Ok, I love books about rich people being bad and realizing that their richness is bad, so I'm always going to read a Jessica Goodman novel. I didn't love this one as much as THEY WISH THEY WERE US, which had a more believable (lol, somehow) setting and plot, but I did enjoy reading about these terrible teens with all their sad problems. The plot twists are twisty, the vibes are mysterious, the stakes are theoretically big but also I wasn't terribly invested in anyone's outcome, so I was more just along for the ride!

This follows high school seniors, Bernie, Isobel, and Tori, as they prepare to join one of NYCs most exclusive and wealthy social clubs, The Legacy Club. Part of NYCs elite, Bernie and Isobel have expected their membership nomination for as long as they can remember, but Tori, a scholarship student at Excelsior Prep, is an outlier. This should be a joyous occasion, but the week does not go as each girl expected—Bernie’s mom is missing, Isobel is keeping a secret that is eating her up inside, and Tori is paranoid someone will discover that she really doesn’t belong in this million-dollar world.

I adored Jessica Goodman’s debut, They Wish They Were Us, but I haven’t picked up any of her other novels until now. If I’m being honest, this one left me feeling just kind of…meh. None of the characters were likeable in my opinion, and the mystery itself wasn’t all that interesting—the buildup itself felt more intense than anything that was actually going on. This starts off with a flash-forward to the Legacy Ball where a horrific event has just taken place leading the reader to wonder what exactly happened and who is responsible. If it hadn’t been for these glimpses into the final night sprinkled throughout the book, I am not sure if I would have continued to be invested. Overall, it was an entertaining read but I think it could have been executed better.

Wealth, influence, legacy. A missing mother, an early summer party that led to secrets and divided loyalties. An outsider, somehow with a spot among the elite.

There are a lot of things going for this book. The look into a privileged society, generations of opportunities and legacies. School traditions, and the coveted induction to the Legacy Club. An unknown dead body discovered on the night that was supposed to change their lives forever.

Told from the point of view of three girls: BERNIE - the it girl. The one everyone knows, destined to follow in her mother's powerful footsteps. The one whose life is all together, everything in place. Until her mother disappears, just when she needs her the most.
ISOBEL - Bernie's best friend. Or at least, she was, until the party. Now Isobel doesn't know how to act around Bernie, now that she's keeping something from her. She drowns her uncertainty with pills and alcohol.
TORI - the scholarship student who shouldn't be there. Who no one noticed, until suddenly she was nominated to be one of them.

Everyone has secrets and a story to tell. Can they make it through the week without their lives imploding irrevocably? If they even make it through the week alive.

There were a lot of things I really liked about this story. However, the characters fell a little flat. Their personalities didn't manage to shine through, and really make me connect with them. The plot kept me involved and got me through.

This made my 2007 high school freshman self so HAPPY. It gives all the Gossip Girl vibes, mixed a bit with those How to Get Away With Murder flashback asides. While I definitely wasn't surprised by the ending, I appreciated the foreshadowing that got us there (and understand that I'm not the target audience). The idea of a legacy club that can get you ins for the rest of your life is delectable and pretty feasible in this day and age. The only downside was not being able to see more of an epilogue for the characters because Tori Tarros can do no wrong.

*Thank you to Razorbill and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

My thanks to NetGalley and Razorbill for my e-ARC.

Excelsior Prep, an exclusive school with students and alumni from the crème de la crème of society. The Legacy Club, where the privileged network and make valuable connections. A coveted prize. And…a murder? At THE event, The Legacy Ball, the culmination of a week of activities for the chosen : students from elite prep schools.

So many suspects. So many motives. Secrets. Lies. Deception. Anybody could be the culprit.

From outward appearances, these students and their families have it all. Their lives are perfect. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. Everything from the genre(dark academia), setting(New York’s upper class), plot, characters(that they are unlikable makes them all the more intriguing), and alternating points of view appealed to me. Also, it kept me guessing.

The Legacies is a juicy thriller about rich teens behaving badly in NYC, giving me Gossip Girl vibes and leading to such a fun read!

