If you go into this book thinking it’s going to be a murder mystery, you’ll be disappointed. Oh, there is a murder mystery alright but that doesn’t pick up until about 3/4 of the way in and long before that I figured out who the killer was. The book is more about the secret club of over privileged high schoolers and navigating life after their friend died. It was good in the beginning, slow in the middle and predictable in the end. It’s not written badly, I just was expecting more suspense and mystery.

I won this ARC of They Wish They Were Us in a Book Con (Bookconline) raffle from Penguin Teen but this review is my honest feedback.

They Wish They Were Us is a prep school murder mystery of a wealthy Gold Coast teen (Shaila) presumably by her boyfriend (Graham) at the end of their freshman year during an initiation rite for a club of popular kids called "The Players".
It is three years later and all of the teens involved are seniors and at the top of the Players food chain and they get to decide what the initiation rites will be. But Graham has decided to hire a legal team and rescind his original guilty plea and the Gold Coast is shook. If he didn't kill Shaila then who did? Should her best friend Jill help his sister clear his name or should she concentrate on finishing her senior year strong and get a well-deserved and desperately needed scholarship?

Even though this a typical teen murder mystery I found there to be a lot of good food for thought about privilege and sexism. As Jill begins to unravel the past to find the murderer she sees how inherently misogynistic the Players and their initiation rites (called "pops" ) are to the youngest and most vulnerable girls on campus. You also feel the pressure that Jill and other students are under to succeed and get into a good college after attending such a prestigious school.

Like any good murder mystery They Wish They Were Us has lots of twists, turns and red herrings. I look forward to reading more about this world created by Jessica Goodman.

This was such an entertaining read! It has been a long time since I felt so invested to a story. This story was marketed as a Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl mashup and that is exactly what you get. I usually struggle with pacing, but I think the pace works perfectly with the mystery. I had some trouble understanding when it was the past and when it was the future, but at the end I got the hang of it. All that being said, I really enjoyed this one.

First of all, thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me an eARC of this!

I'm not necessarily a huge mystery fan (prefer the TV or movie setting), but I immediately got pulled into They Wish They Were Us!

At Gold Coast Prep, you have a chance to be somebody. Every year, 8 freshman are chosen to test to be a Player. The Players are basically the cool kids. They're untouchable, looked up to, and you're practically guaranteed a spot at an ivy league school.

Jill is a scholarship student and a player. In order to get into Brown, she has to do everything possible to stay at the top of the class. But Freshman year, her best friend, Shaila Arnold, was murdered, and Shaila's boyfriend, Graham, was arrested. Only now, Jill is receiving texts from Graham's sister, Rachel, claiming Graham's innocence. Senior year is supposed to be her year, but can Jill Newman sit by and let someone potentially innocent spend the rest of his life behind bars?

I'm all for the drama in this book. Jill is lie the socially conscious mean girl who wants to change the way they do things. The character development for Jill was strong throughout the book, and you can see how she begins to change and see everything in a different light. She begins ot make connections with flashbacks from the past, and with the help of Rachel, they work their way to the truth.

I really enjoyed the writing style, and I like that we got so many flashbacks to really understand some of the moments reverenced by the other Players. While I liked that the author highlighted the advantage wealthy white people have in the criminal justice system, it could be frustrating ot read about all of these wealth, white kids. You really want to slap some of them for complaining about stuff they had no right to complain about.

Over all, I really enjoyed it, but I will say the elitist theme throughout the book could make it difficult to enjoy snippets! I would love to see this as a mini-series, though. It would make for some great, addictive TV!

Enjoyable summer mystery read for younger teens. The lifestyle of the characters is completely unbelievable, but I think the intended age group will find their personalities relatable & have fun with the exciting events depicted therein. Has some elements of & would be fun for those who enjoyed One of Us is Lying, Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, etc. Note that smoking is depicted as a casual, fun activity & this book may therefore not be advised for those who are impressionable.

This was a fun book centered around an exclusive Long Island prep school where there is a secret society for the most exclusive class members. In order to be initiated into the society, prospective members must complete tasks or "pops" that are meant to be embarrassing or maybe a little dangerous. I loved the main character, Jill, and her relationship with her younger brother Jared. I was very invested in finding out what happened to Shaila! I did figure it out, but that didn't decrease my enjoyment of the story. I loved all of the Billy Joel references and I'm very excited that there is to be a sequel! This is for older YA readers as it contains sex and drug use.

