I recently finished reading The Meadowbrook Murders and while it was an engaging, fast-paced read, it didn’t quite hit the mark in terms of suspense. The plot moved quickly, making it easy to get through in a short time, but I found myself not feeling as drawn into the mystery as I’d hoped. The twists weren’t as unexpected as I wanted them to be, and I didn’t feel that constant sense of tension that typically makes a good thriller so gripping.

The characters were decent, but they didn’t have the depth or complexity that would make their motives truly fascinating. It’s a fun read if you're looking for something light and easy to breeze through, but if you’re after a mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this one might not deliver.

The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman is a fast-paced and thrilling YA murder mystery. I had been in a reading slump all of January, and this book helped to get me out of it. 

One of my favorite parts about the book is the setting. Taking place at an elite boarding school, the novel appealed to my love of dark academia and hidden passageways. The concept of wealthy teens partying in a boathouse was fun and interesting and really helped develop the world. 

It was also exciting to see Liz’s character growth. She starts off as a school reporter hungry for recognition and without any ties to her community. I liked seeing her grow as a person and as a reporter throughout the story. 

I will say, that I did see some of the plot twists coming; however, I think predicting the twists are part of the fun of reading a mystery.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a fast and easy murder mystery to read! Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

While I had high hopes for this book, I was a bit disappointed with how slow the story unraveled.

In a YA thriller, you typically look hard for the thriller part. This one sort of fell flat, and landed more into a murder mystery territory. Which, by all means, is still a great premise for a book. I think the pitfall here was the pacing. It unraveled so slow, you end up in a position where you're turning the page and wondering when something else is going to happen. There was huge potential to dip into the dark academia theme (I'm not sure if the author intended to, this is just an opinion) but that also seemed to be a road the novel didn't take.

Overall, it is a good YA book.

The Meadowbrook Murders is a murder mystery novel set at an elite east-coast boarding school. Amy awakes to find her roommate and her roommate's boyfriend slain in their beds. She joins forces with the school's newspaper editor in chief to try to figure out what happened. The book was a bit of a letdown. I've really enjoyed Jessica Goodman's prior novels but this one really fell flat.

This was such an intriguing idea because of love mysteries that take place in boarding schools. However, this just felt like a lot of talk. There wasn’t really anything exciting about the story. Even the ending felt anticlimactic.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the advance copy of The Meadbowbrook Murders!

At the elite Meadowbook Academy the seniors have gathered to prepare for the start of their final year.  Arriving a week before the rest of the students, they have that extra time to settle in and prepare for the beginning of the end of their innocence…and party with less risk of getting in trouble. Amy and her best friend/dormmate Sarah have a huge fight at one of the parties and in the morning when Amy attempts to chat with Sarah and smooth things over, she discovers Sarah and her boyfriend Ryan dead from apparent murder in Sarah’s bedroom.

Liz does not run in the same circles as Amy…or any circle, really. As editor in chief of the student paper, her sole focus is getting a good story that will set her aside from the rest and get her into a great college or placed with a great internship.  The problem is that there’s never anything scandalous at Meadowbook. Until now.  Even better, the sole (maybe) witness (maybe) suspect Amy was just re-assigned to room with Liz. Now Liz has her toughest assignment yet, covering the murder of two of their own while remaining unbiased and respectful.

I loved this one. I love dark academia and YA thrillers, but I also find myself being super particular in what I really enjoy within those two genres. Jessica Goodman nailed it. I’ve got several of her books on my TBR, and I obviously need to push them towards the front of the pile.

I thought the popular girl / recluse school paper ‘nerd’ angles were great, and I really liked that it was different from just a bunch of Sarah’s friends POVs which would’ve been repetitive and probably not as interesting; this gave the view of the us vs. them from two sides: Liz as the outsider from the jump, and Amy who becomes the outsider based on how the crime looked.

One of my favorite things was as we got closer to discovering who was behind the murders, the chapters got incredibly short, swapping between the POVs every couple of pages. The suspense increased tenfold by Jessica choosing to go that path.

I absolutely love when a book has some bits of social commentary, but it doesn’t overshadow the story. It’s not forcefed with the author’s opinions, but rather presented throughout the story as something to consider one way or another.

The main topic being reporters & how the media handles tragedy and true crime in today’s world. It’s no secret that true crime has become a top ‘interest’ for many (mainly) millennial women. I blame all of the shit we saw unfold in the early ages of the internet to be the reason we hold this obsession, personally. Regardless, so often these people and their lives are reduced to stories that we can gossip over and fixate on trying to solve…and then go to bed with smiles on our faces at the end of the day, when the reality is that we sometimes forget that true crime is TRUE, not fiction  While armchair detectives and reporters are great and have helped solve some major cases, there’s also a level of dehumanization that goes into it that is (not always but often) overlooked.