The Legacy Club is an exclusive club, and students are nominated for membership hen they are rising seniors. This year, Bernie, her best friend Isobel, and their boyfriends are shoo-ins for spots, leaving two spots open at their school. One of the spots goes to a girl on scholarship at their ritzy school, and everyone is shocked since the Legacy Club is often about who you know. Secrets from the past will be revealed, and someone will be dead before the Legacy ball can occur.

The tone of this book was deliciously juicy, with the POV of the three female teens being inducted into the club. They have very distinct personalities, and each girl has her own worries and secrets. The problems they are facing made me very happy that I don’t have to be a teenager in today’s super connected world, where everything you do can immediately be broadcasted to everyone you know. I had sympathy for the girls and the massive pressure they were under.

You find out at the very beginning that someone has died at the ball, but who died isn’t revealed until close to the end, as one by one the main characters are spoken about during the chaos of finding a body and the police trying to question the guests. It was a fun touch to keep the reader guessing not only who the killer was, but also who the victim was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the entertaining ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was very good.

The action is non stop, which I think is crucial for a book, especially in the first few chapters - in order to capture us and make us want to read more.

A touch of "soap opera" basics propel the story forward and make it fun to read.

The writing is not amazing though. Lots of fluff dialogue and even a bit cringe worthy at times, but the story itself is worth reading.

Some people are born into money and power, and people would say that this makes them lucky for the young people in this book when their eyes are open to the Darkside any ignorance in that power, they see just how dangerous it all can be. Bernie and her friends have finally made it into the renowned Legacy club, now all she has to do is win the coveted final prize, and she will have sealed her Birthright. But when a young woman who no one really knows and there’s a competition, everything begins to unravel, and Bernie and her friends will all have to come to grips with some uncomfortable truths about their lives. This book had me hooked from page one and I flew through it, engaging read for sure.

Where do I even start with this book?! It was amazing. I loved every second of this book! Can’t wait to own for my own pets library.

I thought this was a fun, YA murder mystery novel. 6 students from NYC's most prestigious private schools are asked to join The Legacies the week before the start of their senior year. Tori Tasso is a scholarship kid from Queens and no one can understand how she was nominated as one of the 6 submissions from Excelsior Prep. You follow Tori and her fellow Legacy nominees over the week leading up to the ball acknowledging their acceptance into their storied club. Unfortunately, at their ball, one of their nominees is found dead. The Legacies was a fun read, great for fans of Goodman's prior works, as well as Kara Thomas, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and Karen McManus.

Jessica Goodman's YA thrillers are always fun, quick reads, so I was really excited to have the chance to read this one! “The Legacies” is an amazing YA thriller, which reminds me of “One of Us Is Lying” with morally grey characters who each have their own secrets. The book starts out with a murder investigation and backtracks into the particulars and how things started out with the central characters. The alternating chapters that were written from different perspectives was a good way to tell the story. This is fast paced with multiple POV's from all the girls and dual timelines keeping you on the edge of your seat. Jessica does a really great job of dropping little twists like breadcrumbs that leave you completely guessing until the end. I read this is one sitting I couldn't put it down, from all the twists and turns and great storyline. I highly recommend this. I will say the constant flash forwards were a little confusing but they did a really good job of hiding the reveal. This is the perfect book for a summer read! I look forward to reading her next YA thriller. Many thanks to Jessica Goodman, NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group/Razorbill for sharing this digital review copy with me in exchange for my thoughts.

I liked this book! Not my favorite of Jessica Goodman's, but not the worst! I think the character's relationships could have been a bit more fleshed out and the ending felt rushed and quick - but it reminded me of Big Little Lies. I would recommend to students who enjoy thrillers!

