Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read and review.

Do you enjoy books that seem like they were written in hopes of being a movie or TV series? If so this is the book for you. It wasn't the book for me. Take Riverdale, make them mostly rich, and have even less adult supervision and more drugs. There was a lot going on but I do wish more time was spent writing some scenes - actual description rather than just comparisons to other things (the school lobby looks like something from Harry Potter).

While I had to remind myself that this is YA a few times so that helped justify some of the language and behaviors of the characters, I still very much enjoyed the writing and devoured it all in one sitting It’s fun, but still has lots of elements of a good thriller and plenty of twists to keep you guessing right up until the end.
The New Girl is dark YA murder mystery set in an elite boarding school that only the richest kids attend so when Lia gets a full track scholarship, she has a hard time fitting in with the others. Things start to come together for her until one of her teachers fails her on an exam which sets of a chain of events they can only happen in the movies-which this totally needs to be btw! Someone get Netflix on the line!
Although Lia wasn’t my fav character, I had to remember that she was a teenager and we all did stupid things and cried more than normal and had way too many feelings. She’s out of her element in a new place with people she can’t relate to other than their age (hello-they go on yachts and private jets and she’s on a scholarship!) But the sad part is, the rich kids seem threatened by her being there with the exception of Lia’s love interest, Dylan. And the dang gossip app of the school is the doom of them all-bullying abounds.
There’s lots of humor and drama and it’s written so well that you don’t want to stop reading (or listening)
Be warned going in though. There are several triggers: murder, drugs, bullying & addiction.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my review.

After reading and enjoying Jesse's book "The Obsession", I was looking forward to reading her next YA thriller - The New Girl. The New Girl though is a bit of a prequel to The Obsession as it runs parallel with some of the pre-storyline of The Obsession. The other thing that I enjoyed with this author is that all her characters are of Asian descent like herself and she has brought the strong Asian-American culture into both books. So, for those who read the first book The Obsession, you will remember it starting with discovering Sophie Tanaka dead and Logan having a new crush on Delilah. In The New Girl, we meet Lia Setiwan - on her first day, she sees a crazed girl being taken away by police, and then she discovers the room she is in was formally the crazy girls. The crazy girl is Sophie Tanaka - Logan's Sophie. While cleaning the room, Lia sees a graffiti scribble that "Mr. Werner is a Liar". What is he lying about though? Lia has won a track scholarship to Draycott Academy but seeing as there are only 4 spots available on track varsity and now 5 girls are vying for spots. Lia becomes a target and if that wasn't bad enough - Mr. Werner hates her and is failing her which means she could lose her scholarship. I have to admit, I really hated with a passion the character of Mr. Werner and would have probably killed him myself. He got what he deserved. I also wondered right through the book if he was a racist jerk as it came across that way. As Lia starts digging to save not only her scholarship but, in the process, discovering what happened to Sophie and what Mr. Werner is hiding - she will find herself falling into a rabbit hole and uncovering the "Dark side of Draycott" and if she isn't careful - she may end up just like Sophie - another dead Asian. If you love diverse YA reads and boarding school thrillers, then you will love The New Girl by Jesse Q Sutanto.

When Lia arrives at her new school she sees a girl being carried away kicking a screaming. Before she knows it she’s trapped in a web of lying, drugs, cheating and murder.

Fun and twisty and very readable. A bit light touch and lacking depth. And I really struggled with the main character who is just a shade to selfish and narcissistic to be likeable. I wanted a bit more from in in terms of character development (though I loved Stacey). And the reveals felt a bit rushed. Teens will probably enjoy, but I don’t think it quite crosses the threshold into YA that’s enjoyable by all ages. Very fun though.

The new girl is a fast paced read. I enjoyed it but was able to figure things out pretty quickly. I loved the characters and how it showed diversity in such a small minded world. It opens up your eyes to the rich and how they think they are above all , truly a great read.

I thought that this book was pretty good! I will say that I am potentially beginning to grow out of this genre of YA as I found it a bit predictable and the arc overdone. But, I thought that the writing style was awesome and the narrative was very compelling--I absolutely flew through this novel! I thought that the story was a bit over-dramatic, and as someone who is a few years out of high-school I found myself not really understanding or relating to the motivations present in the novel. However, I thought it was really fun and if you can suspend your belief a little and laugh at the eye-roll-worthy parts then you're surely in for a fun ride. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for a copy of this book to review! I'll definitely be checking out any more new releases by this author!

