Thank you to the publisher for giving me the chance to read an early digital copy of Rush Week by Michelle Brandon. I was first intrigued by this one because of the fact that I was in a sorority in college and had the opportunity to participate in an actual Rush Week three times. I feel like the way sororities are portrayed in media such as movies and books is often very different than what I actually experienced as part of my sorority experience. Nonetheless, it is always fun and interesting to see how sororities are depicted in books such as this one. This was a fun and entertaining read. I would classify it as a popcorn thriller, and it is a good one to read if you are looking for a quick read that is a good palate cleanser.

Five years after they thought they’d said goodbye forever, a group of sorority sisters find themselves back at the University of Alabama for Rush Week. Some return to rekindle their friendships, and others to keep long silent secrets from being exhumed. Unbeknownst to them at the time, the infamous “Spill Book” they wrote confessions in as a trust (hazing) exercise over the years was placed into a time capsule—now it’s been stolen, and the anonymous thief is threatening to expose them all on Bid Day.

Perfect college set book for the crowd that swoons over $20,000 dorm room makeovers. Mean Girls + Pretty Little Liars x college= Rush Week. All this being said, i dont think i was the right audience for this book. I didn't love the tone and there were no stand out characters for me. Thanks to Net Galley and Avon for the eARC in exchange for my honest review

This book really just wasnt for me. I really do appreciate the being granted the opportunity to read this. Thank yoj to netgalley and the publishers.

I can't deny I've been sucked into RushTok the last several years and so seeing a book about sorority life had me jumping at the chance to read. I really enjoyed the story, it was the perfect amount of drama and I feel like really captured Greek Life in all it's glory without being overly done.

absolutely adored this book and loved all the twists and turns! so fun to read as a greek girl myself! 3.5 rating, kept me on the edge of my seat. Grateful for the ARC.

This was AWFUL. Not only was it incredibly predictable, but the details about rush were so wrong. Watching a few TikToks about Bama Rush does not qualify someone to write a book about one of the biggest Greek systems in the country.

This novel was delicious and the best kind of guilty pleasure read. Rush Week drops readers straight into the high-drama world of the University of Alabama, where four sorority sisters are summoned back to their old house after each receives a threatening letter demanding their return—or else.

What follows is equal parts scandal, suspense, and Southern charm. Each woman is guarding a secret she can’t afford to have exposed, and though fractures have long splintered their friendship, the sisters must come together to face down a blackmailer who knows far too much. The twists are sharp, the stakes are high, and the drama is addictive.

I loved the dual timelines -- both while they were students and present day. And the Mean Girls-esque burn book was a delightful addition. I noticed some readers were not happy with the addition of "The Machine" secret society, but I thought it added a lot to the story.

I loved this one -- five stars from me,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Rush Week was unfortunately a massive no for me. I REALLY wanted to love this because it sounded like such a fun read--a sorority house at the University of Alabama, dark secrets, anonymous threats, and the kind of drama you’d expect from a #BamaRush-inspired mystery. However, it didn’t quite deliver. The book follows four girls--Annabelle, Taylor, Brooklyn, and Asana--through their rush experience and into the present day, where a reunion threatens to expose secrets from their past. That said, I found it hard to stay invested. The multiple POVs and the awkward “then vs. now” timeline made the plot feel scattered and confusing. I often had to backtrack just to figure out who was narrating or where we were in time because the characters were hard to connect with. Each had a bit of "dark past," but there was so much going on that I didn't really care about what happened to any of them. Overall, the writing felt choppy, the plot lacked focus, and the pacing was off. So for me, it just fell flat.

A novel based on #BamaRushTok, this takes a look at Greek life at Alabama & the secrets that can be held within sisterhood, especially the darkness that gets unearthed years later as a group of sorority sisters reunite.
Sadly, this was a miss for me, especially coming from Greek life (and part of the reason it gets a negative association at times). It felt insincere, especially taking on a popular social media trend without the truth of the experience. Others may enjoy this better!
Thank you to Avon for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Growing up in a country where the Greek system doesn’t exist, I find the entire thing to be fascinating. When I saw this book, loosely based around the phenomenon that is Rushtok, I had to read it. This story was a fun ride. I loved the characters. They all put in so much effort to present themselves in a way that was far from reality. This is the perfect read for people who love drama and intrigue.

Four sorority sisters, five years after graduation, have been invited, under duress, back to rush week. They are panicked, because their summons is based on dark secrets, that are supposed to be buried in a time capsule.

