“They say only the good die young, but that’s just a stupid line in a song we used to sing. It isn’t real. It isn’t true. I know that because Shaila Arnold was so many things – brilliant and funny, confident and wild. But honestly? She wasn’t all that good.”

Rich kids, preppy private school, and murder. They Wish They Were Us was one of those books that I automatically like because it has some of my favorite things. I swear I will never get tired of rich people drama and a murder mystery. I went into this thinking it was going to be a dark and disturbing mystery, but it was more about the drama of high school with a background for the murder that took place. I mean I’m not complaining because it was a compelling book, but I wish going into it I would have known the murder is not the main plot.

Jill Newman is honestly why I enjoyed this book so much; she is a protagonist that I think everyone cheers for. She knows that what she and her group of friends is doing to the underclassmen is wrong, but she doesn’t want to go against the popular crowd and call them out. Jill and her friends seem to have it all their senior year, but how far did they go to make it to the top? I seriously got angry reading about the characters because they were spoiled rich kids who thought the world revolved around them. Slowly though, the author uncovers hints here and there about what happened leading up to their senior year and it made me hate them a little less.

Onto the murder aspect, I was pleasantly surprised at the twist that happens and looking back if I was reading more carefully the author did put in little hints about who did it. I really give props to the author for making it a believable murder, sometimes twists in books are so far fetched that I end up hating the entire book. I want plot twist that shocks me, but is realistic which was definitely done in this book. I wish this book would have been focused a little more of the mystery part and I wanted it to be darker, but it was still a very good book.

It's been a minute since I've been so invested in a book that I managed to finish it in a matter of hours. From the first page I was invested in the narrative even if it wasn't immediately apparent where the story was going to go. Jill Newman was the kind of protagonist that I love to follow; straddling the line between reluctant hero and wanting to sick to the status quo that was engaging without ever teetering over into annoying territory. The only real qualm I had with the narrative is one that is unique to me I'd say, and that's how time is handled. While I appreciated the flashbacks, I wasn't so much a fan o the way days would pass by or that we somehow managed to spend an entire school year with these characters given how long the book was. Not that the book ever felt rushed, because it definitely didn't and I do think that even a lot of the side characters got enough time for them to never feel two dimensional, but they definitely didn't feel as important as I might have wanted. I will say that this is one of the times that I think the ending was good and the twist was believable with the proper hints there for a smarter reader than I to pick up on. I am definitely looking forward to more from this author and would wholeheartedly recommend this book to people looking for a good time.

I was drawn to this book by that intriguing premise and the tantalising subject of high school cliques, dashed with a bit of mystery and murder. They Wish They Were Us excelled past my expectations, creating a gripping story that I flew through.

I really liked Goodman’s writing, as it was so descriptive and vivid, with bold, interesting word choices that completely transported me into the Player’s Table. You get hooked from the off with a compelling mystery and the toxic, cliquey atmosphere of this high school. The structure with the alternating timelines really served to unveil the darkness of the hazing the young Players went through at the hands of a power-mad, would be rapist and it’s genuinely chilling & uncomfortable to read at times.

Goodman isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty in delving into the dark side of cliques, privilege and corruption. Most of the characters in the story have weaponised their privilege in order to get anything they want and the whole concept of the Players pushes this to its extreme, showing how often connections and money can give you an unfair advantage. The whole book is a scathing dissection of this abhorrent culture, tearing apart the myth of meritocracy.

In doing this, you often dislike these elitist, pampered rich kids, only to discover their hidden insecurities and flaws. These never excuse their actions, but serve to add layers that catapult them beyond your usual clichéd caricatures. There’s a lot of time wisely spent on character development and background, allowing us to really get a sense of the bonds between each character and the thinly veiled layer of secrets buried beneath.

They Wish They Were Us is a twisty, intense and illuminating examination of privilege and the lengths we’ll go to in order to protect ourselves and our secrets.