“I chew slowly, itching to know what she was going to ask me, but not quite daring to ask. Some secrets are best left buried.”

Last year, I read Jesse Q. Sutanto’s wonderful sophomore novel, ‘Dial A for Aunties’ and adored it. It made me immediately keep an eye out for any further releases from Sutanto; so when I got the chance to read ‘The New Girl’ as an ARC in exchange for a review, it’s safe to say that I jumped at the chance.

I won’t lie, I went into this book mostly blind, I only knew the very basics of the storyline and also that I love Sutanto’s writing style, so I had high hopes.

Those hopes were, of course and as expected, met and I might even say exceeded.

From the get go, I was interested. The first chapter had me hooked. I was left immediately yearning to find out more about our protagonist, Lia, and the mysteries of Draycott Academy.

Jesse Q. Sutanto is really solidifying her spot as the versatile, unique and captivating author that she is, what with her ever so special ability to capture emotions, mysteries and intrigue like no other.

Lia was a very captivating and interesting main character, one who felt very real in the way that she thought, felt and did things. There were a few times where her fear and her panic, especially in regards to her fraught decision making, was palpable.

For me, the standout character was Stacey. She had a way to make me laugh, even when the book was undoubtedly serious and even a little bit disturbing. Her character was a really refreshing change of pace from the dark and often dreary plot and it’s twists that grew ever deeper and darker.

The New Girl was a thought-provoking, encapsulating and mildly disturbing book with twists and turns up the wazoo. I thoroughly enjoyed every turn of a page.

Jesse Q. Sutanto, you’ve done it again!

3.5/5 stars ⭐️

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in which I received in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions via a review)

Lia Setiawan gets accepted at the prestigious Draycott Academy due to a scholarship and she really wants to make this work. But from the first day of her arrival she gets tangled up into all the secrets behind the closed school gates. She uncovers a corrupt teacher, blackmailers and people who just won't beleave her.
Things start to get really nasty and sometimes I was about "...this is way too much" but somehow Jesse Sutanto always manages to get things back on track.
I particularly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook Eunice Wong who does a great job.
Thanks #NetGalley #Tantor Audio and #SOURCEBOOKS Fire, Sourcebooks Fire for an ARC of this book

Jesse Q Sutanto should focus on writing sick and twisted YA thrillers and stay away from quirky rom-com murder mysteries (Dial A for Aunties, I'm looking at you!).

Truth is, "The New Girl" wasn’t nearly as good as author's debut "Obsession", but it had the same breathtaking elements. There's something about previously innocent, good girls put in a position where they have nothing to loose and everything to gain, that sends goosebumps down my spine.
Also, it takes a great writer to make readers love their moraly grey characters and cheer for them to get away with all the horrible things they've done. Which Ms. Sutanto is.
And I can't wait to read her future work.

As a huge fan of Dial A for Aunties, I was eager to read this young adult novel, which, according to the author’s notes, looks as though it was written before Dial A for Aunties. This is the story of Lia, an Indonesian American, who procures a spot at the coveted Draycott Academy in Northern California under a track scholarship. The days she arrives on campus she witnesses police hauling away an Asian student who is kicking and screaming, no longer a student. But now Lia has moved into her room. On the surface, Draycott looks beautiful and feels safe, but Lia soon learns about DD short for Draycott Dirt, an online platform where students can anonymously spread gossip about one another. Before she’s had a chance to settle in, someone wants Lia gone and she’s has been dragged into the school’s dark underbelly rife with morally corrupt adults, drug dealers and liars. This dark and entertaining novel explores friendship, identity, class, race and bullying. Thank you to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for the advanced review copy of this book.

A one-sitting read for me!

I really enjoyed this YA dark academia thriller. An atmospheric and engaging read, I loved the descriptions of Draycott Academy and its dorms. Makes me wish the school was real so that I could visit! Of course, beneath its shiny exterior lurks lies, secrets and a faculty that's shadier than its students.

Although the protagonist could be frustrating at times, I feel that the author perfectly captured Lia as The New Girl who inadvertently finds herself caught in murder and mayhem.

Fans of The Obsession will be thrilled to recognise some familiar names here. Both books highlight feminine rage but I found The New Girl much more compelling.

One of my favourite things about Jesse Sutanto's books is the cultural insight and this one was no different: Fascinating, accurate and relatable. The mentions of goreng pisang and nasi goreng had me so excited and hungry! I also loved seeing Lia and her peers discuss Asian aunties. The best part was I could totally hear everyone's accents. What I didn't know, however, was the racism against native Indonesians and their tension with Chinese-Indos, so that was eye-opening for me.