They Wish They Were Us is a thriller set at a prep school in Long Island. The story focuses around the Players, an exclusive society at Gold Coast Prep. To get into this exclusive group means to get access to test answers, college acceptance tips, and of course incredible parties. The main character, Jill, and the rest of the seniors in her crew went through the trials to become Players during their freshman year, as has been done for decades before them. Once they finally get to their initiation, they think that it’s all over and they’ve officially made it to the top. No one could know that would be the night that Shaila would die.

Three years later, Jill and her friends are finally at the top in the Players. The story starts out focusing on the first few months of school, with plenty of drama surrounding the seniors picking freshman to join their elite society. Suddenly, things get turned upside down when Jill receives a text from the sister of Shaila’s supposed murderer claiming his innocence. Jill finds herself in the middle of a mystery, and she is desperate to find answers and discover Shaila’s true murderer so she can finally have justice.

I really enjoyed the main character Jill. She is a scholarship student at Gold Coast Prep, but she doesn’t want anyone to know because she wants to fit in. Being in the Players, she obviously took part in some bullying and cheating, but throughout the book I could see her moral struggle. I also really liked most of the other Players, and I was happy to see that a lot of them faced the same struggles as Jill. In the beginning, they can seem really unlikable. However, as the story goes on, more information is revealed about the things they faced to get to their position, and it’s not surprising why they act like they do. They were all pretty well rounded characters and I would love to see even more of them.

They Wish They Were Us was a great debut novel from Jessica Goodman. I was a huge fan of the Gossip Girl books and tv series, and this gave me so much nostalgia. And with the added thriller aspect, it was even more amazing. I tried to take my time reading it, but I devoured the last 150 pages in one sitting. It was such an addicting story! According to Goodreads, we may be getting more books about the Players, and I really hope so because I’m so excited to read them. Regardless, I’m looking forward to reading whatever book Jessica releases next!

Looking for your next summer binge read? How about a YA thriller with secrets galore? Jessica Goodman’s debut mystery/thriller, They Wish They Were Us, focuses on a Long Island prep school and a three year old murder case that could destroy everything. This August 4th release includes swirling secrets in an Anna K meets One of Us Is Lying-esque plot.
I absolutely adored the setting of a prep school on Long Island (since that’s where I grew up) and how opulent and perfect everything seems from the outside but the demons and secrets that lurk underneath. The seemingly pristine reputation of the school and the students in it slowly cracks as more rumors swirl and skeletons come out of closets (but not literally!).
This book strays more on the YA side of thriller/mystery. The novel focuses more on the inner workings of Gold Coast Prep and the people who go there rather than follow the twisty path to discovering the truth behind Shaila’s murder. Goodman really dives deep into teen culture and how popularity and status can bring people together or drive them apart. The peek into the teenage mind is fascinating and makes for a fabulous YA read! However, as the mystery of whodunnit gets tossed around, Goodman will have you second guessing the things that Jill thought to be true and will have you reading until the very last line.
They Wish They Were Us is dark, twisty, and just as enjoyable as any other YA thrillers! With a second book and TV show adaptation in the works, you’ll definitely want to jump on the bandwagon and take a peek at the lives of Gold Coast Prep’s finest.

*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest opinion.​

They Wish They Were Us is a story of betrayal and privilege, of elite of the worst kind, and its mystery will pull you in straight away! This YA thriller centres around a group of Players', an elite group in Gold Coast Prep, which you can only get accepted into based on rigorous criteria and after completing a great number of daunting and frankly terrible tasks. And once you do get in, you will be the coolest, most envied person in the entire school. You will be a Player, but this title doesn't just carry perks of the popularity kind; you will also get cheat sheets for different subjects and Ivy League schools won't only be a dream, but a fast approaching reality. People will know your name. This quote from the book says it best: "Look around. Look at everyone else," Shaila whispered into the huddle. "They wish they were us."

