This book comes with heavy trigger warnings. I highly suggest checking them out before reading this book as it deals with many sensitive subjects such as suicide, self-harming, sexual assault and more.

This was an incredibly emotional book from literally the first page. I thought our focus was solely going to be on Carter and her struggles with her mental health but the author crafted the story to include Abby's story as well. This book was so superbly written. I related so much to Carter. I wanted to reach through the pages and tell her that I've been in her shoes and that I want her to hold on. I didn't like Abby at the start but as I got to know her more I started to fall in love with her. She's definitely not perfect, but who is?

The dynamics between the characters was written so well. The development of Carter and Abby in particular was fantastic. It felt really realistic. I'm not a fan when authors just make their characters mental illnesses disappear seemingly overnight, and thankfully that did not happen in this book. No one was magically cured at the end but it is clear to see the characters progression.

This is a wonderful book and was a pleasure to read.

Mean Girls but for teens and 10x as depressing is definitely an adequate description. This books is quite dark, but also gives enough glimmers of hope throughout that it doesn’t become an overly depressing read. I think books that portray realistic pictures of bullying and mental health are incredibly important, and this book does just that. Elmore did the themes of her book great justice with her writing and characters.
I’d recommend checking the trigger warnings for this one, as it is very raw and doesn’t hold back.

I received an ARC from the author/publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Death by Society caught my attention on Twitter, as I’ve followed Sierra Elmore for a while, even before I was aware she was an author in any capacity. The pitch for the book, invoking Mean Girls comparisons, caught my attention immediately, and I knew I had to read this book. I knew going in it would be much darker, grappling with depression and suicide (among other tough topics), but I trusted Elmore to handle them with the gravitas they deserved.
And indeed she does. She really captures the often-brutal social landscape of high school and how cattiness among girls in particular impacts each other. However, she also focuses on the complexity of the bullies and those in their circle, without justifying any wrongdoing on their part.
Carter and Abby are both sympathetic protagonists to follow throughout the narrative. Carter is the more immediately likable, as she’s the main target of all the bullying from the other girls, and there’s a stark juxtaposition between her overachieving academic nature and her growing apathy in other areas, as shown through the revolving door of therapists she goes through prior to her suicide attempt. I couldn’t help but want to hug her, especially as while her narrative is not identical, her story resembles that of someone I’m very close to who went through similar experiences.
It can be a tricky tightrope to walk to redeem a bully, but I feel Elmore at least makes the reader understand Abby, even if you can’t condone everything she’s done. She’s been through her own trauma, and she also has a very dysfunctional relationship with her fellow POPS, especially ringleader Kelsey. And to have her conscience get the best of her in key moments shows that she isn’t a bad person at heart.
I was intrigued by the diversity of the POPS in terms of queerness. Kelsey’s expression of queerness is rather toxic, given she’s closeted and it plays a role in her dynamics with others, but the fact that the majority of them are casually non-cishet is somewhat progressive.
This book is intense, dark, and messy, yet compassionate in all the right ways. I would recommend this to anyone (especially teens) who is dealing with bullying, depression, or trauma.

This was quite a hard book to read. So many triggers and things I could relate to, but it made it such an intriguing read, I couldn't put it down.

I thought the girls were all so well written - horrible girls, proper bullies. I really empathised with the main character but at times really wanted to smack her on the head.

I loved everything order than the last part. That just didn't make sense and didn't fit the rest of the book

Great story! Highly suggest picking up if you think it sounds good to you! It sounded interesting to me right off the bat so would be interested to read it again

While I really appreciated the inclusion and discussion of difficult topics like bullying and mental health, I didn’t really like the writing style. There were a lot of things written in brackets, and the use of slang words like “super shook” or “booty” written casually in the narrative threw me off a little.

I read this with little to no information about this book. I knew I wouldn't get disappointed requesting this book. This contains a lot of major issues (depression, self-harm. domestic violence etc.) I love how this book reminds me of mean girls somehow. This was a dark and emotional book. It is very important to search the trigger warnings of this book before reading it as this contains some scenes that hard to read.. Sierra Elmore really did a great job writing this raw and hard-hitting book.

Note: I received an ARC of this in exchange of my honest review.