Four graduates of the University of Alabama return to campus for Rush Week once more after a blackmailer threatens to expose all of the sorority sworn secrets.

***

I think the author kind of missed their chance to capitalize on the sorority/RushTok craze. Haven't you heard? It's all about mommy influencers and Mormons now! The only 2025 RushTok relevance was literally ONE girl and she dropped, LOL. Furthermore, the whole TikTok thing just wasn't even relevant to the plot at all except for ONE influencer. So really, why even include it at all? Especially if it forces a weird timeline where the main characters are barely out of college at all.

The actual plot of the book was, unfortunately, boring. This was supposed to be about sorority life at the University of Alabama and instead it was about an underground political network that may or may not exist but felt outside the realm of any reality I can think of. Further, I really did not care who was blackmailing these girls or why since they were all awful. (Justice for Annabelle, why didn't her "sisters" tell her what was going on!!) I'm all about sex positivity, so it is not any sort of prudish thoughts towards these women, it's strictly because they suck as people and friends.

I would love to read a book about actual sorority life, this is not it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Ended up DNFing this book around 25%. The writing itself was not bad and the idea seemed like it was going to be great. My reason for DNFing was mainly because there were too many POVs and having the time jump withing the POVs. It felt like a lot and it became hard to keep up with. I think it would have been an more enjoyable read if the had done one or the other.

Such a interesting story line it kinda reminded me of PLL but more about the four friends with secrets of their own. It was overall a good read and a great theme for this time of year to read with Rushtok back on the scene

This started off strong and interested but then, nothing happened…like nothing. It was just women bickering and being mean to each other to hide secrets they idiotically divulged when they were younger. I thought we were going for camp at one point as a character says something like “who’s hungry” as she opens her legs but then it never actually went campy so I don’t know. They can’t all be winners!

I strategically timed reading this to coincide with real Alabama rush week 😂 This was basically like a college version of Pretty Little Liars. An endless amount of secrets, lies, and blackmail. I will say you kind of have to suspend your sense of reality to enjoy this book. It’s told from a lot of POVs along with dual timelines, and the storylines are a little outrageous. I got used to the formatting as the book went on though. I was invested, entertained and had a great time reading.

Being a "more seasoned" alumna member of a sorority (not from Bama), the premise of the book hooked me in. The time capsule, the "Spill Book," the dirty little secrets and lies that each of the four sisters carry with them, and the blackmail for revenge.

While I enjoyed the dual timeline (Then and Now), I found it a little hard to follow among the 4 women.

Otherwise, it was campy, catty, and deliciously fun to step back into that life for a short time.

Q: Are you in a sorority (or fraternity)? If so, which one?

Michelle Brandon’s Rush Week feels like it’s trying to capture the chaotic energy of TikTok-fueled sorority drama, but it ultimately doesn’t stick the landing. The premise, four former sorority sisters returning for Rush Week while a stolen time capsule threatens to expose their past secrets, has the potential for a sharp, juicy story, yet the execution leans heavily on clichés and caricatures. The characters are often more archetypal than fully realized, and the constant barrage of “juicy” scandals and betrayals starts to feel repetitive rather than suspenseful. As a novel, it’s readable enough for a light, guilty-pleasure binge, but it struggles to offer meaningful tension or depth. Fun in small doses.

What I liked: Entitled sorority girls’ crazy efforts to prevent disclosure of juicy secrets when their “spill book” is prematurely retrieved from a time capsule

What I disliked: The story is told from too many points of view, and the random jumping between past and present times was chaotic

Absurd in a manner kind of akin to that goofy-fun aughts movie The Skulls. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

There’s been some well-founded criticism of this book that the story could easily have been made better given the premise and that it’s a bit ridiculous, but it’s also a fun read and well-paced.

It’s a bit odd that there’s no murder here, just buckets and buckets of blackmail involving some pretty far-fetched personal secrets as well as a sort of burn book type of item. It makes the stakes feel a bit low for the reader, though aside from some not-too-detailed sexual assault plot lines, that also makes it an easy and entertaining read.

I really appreciated that Brandon didn’t use this as a platform to trash sororities or the Greek system in general, acknowledging the problems that occur but also pointing out the good things about it as well.

And though there’s no real mystery (it’s kind of obvious who the villain is), the story keeps you engaged and the protagonists are actually all pretty likable.