This book had big Pretty Little Liars vibes for me! It's set an elite prep school, and our main character is a member of what I would almost call a high school secret society that bestows gobs of privilege and prestige on its members. However there is also a dark side to this group, with some pretty disturbing hazing rituals, and even the murder of a student.
This book follows our main character as she gets wrapped up in solving the mystery of her best friend's death, and trying to maintain her place in the Players, who would prefer her to just leave it alone.
I really enjoyed how this book used that setting and society to explore the concept of privilege, and how power always protects the status quo, and vice versa. There were some really thoughtful moments in this book that conveyed just how difficult it is to break a system that is constantly reinforcing itself just by existing.
I will say the first half of this book neglects the murder storyline a bit, focusing mainly on prep school drama for a long time. It was still interesting, but I was antsy for the murder mystery to pick up. Once it did, I was completely hooked and stayed up until 2am to finish the book. I think the murderer was fairly easy to peg from the beginning, and I could have done with some more tension and danger, but I still liked seeing this unfold.

They Wish They Were Us is a dark, twisty story about a group of teens at an elite East Coast prep school who will do anything to get into the colleges of their dreams and stay at the top of the pecking order -- even if it means resorting to something drastic. I love thrillers and have been wanting to read more of them, so I jumped at the chance to read this one.

To be perfectly honest, I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had approached it as a contemporary with thriller elements, rather than a straight-up thriller. I expected the actual murder investigation to be the main plot thread, but it was more about Jill's relationships with her friends and her struggle to succeed under a high amount of pressure. It reminded me of Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall -- a contemporary largely focused on themes and character dynamics, with a hint of another genre mixed in (thriller for They Wish They Were Us; speculative for Before I Fall).

The story dealt with some interesting themes, such as privilege, cliques, and the way in which those in power can force people to do things even if participation is supposedly voluntary. It also touched on the intersection of gender with this kind of "good ol' boys club" mentality, with the popular female characters not really getting a chance to call the shots despite being members of said club, but I thought this thread was a little half-baked.

Overall, though, I found They Wish They Were Us to be a well-written and intriguing story, albeit in a quieter way than I'd expected. If you're looking for a well-written dark contemporary read, this book is for you -- just don't go in expecting Nancy Drew levels of sleuthing.

This narrative was very hard for me to engage with. It is the story of mostly ultra-rich white teens who are popular and in a secret society that hazes using blackout drinking, sexual assault, cheating on tests, and general elitism to operate. The narrator is slightly less rich and yet participates gladly in the hazing rituals for most of her high school career. The murder is not very mysterious and I didn't really care when we found out who did it.

I was provided with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4☆

Overall I enjoyed They Wish They Were Us, but it took me what I felt was too long to get into it.

My main issue with this book was the characters. They were the epitome of the rich and popular high school kids you see in movies. Obviously this means they're going to be stuck up and socially torture those who aren't near their status, but the lack of personality and humanizing of these teens put me off. It was not until about the half way point when the characters felt more like actual teens just trying to navigate through life. Although I enjoyed this development, the first person POV the book has makes me feel that their normality should have been more apparent from the start.

In terms of the plot, throughout about 80% of this book I was sure I knew who the killer was- even before the characters suspected this person, but I was pleasantly surprised when the twist was revealed. The red herrings added a lot to the mystery, and I was happy with the way the author shook things up and didn't go with the most obvious suspect.

The elite group the teens of this novel are a part of was a really cool aspect in my opinion, and I've never read anything like it before. It had a fraternity sort of feel to it with hazing and trials in order to get in which were brutal, but creative on the author's part.

I'm really glad I had the chance to read They Wish They Were Us because it was a well written, enjoyable YA mystery/thriller novel.

Thrillers are one of my all time favorite genres and when I first read the synopsis for They Wish They Were Us, I knew I had to read it; it sounded like something I would enjoy!

Jill, Nikki, Robert, Henry, Quentin and Marla are the Players; the most popular people in school and being a Player has its own perks. Not only do they have their own table at the cafeteria, they also have access to an app that makes their lives in school easier. They have answers to tests and basically everything they need to know in order to get into the college of their dreams.

Their goal for senior year is to focus on college applications, to decide who have the potential to become a Player for the next school year, and to forget about their friend Shaila’s tragic death. After all, the one responsible for it was caught, right? But there’s an interesting turn of events when Jill, the MC, receives a message from the sister of the guy who killed her best friend...

They Wish They Were Us was a quick read and an interesting book. I actually enjoyed the second half of it which is when things start to get complicated for the characters! Jill helped Rachel to prove that her brother is innocent and that Shaila’s killer was still on the loose.

