and there is no one she can 100% trust.

This was a fast-paced read that sucked me in and had me flipping pages late into the night until I reached the very end, and I was totally surprised by how everything played out. I will definitely pick up more from this author.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good campus and secret society story, this story was an easy read, and if you can suspend your beliefs about a secret society having such a strong chokehold over the members, you'll enjoy the story.

I really enjoyed this! Read it basically in one sitting. Thriller/mystery are my faves, but I haven't read many YA ones and this one was so good! Maren was a good MC

I sat down and read this one. I loved the quick pace and the fact that something was always happening. I loved this idea of a cult at highschool. The character development was amazing. The author did an incredible job with the push/pull between Maren, Remington and Gavin. I never knew who to trust. I kept thinking I had it figured out, who the "good" person was but I kept getting it wrong. There were quite interesting challenges.
I will definitely recommend to an older teen due to content. Great twists - did not see it coming that the story was gonna flip on its head

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!!

This book is a blast! I had so much fun reading this!! The whole time I was reading this I constantly was questioning everything and everyone and every action anyone took. This book kept me on my toes till the last page and I love that so much! It's exactly what I'm looking for in a ya thriller.

This has romance, dark academia vibes with the boarding school and the secret society. The life or death vibe while crawling through tunnels and catacombs kept the tone of the book very dark and creepy. Definitely recommend!

Out January 3, 2023!

okay wow! this was NOT what I was expecting to read - but spoiler alert, I kinda loved it!!

this was my first book by this author - and you can bet I’m going to be binge reading the rest! the creativity and ability to completely suck the reader in is UNMATCHED 👏🏼 I stayed up wayyy too late finishing this one!!

give me dark academia and secret societies and I’m automatically in! and this one was no exception … the entire premise revolves around a secret society modeled after the worshipping of greek gods and the games they used to play with humans 😬😮‍💨

so when MC maren decides to infiltrate the society to find out what happened to her best friend, SHIT GETS REAL 🤯 the tasks were so involved and detailed that I felt like I was right there with her!!

now I’m on a YA kick and I’m okay with that 😮‍💨

the ending I felt was super rushed to the point where I was like “wait what” approx 10 times in 10 pages, and it was wayyyyy too much of a neat HEA ending for this kind of book. I know, I know, normally I’m all about the happy endings, but this one almost invites an ambiguous reader gets to decide ending. so, a lil disappointed on that front …

all in all, a fabulous quick binge read! thank you netgalley and sourcebooks fire for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: sonoma coast chardonnay (unoaked)

They’re Watching You is a fantastic YA dark academia thriller, with truly shocking reveals.

Maren was a really enjoyable protagonist. Her determination, loyalty and drive endeared me to her instantly. That passion and ferocious love for her friends shines through, especially as it manifests with alliances and betrayals throughout the course of the book. Ichaso’s ability to just pull you in and root for her is commendable. The surrounding cast of characters is deftly sketched, giving each of them enough to stand out and be memorable. They’re all entangled in this shadowy web of secrets though. Every character had something to hide, so I was constantly suspecting everyone and doubting their real motivations.

I enjoyed the claustrophobic and paranoid atmosphere born from the tightly plotted web of secrets at the heart of this book. The society really thrives on emotional and psychological manipulation and torture. This makes for an incredibly intense and fast-paced read, perfectly designed for bingeing. The games are incredibly high stakes and always have a flourish of something unexpected. I liked how you had to try and unpick the puzzles. It always helps me engage in the book that much more, trying to decipher the riddles and piece together the bigger picture.

The secret society shenanigans were fascinating as well and always creeping into darker and darker territory. I am a sucker for a bit of dark academia, with secrets in the halls and institutionalised privilege being weaponised. Ichaso interrogates that inherent class dynamic, with the excess and glamour of the society belying a gaudy extravagance. It all disguises a dark and twisted secret at the heart of this school. The sheer amount of twists in this book is brilliant, changing how you view characters and events in an instant.

When reading They’re Watching You, ensure that you question everything, because nothing is as it seems.

I was so hooked from the beginning that I somehow read the whole book in a day because I couldn't put it down????

I loved following those games Maren but also Remington and the others were doing. I was so into it, wondering what could be the next step, what could happen next. It was honestly very good on its twisted way! I loved the plot twist about that Secret Society, it's a twist I sadly can't talk about without it being a big spoiler alert, but it's one that gives a bigger importance to the Society but also a more dangerous side. Also you don't think it's true at the beginning when we learn about it, that it feels to much, but the more you think about it, knowing how it happens in real life, you understand how people could act that way is societies like that one. It was completly twisted yet awesome!

I doubted everyone and I thanks the author for that. I could be "I love them so much" in a chapter and be "what an a***ole" in the next one 😂 And that's something I really love about thrillers like that, not knowing who to trust while still having doubts and guessing but not truly being sure of yourself. It was well done!

What I find lacking however, which is why it isn't a full 5 stars but more like a 4.5 stars, is the character's depth : we actually don't know much about Maren besides how she acts in the game and her phobia, same goes for Remington besides the game and his color blindness. It feels harder to appreciate the romance as it felt a bit out of nowhere and too fast, but that's maybe because the game happens over a very short time : I would have loved slower moments with the two of them actually getting to know each other more than that.

I received this ARC from Netgalley. Maren joins a secret society to find out what happens to her college roommate who goes missing. I really enjoyed reading this book about a sketchy secret society and the traditions and tasks that are required. This was a fun read of finding out what happen to Maren's roommate. I really enjoy reading this author's books..