🗞️Book Review🗞️
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Thank you @prhaudio for the advanced copy of The Meadowbrook Murders. I’m a big fan of Jessica Goodman, I think she writes fabulous YA thrillers. This one was pretty good, the case definitely held my interest. It was clearly inspired by the Idaho murders from a few years back, but I still enjoyed it. I didn’t buy some of the stakes in this, it should have taken place in a college rather than Highschool with all the emphasis on the importance of the school newspaper. It was a fast paced read and a great audiobook.
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Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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My thoughts- It’s the first week of senior year at Meadowbrook Academy. For Amy and her best friend Sarah, that means late-night parties at the boathouse, bike rides through their sleepy Connecticut town, and the crisp beginning of a New England fall.

Then tragedy strikes: Sarah and her boyfriend are brutally murdered in their dorm room. Now the week Amy has been dreaming about for years has turned into a nightmare, especially when all eyes turn to her as the culprit. She was Sarah’s only roommate, the only other person there when she died—or so she told the police to cover for her own boyfriend’s suspicious whereabouts. And even though they were best friends, with every passing day, Amy begins to learn that Sarah lied about a lot of things.

Liz, editor of the school newspaper and social outcast, is determined to uncover the truth about what happened on campus, in hopes her reporting will land a prestigious scholarship to college. As Liz dives deeper into her investigation, the secrets these murdered seniors never wanted out come to light. The deeper Liz digs, the messier the truth becomes – and with a killer still on campus, she can’t afford to make any mistakes.
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QOTD- any fun weekend plans ?! Saturday is my birthday, I’m going to be 32😅 so spending the weekend with family and my husband! ❤️

Two teenagers at a boarding school are brutally murdered. Switching between Amy, the best friend of one of the victims, and Liz, a reporter for the school newspaper, the two work together to try to find out the truth of who is responsible.

I wanted to like this one more than I did. I thought the premise and setup were good, but the investigating felt meh. I also think Goodman never really established a good relationship between Amy and Liz. I expected them to work together more or have a breaking point that then turns into a begrudging relationship - idk something more than I got. I also didn't think any of the twists/turns were all that surprising either, which always takes away from a mystery.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this book. #TheMeadowbrookMurders #NetGalley

Actual Rating: 3.75 stars, rounded up

A group of private school students, ready to begin their senior year, are shocked by the brutal murder of a popular couple - in one of the campus dorm rooms. The murdered girl's best friend & roommate gets paired with another student who's an outsider to most of the school community, and who is eager to find out more about the crime, since she's the campus newspaper editor. Although they don't trust one another's motives, they end up investigating the murder - and stumble into solving the crime. It was an enjoyable whodunit mystery, and I appreciated the resolution at the end.

This book was a mystery that had all of my favorite things: dual POV, relatable characters, an underdog heroine, and a twist. My students would love to read this and try to figure out whodunnit!

Jessica Goodman keeps up her streak of extremely readable campus novels with The Meadowbrook Murders. At the beginning of her senior year at the prestigious Meadowbrook Academy, Amy finds her roommate/best friend Sarah, and Sarah's boyfriend, Ryan, murdered in Sarah's dorm bed. With suspicions running wild on campus and in the media, ambitious student journalist Liz sees the opportunity of a lifetime. Both girls are seeking answers, but will they work together to find justice or clash over motives? I enjoyed the dual narratives in this book, as both girls felt like outsiders at times for various reasons. I would have liked a bit more depth to the characters, but I did appreciate the quick pace of the book. Overall, I thought this book was a fun, quick read. Perfect for fans of Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious series and other boarding school thrillers! Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group for my eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Absolutely loved this dual POV murder mystery set at a boarding school. New girl Liz is intrigued when she gets a new roommate, Amy, whose best friend and best friend's boyfriend were murdered in their room while Amy slept. Though this seems slightly inspired by the Idaho true crime case, this story is really about the tenuous bond between Liz and Amy as they try to get to the truth. Big fan of this author!

3.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher for providing me an eARC via NetGalley to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a decent YA mystery/thriller. It was easy to follow, and I felt like the pacing kept the story moving really well. The dual POVs were fine, but I did find that both girls sounded the same at times and I had some trouble remembering whose POV I was reading.

The plot was good, and I liked Liz’s character. The student journalist trying to get answers about the murder was a fun angle to read from. I liked how she struggled with getting her peers to trust her, and also her guilt over whether or not she should report and write about the things she’d learned. Amy wasn’t as strong of a character for me, but I did feel that a lot of her emotions and actions seemed realistic for a character who had discovered her best friend murdered in the next room.

There were a few red herrings, and I liked seeing the girls try to find answers. There were a couple of little things that I picked up on that became important later, and they led me to the murderer much earlier than the characters. I still enjoyed reading the book all the way through, and the ending was fast and exciting for a brief moment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for providing me with an ARC!

Things I liked:
1. It was dual pov. One pov was of the best friend of the murdered characters, and the other was a journalist trying to solve the mystery. That made it a little more interesting because I got to see multiple perspectives of the same story, both with vastly different biases.
2. The setting. I love to read boarding school stories, they always have something interesting revolving around money and scandals.

Things I didn’t like:
1. I was able to guess the murderer at about 30%. For me, I don’t like to accurately predict it until much later in the novel. I want to be shocked at the ending. However, there were a few other plot twists that I couldn’t see coming.
2. I didn’t like either of the main characters. I found both of them annoying, but they slowly grew on me throughout the book.