While I was reading They Wish They Were Us, it felt as if I was actually watching a TV show. I found myself cheering for Jill when she made hard decisions and when she started to question those around her. It was nice when she finally realized what was good for her and when she started to believe in herself. I kind of guessed who the real killer was at the beginning of the book, but the author made me second guess with the twists!

Also, I didn’t know there’s going to be a sequel! It will be interesting to see what’s going to happen next.

So this was a fun thriller/whodunnit YA.
A group of privileged school kids attending Gold Coast Prep have created a Player club and it has been going on for years. Jill the main gal is part of the Players. To become one you have to go through ritual hazing. Jill best friend Shaila doesn’t make it out alive from one of the hazes and the blame is put on her boyfriend. But did he do it??? I really enjoyed this fast pace read When I saw it was compared to Gossip Girl mixed with One of Us Is Lying I knew it was going to be good and it did not disappoint. About half way through I had a feeling I knew what was happening but I didn’t know why. So the ending was a pleasant surprise.

I do want to note that I tried very hard to not consider formatting issues of the e-copy, but there were passages that I wasn't sure needed better transitions between past and present, or if the formatting was just whacked out.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, especially during the summer and especially during stay-at-home. The characters' motivations made sense, the setting was a little fresher than Manhattan or other urban settings, the worldbuilding of the secret society was fairly well done -- but we didn't break any new ground here. There are a lot of books that took the privileged high school conspiracy genre and have done more or different things with it. I called the first twist pretty early on, and then the second twist was easy to get once the first twist happened. I'd recommend this as a summer read, but I don't know how there's material for a second book given the pretty satisfactory end to the first (unless this is a One of Us is Lying situation, which was another book that didn't need a sequel).

They Wish They Were Us was a fast-paced and enthralling read. It reminded me of a Megan Miranda read and One of Us Is Lying. I enjoyed the unique way the cool kids were viewed as "players" and their VIP status and how it impacted the storyline. I will definitely be picking up the sequel!

I went into this expecting a sort of mystery-thriller, balanced with teenage drama. So essentially, something along the lines of All Your Twisted Secrets. But that isn’t quite what I got. This has way more Gossip Girl vibes and less mystery.

Jill Newman…is a character. She’s loosely likable but it’s not like I would raid an ice cream truck for her or anything. She’s actually not one of those rich kids that naturally attend the Gold Prep Academy, she’s there on scholarship. Which of course, made her slightly more relatable! I really adored her relationship with her brother Jared the most though. Sibling relationships always get me.

Everyone else ANNOYED THE CRAP OUT OF ME. But in a good way? They’re meant to be spoiled rich kids who do dumb stuff just to be top of the food chain (or should I say SCHOOL chain*). I thought that the author did an excellent job of writing a clique that’s bonded by the terrible things they’ve done while still allowing each character to have redeemable qualities.

I do wish that the mystery aspect had been more intriguing though. We get flashbacks from Jill remembering her time with Shaila and the other Players. I mean, Shaila was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Graham right? Yet, most of the book focuses on the drama within The Players and how much everyone tries to forget what happens. The mystery aspect isn’t as fleshed out as it could have been because it gets so little page time. In turn, I was able to guess the murderer with a certain degree of ease. It’s not that this was a bad book because of that, but I wish I had known that this was less of a mystery and more of a complicated drama.

A huge thank you to the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Gold Coast Prep, freshman Shaila is killed, apparently by her boyfriend., Graham By senior year, however, Jill Newman, Shaila's best friend, isn't so sure that Graham killed her and she seeks to set the record straight. A page-turner for teens, this one will keep most teens guessing until the end. This book jumped between the past and the present so often that I had trouble keeping up.

I enjoyed this book. The story was compelling, and I enjoyed the pace at which the relationships were explored. The mystery remained a secret until almost the very end.

Review will be posted to the blog & Goodreads on July 9th.

They Wish They Were Us reminds me how much I hated high school. Sure, I never was a part of a group like the Players. I never went to a school like Gold Coast Prep. Goodman was able to perfectly set up the stage so I felt like a student at Gold Coast Prep and was able to feel the pressure of what was at stake. Heck, there were parts where I felt my chest constrict because I could relate the anxiety of trying and trying and trying and still not feeling like it's enough. I love being able to slip into a book like that.