Dnf at 60%
I really enjoyed the introduction of the characters. I loved how almost everyone was queer. I really appreciated the discussion around suicidal ideation. I’ve been seeing this as a recent addition to novels lately. I’ve always wanted suicidal ideation talked about more so this was refreshing.
What made me dnf was the incessant bullying and not knowing why the girls were shocked when she attempted suicide after there was an assembly warning students of that possibility. We didn’t learn enough about the side characters. So far they seemed one dimensional. If someone is going to be bullying someone, I want to understand why they chose to do that. I want to know everything in there life that led up to that. I don’t even know how there was supposed to be a romance when everyone still hated Carter even if they stopped bullying her. If felt so respective and it couldn’t keep my interest.

All I can say about Death by Society at this point is: Wow. This is such an insightful book while still being hilarious as well as devastating. I absolutely loved this book and cannot recommend it enough.

This is a raw and honest story of what high school and growing up can be like for some people. I praise the author for tackling such sensitive topics with grace and for not leaving out the true nitty gritty stuff such as suicide from bullying because it happens everyday!
I talk from experience as mum of a 13 year old who wanted to commit suicide due to school bullying. It's an awful and terrifying ordeal to go through and I thank my lucky stara daily that were almost on the other side.

Yes serious sensitive topics are covered in this book so you may want to explore the triggers in case it isn't for you.

I also tell you what I enjoyed about this book was the queer aspect... it was refreshing to see that the bullying wasn't actually about that as it so typically is in school.

It was super hard to read at times but feel like the teens of today need this book in their lives. I can't say I enjoyed it because of the content like who would enjoy something like that but I totally appreciated it 100%

This is a great option for a LGTBQ+ novel that is not centered around a romance, but be sure to check the content warnings first.

Carter Harper has been bullied by Abby Wallace and the other popular girls in her class for years. Despite being one of the top students in her class and having created a popular mental health app, Carter thinks her only option is to attempt suicide. But Abby has her own trauma and mental health issues. When she stops Carter from dying by suicide the unlikely pair come together as they try to protect each other form Kelsey, one of the other popular girls who will do anything for power.

There are a lot of different mental health topics covered in this story and it is clear the author is passionate about mental health. As someone who used to volunteer for Crisis Text Line, I was really happy to see great resources provided not just at the end of the book but also throughout the story. So often we see them provided only at the end as if they were an afterthought. I did feel like some parts were a little bit preachy though.

I liked the way Abby and Carter’s relationship evolved but it did feel like a quick turn around. However, this was still easier to believe than Kelsey’s motives. I also really enjoyed the style of the writing, especially Abby’s poems mixed in.

Overall, I think this is a great read if you’re in a mental space where you can handle the topics.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Before I start, let me just say that I think it’s really important to have a look at the content warnings for this one before going into it. The book itself began with a page of CWs and I was very grateful for knowing what I did before starting it, but even then some things still hit close to home. Make sure to take care of yourself while reading!

This is such a frank look at what it can take to deal with the already difficult high school experience while also struggling with depression, relentless bullying and finding actual helpful support for your mental health. If you’re familiar with Mean Girls and Heathers then the POPS are this book’s answer to that group of untouchable girls at the top of the school’s food chain, but what makes this an interesting take on that group is its members were predominantly sapphic (the book has lesbian, bi and pan rep).

Death By Society alternates perspectives between Abby, the second in command of the POPS, whose secret traumatic past has produced a fraught relationship with her mother, and Carter, a social outcast who moonlights as a wildly successful app developer. Though their dynamic begins as bully/bullied, a series of dark events creates a messy friendship and bonds them and others over time. For a YA book to discuss mental health struggles and trauma quite this honestly is rare enough, but Carter is also a fat, Black, queer protagonist whose perspective I valued hearing so much.

This wasn’t an easy read and was honestly painfully relatable at times but ultimately just made me so grateful that I’m not in school anymore. While some characters (peers and adults alike) just wanted to capitalise on the trauma of these teens, I really enjoyed seeing the different mother-daughter relationships and how they individually expressed their very fierce love.

Though there is a romance subplot and some high school antics, I definitely wouldn’t go into this wanting a light read or looking for those elements alone. It’s hard to say I ‘enjoyed’ something like this, but I truly appreciate what it handles and the eventual feeling of hope.

Death by Society is a raw story about what happens when bullying gets out of control and it seems like there is no way out.

Carter Harper is constantly tormented by the mean girls in her school until one day she had enough. This story reminds us what it is like to be on the receiving end of the torment.

This is a great read and a great reminder that no matter how alone you feel, there is always help out there.

Death by Society is described as “Mean Girls” meet “It’s Kind of A Funny Story” and anything that mentions “Mean Girls” immediately gets on my radar so I was thrilled to be given the chance to read this before publication.