The Legacy Club is an institution of old New York money and privilege. But something happened at this year’s Legacy Ball and someone wound up dead. Alternating in viewpoint of two shoo-in Legacy members and one scholarship recipient outsider, we work back through time to figure out that more money really might mean more problems.
I’m not always a fan of YA but I love the way Goodman writes. This partly reminded me of Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl, and rich people behaving badly is also always fun.
Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the ARC!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read this book! It is a fun summer YA thriller filled with twists and turns. Like Jessica Goodman's last book, this one feels very summery but was missing the compelling nature I got with the Counselors. Teens from notable schools in NYC are selected to join a society that promises to lead to great connections for their future. When a murder happens, everyone becomes a suspect.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating:3.5/5
Although I had fun reading this book, it was nothing special. It's a twisty mystery that'll keep you on your toes until the end. However, the characters were not very compelling. I couldn't predict the ending, but it lacked the intensity I was hoping for. I enjoyed some parts of it, especially the fact that it keeps the identity of the murder victim hidden right until the end, thus arresting the reader's attention.

I love a good suspense story, and Ms. Goodman delivers every time. The intrigue of high school life is my favorite genre of all, especially when it involves snarky teenagers and a death of some sort.

The Legacies is an elite club with secrets from high school to adulthood. Where bonds are made, and people are broken. (Small Spoiler) There is always a Queen Bee, the one who stings everyone, and in this book, your Queen is sneaky and does not show up until the end of the story. I love the friends that aren't really friends, but it is all about using people and users being used. I guess I like books that make teens look like horrid little monsters—kind of what I remember high school being like. Most of the time, the horrid little monsters grow up to be shamefully distorted adults who make the circle of making little horrid monsters all over again.

This mystery was slow paced. There were a few surprises, but overall not one of my favorites that I have read this year.

Students from prestigious schools in New York City are chosen to become a part of a society that will lead to many great connections for the future. However, a murder has occurred and everyone potentially has motive.

I wasn’t quite sure I would like this book when I read the description because I am not usually one for stories on the 1% BUT a few pages in, I was hooked!! This story follows are FMCs as they navigate a week of events as they are inducted into a very selective, mermbers only club that will provide them every leg up into opportunity, fortune, and even fame. What they don’t expect at the end of their week is a murder.

One of my absolute favorite things in a novel is a dual perspective. In The Legacies, we have perspective from three different girls who attend a prestigious academy; Bernie, who was born with the silver spoon, Isobel, who is slightly less affluent but still very much so wealthy, and Tori, our scholarship student thrust into the life of the one percent. With the perspectives of the three girls plus a side narration about the night of the ball, this story really keeps you guessing until the very end.

I enjoyed delving into a different classes of society, more than I expected. The references were spot on (of course I had to look some of them up), and without spoiling anything, I found the attitude of the upper class right about on par with what I assume it to be.

I highly recommend reading this if you are into mystery, intrigue, a little suspense, and a killer novel.


Reviews sent on Goodreads, and will be uploaded to TikTok tomorrow. I was unable to post a review to Amazon. The site wouldn’t let me.

This book was really interesting and had me guessing the whole time.

Definitely gave off Gossip Girl vibes which is one of my favorite shows!

Would recommend to friends!

I was immediately drawn to the synopsis of 'The Legacies' because it seemed like a How to Get Away With Murder meets Gossip Girl story. This book did not disappoint. The story is a murder mystery/whodunit set amongst New York City's elite.

The Legacy Club is a society of New York's most elite that grants incoming Seniors in high school access to wealth, power and connections. Each year they hold The Legacy Ball to initiate the newest members.

The story is told from multiple POV's and covers before and after the night of the Legacy Ball. The Legacy Ball ends in the death of someone but that identity is not revealed to the end. Who dies at the Legacy Ball ? Was it an accident? Was it murder? Who was involved?

I really enjoyed uncovering the mystery and diving deeper into the relationships between the characters. I did find the ending to be predictable and at about the halfway point, I knew who was dead and how it happened. That didn't prevent me from enjoying the journey to the resolution though.

I highly recommend 'The Legacies' especially if you enjoyed Gossip Girl or How to Get Away with Murder. It was a great read and I really enjoyed the dynamics and the ending!

Thank you to Razorbill and NetGalley for the ARC of The Legacies!