Started reading mainly because I heard it was being adapted for tv....but it was DNF for me. Maybe the show will be better

Unfortunately this one just didn't work for me. As someone who reads thrillers frequently, I felt like this was missing a lot of the moments that make a thriller work, the story-telling was erratic and kept jumping around and the characters felt one-dimensional. Just a personal preference, but I know many others will enjoy this book!

Thrillers have always been my jam, and I’m always up for one that involves a secret societies and prep schools..or high schools for that matter (Hello, Riverdale!). This unfortunately, fell short from my expectations. It was very easy to guess who the killer was. Sorry, but I hate predictable reads, especially when it comes to thrillers. And it was slow to get into..at least for me it was.

I’m sure many will enjoy this, especially those who don’t read a lot of thrillers. But it just wasn’t my cuppa tea.

This was an excitingly fast-paced book that left me wanting for more. Can’t wait to see the TV adaptation!

The book was a little underwhleming largely due to the massive hype around it. I was expecting a little more worldbuilding and more connection to the characters, but they were rather unlikable and the plot was not as thrilling as I expected.

3.75 stars

This book was gripping and fast-paced. The story was filled with lies, secrets, and betrayal, which really helped to make this book hard to put down. If you’re looking for a quick, fun thriller/murder mystery with twists, this is a great option for you!

Jill Newman was an excellent main character, and overall, the mystery about the other characters also made me really want to know what had happened leading up to their senior year.

I think the murder mystery aspect was well-done, and I was surprised that I had not seen some things coming before! I’m usually good at guessing plot twists, but Goodman did a great job at placing a few hints and clues about the conclusion throughout the book. The reveals were not too out-there, and I really felt like I believed in the conclusions. I do think the mystery could have been a bit more prominent, and that it could have been more “dark” as I felt it suggested, but this was overall an interesting mystery. Perfect for people like me, who love to read a quick thriller!

i knew going into a ya thriller that i just wouldn’t like it as much because ya thrillers are usually pretty bad for me besides a few but this book just wasn’t for me. i’m excited to see the tv show though.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO THEY WISH THEY WERE US BY JESSICA GOODMAN?
Straight up, I love a good gossipy, thriller, catty type read. They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman falls right into EXACTLY what I enjoy reading from time to time. Plus, it came up on my Libby holds so really, it isn’t like I had an option, I HAD to listen to it. Also? I just really enjoy listening to these types of books – they are easy to follow. I don’t get lost and confused while listening. It is really ideal for a time when I am feeling distracted and want something with a darn good plot line.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
They Wish They Were Us is about Jill Newman who lives in Gold Coast, Long Island. She attends the private school. Her community is full of expensive shops, and beautiful and rich people. Jill is part of an elite group of students known as the Players. These students score high on all the tests. They go to the best universities after high school. The way is paved for them. You essentially get tapped to become a Player freshman year by passing these tasks called pops.

During Jill’s freshman year, her and her best friend Shaila are tapped. Unfortunately, Shaila ends up dead and her boyfriend Graham has confessed to the murder. Now it is Jill’s senior year and she’s getting texts that it was Graham who murdered Shaila. The texts are coming from Graham’s sister Rachel, who was a senior Player during Jill’s freshman year. Now Jill is questioning everything — what really happened to Shaila but also her involvement in the Players.

HOW DID I LIKE THEY WISH THEY WERE US?
I really enjoyed listening to They Wish They Were Us. It did a good job touching on things like sexism. For example, when Jill is questioning her participation in the Players, she reflects on how the pops for girls vs boys was different. The boys were treated more with kid gloves and not made to do anything that would sexualize them. The girls on the other hand… I also liked how Jill was a dynamic character and how she grows confidence in her academic skills and abilities and doesn’t need to rely on a certain app anymore – just hard work. There isn’t really much of romance in this book – except that Jill has a boyfriend which is a positive relationship, but it isn’t the main driver of the story at all, it is just a side focus.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook of Jessica Goodman’s They Wish They Were Us is narrated by Kristen Sieh. It is 9 hours 47 minutes long. Nearly ten hours, but honestly the audiobook goes by fast. I liked Sieh’s narration and voice – it felt realistic to high schoolers. This book was easy to follow along with and not at all boring. I would recommend listening to this book rather than physically reading it – it’s perfect for commuting, walks, and chores – because it holds your attention so well that time will just fly.