Jesse Q. Sutanto is one talented author to watch out for and I can't wait to see what she brings next.

This is a story about the new girl at school.

If you love school based YA thrillers, this is a quick, twisty read! I think a lot of readers will enjoy it.

… but it wasn’t quite for me. I don’t mind an unlikable protagonist- but I’ve discovered in recent reading that I really don’t enjoy books that don’t seem to be aware of that central fact. The lead here makes consistent poor choices with minimal accountability, while commenting on the privilege of the youth around her who are spoiled… because they get to make poor choices with minimal accountability. No one here is the good guy, and there’s no justice for the one character who seems potentially guiltless.

Thank you so much Netgalley & Sourcebooks Fire for the eArc!

A twisty YA mystery/thriller set in a posh private academy. Lia is the new girl in school there on a track scholarship, feeling like the odd one out she stumbles on some dark secrets about both her teacher and classmates. The story kept me entertained and I liked the focus on Asian American characters/experiences. Recommended for fans of The firekeeper's daughter. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copies in exchange for an honest review.

This #NetGalley Advanced Review Copy has been on my shelf for awhile and sounded like a fun young adult murder mystery. It has the usual elements-- boarding school, class conflict, teachers with questionable professional norms-- but it's inclusion of a more diverse set of characters makes it stand out.

In the end, I liked the characters but didn't get swept up in the mystery.

Lia, a scholarship student at a prestigious private boarding school, is the protagonist of The New Girl. Lia’s anxieties appear to be getting the best of her on the first day. She stands out like a sore thumb among the privileged, self-assured Draycott students, but she is keen to make the best of a bad situation. Lia is dealing with far more than the regular teenager, from racism to bullying to shocking professor scandals.

Lia is half-Indonesian, half-Chinese, and she has a number of encounters with people who sympathize with her because of a common cultural trait. Race and culture play a significant role in the storyline in a creative manner that I liked. There are also some elements of Indonesian and Mandarin conversation and cuisine.

Now, in terms of my own perspective, this book struck the point in some places while missing the target in others. The story moved a little too quickly at parts; I thought the conclusion was rushed. The premise is intriguing, but I believe it might be better structured instead of having very little happened to the characters and then pouring everything in at once.

I also believed that, despite the large cast of characters, many of them were underutilized. Those characters may have been developed into three-dimensional characters to enhance the plot’s framework.

Nonetheless, this was an uncomplicated book to get into, and despite its 300+ pages, I breezed through it.

Lia is the new girl at Draycott Academy, an elite boarding school that she hopes will be able to earn the track scholarship of her dreams. However, when her move-in day consists of a student being dragged away from the school by the police, it's clear to see that not everything is what it seems at Draycott. Will Lia survive the year?

It was so hard to get into the first half of this book. While it did move at an extremely fast pace that I really wasn't expecting, so it was hard to catch up. It was kind of like trying to jump on a treadmill that's already at its fastest speed. The introduction to the school barely lasted like 10 pages before Lia is shown her room and the drama begins. Once I got a good portion into the book, I finally managed to pick up on the pace of the story.

The plot was very much Ace of Spades and Mean Girls, but not really in the best way. There were so many plot twists, but a lot of them came off as pretty predictable based on the nature of the story. And this story was basically "rich people suck, power to the lower class!" I can't really speak on the authenticity of the Chinese-Indonesian and Asian representations as I am not of these backgrounds. I will say that the one queer character in this story felt very forced. It was like "I said that to you because I like you" and it's never brought up again, because Lia is not queer. Lia also looks away from a stray boob at one party and it kind of just rubbed off the wrong way to me.

Everyone was SO PETTY it was unreal. The bullies had absolutely no depth to them besides "hey we're the mean girls and we love to see you suffer." In fact, almost every other character felt too basic. Lia was basically defined by her track and her own depression and anxiety from what happens over the course of this book. Half the time I swear she was crying or just horribly lying. I also wasn't a huge fan of her inner dialogue or her actual dialogue. Overall, the characters weren't really believable or likeable.

Probably the only real thing that kept me going in this story was seeing how far some extremes would go, because those would be quite amusing although they really didn't make the most sense.

The New Girl is just another rehash of every typical new girl boarding school dark academia story that was just a disappointment and a drag despite being fast-paced.

I received a copy of this story as an ARC from NetGalley. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Book was an enjoyable read. Can see teens liking this one and I definitely would recommend this to other lovers of this sort of book.

