Secret societies, mystery, and a girl who will do anything to save her best friend… what’s not to like? They’re Watching You by Chelsea Ichaso follows Maren, a student at an elite high school. After her best friend disappears after joining the ultra exclusive Chess Club, Maren takes it into her own hands to find out what happened to Polly.

I have to say, this new string of YA novels coming out are so much better than the ones I grew up with. Yes, there is some romance, but it is not center stage. When I started this book I was not expecting much, but next thing I knew I was 80% of the way done and could not stop.

What I liked: This book is well paced with action at appropriate times with information peppered in throughout. There were times that the author could have written sections as “info dumps,” but instead the information comes out naturally.

To keep in mind: You do have to suspend some of your beliefs and reality to get into some of the deeper drama, but isn’t that what a good books is supposed to do? I also didn’t feel like the romance was necessary, but it was not the main focus so it was not too big of a deal.

Overall thoughts: This was a great book to kick off the start of the New Year! It was such a fun read that completely sucks you in.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for a copy of this books in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read They're watching you by Chelsea Ichaso. This book had me second guessing the entire way through!!! I really liked the main character, Maren and her determination to find her friend Polly after she disappears. The games she had to play brought back memories of reading The hunger games; never knowing whether she was playing for her life or if The gamesmaster was just making the challenges seem real! For those who love YA I think you will like it!!!

Maren has heard whispers of a secret society within her university. She has never really paid it much attention until her roommate and best friend, Polly, goes missing. She's considered a runaway, but Maren isn't convinced. She can't help but think Polly got herself tangled in a mess or maybe saw/did something she shouldn't have... and it all leads back to the Society. Maren decides to take matters into her own hands and finds a way to get an invitation to infiltrate the Society and save her friend.

Once she is initiated, she still doesn't have much control and can't seem to outsmart the Society, who always seem to be one step ahead of her. She is tasked with playing games, without knowing who she can trust. Who is the Gamemaster? Where is Polly? Is every figure of authority on campus a part of the Society? Every time I thought I had it figured out, I would get pulled in another direction. I highly recommend They're Watching You if you like mysteries and dark academia themes.

Thank you to Chelsea Ichaso, Sourcebooks Fire, & NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange of my honest review.

I really enjoyed a lot of the twists in this; however, the actual ending was so unbelievable that I could not help but knock it down a star.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a YA mystery involving a missing girl and connections to a secret society. It pulled me in from the start. I really loved the main character and her quest to find her missing friend. And the villains were written in a way that I found them intriguing.
I loved the puzzles and games the society made the characters play and the whole society was very well thought out.
Some twists were more predictable than others but the story as a whole kept a very good pace and it was engaging and keeps you reading.
There were some choices at the end I wish had gone a different way, but overall I enjoyed the writing, characters and plot.

I need to thank #NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to read an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This was the perfect mystery/ thriller to end the year with. I feel like I can't say too much or I will give away all the twists. It was refreshing to read a clean YA novel, there is no cussing and no sex. What is there is:
*An elite boarding school
*A secret society
*A missing person
*Games that involve life or death situations
*Mysterious catacombs
*A possible love triangle that keeps you guessing till the end
*A teenage girl who will do (almost) anything to save her best friend

This is a great one that I will be recommending to all my mystery loving students.

One of my favorite books this month! I am really love secret society books and this one is super cool. I was blindsided by the ending. If you like dark academy, this is for you!

I’m so disappointed in this one. It sounded right my alley. Elite school, secret societies, murders and a missing best friend? Sounds like a recipe for a book I’m going to love, so of course I wanted to read it. Oh, how I quickly regretted my choice.

It starts off decent, with a nice build up of intrigue and then the story loses itself by chapter 10, maybe even before. The story is boring, the aim of the secret society is pretty clear since the beginning and the obvious villain that usually isn’t the true villain… turns out to be the true villain. What?

Don’t get me started on the forced and unnecessary love triangle. It’s 2023 and we’re still haven’t passed the two very mediocre men fighting over the main character phase. Enough.

The writing style wasn’t to my taste either. It feels very young, very middle grade. The most unrealistic part of the story is that this is set in high school and not university. The characters act like they’re 13 but the villains act like they’re 25 with teenager behaviour. Make it make sense.
In other words, I was bored out of my mind. And everything - from the writing style to the characters to the plot - was a miss. I’m so sorry I didn’t like this, I wanted to love it, but eh.

I usually love fast paced books, this was not the case for this one. The plot was really unbelievable and I simply could not suspend my disbelief long enough to enjoy it

Set in an elite private school, Maren Montgomery’s bestfriend, Polly St. James suddenly goes missing. And seeing her friend scared the night she disappears, Maren is determined to figure out her bestfriend’s whereabouts as she believes the missing girl deemed a runaway by police, is in danger. And as she gets roped into the Society and their deadly ways of their traditions, she realizes there is more to the games, one that could cost her, her life.