Jill Newman, our main protagonist, was one of the lucky ones when she got drafted into the Players as a freshman. Despite the terrible tasks she had to complete in her first year to get in, she always had her best friend Shaila and her will-they-won't-they friend Adam at her back. But when the initiation rolled around at the end of her freshman year, Jill and her group of other Player recruits had to pay the ultimate price: Shaila's life.

The murder of Shaila was blamed on her boyfriend Graham, while Jill and the rest of her squad tried their best to move on. Now Jill is a senior, ready to lead the Players and enjoy her last year at Gold Coast Prep, but suddenly Jill gets a text warning her that Graham might be innocent. Her world turns upside down and Jill has to decide between finding justice for her best friend and enjoying her senior year, pretending that Graham is the one to blame.

"I want to mourn what I thought I knew about the people I love. Loved. How do I recover? How do I get over this? I can't. Not yet, anyway. Because it feels like my heart has been smashed open and every truth I ever knew is spilling onto the floor."

Now I want to start by saying that this is the perfect YA thriller if you are new to this genre as there is a lot of intrigue and back-stabbing and mystery involved. They Wish They Were Us was described as Gossip Girl meets One of Us Is Lying and I can partially agree with that. In the centre of the story are the ugliest bits of being a part of the elite, similar to what Gossip Girl had to offer. But unlike Bayview Four and the Gossip Girl gang, this story focuses mostly on Jill. Sure, we get to meet her friends, Nikki, Quentin, Adam, Marla, Robert, and Henry, but they take the backseat to Jill's storyline and mostly act as sounding boards for her story and character development.

Jill herself is in many ways a rather unlikeable character, but with a few beautiful redeeming qualities. For example, her love for her brother and friends is commendable and I think many of us would react in similar ways she did if put in the same situation. On the other hand though, she is rather judgmental, especially towards other girls in the story, both main and side characters. This fuels the idea that Jill is, despite being a scholarship student, privileged, and was raised with many prejudices. However, she does make strides towards being a better person.

And while we're on the topic, one of the things I loved most in this book was how Jill becomes more and more aware of the casual sexism and misogyny present in their elite group. The tasks for girls are harder, more cruel, and full of shaming and humiliation. Sure, Jill and her friends are now seniors and in charge, but the price they paid to get there was steep and they are not done paying quite yet. This whole sexist situation in the midst of the Players is a nice reflection of our world in many ways as women have to work harder to prove themselves and then keep proving themselves worthy. Goodman did a really good job of portraying that in this YA thriller.

Now let's get down to the whole 'Who killed Shaila Arnold?' part. While the story served a few unexpected plot twists, there were also quite a few bread crumbs that made it possible to uncover the real killer pretty quickly. I wouldn't consider myself the next Sherlock Holmes, but I could smell something fishy from a mile away and made a wild guess at who the killer is on the mid-point of the story. And guess what? I was right. The killer might not always be the most obvious character. Sometimes there are invisible strings linking them to the victim... or are the really that invisible?

They Wish They Were Us was a quick and intriguing YA thriller with some nice plot twists and good character growth when it came to our main girl. Goodman also interwove past and present storylines without disturbing the flow of the story and all the snippets from Jill's freshman year added a lot to the overall mystery. And while I did want something more from all the side characters, I am also convinced that this story is a very nice allegory for the world we live in today, where the elite can go unpunished and all sorts of discrimination are still in full swing.

Make sure to add They Wish They Were Us to your August TBR if thrillers and dramatic stories of betrayal, love, and murder are your thing!

This is a YA thriller due out Tuesday, August 4th (tomorrow!!!) that I think a lot of you are going to want to grab. They Wish They Were Us is like Gossip Girl, but it takes place in a beach community and people get murdered. It just exudes the major Gossip Girl vibes where everything is big houses, fast cars, beautiful clothes, and exclusive cliques, but it also gives off those Pretty Little Liars vibes where one of their own has been killed and the teenagers are out to figure it out on their own without consulting literally one single adult or law enforcement official at all (you know you love it).

