🔊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!

For a teen who says her mom is her best friend, she sure had little page time... even the few phone calls we get are cut short. Overall though, a real page turner. I listened to the audiobook in one sitting!

I love dark academia. This one was that and more. Lia was such a relatable character. I have been in the new girl spot but not quite like her. I loved all the twists and turns in this book. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole book. I needed to know what was happening. Jesse Sutanto is an auto-buy author for me. Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. It was an action-packed, sort of dark academia young adult thriller. However, having said all that, some parts were just not realistic which usually makes me put the book down.

This story felt like gossip girl if it took place at a boarding school. This story follows Lia as she gets accepted to the prestigious boarding school Draycott a school full of rich spoiled teens who are not afraid to flaunt their money. Lia automatically feels out of place it this rich school. She is on a track scholarship and right from the start ends up drawing the ire of rich girl Mandy who was kicked of the varsity track team when Lia was added. Lia has to deal with Mandy trying to get her kicked out while also dealing with a corrupt teacher and finding out the school has their own drug dealer. This story unfolds with lots of twists and turns and tons of drama.
I really enjoyed this book it was entertaining and I really liked the twist and turns. The characters were a little less likable they were pompous and annoying and the main character made every wrong choice she could. There was also lots of parts that were over the top and completely unbelievable. I did listen to the audiobook for this which made me like this book less. The narrator was annoying with her dramatizations. There were quite a few times where I was rolling my eyes at the narrator. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book for an honest review.

I have really enjoyed Jesse's book in the past so was looking forward to listening to this book. I think it was done really well and loved the YA mystery. A solid four out of five star read.

The New Girl focuses on scholarship student, Lia from her first day at Draycott Academy. It doesn't take long for her to get caught up in the scandalous secrets of Draycott, which include a corrupt teacher and a blackmailer.

I was really excited to listen to this audiobook as I was such a fan of Jesse Q. Sutanto's Dial A for Aunties and I was intrigued by how her writing would translate for a YA audience. The New Girl surprisingly had a couple of similarities. For example, Sutanto's signature wit and dry humour did shine through, even in dark times. Lia is also an Indo-Chinese-American teenager, so her heritage and culture also made a significant appearance. However, that's where the similarities end, as The New Girl is definitely darker and more mysterious.

Lia is also a somewhat unlikeable protagonist (I definitely didn't agree with a lot of her decisions), but the book's twists and turns ensured this book remained fast-paced and intriguing. Unfortunately, in this instance, the audiobook let me down and I wouldn't recommend listening to The New Girl. The narrator just seemed overly dramatic and I personally thought her inflections didn't accurately fit the book. But overall, if you enjoy YA mysteries, you'd probably enjoy reading The New Girl.

I feel like this book was decently paced, but the story line did not develop as well as it should have. Lia was giving major Pip vibes from AGGGTM. I felt like this book and As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson were mirror images, which could possibility be why I’m only giving this one 3 stars (it doesn’t come close to comparing to H.J.). Though it technically took me a month to finish (I borrowed it from the library and then had to wait for it to be available again when it was returned on me), it actually only took me a few days to get through it. I started out with the audiobook but switched to the ebook and enjoyed the ebook more! Overall, it was pretty entertaining, and is a good YA thriller/mystery.

I expected something in the vein of Ace of Spades but got something more like Mean Girls? The audiobook definitely impacted my experience and will be trying the print version on a later date.
Thank you for the opportunity

"The New Girl" by Jessie Q Sutanto was marketed as a dark academia thriller.

We follow Leah Setiawan as she is accepted into a very prestigious privage school, Draycott Academy. She is there on a track scholarship. But she soon realizes that the school has secrets, and that she might get expelled if she keeps digging.

This did not give me dark academka vibes. At best it is a thriller in a private school,.Overall, the plottwists were good but I just did not feel invested enough in the story to feel shocked, I do not know why. I didn't feel like we knew enough about the supporting characters (Beth and Grace among others) to really care about them. The popcultural references to 'TikTok' and such made me cringe out loud. The book was kind of predictable but I did enjoy parts of it like a certain teacher and what happened.