This book was so unexpectedly good! The synopsis gave what I wanted and I loved the mystery brought about by the premise of a secret society that thrived through centuries of clever, deadly games. The dark and tense mood was cleverly written and the characters and the story were laid out in a way no one can guess who is truly the pawn and the master in this sick game and challenged the concept of loyalty and truth, with the right amount of romance. It reminded me of The Order from Netflix, and the one episode of Riverdale (only so much better and does not end up in a musical lol). I’ve also seen people talk about the book like it’s a plot from Scooby Doo, but as a huge fan of the movie franchise, I loved it and would love to hear more from this author.

Alright! Incredible. That's the first word I would use to describe this book. I was doing a little bit of a tech cleanse, and this was the first book I picked up. I went away on vacation and brought this book on the plane with me. By the time I got off the plane, I was 75% done with this book. While I wasn't reading this book, my brain kept circling back to it.
The story was interesting and kept me hooked from chapter 1. And as the story went on, my heart started beating faster. I have never read a book like this, and was shocked at how much I enjoyed it. This book also had a love triangle, and I was basically sitting back, eating popcorn (metaphorically) and getting completely lost in the story. There was so much going on, that there was never a dull moment.
Even the "bad" characters, I learned to care about. This was crammed with action, and I wish it was longer.
I have never been so invested in a book like I was with this. I hope there is a book 2 coming one day. Even a week later, I am still thinking about it, I don't know how many ways I can say I loved this book. It was that good.
And please don't get me started on the plot-twists. There were so many that caught me off guard, I couldn't get enough of it.

This book is a MUST READ for fans of murder mysteries, secrets and boarding school, this is for you.

If you don't really like reading, and want to try it, and you are a fan of:
- Riverdale (earlier seasons)
- Pretty Little Liars
- Wednesday
This book is sure to keep you interested.

Maren never believed that her roommate Polly simply ran away. Maren knows Polly has a secret, and she thinks it has something to do with the elite, Gamemaster's Society. So Maren joins the elusive Society and discovers that the Society has connections, incredible rewards, and untold dangers. The Society's game is bigger and deadlier than she could ever imagine, and Maren will have to do whatever she can to save Polly and herself. I loved the secrets and twists in this story, especially the mystery surrounding the love triangle. It didn't really have the dark academia, mysterious vibes that I expected and was much lighter than you would expect from a mysterious book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was a lighter book than I expected, but it was a fun read!

This book definitely hooked me and kept my interest! I appreciate that this wasn’t a slow burn and pretty much jumped right into the action.

There were a few things I didn’t particularly care for. Without giving away spoilers I’ll say my biggest issue was the back and forth between the guys. This made it less believable when in the end Maren is “in love” with one of them.

On the subject of believability my other major issue was just the believability of the entire plot taking place within a high school. If this was set in college it would have been just slightly more believable.

Overall though I would still suggest this book because it kept me guessing along the way and kept me on the edge of my seat nearing the end because I just couldn’t fathom a conclusion to everything. Definitely a fun read if you like dark academia, secret societies, cults, and high stakes games!

This was my first time reading anything by this author. It ended up being a great book. Good characters, great storyline and a little bit of mystery. I ended up reading it all in one sitting.

4.5 Stars

Chelsea Ichaso is 100% an auto-buy author for me. This is her third novel and it’s the third I’ve read from her! She’s seriously underrated and I urge you to check her out for yourself if you’re in the market for a YA Mystery author other than Karen McMamus.

Maren and Polly were inseparable once they became roommates at Torrey-Wells Academy, but after Polly joined chess club she became suddenly distant. One afternoon, Polly asks to meet with Maren to explain her weird behavior. Maren is excited to finally get some answers and reconnect with her bestie, but then Polly disappears. She’s written off as a runaway, but Maren suspects the campus’s secret society has something to do with it after discovering an invitation in Polly’s things. Maren decides to infiltrate the society to get some answers, but realizes there’s more to this whole conspiracy than originally meets the eye.

Ichaso has a flair for making you assume everyone is guilty and innocent during various points in the book. This is by far her most trippy plotline, and that makes for a lot of interesting theories. I wasn’t surprised by many of the plot twists this time around, but still my mind would constantly change over whodunnit.

There is a love triangle in this book. I know this isn’t a very beloved trope. Personally, I like me a good love triangle, but I have to say this one didn’t do it for me. Firstly, there were times I couldn’t trust either of the boys, so I didn’t really like either of them for Maren by the end. Secondly, I hated how oblivious Maren was to their interest in her. They would straight up confess to liking her and she wouldn’t dare to believe it. I felt Maren was a pretty oblivious protagonist in general. She would believe anything she was told, even if it was by the enemy. Maren was incredibly intelligent, but her blind trust is what caused me to knock this down half a star.