This was an addicting story and what I believe is one of the best written YA mysteries.
As someone who is a huge fan of dark academia, I think this is a great starting point and introduction in to it for teens.
Though there is a murder mystery, I was fascinated by the relationships the Players had with each other and who connected to who too. I thought the things the Players had to do were very similar to hazing and I was glad to see some discourse about that was brought up and not just fully accepted as how things should be.

I FLEW through this book in one sitting - I couldn't put this book down. It did take me a couple chapters to fully get into the story. But we have the story of rich high school students and one is declared dead. They thought they knew who the murderer was, but they were wrong. Determined to make the most of her senior year, Jill is doing all the obligatory things a soon to be graduate would do. Until she starts to get texts declaring Graham's innocence.

This was an enjoyable thriller PERFECT for the Halloween season (I wish I would have made the dive sooner). Definitely save this for next year, or if you are wanting something with thriller vibes, here you go!

I thought that this was a fun read. It was quick, loved at a fast pace, and had some really good moments.

At Gold Coast Prep, Anyone who is anyone is in the Players club. The story centers around main character Jill who is still grieving from her best friends murder. The story follows senior year with jill and the other players. If you loved pretty little liars and gossip girl this is the book for you! Its a murder mystery tied with pressures and privilege that comes with being in high school and considered popular. I loved this book even though it was a bit slow at times, it's worth a read!

I received an ARC from Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an honest review.

They Wish They Were Us is described as Gossip Girl meets One of Us Is Lying and I couldn’t agree more. As a fan of both of those, I had to read this book. This book focuses on Jill Newman and her life with The Players. The Players is an elite group of kids that run Gold Coast Prep. Jill has been a Player since she was a freshman and coincidentally when her best friend Shaila Arnold was murdered on initiation night.

Shaila’s death haunts the Players all through high school. Now when they are set to graduate details emerge that her killer may still be out there. With the pressure of senior year and now trying to solve what really happened to her friend, it pushes Jill to her breaking point. Determined to solve Shaila’s murder, Jill does everything she can to get the answers she needs. Even if it means leaving the Players behind.

Overall this was a great book. The author kept alluding to a mystery event for a good chunk of the book which I wish was revealed sooner. It has a good message of finding oneself and being true to who you are.

3.5 stars

*Thank you to PenguinTeen for the ARC*
This was a fun read, but it wasn't as great as I was expecting unfortunately. I was expecting more dark academia vibes, but most of the book is taken over by regular high school problems rather than the murder mystery and because of that the middle of the book dragged. Speaking of the murder mystery, whodunnit was pretty predictable. As soon as you meet the character you know it was them. I don't consider myself a great guesser so I was disappointed that I was able to solve it so easily.

The Players, the secret society at the high school, didn't feel as ominous as I thought they should have. There just wasn't enough of that kind of atmosphere in the writing of the book for me. Like I mentioned the book mostly deals with regular high school problems, specifically the main character Jill's problems. She deals with the feelings of growing apart from your friends, wondering how your life will change after high school, etc. It also has the aspect of her feeling out of place at her school surrounded by rich kids and the fact that she'll need a scholarship to go to college. I enjoyed these aspects of the story, but I do wish there was less of it because it took up so much of the story.

Overall I did have fun reading this. I think this was a different take on this type of story rather than being straight up rich people problems which was nice.

This was a fast-paced story full of intriguing characters and an entertaining mystery. While the mystery itself wasn’t too hard to solve (there were really only ever two plausible answers) the backbone of the story, the Players group and their initiation process and all the privileges that came along with them is what had me most interested. Overall enjoyed it, just could’ve used a bit more actual mystery.