I liked this one and thought it was a solid dark academia thriller with a good cast of characters and an interesting look on a class that didn't feel too obvious. I also loved that Amy and Liz were at odds for the duration of the novel and came together to be friends when it really mattered. Many YA thrillers like this one tend to have their main characters befriend each other despite it making no sense and I was pleasantly surprised they were separated on their own personal journies for most of the novel's run but still didn't lose the qualities that set them apart from each other.

If you're a fan of YA Thrillers with an academia setting then you'll love The Meadowbrook Murders. Each chapter of this book leaves you hanging and wanting more. I also loved the dual POV and I honestly didn't see the big twist coming so that was a nice surprise. Definitely recommend this one to my YA girlies.

We follow students at the prestigious Meadowbrook Academy in Connecticut. Amy and Sarah are best friends and roommates when Sarah and her boyfriend are murdered in Sarah’s dorm room; Amy was asleep in the room next door when they were killed, along with her own boyfriend. Lies are uncovered as the investigation begins.

This one was just ok for me. Dark academia is a sub-genre that I do usually love. I think the miss for me was never really feeling super invested in any of the characters.

I had a great time with The Meadowbrook Murders—it hooked me from the start and kept me guessing. The small-town setting really added to the tension, with characters who all felt a little too perfect, making it hard to trust anyone. The twists were fun, and the ending pulled it all together in a satisfying way.

If you’re into psychological thrillers with lots of secrets and twists, this one’s definitely worth checking out!

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for providing me with this arc!

I liked this book and recommend to anyone that enjoys young adult thrillers. I read it in just a few days and thought there were some good twists and turns!

I haven't read a lot of YA mystery but I thought this was a solid book. The start was definitely shocking and pulled me in as a reader. I liked the dual perspectives of Amy, the friend and ?suspect?, and Liz, the school reporter. I feel like Liz definitely had more character growth. The killer was - and yet, was not - a surprise. There weren't any clues really directing to him, other than a feeling I got that I can't explain. I still don't truly understand the motive but that's a minor thing.
I would read another Goodman YA mystery.
Thank you to NetGalley for a dARC; my review is my own.

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam Young Readers for my copy! All thoughts are my own.

It might be because I read the Private Series by Kate Brian as a teen or because i’m a sucker for my home region of New England, but if there’s a book set at a boarding school in Connecticut, I’m gonna read it. I’ve enjoyed a lot of Jessica Goodman’s book and this was no exception. It’s fast paced, juicy, and keeps the reader guessing. I didn’t see the twist coming at the end, but I’m also not an investigative journalist or theorist while I read. Anyway, this is a great YA thriller and a fast one to through in your beach bag for spring break.

Synopsis:

“It’s the first week of senior year at Meadowbrook Academy. For Amy and her best friend Sarah, that means late-night parties at the boathouse, bike rides through their sleepy Connecticut town, and the crisp beginning of a New England fall.Then tragedy strikes: Sarah and her boyfriend are brutally murdered in their dorm room. Now the week Amy has been dreaming about for years has turned into a nightmare, especially when all eyes turn to her as the culprit. She was Sarah’s only roommate, the only other person there when she died—or so she told the police to cover for her own boyfriend’s suspicious whereabouts. And even though they were best friends, with every passing day, Amy begins to learn that Sarah lied about a lot of things.Liz, editor of the school newspaper and social outcast, is determined to uncover the truth about what happened on campus, in hopes her reporting will land a prestigious scholarship to college. As Liz dives deeper into her investigation, the secrets these murdered seniors never wanted out come to light. The deeper Liz digs, the messier the truth becomes – and with a killer still on campus, she can’t afford to make any mistakes.” —NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Setting—Connecticut boarding school, need I say more.

The Stakes—Each of the characters had a lot riding on their involvement in the crime, making it Interesting to read and flow between Amy and Liz’s POVs.

The Pacing—I love to reach for YA thrillers when I need to get out of my head and focus on the story.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

The Twist—I didn’t see the twist coming but I was a little disappointed by it and who ended up being the killers.

Unresolved Elements—I liked that there was some ambiguity in the ending but I also wanted to know more about a few things that happened leading up to the big reveal.

Character Authenticity: 4/5 Overall Rating: 3.75/5

Content Warnings:

murder, blood, gore, child death, violence

A page-turning, twisty, dark acadamia thriller set in a Connecticut boarding school. Higly recommend for teens who are fans of the thriller/murder genra, this who done it will leave them guessing until the end.

Good suspenseful read. Both girls are looking for that lifelong friendship, and while they will always have that connection, I don’t think they found that with each other.

I did enjoy the switching of perspectives for each chapter, so you knew what each character was thinking and feeling. The killer made sense, and was still a little shocking. I would recommend to older teens and adults looking for a good murder book.

I love a good YA thriller & this one did not disappoint. I loved watching Amy & Liz come together, despite their very obvious differences, to solve the mystery together. This was fast paced, dark academia thriller that i know most teens will love. I really enjoyed this & will look for more by this author.

I think that this author writes great engaging why a mysteries. This book is set in a elite boarding school, where everyone has money and connections. When two of their brightest and most beloved students are found murdered, the school scrambles to find a quick solution, even if that means not finding the right killer. Not until her best friend Amy and the outcast school paper editor come together does the investigation really start to gain some traction. This was certainly a page turner and I think that my students would really enjoy it.

The murder happens right at the start, setting the tone for a nonstop, intense ride. Meadowbrook Murders is fast-paced and gripping from beginning to end. I never fully expected Peter to be the culprit, though I had my suspicions, and at one point, I even started to believe Joseph might have killed Sarah and Ryan—there were just too many coincidences. While I don’t think Liz and Amy will become best friends, I’d like to believe that after surviving such a terrifying ordeal, they’ll stay in touch. A highly entertaining dark academia read.