This is one of those books that you can't say too much due to the fear of giving something away. As a huge fan of horror and thriller movies, I was sold on this premise right away. A club formed around the idea of coming up with the scariest prank they can muster to scare their classmates? Sign me up. I mean, not literally. I don't want to scare people like that, but I'll sure read about it! :D

The book opens with a scene right out of a slasher flick before going to a time jump. Rachel Chavez, our main character, is traumatized - with good reason! - after her ordeal and just trying to keep her head down to finish school and get on with her life. Of course, that's not how things pan out and she's soon on the radar of the Mary Shelley Club. We meet Bram, Thayer, and Felicity, all of whom are your standard rich kid fare at the school (Manchester Prep), but there's also Freddie. Neither Rachel or Freddie are rich, which gives them something to bond over, and it's not long before Freddie seems like her only ally. But at some point in the book, it becomes risky to trust anyone, and I found myself thinking every single one of them was guilty at some point. I could say it's best to just try not to figure out whodunit or why, but if you're a fan of these types of books then odds are you can't stop your brain from trying to put the puzzle together.

I had mixed feelings when I first finished the book. But the more I think about it, the more I'm impressed with the story that Moldavsky weaves. Do we get to know the other characters really well? No, I can't say that we do. Is that detrimental to the story? Not at all - at one point, Rachel even acknowledges how she doesn't really know those around her and it's a moment that resonates long after the book is done. I originally gave it a 4* rating, but I couldn't get the book out of my head and actively want to read it again, so I upped my rating to 5*.

There are some good homages to classic horror flicks in my opinion, but you aren't missing out if you haven't seen them. I also thought this was going to be a standalone novel, and it definitely could be - but Moldavsky also leaves it open for sequel territory at the end, which I find very exciting.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

This book has an appeal to young audiences who like commercial horror/suspense that is light on the scare and thrill but skilled with the wondering of the narrator's perspective. For those seeking something more atmospheric and bloodcurdling, this might be a little too "light".

This book was described as "Scream meets meets Karen McManus (meets Gossip Girl)" so I had *super* high hopes going in. It was a great premise, and I really enjoyed most of the book, but it lost me for a bit when things went too far off the rails.

I loved all of the 80s/90s (which I guess is vintage, which makes me officially OLD) horror/slasher movie references and enjoyed Rachel, our horror-loving protagonist with a traumatic past, trying to find her place in an ultra-rich private school in Manhattan. I especially liked the way Rachel talks about the power of Final Girls and how she started watching horror films as a form of exposure therapy - it felt very relatable to this true crime-loving anxiety-ridden wannabe final girl.

I clearly knew going in that there was a secret society and hoped it would play out differently than usual, but it followed the same tropes -- it seems wonderful at first and the new member is happy to finally feel like they belong ... until everything goes horribly wrong because everyone is terrible. Don't join a secret society, kids. Nothing good comes of it.

That said: This book is highly readable and I would love to read another book by her. The twisty bit at the very end was creepy, and this would be a good pick for fans of Karen McManus and Mindy McGinnis. Good for 13+.

So YA thrillers are my new favorite thing. I am such a scaredy cat thirty-something and I find this genre just scary enough without completely freaking me out and shutting me down. I thoroughly enjoyed this from the creepy opening to the obscure and classic horror movie references to the twists and turns along the way.

I was highly entertained and intrigued by the storyline. It gave Scream meets Gossip Girl vibes, and I could have read it all in one sitting if time allowed.

The protagonist Rachel is relatable and a sympathetic character considering her past trauma and how she’s struggling to feel normal again. She takes comfort in horror films and finds herself becoming part of an exclusive group called The Mary Shelley Club.

I won’t go into much more detail because I want to keep this spoiler free. I will say to set aside time to read because you won’t want to put this book down!

Thank you to Fierce Reads, NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

***eArc provided by NetGalley & Macmillan in exchange for an honest review***

Goldy Moldavsky writes books that I know I should love. Every single time I read a synopsis, cover, or even title for one of her books my mind runs wild. Unfortunately, they never hit for me in the ways I want them to. The Mary Shelley Club is no different. YA thrillers just aren't for me, even with cool and interesting concepts. I feel like one day I'll reread Moldavsky's novels, though, and perhaps this one will work better for me then.