There’s also some running commentary about how even though Sarah’s boyfriend died, no one is talking about him - even their friends. They’re all focused on the pretty, rich, smart dead girl and no one cares about Ryan dying. It got me thinking because of course there’s been a stigmatization around dead white girls versus dead Black girls, but Jessica raises a good point here. I’d assume it’s our subconscious thoughts of ‘men are stronger and women need protection,’ but I found it very interesting and not something that I’d thought of before, even as a true crime fan who has ingested hundreds upon hundreds of stories.

This dual POV dark academia murder mystery will have you hooked from the first chapter. I bet you won’t guess who done it! Follow Liz (editor of the school paper)and Amy (the best friend/roommate who was just in the next room when the murder took place) as they try to piece together who would brutally murder their friends and why.

I’ve seen Jessica Goodmans books before, but I have not read any until now. Im so glad I got to change that! This book was great. I really enjoyed reading it the entire time. This story was written at a comfortable pace. Not too fast, not too slow. There were just enough characters to keep you interested without being confusing. The setting was very well flushed out, from the dorm rooms to the local cafe. It felt both familiar and a little creepy! You never really felt like the girls were grasping at straws. Their actions, although maybe a little nieve, were relatable and made sense to the story.

You really do question everyone, and you won’t guess the real culprit. You just won’t.

I like the way the author left it! I would have liked just one more twisty turn….but I love how the relationships all left off.

This book came out yesterday, Feb 4th, 2025! Is this one on your TBR?

Thank you to Penguin Teen Canada and Netgalley for the arc! 😘

Jessica Goodman is a must-read author for me who has mastered the YA mystery and her latest doesn’t disappoint. I was hooked from the beginning, and though I had suspicions about the murderer early on my interest never waned. Excellent pacing as always. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this novel, I look forward to Goodman’s next!

A book filled with twists and turns and will keep you guessing until the very end. Amy and Liz attend the same high school, but have very different trajectories. Amy is on the soccer team, while Liz is a reporter for the school newspaper. Amy has it all (so it appears), while Liz is on the sidelines, not let in to the inner circle. When Amy wakes up to find her roommate and her roommate’s boyfriend murdered, her life is thrown into chaos.

Two unlikely allies are thrust together. Not only because they become instant roommates, but at one.me or another they need each other. Who killed the “it” couple and why? When suspicion falls on Amy, it will take a miracle to find the truth. My only irritation is what the author did to Amy’s relationship with her boyfriend. I understand that high school romances don’t last forever (most of the time), but something about what happened didn’t sit right with me.

In a world that seems perfect, one heinous night changes everything. I really enjoyed this book and would read more by this new-to-me author. I received an ARC and this is my honest, voluntary review.

I was so excited to start The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman!
Goodman always delivers the absolute best reads!
A fun and ending YA dark academia thriller that kept me hooked and wishing it lasted a couple 100 pages more.
She creates interesting, unique characters set in plots unlike other mysteries and thrillers in YA lit. Goodman’s word building keeps me glued to her books, which I often read in one setting.
A suspenseful thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one.

Thank You NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I was hooked from the beginning! Even though at first I didn’t really care for Liz or understand her, she was working through ethics in a field she wanted to be in, while feeling like an outsider in her own school.
Amy and Liz were unlikely narrators, not what I would have expected, but I enjoyed them and the pacing of the story.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Jessica Goodman for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Meadowbrook Murders coming out February 4, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’ve read a few books by this author. I really enjoyed this book YA murder, mystery type books. I really enjoyed this book. I thought there was a lot of mystery and backstory for Liz and Amy. They were interesting characters. There were some things at the end that I wasn’t really into as much, but I think it was a really good read.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries!

This is an intriguing crime thriller with some exciting twists and turns. It starts out slow but gets better as it goes along. Its short chapters make it easy to read through quickly so you can easily get to the more interesting parts of the story.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Goodman, and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing the ebook. This was an exciting, suspenseful read. Set in a New England boarding school, it’s a gripping murder mystery full of twists, hidden secrets, surprising alliances, and the development of new friendships.

My thanks to NetGalley and G.P Putnam's Sons/Penguin Random House for the ARC of "The Meadowbrook Murders" in exchange for an honest review..
There are worse things than attending an exclusive Prep School for the sons and daughters of the Uppercrust. but given the horrible things that occur there in YA thrillers, I'm not so sure.
But let me give credit to author Jessica Goodman - even though I wasn't inclined to care one millimeter about any of these student-suspects, the book's brutal murders and search for the killer hooked me from start to finish. And the deeper I got into it, I began to admire the story's perceptive takes on the nature of friendship, the clash of the super-rich with everybody below them and role of journalism in a society feeding on tabloid sound bites.
The Meadowbrook school's rocked by the stabbing deaths of seniors Sarah and Ryan, both found in bed together by Amy, the girl's traumatized roommate. Budding school newspaper editor Liz is determined to use her investigative instincts to uncover the truth, but she's kept on a tight leash (under threat of expulsion) by the Headmaster.
Absolutely no more should I say, plot-wise, other than to say there's no shortage of suspects as the startling reveals and twists begin to unfold. And of course, on top of the mystery,, a reader can sample a full menu of YA romantic betrayals, as well as friendships and rivalries that date back to childhood. It's fascinating to watch the back=and=forth clashes of the wealthy entitled Amy and middle class struggler Liz, right up to the expected melodramatic climax.
While not the most puzzling or clever of murder mysteries, this book surely succeeded in keeping me turning those pages until the perp's at last unmasked in a more than satisfying finale, and a well done aftermath, both poignant and realistic.
Maybe the next book in this genre could be "How to attend Prep School and still come out alive."