I was ready to pass on this one, but that tagline made me change my mind. “She’s a liar. A cheater. A murderer. And it’s only her first semester.” It made me wonder what kind of person this girl was and what she’d gotten herself into.

The first few chapters spawned plenty of eyerolls with its tropes and drama. Mean girls – check. Hot guy/instalove – check. Rich kids bullying a poor kid – check. I kept hoping something else would happen and not make me regret requesting this book. It was Lia that kept me reading. She’s been raised by a single mom after her dad’s death and doesn’t have any extended family close by. She has dreams for her future, but her only hope of attending college is a track scholarship. The only way to attain that is to graduate from Draycott Academy, but with everything that happens she’s seconds away from being expelled.

Lia’s internal monologue is another reason I kept reading. Witty and sarcastic, she also tends to speak before she thinks, which puts her in some awkward situations. She’s a victim of both in-person bullying and cyber-bullying, but also gets in some quips of her own, and I liked that she didn’t cower in a corner. I did get frustrated with her a few times when she’d be on the verge of discovering a key to the mystery and then back off and let it drop. Her character is smarter than that.

As far as the secrets of Draycott, they don’t spark electrifying moments during the reveals, but there are a couple surprises. Although it comes with tropes, teens with private jets (seriously?), and some eye-rolling moments, The New Girl is a quick and entertaining read. Other reviewers mentioned this book would appeal to fans of Gossip Girl.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Content Warning: Murder, Drug Use, Bullying

This is my second Jesse Q. Sutanto book and I can definitely see a theme with her stories. Murder! The New Girl is a thriller mystery filled with prep school drama filled with beautiful people, brand names, bullies, wealth and drug use.

I love that the main character is half Indonesian and half Chinese-Indonesian. We get to learn some Indonesiand and Chinese-Indo culture. She attends Draycott Academy where the rich kids drive very fancy cars, wear designer clothes, pay for good grades, use drugs and basically do whatever they want. But when Lia gets a mean girl mad by taking her spot on the track team, she has to do everything she can to fight back and keep her spot at the school. And this is when things go haywire.

Lia is not scared, I gotta give her credit for that. She stands up to Mandy, the girl on her track team but that gets Lia into deeper trouble. The story is full of teen drama, scandals and even murder. I’m usually into teenage drama, but there was something about this one that was turning me off at times and I think it’s all the teen speak going on – it just wasn’t working for me.

Pacing was a little off for me also. It started off slow with her meeting a cute boy and falling for him and then it really picks up as the drama between her and a certain teacher begins. Then it gets wild but I felt that way about her other book, Dial A for Aunties. There are some twists and turns, so with a story like this you just have to hang on and enjoy the ride.

FINAL THOUGHTS::
Why you should read it:
*you like ya mystery thrillers that take you on a wild ride
*Lia’s experience being Indonesian and Chinese-Indo
*twists and turns keep you on your toes

Why you might not want to read it:
*slow beginning, fast ending
*lots of rich teen drama
*teen speak wasn’t working for me

My Thoughts:

It took me awhile to get into this book but the twist and turns did keep me intrigued. Also I like the Indonesian and Chinese-Indonesian representation. The book overall wasn’t a book for me because I’m not the right audience for it but I think teen readers would enjoy this one.

Lia Setiawan receives a track scholarship to the prestigious Draycott Academy. On her first day, she sees a girl forcibly removed from campus. Then she suspects something suspicious is going on in her English class. Lia decides to investigate in order to discover the secrets at Draycott.

The book starts off a little slow, but eventually the action picks up. There is a lot going on, especially after one event, where everything snowballs one right after the other. I didn’t completely guess the final twist, although I did suspect something was not quite right.

This book is also full of mean rich kids who bullied Lia in person and on an app. If this is what high school is like nowadays, I am so glad I graduated way before social media and smartphones were a thing.

Lia was a very frustrating character who made a lot of not very smart decisions, but we can chalk that up to her being a teenager who is in way over her head. What I did like about her is that she is very proud of her Chinese-Indonesian heritage and I love that Sutanto put a lot of cultural references into the book. There was also some good social commentary about class and ethnicity, especially the tension between native Indonesians and Chinese-Indonesians that I did not know about.

While this book is a different genre and intended for a YA audience, I much preferred Sutanto’s rom com, Dial A for Aunties, and am anxiously awaiting the sequel. Reviews for her first YA thriller, Obsession, are excellent so I will give that one a try next.