This book was a really good YA read. Honestly it barely even felt like it was YA. I loved the old money aspect and the leadup to solving the death. Goodman did a wonderful job bouncing between time and point of view. Each chapter gave a little bit more information, but also asked more questions in the meantime. I thought it was really well done. If you're a fan of Gossip Girl, this one is for you. The ending was really well done.

I enjoyed the structure of this story. Getting a glimpse at the future without knowing who died kept me guessing for quite some time. At times the story felt a little disjointed. I didn't get attached or invested in any of the characters. The character of Esther was odd to me. Most of what she did didn't make sense or seem necessary to the story even with the plot twist. The biggest negative for me was the excessive use of profanity. It was too much. This is the first book I have read by this author so I don't know if that's just her normal writing style or not. I ended up skimming through a lot of the second half just to see who died because that's all I really wanted to know. It was a fast read though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC

This was not the best mystery I’ve ever read, but I still enjoyed reading it. It felt more like a romance than a mystery for most of the book.

The story has a unique structure. There is a glimpse of the future, where you know something has gone wrong in the extravagant Legacy Ball, you just don’t know what exactly happens. Then there are a few chapters set during the week before the ball, from the povs of Bernie, Tori, and Isobel. It continues like that until the present day meets up with the future, and you get to see what actually happens at the ball.

Besides the whole romance secret plotline of the book, none of the other secrets actually were revealed until later in the book, which made it feel like a romance for me.

Honestly, it was a pretty average book, which is why I gave it 3 stars. I didn't really connect with any of the characters, and I didn’t really like any of them ngl

The foreshadowing of the mystery was nice, as it was a surprise who got murdered, but since I didn’t really get attached to any of the characters, I didn’t care as much as I would have liked to.

This was a decent ya mystery, and if you are in the mood, I would recommend reading this book, but I would also recommend so many other ya mysteries over this one.

I’m in my mid-20s, and I really liked this book. Definitely more YA, but I had a lot of fun with it. It had me guessing from the start, and I was invested in the characters and their journey. It was suspenseful and action filled. I really liked it.

meh.
It was entertaining but i wouldn't recommend it.
I didn't care about anyone. I disliked the whole group of Excelsiors Legacies, except Kendall and Lee. I liked that the characters grew and developed through the book

I skipped a lot of POV and read only the dialogues, cause it was kinda dense and boring.

The plot twists were predictable, weren't a big deal, I was like "Oh! cool" but not more than that, didn't surprise me.
I liked that I couldn't guess who was the murdered and who was the murderer, but the thing is I didn't care enough to make an effort to guess which one was, I was just reading it to finishing it.

the story whiting the story or the "backstory" of our legacies' parents was really cool, it was good.

After finishing the book, I immediately told a friend, "It's a Gossip Girls and Desperate Housewives mashup!"

It's intense, mysterious, full of betrayal… By the last page, I was blown away by the extent of gaslighting and deceit the characters will achieve is crazy! But that's also what makes the story so amazing and complex.

The Legacies was my first experience with Jessica Goodman, and I can't wait to read the rest of her books.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Razorbill for the eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Legacies is a book with just the right amount of mystery and intrigue mixed with the drama of the upper class that will draw the reader in right from the beginning. The story is told from different characters' points of view as well from a neutral stand point. The neutral standpoint focuses on what happened after the ball and on the death of one of the students. This information is not revealed until much later and adds to the mystery of the plot. The rest of the story takes us back to the start of the week where the students nominated to join the club of the elite are made to go through different tasks every day leading up to a presentation in the end.

The story revolves around six kids from Excelsior Prep and how they navigate their induction into the Legacy club. For five of them, it was a no brainer to be nominated, but tori's nomination was a curve ball that no-one saw coming. The author handles each of the characters quite well, giving us glimpses into who they are and why they do what they do or react the way they do. Each one is as complicated as the next and there are different shades and layers to them which we peel back step by step as the story progresses.