If you’ve been loving books like One of Us Is Lying or A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, I feel like you’d really enjoy this one. They Wish They Were Us follows Jill Newman, who lives in the wealthy community of Gold Coast, Long Island, and attends an exclusive private school. But what’s even more exclusive is her friend group. They call themselves The Players, and in the eyes of themselves and their peers, they have the best of everything: the best parties, the highest grades, all the accolades you could dream of. The Players are all hand chosen and then go through a version of hazing as freshmen before gaining access to the inner circle, an app of cheat sheets for tests and exclusive contacts, and of course, the perception of being at the top of the food chain.

But when Jill and her friends were freshmen, Jill’s best friend, Shaila, was murdered on initiation night for The Players, and her boyfriend Graham, was charged with her murder. Now, three years later, as Jill embarks on her senior year, she begins getting messages telling her Graham might not have been the murderer, and she sets out on a twisted journey to find out who took her friend’s life that fateful night. The investigation ends up putting her closer to danger than she imagined, and uncovering secrets she isn’t sure she wanted to dig up. Jill puts everything at risk—her friendships, her future, and her exclusive access to Player perks—to solve the mystery once and for all.

Y’all know I love a good murder mystery, so what I really liked about this book were the plot and all the twists and turns. I enjoy plots where people kind of have their realties turned on their heads and begin to realize that the people around them may not be who they portray themselves as, and their world may not be what they thought it was. I love a good “it was one of us” plot, and this is definitely that. As you read, you’ll wonder who you can really trust and find yourself trying along with Jill to root out who’s telling the truth and who has something to hide. I guessed who the killer was and was mentally screaming it at Jill, especially at certain points where I knew she was in danger, but I will admit, Goodman threw a couple curveballs in there to keep you on your toes and give me a couple moments where I went, “Wait, am I confident in my pick for who it was?”

I also really loved the setting of this book. This is my second new release YA in a row that had a beachy setting and I enjoyed it. I liked the way Goodman described the setting and deftly wove it into the characters’ lives. The beach, the crashing ocean, the salty air, and the beach parties are as much a part of them as their expensive school and their popular status. I thought Goodman described the setting beautifully at some points, and also liked that there were a couple sojourns into NYC to really solidify those Gossip Girl vibes.
The only drawback to this book was that one or two characters were a little flat and trope-y. Robert, for example, was kind of this stereotypical leather jacket, joyride bad boy without much personality beyond that, which kind of just made him pale in comparison to the better developed characters who actually felt much more real and fleshed out. But luckily, it was only a few characters here and there, and with a cast of characters this big in a shorter work, I can kind of see how that would happen.

Was it a little bit predictable at times? Sure, but maybe that’s just because I’ve read a lot of books like this. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing and it was still really enjoyable. I had a lot of fun reading this one, I like the dark “seedy underbelly of an otherwise perfect community” vibes, and I would definitely recommend it! I’d give it four out of five stars. I’m a sucker for YA thrillers and just love reading them. And apparently, this book is also being turned into a TV show, which I could be persuaded to watch, considering so many of us still have a Gossip Girl-sized hole in our hearts.

So you’ll definitely want to grab this one ASAP, so that you can check it out before it comes to a small screen near you!

“They say only the good die young, but that’s just a line in a stupid song we used to sing. It isn’t real. It isn’t true.”

They Wish They Were Us is everything that makes a book I usually love: prep school, rich kids, murder.

The Players are the chosen ones are Gold Coast Prep. Eight students from every grade who went through hell to become a Player. Six for the current group of seniors because three years ago one was murdered on initiation night by her own boyfriend.

This year will be different. Jill and her friends are finally in charge. They won’t let the current “undies” go through what they went through the year Graham murdered Shaila. That’s the plan until Jill receives a text from Rachel, Graham’s sister, claiming his innocence.

They Wish They Were Us was full of suspense. It was a bit slow to start but it tied together into a slow burn. I had a pretty good idea of who was guilty early on but I still enjoyed watching the story unfold.

I see this is the first of a series so I’m curious where they plan on taking the rest. I thought this was a good debut novel and the writing made me feel like I was one of the Players. It really drew me in and kept me there. This would be a pretty good series.

Fast paced read. It definitely kept me interested and I finished in one day. Murder, rich children from important families and lots of secrets. Jill attends a prep school. She is on scholarship. She is in a very exclusive club called The Players. Her best friend was killed freshmen year and she still has nightmares about it. The killer is in jail, her loving boyfriend. Jill gets a message from his sister and things begin to unravel. I would definitely recommend this to my friends.