I understand the “Mean Girls” comparison with the POPS (I won’t spoil the acronym) and the different cliques in the book but that’s about it. I thought the book would be funnier than it ended up being but given that some subject matters are really heavy it makes sense.

The writing is very accessible and the author’s voice is interesting enough to make this an easy read. Having the POV of both the bully and the bullied was also interesting but I can’t help but feel like it wasn’t explored enough.

Overall, it’s a good book with a great message, nice redemption arc for most of the characters and great saphic representation.

Thank you Victory editing, Elmstreet Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Thanks to Sierra Elmore, NetGalley and Elm Street Publishing for the ARC in exchange for a review. Make sure to take note of the content warnings before starting this book.

DEATH BY SOCIETY is a raw YA debut about mean girls, mental health, and trying to survive high school. it was a difficult read at some points, but the author didn't shy away from the hard, toxic parts of high school. I love the dual POV narration since it allowed us into both girl's heads and even though I found it hard to sympathize with Abby or root for her and Carter's relationship but she also had her own issues to deal with.

Overall, I thought this was a very accurate portrayal of mental health in high school and think this will be important for teens who feel like they're struggling.

As someone who was very much like Carter and had a similar experience as Abby in high school, Death by Society felt like a blast from the past. This is such an important story about mental health and the effects (both good and bad) that people can have on each other.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sierra Elmore for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a unique story line and I thought it had good potential but unfortunately for me it wasn't quite there. I liked Carter and how the book didn't shy away from the difficult subjects such as suicide and mental health but the 4 main bully characters were awful (minus Slater) and barely showed any character development even though we were supposed to believe Carter made friends with them.
Overall a good book with important topics raised but not completely believable.

"Carter Harper may have created an award-winning app and have a 3.93 GPA, but her successes are overshadowed by brutal bullying, depression, and loneliness. Tired of being treated as the popular girls’ plaything, Carter thinks her only choice is to die by suicide."

This book was a thought-provoking read. It touched on very topical ideas and messages, providing good messages along with entertainment.

Will read again

Thank you Netgalley for proving me with and arc

Death by Society was a hard book to read. Both because of the themes within it and the way it was written. Before I get into my review I want to warn everyone to read the trigger warning list! If you’re triggered by any of these, do not read this book because it’s a really intense and emotional roller-coaster.

Let me start of by saying that I admire the author for being so raw and real in this book. A lot of books skimp over the actual mental health issues and the thoughts and feelings that go with it. But not this one! This one was written with insight and someone who clearly knows what it’s like to go through these issues and/or did incredible research to portray it all in a realistic way. This made me bump it up a star.

The book tells us the story of Carter (a bully victim), and her group of bullies (Abby, Mei, Slater, and Kelsey). The story is told in dual POV (Carter and Abby) and sheds some light on why exactly Abby bullies Carter. Let me add to this that the story in no way condones bullying or talks good about it, it just shows what’s behind Abby’s action in this particular situation and how it can lead to her lashing out against another person. The plot itself was not very original and even read Wattpad like for me for a while, this also resulted in me not getting 100% into the book. I do have to admit that the way the events take place and the results are not what I’m used to reading, so that part felt original and intruiging. The story is truly heart-breaking and I sometimes wanted to hug and/or scream at characters.

In conclusion, the book is good but could be way better. If you like reading about heavy topics (mental health, bullying, depression, sexual assault) and like to learn more about the thoughts and feelings behind it, it might be an interesting book for you. Oh, and it’s sapphic! Loads of bisexual and pansexual characters!!

Thank you Victory Editing, Sierra Elmore, and NetGalley for gifting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Death by Society sets out to capture a messy social world between high school girls, and while it does, it can sometimes do so at the expense of the narrative or reader. The plot and two main characters remain relatively easy to follow, and their relationship is.. an interesting one, but the larger complex group dynamics with the POPs is harder to understand. Who is okay with who switches a lot, who considers who a friend, who shows up and whose house, who is trying to sabotage the other... it's all realistic and messy, but for a book that features such a changing dynamic to work, the more of the book would need to be dedicated specifically to the shifts in the friend group. Carter and Abby instead have a lot of internal struggle and external relationship issues, which can be hard to sequence and stay immersed in. The suicide attempt that the blurb suggests is the inciting action happens about halfway through the book, and that representation varies in quality- the scene where Carter calls her therapist in a panic because she's NOT suicidal anymore is extremely real and interesting, and more in that vein would have been interesting, but otherwise Carter (and Abby) don't have the amount of personality that would make the reader loyal enough to follow through to the end.