Lia setiawan doesn't know what she's in for when she receives a full ride track scholarship to the prestigious boarding school draycott academy.. When she arrives she is in awe of the school's appearance as well as the students who look as if they belong on the cover of a fashion magazine. But Lia soon learns that behind the pretty exterior lie secrets and scandal.

I think the narrator did a really good job. The pacing was fast, it didn't take long for things to start happening. Right away as soon as Lia gets to the school there is a situation going on with another student and Lia is horrified to see that no one doing anything, they're just standing around watching. We are also introduced to the school's gossip app draycott dirt where students get to talk trash and spread rumors all while hiding behind fake names.

When she meets and falls for a guy at school there are these red flags that pop up about him that are so obvious but that she either ignores or doesn't realize and it's so frustrating. I feel like Lia is very insecure but at the same time she has this inner strength. When things start getting worse for her at the school and she finds that she on her own she manages to keep fighting. Although I don't agree with a lot of the decisions she made, she did what she could considering the circumstances and lack of help and guidance from the adults in the school.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a fast paced ya thriller, or if you're like me and love a good story with a boarding school setting then you'll enjoy this book too.

I don’t read many YA books but I’m a fan of the author so I figured why not? It sounded interesting and I don’t believe I’ve ever read a YA thriller/mystery. The story was ok and the narration was pretty good.

Note to self: don't read books where the main character has your name as it will just cause ✨anxiety✨

I was fortunate enough to read an early copy of Jesse's first YA thriller, The Obsession, and to be frank, I was ob-sessed. I was hoping this would be just as exciting and unnerving, but it didn't come anywhere close. It was missing the cleverness and interesting characters that made Jesse's debut shine, and the story slash mystery didn't feel very tight or threaded together well.

Lia is not my favourite starring character. She transfers to Draycott, an ultra-rich private school, on a track scholarship at the start of the story, and nothing really goes right for her. Her English Lit teacher is an ass, the students regularly make fun of her in the worst way possible, and her track dreams come under fire almost immediately. But I didn't get the sense that she was a character worth rooting for. I felt bad for her, for sure, it was impossible not to with how mean kids are, especially wealthy ones. But it was fleeting since the life-ending changes don't seem to really ... stick. Lia also gets in her own way so much because she seems to think herself on a different level from everyone else and makes decisions that just aren't well thought out. A particular drug-related choice had me so frustrated as the reader.

There are some racial undertones to the story that were quite upsetting. The animosity between Indonesians and Indo-Chinese was very real, and I truly felt sorry for the characters wrapped up in that and what it meant for their relationships with their own families. No one should have to go through that because of who they choose to date or marry for the sake of their own happiness.

Looking back, the mystery itself isn't all that satisfying. It actually felt somewhat disconnected. Big deal things happened with incredible levels of over-the-top emotion, and then were just sort of swept under the rug until conveniently brought up later. I realized halfway through that I wasn't entirely sure what mystery the story was leading up to solving. Was it murder? The cheating ring? Drug dealing? Of course, there was no real shortage of potential suspects, and that did keep me on my toes of who to trust. The ending came around so abruptly that I didn't get time to enjoy it or the pieces that led to it.

Finally, I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of the audiobook from the publishers. However, I did not much like the narrator. She made Lia come across as a childish drama queen that made it difficult to connect, and there was very little variation between voices.

I think I just had high expectations, and I'm sorry they weren't met. Next time.

What a wild ride!

Lia is the new girl at Draycott Academy, which caters to the rich. She is there on scholarship and clearly doesn't fit in, and is bullied from the start. There is an app, Dryacott Dirt, which makes anyone and everyone look bad and is an easy way to bully. I really felt for Lia as all this got started because she showed up, not because she did anything. But it sets the ball in motion quite well.

There is a lot going on in The New Girl, it was over the top at times, which for me was perfectly fine. I did have a few grievances at the start (the wild arbitrary rules for athletics wouldn't be in place in an elite school, also she got benched for "failing" because she got a D on one assignment) but once the story got moving I was able to set that aside.