Still, I ate this novel up and was incredibly invested. The dark academia setting and vibes were great and I cannot wait to see what Ichaso comes up with next.

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Chelsea Ichaso and team for this ARC! This book was a twisty tale of high society and a boarding school. I loved the dark academia thriller vibes throughout the whole thing! It took me about 20% to get into the book but then after that I was HOOKED and couldnt put it down! I was able to predict a few twists but not all of them! I havent read a lot of books with a secret society so this one was a nice change of pace. I will be checking out more books from this author. 4 stars!!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review. This is YA thriller is Ichaso's third book, and my first by her that I've read. I requested this as I was looking for a YA thriller that was reminiscent of Karen M. McManus and Maureen Johnson's books. What I got was something that tried to be similar but fell a bit short to what I was looking for.

The beginning of this book had exactly what I wanted. Intrigue, references to a cult, and an MC that will do anything to find her friend. It even seemed to bypass the trope of teens not asking for help from adults, since all the adults around her were convinced that Polly merely ran away. So Maren at first did go to people of authority and since they didn't believe her, she decided to strike out on her own and investigate. In that regard, I really liked it. In so many books/movies/shows, the conflict could have been avoided by just telling an adult, so I appreciate what Ichaso did to not fall trap to this trope.

Another thing I enjoyed was the pacing. I was able to read this fairly quickly because it was so fast paced. No part seemed to drag more than the other, and the hints sprinkled throughout the book were well timed enough to keep me interested in the overall plot.

Now, there were a few things that got on my nerves, or that I straight up didn't enjoy. The first being the love triangle. I will always hate how every single YA book seems to throw in a love triangle. It's always a girl who no one notices and doesn't fit in, who is thrust into a love triangle with the two boys who have nothing in common. I understand that I may not be the target audience for these love triangles, but I will never understand why an MC needs more than one love interest in just about every YA book.

Another thing I didn't enjoy is going to be a spoiler. As soon as it was revealed that teachers were also involved in the secret society, I lost all hope in this book. I immediately knew the principle was in on it, and as soon as that scene happened, no other "big" reveal held the same impact as it was supposed to. It made the ending completely predictable. I could tell that the reveals were supposed to have that oh crap moment, but they just didn't. I am of the opinion that if no adults were aware of what was happened, or at least not multiple, it would have been much better. The reveal that the head of school was involved would have held so much more of an impact. But the fact that multiple teachers were part of the society as well just brought the whole book down.

Overall, I think this book had a lot of potential, and I did enjoy the games and cult aspect of it. However, with predictable ending and the strange choices in plot made this not as enjoyable as I think it could have been.

3.5/5 rounded up to 4 stars

I went into this book expecting very little, but I was honestly surprised with the direction this book took. I did not expect this book to be this dark! The writing style helped immensely with getting stuck in the story and with trying to guess who the Gamemaster was.

I couldn't quite get on board with the main character and the love triangle. For some reason I couldn't really vibe with Maren. I still can't put my finger on it, maybe it was a personal thing...
Also, that love triangle was in no way necessary, but did add some tension and frustration to the story.

Overall, a greatly enjoyable story that at times got quite disturbing. Still, I greatly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it if you enjoy thriller-y and creepy books.

Maren's friend Polly disappears. She quickly puts the pieces together that there is a secret society on campus and that it has something to with Polly's disappearance. Maren manages to secure an invite and quickly become a pawn on the chessboard.

A really interesting take on a modern day cult like society. This is pure YA and I almost wished it wasn't so it could have been a bit darker. The characters were great and the story flowed well. Loved the twist at the end. I didn't care to much for the bit of romance displayed but I was really rooting for Gavin to save the day...

Overall not a bad read.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This had a very interesting and intriguing concept. I loved the idea of a secret society at an elite boarding school, and the concept of Maren completing game-like tasks for clues on the whereabouts of her best friend Polly, who has mysteriously disappeared. But this didn't pull me in as much as I would have liked. I was perplexed by some of the logistics this secret society would entail. We're shown some students' motivations for why they would engage join this society, but I still struggled to understand exactly how it worked, or why so many students would give anything to be part of this society (we're told about some of the benefits, but it didn't feel like enough for me).

Logic aside, this was very well paced and I never felt bored. The writing style was simple and straightforward, which made this an easy and fast read (and an accessible read for the intended YA audience, particularly anyone who's struggling to get into reading). I read the second half of the book in an afternoon because I was so enthralled!