Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this audiobook! I was so excited to read this book because I love Jesse’s books! I really liked this book!

I love a YA thriller and it's so fun to see Sutanto continue to write them. This was a nice follow up to The Obsession, but I don't think they need to be read in order. I also really enjoyed the dark academia aspect to it. Had a great time.

The narrator isn't my favorite, but it wasn't so bad that it was distracting me from the story.

The New Girl started off promising, but quickly lost its appeal for me. While the initial setup of the story held some intrigue with its portrayal of high school drama and the protagonist's attempt to navigate a new environment, the narrative took a sharp turn downhill.

The main character, Lia Setiawan, initially seemed relatable as she grapples with fitting into her new school, Draycott Academy. However, her actions quickly become frustrating as she spirals into a series of poor decisions and questionable behavior. Instead of confronting her mistakes, Lia chooses to cover them up, undermining her claims of being a good person.

The excessive drama in the story felt forced and overwhelming. From murder and cheating to drugs and corrupt teachers, the plot became increasingly unbelievable and difficult to invest in. The unrealistic portrayal of high school life, with characters engaging in activities far beyond their years, further detracted from the story's credibility.

Additionally, the romantic subplot felt rushed and implausible, with characters declaring their love after only one day of knowing each other. The instant connection between Lia and her love interest lacked authenticity and failed to resonate with me as a reader.

While the audiobook narration by Eunice Wong was competent, I found the overly exaggerated delivery distracting and unnecessary. The emphasis on every word felt forced and detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story.

Overall, "The New Girl" failed to deliver on its initial promise, leaving me disappointed and disengaged. While some readers may enjoy the high-stakes drama and fast-paced plot, it ultimately fell short of my expectations.

I’m sad to say this wasn’t a favourite of mine. Though I believe the themes of bullying are important to address in books, I felt it to be very over-the-top and not necessary. Like all because Lia ignored the warning of another girl who was like “don’t replace the number one top track star”. It was all pretty immature and not a valid reason to bully someone. And with that being said—just don’t bully anyone at all!

I also kept losing interest as the audiobook went on. I actually fell asleep at one point, and I have no idea what happened in the end (and by then I didn’t care to know what happened anyway).

Besides the unnecessary bullying, I didn’t hate anything else about this book. Though I will say Lia bothered me a whole f**king lot, just kept making one bad decision after another.

I do have her other YA thriller, The Obsession, that I plan to read eventually.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I somehow could not connect with the book. It is not that I am not a fan of high school drama and I love YA. But it was too YA for my liking. The plot was intriguing. May be it was the audiobook that I disliked. I may give this book another try.

Lia Setiawan has never really fit in. When she wins a full ride to the prestigious Draycott Academy on a track scholarship, she's determined to make it work even though she's never felt more out of place. But on her first day there she witnesses a girl being forcefully carried away by campus security. Her new schoolmates and teachers seem unfazed but it leaves her unsure of what she's gotten herself into. As she uncovers the secrets of Draycott, complete with a corrupt teacher, a golden boy who isn't what he seems, and a blackmailer determined to get her thrown out, She's not sure if she can trust anyone--especially when the threats against her take a deadly turn.

I was expecting this to be scarier than it actually was. I know, that’s on me. But the cover made it appear that it was giving off spooky vibes. I didn’t really get that.

Although I wasn't the hugest fan, I definitely plan to check out her other books. The mystery had some unexpected moments that held my interest. The audio performance was also good.
The whole story was a bit dramatic, but fun enough to keep you listening/reading.

A Year of Slump


Lia Setiawan has never really fit in. And when she wins a full ride to the prestigious Draycott Academy on a track scholarship, she's determined to make it work. On her first day there she witnesses a girl being forcefully carried away by campus security, while her schoolmates and teachers seem unphased. And as she uncovers the secrets of Draycott, complete with a corrupt teacher, a golden boy who isn't what he seems, and a blackmailer determined to get her thrown out, she's not sure if she can trust anyone...especially when the threats against her take a deadly turn.

So, it is fair to say that I had a tough year with books. Dear Ms. Sutanto my apologize for my super delayed review of your academic thriller. Between doing 30 job interviews to try and function after being home for two years due to covid I was not in the right space to want to read. Having said that I can say that I finished the audiobook in two days and will be reading more from this author in the future.

This was more of a psychological thriller, as you see the pure narcissism of privileged rich kids who honestly do not think that anything will every come of their actions. I enjoyed Lia’s character, even through everything that she got herself into, I found her to be a bit comical. It gave me Gilmore Girls but dark vines which made this so much more fun for me since I am a massive fan.
Unlike some readers who say that there might be parts of the story who lagged I didn’t feel that> I am not sure if it’s because I was listening to the audiobook or because this author’s writing style was beautifully interpreted by the narrator. Overall, this will be a 4 Star Read for me. # All-Nighter-Worthy

I read the ebook arcs before I got approved for this. Gave the ebook 4 stars. Liked it better than The Obsession but kept having a sense of de ja vu whilst reading it.