I won an egalley of this book. I'm so excited!

Just the title of the book lured me in. I will read anything with a reference to Mary Shelley. And I wasn't disappointed. It was creepy and scary. Perfect for horror

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky, 352 pages. Macmillan Children’s Publishing (Henry Holt and Company), 2021. $19. LGBTQIA, CENTERING ME
Language: R (92 swears, 21 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
Being in a new school is hard as a junior, but Rachel’s mostly been able to fly under the radar -- until the night she laughs at the popular girl’s humiliation at a party and is blamed for the prank pulled on her. Now Rachel is on a mission to figure out what really happened at the party. The deeper she goes, the more Rachel has to give up of herself to stay there.
What a thrill! Moldavsky has written a masterpiece. Throughout Rachel’s story, Moldavsky feeds readers just enough to stay patient until the connecting link for all the seemingly-random pieces falls into place with a near-audible mic drop. If I could choose to forget having read this book, I would do so in a heartbeat in order to read it for the first time again. It was scary fun. The mature content rating is for underage drinking, mention of drugs, innuendo, groping, and mention of sex. The violence rating is for blood and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

This was interesting, but it didn't blow me away.

I wanted this to be a sort of creepy mystery, but at the end I was just not feeling much creep factor. I felt that the characters were all one-note and that they all erred on the side of annoying.

Overall, I was not too fond of this.

Wow, this was the best horror/thriller that I’ve read in a while! It gave “Scream” meets “I Know What You Did Last Summer” vibes. The twists were satisfying, and I enjoyed the horror references. The characters were fun, and this would make a great horror movie adaptation! I highly recommend this book and will be recommending it for my library to purchase. It’s appropriate for YA and adult readers, and while it has horror elements, I would categorize it as more of thriller and a mystery. I finished reading it I’m one day because I was hooked!

Goldy Moldavsky is at it again with her signature blend of horror and humor! The Mary Shelley Club is her best book yet, mixing fun pop culture references and poignant feelings of not belonging with a scary horror plot!

I am endlessly fascinated by Mary Shelley and her most famous creation, Frankenstein. (I recently completed a close re-read of the 1818 version of her most famous -- but not only -- novel, and also read a “dual biography” of Shelley and her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, titled Romantic Outlaws.) Although I’ve been immersed in all things Shelley for a while, I still was not expecting much from “The Mary Shelly Club” other than as a palate cleanser after some heavy reads.

Yet this was unexpectedly fun. A secret club, a game, an elite Upper East Side high school, a creepy mystery -- a few too many YA Cruel Intentions-meets-Gossip Girl-meets-Scream tropes, but still really pulpy and fun and completely engrossing. Solid narrator (and Latinx, which I loved), although the other characters needed more depth and nuance to overcome their paper thin characterizations (rich disaffected hot broody guy / rich bitchy girl nemesis with trendy name / rich bitchy girl who also could be a friend etc.).

Some favorite lines:

“I got a whiff of her perfume. Miss Dior. The preferred eau de perfume of future disgraced political wives.” (Dead accurate, pardon the pun.)

“When a guy bumped into me in the hall and didn’t bother to apologize, I realized I could just make him the target [NO SPOILERS] if I wanted to. The club was a game changer. The club was a mood.”

I also wouldn’t call this book “horror” by any stretch. It is more “horror adjacent” than horror, with frequent analysis about the horror genre but just not enough horror meat on the bone of the main story to fit squarely in that genre. Finally, the only knock on the overall story is the ending. I just wanted … more.

Still, definitely fun. I’ll be picking up other books by this author and looking for this to be the beginning of a series perhaps?

3.75-4/5

(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this title in exchange for an honest review. I'll update with link to public review closer to the publication date.)

4.5/5 stars

What happens when a group of teenagers obsessed with horror films band together? The Mary Shelley Club at Manchester Prep is a secret society united over their love for horror films and creating real life scary scenarios, called Fear Tests. Each member picks a target and the group carries out a scenario meant to frighten and scare whomever they have chosen. Rachel Chavez has just transferred to Manchester after a terrifying home invasion. She discovers the club and quickly becomes a member. The Fear Tests start out as fun but quickly transform into something more sinister.

The Mary Shelley Club is a psychological mystery thriller that will keep you turning that page. There are so many twists and turns that will keep you guessing and you never know which characters you can truly trust.