Gilmore Girls meets Pretty little Liars! Senior year is supposed to be fun, but when a double homicide takes place, it can put a damper on things.

Amy Alterman wakes up one morning to discover the bodies of her best friend Sarah and Sarah's boyfriend Ryan. Although the murder took place a wall away from her, Amy had no idea who murdered the couple.

Another senior at Meadowbrook, Liz, is an aspiring journalist who see an opportunity unity to use the murders to advance her future career. Amy and Liz are thrown together as they both try to navigate finding whodunit.

In the beginning i thought. I was going to give this book three stars, but about half way through the story begins to pick up and just keeps going up! The author constantly tries to make multiple people look guilty and does a good job at directing attention to various characters. I really enjoyed the growth of Liz. If you took Rory Gilmore and Paris Geller and made them one person you might get Liz. She also reminded me a bit of Spencer Hastings from Pretty Little Liars. I think junior high/high school me (ages 13-18) would have LOVED this and given it five stars.

Thank you to PenguinTeen, Netgalley, and Jessica Goodman for the ARC!

I have really enjoyed Jessica’s YA books. They’re typically murder mysteries, and this one did not disappoint! Varying POVs, a ton of twists and turns, and a really great audiobook!

No one does YA murder mystery like Jessica. She's got the privileged boarding school kids down to a science and Amy, Sarah and Meadowbrook Academy are no exception. I have always enjoyed Jessica's writing but the last couple of books have fallen a bit flat for me in comparison to her earlier releases. However, this one jumps her straight back up as I really enjoyed this one. It had me back to feeling like I was reading "They'll Never Catch Us" caliber again. The premise of the roommate being asleep in the next room as the crime was taking place was so good and added another layer of distrust in the characters which I LOVED. This dual POV adds so much depth to this story, (one being an outsider's perspective, aside from the crime) and keeps you on your toes wondering who did what and who's truth is that actual one. I loved this, read it in one sitting, ate it up. 4/5 stars.

Was it fine? Yes. Was it my favorite Jessica Goodman novel? No.

I'm a sucker for anything dark academia, and this book delivered on the genre, but not really in any other way. It opened with Amy waking up to find her roommate and her roommate's boyfriend dead. Promising start, but it didn't really deliver for me. There were some red herrings, but not really enough for me. It alternated chapters between Amy and Liz, a reporter on the school newspaper hoping to use reporting on the case as a way to bulk up her portfolio. Fortunately it became more than that for Liz or else she would have been the world's worst character.

Maybe I've read too many mysteries lately, but this one didn't really deliver for me.

It’s the first week of senior year for best friends Amy and Sarah at their selective boarding school. But when Sarah and her boyfriend are killed in Sarah’s room in the suite the girls share, suspicions fall on Amy. It doesn’t help that’s Amy lies about her whereabouts to protect her own boyfriend, their soccer coach’s son and a “townie.” Liz is a scholarship kid and outsider at Meadowbrook Academy. She’s determined to get a journalism scholarship for college and breaking the story of a double murder on campus is just the kind of thing that could ensure her win. When Amy is reassigned to live with Liz, they eventually form a hesitant alliance and their investigation of the crime leads to the discovery that Sarah was lying about a lot of things before she died.

This was a fun, quick popcorn mystery. If you’ve liked the author’s previous books, you’ll probably enjoy this one. The characters are interesting and there’s definitely a very clear dichotomy set up between how Amy was treated prior to the murders and how Liz is treated at the school. Ultimately, I guessed the killer pretty early on—I think honestly at the moment character was introduced—and outside of the murders, not much happened in the first half of the book. There was a lot of time spent weighing the responsibility a journalist has about what to report and what not to report and if that question piques your interest, you might love this one.

The book is told from the POVs of Amy and Liz and the audiobook had dual narration which is a perk. I did strongly prefer Jessie Vilinsky’s narration of Amy over the narrator for Liz and was anxious to get back into Amy’s head during the Liz chapters. But Liz’s narrator did bring a certain focused element to the narration that I think fit the character. Overall, I’d recommend the audio for this one.