The lies, secrets, and deceit are deliciously juicy to watch play out. Maybe it's this world is so far removed from anything I've ever know but I did have to suspend quite a bit of disbelief for things to play out. I'm sure rich kids get away with a lot but maybe not quite this much. That said it was still fun to read about this world and the scandalous things going on.

My biggest complaint is the story focused too much on drama involving the Players. I was really hoping for a bigger focus on the murder mystery. Yes, the later half of the book shifts the focus to more of a mystery but it's not quite enough for my taste. Plus the summary puts a pretty heavy emphasis on the mystery.

Recommended more for fans of 'Gossip Girl' than 'One of Us Is Lying'.'

“They Wish They Were Us” by Jessica Goodman

I received an e-ARC from PenguinTeen and Netgalley for my honest review.

They Wish They Were Us is an intriguing mystery about privilege, loyalty, and the cost of friendship. Jill, a high school senior and member of Gold Coast Prep’s exclusive group, the Players, discovers that her best friend’s murderer has declared his innocence. Although Jill and her friends were present three years ago when Shaila was killed by her then boyfriend and fellow Players initiate, Graham, none of them remember nor want to recall the events of that night. Why would anyone other than Graham want Shaila dead?

Much of the story is told through Jill’s reflections and memories of Shaila and through her present day interactions with current and former Players, teachers, and school administrators. These conversations and reflections help weave together the guarded details leading up to the night of Shaila’s brutal murder. Goodman does a wonderful job of portraying the dangerous underbelly of fraternal societies and the willful ignorance that ensues when traditions are threatened. In this story it appears that everyone has something to gain, but no one minds losing a friend or two to get it. From the beginning until the end the reader will find themselves piecing together the events of the night Shaila died, up until the final reveal.

Although the novel includes a diverse cast of characters, their voices are never fully developed beyond the surface, and at times they are unrelatable. This story not only left me needing to know more about the inception and purpose of the Players, but it also left me wanting to know more about the individuals who would choose to join this elusive and seemingly dangerous group. Of course, I expect this will likely be addressed within the finalized version of the book. Overall, I found this book to be a fast-paced and engaging who-done-it mystery. It is perfect for fans of cult classics such as Gossip Girls, Pretty Little Liars, and Mean Girls.

They Wish They Were Us is such a great murder mystery book!
I love that it had me guessing the whole way through! It had me holding my breathe and reading as fast as I could so I could get to the end and figure out what happened! Lol
Thank you so much for this e-arc!

What would you sacrifice for a golden ticket to your dream college? Jill has earned this prestigious status at Gold Coast Prep. It's senior year and Jill and her Players group have the chance to initiate the incoming freshman. But Jill doesn't want it to be the same as the previous years, years when the props went too far, the year her best friend was murdered. Will Jill survive her senior year to reap the benefits of what she has sacrificed? They Wish They were Us is a roller coaster ride through the pressures of high school academics and scholarly achievement. Goodman touches on difficult topics young adults go through such as rape, alcohol abuse, sexism, and classism. The novel will keep the reader guessing how far the players will go and who is behind a player's murder. Under the high thrill of a secret (yet not so secret) society and murder on the run, the book does not venture deep into the issues presented and is predictable at the end.

Thank you to PenguinTeen and NetGalley for a copy of this eARC for my review.

Real rating: 3.5/5 stars.

I think this book is kind of the equivalent of reading an episode of Riverdale. It was pretty entertaining and a very quick read, but the big twist is not hard to predict and there was a real feeling of it needing just a little something else. Most of the main characters were kind of awful in their own ways and I think Henry is the only person I really felt bad for, but that didn't last too long.

For all the build up of how bad the Players are throughout the book, I think it takes a little too long for why they are bad to be spelled out. By the time that is revealed, it is kind of an anti-climax.

All of this being said, I wasn't bored while reading it and I enjoyed the pacing. It will be interesting to see what the author comes out with next!

Gossip Girl meets MURDER in this YA thriller that had me wanting more. It took me a few days, but I easily could have stayed up and finished it in 24 hours. I was OBSESSED. Quick-paced, this book has you flipping the pages so quick to see what happens next. Readers will follow Jill and her group of friends, The Players. The Players are an elite group at their prestigious school that did a lot of things to get to the top, some easy and some they'd rather forget about. How far are you willing to go to belong? How far are you willing to go to find the truth? We don't know until we're put in a position where we have to risk everything.