This story brings out the many secrets that are being kept which all culminate in one unexpected end, the death of a student and an unknown reason for it. Only few people know the truth and whether they will tell it or not is what drives the plot. I quite enjoyed reading this book which to some extent reminded me of series like Gossip Girl but it had it's own twist to it which sets it apart. There is mystery, intrigue, teen drama, some romance and a whole lot of secrets to deal with. I do look forward to reading more books by the author.

thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC! i am a huge fan of jessica’s previous books, so i am so thrilled to get a chance to read this one early.

we are brought into the world of new york elite through their private schools, where students from a handful of schools are nominated to join the legacy club, a almost secret society of sorts helmed by generations of wealthy and elite before them. the club offers opportunity and influence, and becoming a member is treated as an honor.

we meet our main trio, the three female students nominated from excelsior prep: bernie kaplan, whose mother is a legacy, her best friend isobel rothsworth, and scholarship student tori tasso, whose scholarship is funded by the legacy club itself. the other key player in our tale is skyler hawkins, bernie’s long time boyfriend and childhood friend, another excelsior prep student nominee, whose mother is also a legacy. we meet various other characters that play smaller roles in the story, but these four provide the primary drama and focus.

we start at the beginning of legacy week, a few days leading up to the main event: the legacy ball. through snippets of the end of the ball sprinkled between chapters, we find out an accident has happened, resulting in a death. we don’t know for sure who the deceased is, or what’s really happened, and that is where our story eventually takes us. goodman also sprinkles in tinier mysteries into the story, and by the end, every little question has been answered, and the story feels whole. all the characters become intertwined, their stories slowly lining up by the biggest twist of all.

i am an avid jessica goodman fan, so needless to say, when i got the chance to read her latest book, i was thrilled! and as per usual, she did not disappoint. goodman has crafted another fantastic mystery, this one felt more like “they wish they were us” than the last two works of hers. she writes snippets of scenes from the aftermath of the event to give us hints as to what’s coming and i love the way she does so, where it isn’t a single person’s perspective, instead more so a fly on the wall kind of view. it’s descriptive without giving too much away, and it keeps you eager to find out more. i also loved getting details from each of our leading ladies’ points of view! it felt like they each offered things you wouldn’t know if the book was simply from one of their perspectives alone. overall, i can’t recommend this book enough, and it definitely was one i would not put down (
unless I had to!

So this is so Gossip Girl with the vibes, make a mystery, and we have Legacies. I was very interested to see where this story was going and couldn't put it down. This book follows the pov of Tori, Isobel, and Bernie, who are in the world of the Elite In New York City. The book is about them getting into this exclusive Legacy club, and while Isobel and Bernie were born into the world, Tori wasn't and needs it to help with her family diner. There were multiple povs and past and present timelines and it leads to them uncovering secrets before the final legacy ball.

I've always loved Gossip Girl, so of course, this was good, I think what I liked most was uncovering the secrets and rich people being rich people. The characters and parents weren't really great (just like in Gossip Girl) in the beginning, I was only rooting for one of the characters but as the book went on I did understand why the characters behaved the way they did. I also really appreciated that despite the multiple povs, I was able to follow the story because of how fast-paced and easy to read this was.

If you like YA mysteries with rich people backstabbing each other, lies, secrets, and not-perfect characters, then you should read this.

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Group Young leaders for this arc for an honest review.

The Legacies is a book full of secrets, suspense, murder and lies that I could not put down. This book reminded me of Gossip Girl but with a bit more mystery, and a murder.

Excelsior Prep has some high profile students. Bernie Kaplan, Skyler Hawkins, and Isobel Rothcroft are at the top of the pyramid. Their main goal in mind is receiving an invitation to become a member of the Legacy Club. Gaining access to this club gives you a lifetime of power and wealth beyond any doors that a prep school could offer. The Legacy Club members look out for their own, as it is made up of some of the influential individuals in New York City. Bernie, Skyler, and Isobel are not surprised when they get an invitation to join the club, as their families have insured their membership since birth, but what they did not see coming was the surprise nominee, Tori Tasso. Tori is a scholarship kid from Queens, and it leaves everyone wondering how did she get nominated?

Everyone is keeping secrets that could destroy their reputations. The night of the Legacy Ball, everything starts to unravel. That is when a body falls from the roof of the club into the perfectly curated garden below.

The chapters switch between different characters points of views, plus some chapters foreshadowing what happens the night of the Legacy Ball. You get to see each character, as their secrets start to unravel as well as the repercussions of their actions.

This book left me guessing until the end. Each chapter left me with more questions, so of course I finished the book within two days. This has become one of my new favorite YA novels. It had the perfect amount of mystery and drama. I will truly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a new thriller that will immediately get them hooked!

First of all, I’m a sucker for any book that takes place in New York City and lets me live vicariously through privileged, rich AF characters.

This book is gossip girls meets skull and bones society- and I feel like it’s a unique story that I haven’t read before. I also felt like it was a quick read and very easy to get into.

I’m still a bit confused over the whole Esther character, and to be honesther character’s disappearing act seemed unnecessary. I liked the ending, but the final page left me a little unsatisfied (but I’m guessing it was a set up for a sequel).