They Wish They Were Us is the absolute perfect title for a YA mystery thriller that will leave you thinking, “thank god I’m not them.” Jessica Goodman seamlessly introduces us to a cast of characters that you will instantly feel a little unsure about. It’s impressive how she made me understand them despite their morally gray personas, all while building up a mystery “whoactuallydunit?” plot in the background.

Our main character Jill is dealing with the pressures that someone feels to fit in, because it seems better than the alternative of being left out. The pressures of any high schooler to do well, because someone is depending on them to do so. Add on to that the fact that the boy who admitted to murdering her best friend 3 years ago, is suddenly claiming he’s innocent.

Yeah. This one is a ride. I honestly enjoyed that it took time to understand Jill’s motivations in this story. This book doesn’t move at a quick pace by any means. It takes time to explore the prep school experience from the perspective of someone who knows the cost of fitting in and introduces you to The Players and other morally gray characters in Gold Coast.
Jumping from the past and present POV of Jill, subtle clues to the mystery are dropped and layers are built up to show us who Jill truly is. I will say that some of the transitions between past and present were rocky to navigate, but by the end I sort of adjusted to them.

All that being said, I thought that this was an entertaining read. I do feel that it focuses more on Jill and her friends involvement with The Players, and in the Gold Coast community in general. How they navigate and the choices they’ve had to make along the way. The mystery is important, obviously, but the stakes feel pretty mild considering the crime has already been committed. That’s all I really want to say without spoiling, but I highly recommend for anyone who thinks they would enjoy a mash up of Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl. I know that many people hate when books are compared to other series, but I honestly feel like that combination perfectly describes the overall vibe and bones of this story.

One thing I love is the ride a thriller/mystery takes you on. Trying to put the puzzle together and unravel the clues that are presented. I enjoyed the ride I went on with this book, but there were parts that were predictable and cliché.

There were times where I sympathized with Jill as the lead. She was stuck fighting between the truths of her present and her past. Trying to decipher the lies she has shaped herself around. But other times I couldn’t understand her wanting everything. How she wanted to be a Player and the life that came with it, but also hated what it stood for only when her brother came along. I wish there was more character development with the other Players. Sometimes I felt it was easy to see where the story was going and easily see what roles each character was going to play.

What I did enjoy was the writing. From the first page I wanted to know this story, I wanted to see how these characters fit into the story and I was eager to find the truth. The author had wonderful scene descriptions that allowed the reader to easily visualize what she was writing. I really enjoyed how this embodied the movie ‘The Skulls’ where everyone had a secret and everyone was in too deep, mutually entangled with one dark moment.

I did enjoy this book even though it was a bit predictable which kept it from a 4 from me. I wanted the shock factor or the crazy twist I didn’t see coming. I really enjoyed the flow and ease of the author's writing and I’m looking forward to what she’s got coming next. And if this is a series, I can’t wait to see where she takes this series. Thank you to Penguin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Do you really want to know what happens at Gold Coast Prep. Well, you see, there’s this secret society called the Players. A small inner circle where the senior Players call the shots. As part of the hazing ritual to be initiated into this legacy, aka “pops,” these embarrassing and fearful acts must be performed by the invited underclassmen. What for? The Files: SAT, final exam, and AP test answers, Ivy League prep, you name it. But, when freshman Shaila is found dead, fast forward three years later, how does Jill cope with losing her best friend? And, who the hell killed Shaila?

Okay, I got major Pretty Little Liars vibes mixed in with its spin-off, The Perfectionists. The story was told in Jill’s POV, and alternated with flashbacks to the past that involved Shaila, memories Jill recalled, to help piece together who could have killed her. It was a fast-paced read, and I really enjoyed the second half. There was some romance, mad deception, broken friendships, and cray cray sh*t that go down. Probably your basic run of the mill elite prep school drama. It’s got the who-can-you-trust sort of thing, too.

A binge-worthy YA thriller that is absolutely perfect for all you PLL and Riverdale fans—be sure to check it out!

I am truly so upset about this book.