I felt like I had a good handle on whodunit at the end, but the ride there was filled with fun twists and turns.

I love Jesse Q. Sutanto! Her books are some of my favorites! This one unfortunately missed the mark for me. I think if I had read it instead of listened to it, I would have enjoyed it more. The narrator just didn’t click for me. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this read in exchange for a review.

This is the same author from "Dial A for aunties" and "The obsession", which I read in 2021. I love how she writes! So natural, the story flows easily and has me engaged.
This is the story of Lia, who goes to a posh college with a scholarship. he rich girls there are mean, bullying her via an app. Her English Lit teacher might be corrupt. Then she gets involved in something horrible that changes her life.
Fast paced. It explores bullying and racism.

Loved the premise, and enjoyed the book although it wasn't quite what I expected. It's very much a story of the modern age in elite boarding schools, as well as the experience of minorities and scholarship students in this environment. I don't quite love the direction Sutanto took the story in, but the ride was gripping nonetheless.
I listened to the audiobook version of The New Girl and thought the narrator did a great job with these characters and keeping the pacing of the plot moving at a steady pace.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Brilliant thriller, on the mark from start to finish.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Book Review: The New Girl by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The New Girl is a young adult thriller set in an elite California boarding school with elements of mystery and dark academia.
Lia Setiawan is a new transfer student to Draycott Academy on a track scholarship. Her first moments at her new school are fraught with drama as she sees a student dragged out by security, is quickly alienated by her fellow track team members and is constantly mocked and slammed on the school’s unofficial social media app. The only bright side is meeting Danny a fellow Indonesian student with whom she feels an immediate connection. But when Lia finds herself on the wrong side of her English Literature teacher her entire career at Draycott is in jeopardy along with her relationship with Danny and her track career. But the toxicity at Draycott runs deep and Lia will find herself wrapped up in a “pay for grade” scandal, drug deals and murder.
This a very dramatic teen rich kid soap opera that touches on a lot of serious issues around internalized racism, special treatment in education by wealthy students and drug abuse. I really enjoyed learning about Indonesians and some of the prejudice they face by other Asian people. I wished we could have seen more of Lia’s life previous to Draycott as it almost felt like she was born on her first day of school there. She barely spoke to her mom or any other people from her previous life and it was hard to get to know her as a character. She also made some really dubious decisions that made it difficult to relate to her. I think many readers would find this an entertaining teen thriller but I wanted something a little deeper and realistic.
3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was given the opportunity to read this book as an ARC from NetGalley. Below is my honest opinion of the book.

I was excited to read a YA book that was about Chinese-Indonesian culture. I love books that combine YA thriller and mysteries with culture. So, I was honestly pretty bummed when I started reading this book. It was like one bad thing after another that happened to Lia. She could not get a break, first she was not the right type of Chinese-Indonesian when she met her boyfriend, then she was failing her classes, but couldn't fail them or she would lose her track scholarship and found out about a cheating ring, there was murder and a whole lot of bullying. I mean horrible bullying. Worse than Mean Girls type bullying. I mean they had something like a burn book but it was online. I kind of felt bad for Lia, because of everything she was going through. I just want to have a book with a few characters with redeeming qualities. The majority of the characters were rich and snobby. I just wanted something good to happen. I felt kind of empty reading this book. I wanted so much more from this. The end was kind of predictable.

The good things again as I mentioned, I love reading about culture and people and traditions when I read books so I definitely learned a lot in this book. I loved the author intonations on different foods or when there were parts in the book where Indonesian and Chinese were spoken. I like the idea of romance in the book, but not sure if it was written to its fullest potential.

I wish I could give this book a higher rating. It had the potential. I am not sure I would recommend this book for young teens or pre-teens, due to the cursing, drug usage and severe bullying. But as my son would say, he hears so many curse words being in middle school, so maybe it's to be expected. I am sure someone will enjoy this book, it just was not really for me.