I would definitely read a sequel and I’m looking forward to reading Goodman’s other books- especially They’ll Never Catch Us.

4.0

Setting: New York
Rep: one of the POV characters is queer & Mexican-American

This was a solid YA mystery! I am a sucker for mysteries set in rich elite schools and though this involved very little actual school, it was still a great addition to the genre, and I really appreciated Tori being queer. I also liked that the plot means the parents are very involved. That was quite refreshing in a genre where the parents are often dead! (There was only one dead parent here.)

Exciting and suspenseful thriller with a prep school / elite secret society setting in NYC - yes please! This book was an enjoyable read and I really liked the dual timelines and multiple points of view. I appreciate getting viewpoints from different characters instead of one vantage point for an entire book to get a multifaceted view. This is especially helpful in suspense books like this one. I also liked the element of unknown as to who the victims were that kept you guessing and thinking you knew but you were never really sure. Unreliable characters with their own motivations and sketchy activities kept the story interesting and appealing. 5/5 and definitely recommend - thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

This is the first book I've read by Jessica Goodman but it won't be my last. This is an amazing YA thriller, which reminds me like One of Us Is Lying with morally grey characters who each have their own secrets. This is fast paced with multiple POV's from all the girls and dual timelines keeping you on the edge of your seat. 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.

This is the 1st book have read by Jessica Goodman, and it was a good read.
Its about the New York elite seniors joining the legacy club, as read it felt it had a gossip girl feel to it which liked but minus the gossip and full of secrets and lies.
The book goes back and forth, starting that there's been an incident and someone is dead but who??
then it goes to 4 days before and give you a few chapters then back to incident and so on, but i must admit I was surprised when i did find out who was dead. You think you know who it could be then its someone else but a right twist at the end.
Will be looking for more books by this author now.

Bernie, Isobel and Tori are entering the Club. The Legacy Club. This world is known to both Bernie and Isobel who are born into it, but for Tori this is something new. The club gives you access to a world of power and wealth. Toris lives with her father and twin siblings, and she works at the family diner. She attends her school on a scholarship. Throughout the book you get to experience time jumps between the time before and after the legacy ball.

Some warnings: This book contains mentions of drugs, alcohol and death.

In my opinion, this book was a bit slow at times. I enjoyed the book but i couldn't fly through it like I usually can with books from this author. The plot is interesting, but the characters made me cringe quite a bit. I couldn't for the life of me understand how some of the characters were thinking which made me annoyed. The ending was partly expected but mostly unexpected.

I gave this book two and a half stars.

Good concept, but the characters in this book were not very likeable. The book was told in the mostly before and the current and some the aftermath, in 3 povs. I feel like if you cut it down to 2 povs from Bernie and Tori and fleshed out their characters more, I would of liked it better. I do like how the author kept you guessing on who was murdered through book up until it happened.

3.75 stars

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I loved this thriller and would love to interview Jessica for my podcast!! The Legacies is great for fans of Diana Urban.

I will start with this review by saying that I have read the authors previous work. I have enjoyed a few of their previous books. But always felt like they were lacking something to make them really, really good. This book hit the mark for me! I feel like this may be their best work yet. Of course with YA thrillers they are hit or miss. But this was definitely a hit for me! I look forward to seeing what the author does with their next book.

A secret society and club that involves rising seniors, old AND new secrets, old money, and everyone has something to lose. This book was a fun and quick read with a long of fun twists. We follow along with Bernie, Isobel and Tori as they go through their week entering into the the Legacy Club. All of them have secrets they want to keep. Bernie and Isobel were shoo-ins with connections into the exclusive club. But Tori a scholarship kid from queens is a mystery to how did she get in? Everything leads up to the Legacy Ball. An exclusive and final event for the week of activities for joining the club. But someone isn’t going to make it out alive. How far would one go to hide their secrets?

What I enjoyed:
-this was fast paced and I was able to finish it with in 24 hours!
-most of the characters weren’t really likable at times. But there was some growth for a couple of them. But it is to be expected from teen MCs. I did catch myself rooting for one of them!
-multiple POVs. We get POVs from all three girls
-LGBTQI+ representation.
-the twists and a few of the mysterious story lines!

I really enjoyed this book! As I said previously, I have read the authors previous books. This one is hands down their best book yet. Their writing has definitely improved and I thought the plot was interesting. I am always weary of YA thrillers but this one did a good job keeping my attention. 3.5 stars out of 5! Rounded up to 4. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for the honest review!