It’s Gossip Girl meets Dead Girl’s Society in this addictive YA thriller.

It’s good to be a senior at Gold Coast Prep, an elite private school that’s basically a straight shot to the Ivies. It’s even better to be a Player — one of a select few students with access to the best parties and everything from test answers to college-essay guides that guarantee a perfect GPA life. Not that being a Player is all perfect grades and parties. To become Players, students must first complete a list of challenges set by upper classmates. Challenges ranging from drunken disorderly. . . to deadly. At least that’s how the final initiation challenge ended for Jill’s best friend, Shaila, who was killed by her boyfriend Graham freshman year. At least that’s what everyone believed. Now Graham’s sister is stirring up the past and proclaiming his innocence, and the Players have to ask themselves, is a killer hiding among their number?

Main character Jill is likable and flawed, and it’s easy to fall into step with her as she breaks with the status quo and embarks on a crusade to uncover the truth behind her best friend’s death. Gold Coast is a whole lot of white privilege, and class struggles are explored. Jill is a scholarship student while her Player boyfriend lives in a McMansion. The Players operate in a morally ambiguous gray area, which isn’t really gray at all — from cheating on tests to challenges that include breaking and entering. No one here is a straight-up good person, and it makes for a deliciously addictive read. Jill is forced to make hard decisions that come at a great personal cost as she uncovers who she is beneath her Player persona — and what happened to Sheila.

I am not surprised this is being adapted for TV. It reads just like a TV series. This was a tad predictable for me so hopefully the TV series plays out better. This kept my interest for the most part but I could figure out what was going to happen in the end. I was still recommend this story.

I hope there are not secret and not so secret groups at private boarding schools where students are initiated into the group and have access to papers, test and other things to help them cheat. The town really seemed like they went along with what the Players did. It almost made the group a form of elite royalty. I found it fascinating but also frustrating that kids probably act like this. Jessica Goodman makes me glad my daughter is grown and went to public school. But I was entertained by They Wish They Were Us.

Good mystery books are hard to come by, but They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman is a gripping dark academic novel that has the reader hooked from page one on. Personally, dark academia and mystery are a selling point for me, so when I had the opportunity to read this early I took it. Goodman's writing is detailed and gripping, creating a mystery-atmosphere unlike any I have read before. I am super excited to see this as an adaptation featuring Sydney Sweeney and will be purchasing this book for my friends.

Initial Thoughts

I saw “Gossip Girl” in the tag and I knew I needed to read this book. That show was one of my favorites in high school and I don’t read enough thrillers so I was eager to give this a try.

Some Things I Liked

Gossip Girl meets Veronica Mars. It had elements of both of these shows that I absolutely loved when I was in high school and I loved that nostalgia.
Pretty Little Liars vibes. Again, another show I enjoyed so I appreciated the nods to that series.
A somewhat relatable MC. Despite the incredibly far fetched scenarios, (I don’t know about you, but this book was not even remotely close to my high school experience), I found that Jill was a relatable character. She worried about normal things and had a conscious where it seemed like her peers really didn’t. She made a good narrator.

One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About

Plot twist. I saw right through the plot twist. Literally, as soon as this character was introduced, I was like “_____ did it”. Given that this book’s purpose is to be a thriller and a mystery, I would be remiss if I didn’t deduct points for predictability. Please note, it is *VERY* hard to surprise me. I’ve seen pretty much every crime show that Investigation Discovery has.

Series Value

There’s not much to this as a series. The mystery in this book is solved. However, those kids are up to some SHADY stuff! I wouldn’t be surprised if more crimes came out of their nonsense. So, in that vein, I can see potential spin-offs being successful.

Final Thoughts

I liked this book. It was a bit predictable but overall, kept me excited to keep reading.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro – if you liked the high school setting, try this series about a modern day Sherlock Holmes and her Watson.
One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus – I haven’t read this one yet but I’ve heard good things. Definitely give it a try if you liked They Wish They Were Us.