Rachel survived. Attacked in her kitchen by two masked, knife-wielding intruders, Rachel fought back, but she survived. In the aftermath, she and her mom move to NYC for a fresh start at an elite private school where her mom has found a job. Now, the task of making friends, fitting in, and learning the ropes in a new environment. take place. But at her first party, Rachel notices someone pulling the strings on a prank. Determined to find out more, she starts to dig and encounters Freddie, a fellow horror movie fan, and she finds herself initiated into a secret society of horror fanatics, named after the mother of horror herself, Mary Shelley. With high school life, fear tests, and secrets piling up, Rachel can't figure out who to trust. And when it all boils down to a final showdown in Central Park, Rachel survives. Again.
The ending leaves me hoping this is a series - it is edge-of-your-seat goodness! Goldy Moldavsky has created a YA psychological thriller, but it is not so mind-bending that you're up all night. The Mary Shelley Club is a must-add to your collection. Good for middle school YA collections as well.

I had high hopes for this one. I love Moldavsky's previous book, "Kill The Boy Band" and the plot of this book is RIGHT up my alley. I got every single horror nod she put in. The story was fun, the pacing was fast, the characters interesting. But...it fell a little short for me, sadly. And it was mainly the ending. If this isn't the set-up of a series, the ending is a cop out with a slight cliffhanger that leaves some questions unanswered. If it IS the beginning of a series...it would have been nice to know that going into it. There was a lot of build up...and then it just rushes to the conclusion. We should have gotten more after the ride we just went through.

Having said that, I wouldn't NOT recommend this to my customers. It's still a fun book for horror fans. But I hope there's more coming from this story, because if it's just meant to be a stand alone...people will be disappointed.

This book was different than what I expected. I assumed I’d love it, because of the title with the homage to Mary Shelley, and this club interested in horror. Unfortunately, the story fell flat, starting with the genre categorization. It seemed to lean more toward light horror than thriller, and I just kept waiting for something genuinely shocking to happen that wasn’t just some kids playing vile jokes on each other. The club element itself had a lot of promise with its appreciation for horror as a genre, but I just felt the execution failed to entice me and that I wasn’t the right audience for it.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

Rating: 4.5 stars

🥍 The jock.
📹 The geek.
🖤 The freak.
🃏 The clown.
👧🏽 The newbie.

What do you get when an unlikely group teens band together over their love of horror movies? A game that goes from scary to sinister faster than you can say "boo." And don't forget the first rule of TMSC: You do not talk about The Mary Shelley Club.

I don't like horror, and I don't like thrillers. I may or may not have been that one teenage girl screaming in theaters when something expectedly popped up during a Disney princess movie. So to say I'm not the intended audience for a book that is part mystery thriller, part ode to horror movies is an understatement. The title piqued my interest, but I didn't even bother reading the synopsis when I saw the genre because there was no way this was ending up on my TBR. Even after I won an early copy from a Fierce Reads sweepstakes, I though about not reading it. But when life gives you free books, you sometimes end up finding a really good one.

I went into this completely blind and was fully expecting to I'd have to force myself to get through the book, but the prologue had me hooked. (Having no expectations actually made the reading experience much more exciting and might've been what made me suspicious about the twist at the end, but that's another story.) She slowly builds suspense and the creeping sense of unease she manages to create (juxtaposed with the part about a bearded Chris Evans gif) in such a short span of time is amazing.

This is no B movie. There's an art to scaring people, and Moldavsky has it down to a science. Her mastery of language is evident in the way she weaves a story that's suspenseful addictive. She does what every school-aged child is taught to do and uses her words, but instead of resolving conflict, she creates a book that's both chilling and exhilarating. The fast-moving plot keeps you on the edge of your seat from the opening scene to the very last page. Her pacing and use of tension to ratchet up the intensity as the story moves closer to the climax is on point, and the use of first person POV vs third person narrative is absolutely brilliant. I loved it when during the first Fear Test, but as I'm writing this review, I'm struck even more by how amazingly she uses the shift in perspectives.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there probably isn't a whole lot of character development in horror films. It makes sense; why invest energy into someone who's about to have their head lopped off? But since this is less of a blood-and-guts story and more of a psychological thriller, I wish there was a little more character development. I'm a sucker for a band of misfits, so I loved the cast in The Mary Shelley Club. The characters are all pretty interesting, so it's disappointing their arcs aren't as developed as they could be.