Every so often I come across an audiobook that I do not enjoy and I can't quite pinpoint whether it was the narration that put me off, or the plot itself. That's where I find myself after listening to this book.

Dark Academia, Teen Drama and an author that wrote one of my favorite reads last year - I should love this story, right?

I didn't though. I felt like it was really over the top and I turned into a teenager that kept rolling her eyes all the time. I think if the drama was dialed back a bit, this could have worked better. Without the humor of Dial A for Aunties, all the drama just didn't work for me.

This was okay and had a decent pace. I didn't really connect with the characters. It had a bunch of twists and was more of a private school thriller.  


Tw. Underage drinking, drugs, racism bullying/cyberbulling



Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this one.

This book was about what I expected but a bit different at the same time. It’s well written and keeps you guessing.
Lia Setiawan never really fit in but when she wins a full track scholarship to the prestigious Draycott Academy she is determined that she will do all she can to make it all work out. However, she’s never felt more out of place than she does now.
On her first day there she sees a girl being carried forcefully off of campus by security. Her new teachers and classmates seem completely unphased by this. It sure leaves her feeling unsure of just exactly what it is she has gotten herself into.
Soon she begins to see cracks in the perfect school. She finds corruption, drugs, a blackmailer, and (of course) a boy. She’s not sure that she can trust anyone, especially after things turn deadly.
This was a decent book. It kept you turning the pages to see what was coming next. It dealt with racism, classism, and a few other isms.
If you are looking for a YA story that has a thrillers touch, you may like this.

This book and writing style was okay. However. I didn’t the story all the enjoyable. I DNF’ed the book about 30% in. There was nothing wrong with the plot, but it just wasn’t the book for me. Still, I have heard amazing things about this author and would like to pick up some of their other works in the future.

🍾 BOOK REVIEW 🍾

Synopsis: Lia Setiawan has never really fit in. And when she wins a full ride to the prestigious Draycott Academy on a track scholarship, she's determined to make it work even though she's never felt more out of place.
But on her first day there she witnesses a girl being forcefully carried away by campus security. Her new schoolmates and teachers seem unphased, but it leaves her unsure of what she's gotten herself into.
And as she uncovers the secrets of Draycott, complete with a corrupt teacher, a golden boy who isn't what he seems, and a blackmailer determined to get her thrown out, she's not sure if she can trust anyone...especially when the threats against her take a deadly turn.

Review: holy MOLY! So this is probably my favourite book by this author, including dual A for aunties. This one started off super slow and I was going to DNF. But then at 30% the MC literally kills a man (not a spoiler- it’s on the cover) and I was SHOOK. The rest of the story had my heart in my throat. It’s completely barbaric and I can’t believe it’s YA, but I couldn’t stop reading!

My sincerest thanks to the publisher and @netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for my review

4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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The audio was fine. The story was just a typical YA story for me. Nothing too surprising or out of the ordinary. I quick enjoyable read. 2.5

Book 76 for 2022! 5/5 stars for this YA Mystery read! Yall know I love a good school setting for a Mystery book! And goodness sakes what a corrupt school! Great story, great diversity in the characters. Love the cover, it's perfect! Narration was great!

I really like the mystery to this book and that it has a love story intertwined. It was suspenseful and slick for a ya novel. I found it a bit repetive and a little out there but all in all I enjoyed it

This YA private school thriller is a fun read with an intriguing storyline that will keep you guessing til the very end.

🔊Song Pairing: Titanium - David Guetta ft Sia

💭What I thought would happen:

YA titled the new girl…knew there was going to be some catty players in this book

📖What actually happens:

Lia is new to the prestigious Draycott private school on a full ride track scholarship. On her first day she witnesses major drama ensue, one of the students is being forced out of the school making wild acquisitions towards one of the teachers who is held in high standing.

Lia soon realizes she has issues with above stated teacher as he is a true bias asshole. His advanced English class is the only class available to Lia to work with her track schedule. He obviously hates her from the beginning and states if she tries to take his class, she will not succeed and her scholarship will be removed.

🗯Thoughts:

At this point, in Jesse Q Sutanto I trust. I have read and enjoyed all of her books. Big fan! I highly recommend this one! Very different from The Aunties series, less comedy, more drama.

Of course I always love the representation brought by this author. All the characters in this book were intriguing and caused some serious emotions.

Spoiled rich kids seething with privilege and above average intelligence…placed together in a boarding school…basically the emotional hunger games.

Overall, a quick read. As soon as I started I wanted to finish as fast as possible! I had to know!