In the beginning I was really enjoying it. The elite boarding school vibes were killer and initially I was into the writing style. It kept me guessing and made the first few chapters nothing short of addicting. However, the further into the book I got the less I was enjoying it.

The plot in the middle was slow and featured extremely long chapters. On top of that the constant switching between the past and present narrative made the story hard to follow, especially since the plot/chapter lengths were causing me to lose attention.

At 57% I decided to set the book aside. While I was, and am, very intrigued by the mystery aspects I didn't find myself enjoying the story overall. It didn't focus as much on the mystery as I would've liked and it simply was not keeping my attention. At this time it's best for me to set this down and move onto other stories.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for Providing me with an E-Arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

If you need to get your Pretty Little Liars fix look right here. Private school, a "secret" society, high school drama and a murder. I wasn't sure about this one at first, but the more I read, the more I ended up liking the main character. The final 1/3 of the book was a page turner. I thought maybe I had it figured out but I was a little bit off. Great for YA mystery readers.

Thank you Penguin Teen for providing me with an e-arc of the book!

The story was immensely engaging and I couldn’t put this book down! I thought the whole secret society at the school was exceptionally interesting and surprisingly different from what I expected. Throughout the book I was meticulously evaluating anything and everything that made someone seem suspicious and potentially the killer. I thought the whole book was well thought out and I would be interested to see more from Gold Coast Prep!

Jessica Goodman’s debut novel tells of a murder that haunts an elite Long Island prep school years after the fact. It follows Jill Newman, a scholarship student at Gold Coast Preparatory School and friend of the victim Shaila Arnold. Now a senior, Jill is determined to put her friend’s tragic murder behind her and let her final year of high school be “her year”. Beyond being a typical teen thriller, They Wish They Were Us also tackles the pressure modern teens are put under to succeed. We see the pressure Jill puts on herself to get into an Ivy League college–so much so that she allows herself to be inducted into a secret society known as “The Players”, which grants her access to SAT answers and sample entrance test questions, among other things. I went to public school so I wasn’t pushed to attend an Ivy, but the pressure to be accepted into a “good” college was there, and though I’ve been out of high school for a few years now, I definitely related to Jill and company’s plight (even if I was too honest to ever cheat). The Players society appears to have a bigger role in Shaila’s murder than meets the eye, but still everybody thinks the case is closed–high school freshman Shaila died from blunt force trauma to the head and her boyfriend at the time, Graham Calloway, is responsible. With his impending transfer to federal prison upon his 18th birthday, Jill is sought out by Graham’s older sister, Rachel, who sincerely believes that her brother is innocent. At first, Jill thinks that Rachel only believes Graham innocent out of a sense of family loyalty–and given that she is the only member of the Calloway family that hasn’t disowned him, it’s easy to see that, but soon Jill uncovers a web of secrets and lies that could cost her friendships and her future. It was an intriguing who (really) dunit mystery that kept me guessing until the very end. Nobody can be fully trusted, which makes They Wish They Were Us that much more harrowing.

They Wish They Were Us is the first book in a planned series, and while I’m not sure how (or whether) Jill Newman’s story will continue, I can totally see more scandal coming out of the Players and Gold Coast Prep. The lavish lifestyles of Jill’s friends and classmates are enough to make most of us feel like total losers, but it’s also the perfect breeding ground for high schoolers committing heinous acts fueled by jealousy and other vices. Fans of One of Us is Lying and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder will want to check out this new voice and new series.

When I was in high school, Gossip girl was the hottest show, it felt extra special to think that I was the same age at the time the story was taking place. While reading this book, I felt like I was back fan-girling about a show full of drama, and mystery. They Wish They Were Us is just that, a novel filled with drama, and a murder mystery, whodunit, all the things I LOVE in a book.

The story is delivered incredibly, written in thirds person and filled with so much detail. I appreciated the character development, and the detail behind each characters part in the story.

It’s got the drama, the lies, the betrayal, and it was fun to try and figure out who was being truthful, and who was just downright LYING! Everyone’s got something to hide.. and it’s up to you to decipher!

I enjoyed this captivating, fact paced, incredibly addictive page turner!

I recommend it to anyone who loved shows like Gossip Girl, Riverdale, and Pretty Little Liars!