There's an aspect of coping with trauma that's addressed in the book that adds an interesting dimension to the story. I love the element of identity as Rachel struggles to come to terms with her past and the dichotomy of how she presents herself versus who she think she might be. Again, I wish this were explored more because I think this story has the potential to pack even more of an emotional punch than it does.

My favorite part of this book (and what probably got me through a horror-thriller) is the fact that there's an element of satire. I can't say I totally caught every joke about horror tropes, but this was still fun. Rachel has a dry, sardonic sense of humor that I love, and Thayer brings a quirky lightness to the story. Humor/horror is a weird combo, but Moldavsky pulled it off beautifully; it reminds me of that Joss Whedon quote, "make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then...tell a joke."

I can't in good conscience give this a full five star rating because I think the end was a bit of a letdown. The pacing toward the end is too rushed, and the stakes get too high too quickly. There's a lot throughout the story that requires the suspension of disbelief, but the events surrounding the climax are pretty inconceivable. If things were fleshed out more, I would've been more willing to go along for the ride, but because things are so compacted, it makes the the absurdity of everything glaringly obvious. As for the ending-ending, I'm a little more on the fence. On the one hand, I get it and think it's a great ending, but on the other hand, the invested reader in me is deeply dissatisfied. I'm generally a fan of standalones, but is a sequel too much to hope for?

I loved the atmosphere in this novel. I loved all the references to classic and new horror movies. It definitely made me want to watch some scary movies. There are plenty of twists and turns and honestly, it was really good. I enjoyed that there was commentary on social class and how it further alienated her from her peers. Making her all that much more alone (which can be pretty terrifying!). I also loved that this was set in NYC because it made it easy for me to picture the setting. I would have liked the ending to be a bit more fleshed out. Though, I do think this sets up for a sequel rather nicely (I hope!).

I received this book as an advanced copy from NetGalley and its publisher! Thank you!

Right away, just from title alone, I was interested in this book. Mary Shelley was an icon and I was super intrigued to see how she was involved. Hearing this was a horror novel that was interwoven with horror movie references? Even better. Rachel is interesting and a nervous protagonist — while she knows her past, readers find out over time.

I did have a few problems with this book. Some of the breaks between chapters seemed choppy, and the author would play catch-up of what happened in the first few paragraphs. Second, some parts seemed unfinished — that said, there were indications that there could be a sequel. If that is the case, I’m definitely going to keep an eye out because it will end up on my to-read shelf.

**3/5 stars**
eARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Okay, for a thriller—this hooked me. I tend to stay away from thrillers because I guess I have high expectations for how I think they're supposed to "affect" me. The Mary Shelley Club took a minute (about 30% of the first half) to get me, but then I was devoted to the game. Stuck, like Rachel. And then the ending killed it. It isn't just predictable, it's silly. And it doesn't add up. What few clever moments this book had, they are completely overshadowed by the resolution and by the melodrama that leads up to it.

So we have Rachel, a young woman who moves to a new private school in New York after a terrible home invasion incident that ends up badly for her. After witnessing a spooky prank at a party, Rachel quickly discovers that a few of her peers are concealing a secret—enter the Mary Shelley Club. In order to secure her place in the club, Rachel must successfully conduct a Fear Test, a serious prank on a schoolmate. But the club is still hiding things from her, and as the pranks get edgier and edgier, she knows something is very wrong.

Rachel is a solid narrator. The Mary Shelley Club is threatening enough, though everything cool and interesting about the club is just shattered by the ending. Basically, you have a group of kids who don't even like each other bond over horror movies and then execute terrifying pranks together. The only thing holding them together are their love for horror and serious club rules that prevents them from bailing on the club or disclosing its secrets. There's a lot you can say with this about peer pressure, identity, etc. But again, anything interesting about this is completely watered down by the conclusion. It's a cheap trick that might have seemed really clever, but is really just a let-down.

That being said, the writing is fairly good and it was just enthralling enough to keep me interested. Moldavsky does an excellent job pulling Rachel and the reader into the Mary Shelley Club's game. If you want a read that will keep you up, this will do it. Just don't expect it to shock you.