Unnecessarily vulgar at times, and the plot wasn’t as exciting as the description made it seem. The twist at the end was a bit lackluster.

Oh this was juicy! I loved the setting of sorority sisters on a college campus. The alternating chapters between past and present was the icing on the cake. I can't say I was surprised on who did it.

This was such a great concept and worked well in this universe, it had that suspenseful atmosphere and was hooked from the first page. The characters were everything that I was expecting and thought worked in this universe. I was glad that I got to read this and loved the way Michelle Brandon wrote this.

9 years ago, Bama freshmen Annabelle, Asana, Taylor, and Brooklyn joined a sorority and became the HBICs, hiding many secrets in the process. 5 years after graduation, the girls reconnect in campus for Rush Week, and they have to try to keep those secrets from coming out.

I was so excited by the premise of this book. Sororities and secrets, blackmail, a Mean Girls-esque “Spill Book” that the girls wrote during their college days—it sounds like the perfect campus thriller. Unfortunately, the premise is the most interesting thing about this book.

The timeline makes no sense. As freshmen, the girls danced to WAP at a party, which means the earliest they could have started to school was fall 2020. But the “now” section takes place 5 years after graduation, so assuming it took them 4 years to finish undergrad, the “now” sections are taking place in 2029. Are we time travelers now?

I don’t think the author has ever met a sorority girl before. I was not in one myself, but I went to a large SEC school and had many friends who were. My friends were (and still are) smart, kind, driven, and successful women. The characters in the book are caricatures of the worst possible sorority girl. I honestly couldn’t even tell the POVs apart sometimes because they were so similar, and I hated all of them.

The entire concept of the “Spill Book”—that sisters write their deepest, darkest secrets and hope that no one will see them—is so beyond ridiculous that I was irritated and it totally took me out of the story. The pacing is also brutally slow, and the book could have been 100+ pages shorter because NOTHING HAPPENS except for all the girls being terrible people.

This book is unfocused, too long, and dull. Really disappointing.

The author did her research but I hate when books date themselves and this one does it with TikTok. Some of the storylines were too silly for me.

I loved this book! Multiple POVs, dual timeline, and morally grey characters! The FMCs are "best friends" who all have dark secrets they don't want to come out. While I can describe the FMCs as unlikable, I found myself routing for them. I thoroughly enjoyed the story that took place during their college days. The present focused on reckoning with their choices and the events that took place during and immediately after college. The reveal of the "big bad" was a little predictable and the blackmail plot a little weak, but I loved the characters and their arcs. Themes of female friendships, hazing/bullying, revenge, redemption, shame, and realizing your strengths. Check TWs for this one!

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the e-arc!

Brooklyn, Asana, Taylor, and Annabelle were in THE sorority at Alabama and this book tells their story from "then" and "now" perspectives. Now is about 5 years after graduation, but they had lost touch with each other for many reasons. Never having joined a sorority, this story seems to be everything I thought about this group of sorority women. So much drama. So much about physical appearances. The mystery that surrounds the four women was interesting but I kept thinking that they were getting some karma for making everyone write in the 'spill book' during their tea parties.
The dynamics about and between the women were a curiosity for me. Each had their own niche during college and it seemed that it continued into young adulthood. I did want to keep reading to find out how it all played out and the resolution of the mystery would make the book a good beach read.
#RushWeek #NetGalley
Thank you William Morrow and Net Galley for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Loved the depiction of rush life that we’ve all become enthralled with, from the show Greek to now RushTok. I wish the “big bad thing” had been more of a *gasp* reveal. But overall an easy and enjoyable read.

There was so much potential for Rush Week by Michelle Brandon but in the end, it felt like Brandon coasted off the cultural hype surrounding 'Bama Rush Week to create a muddled, often times nonsensical, story. The timeline created in Rush Week makes no sense, particularly when we are supposed to believe the main characters graduated five years ago and rushed nearly nine years ago - yet somehow the proliferation of TikTok, OOTDs, and OnClouds were prevalent in their freshman year of college. This would be fine if the present day was set up to be present day, as in 2025. The chronological timeframe makes no sense and distracted me from the storyline.

That leads me to storyline. I still don't know what it was. I still don't really understand how they all got themselves into the positions they are in, both past and present. I am still struggling to connect with a single character, her backstory, and her motivations. Unfortunately, this one fall very flat for me. The promised mystery at the center of the book ended up being a major disappointment and too convoluted to make sense. I will have to say, this one is a recommended skip on my part.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Rush Week felt like scrolling through Tik Tok during Bama Rush week and getting snapshots of everyone’s backstories and drama. The characters didn’t really have many redeeming qualities, but you kind of want to love to hate them. Reading this book was like a peek into a life that I never wanted for myself, but also can’t look away from. Some of the dialogue and situations felt a little cringey and forced to fit into stereotypes of sorority women. This would be a fun, superficial beach read, but wasn’t one I’d consider rereading.

Wow-what can I say other than this is not at all what I expected it would be. This was so sleazy and trashy that it was a DNF for me. I was hoping that it would be a cool, fluff set at UA during recruitment, but jeez! I made it about three chapters or so in and decided to abandon it.
I am not prudish, but it was raunchy. Disappointed--I had high hopes that it would a good summertime fluff read.

This book was good, but not my favorite. I enjoyed the Greek life aspect and peaking into that life as a person who did not join in Greek life when in college. That aspect was super interesting and I enjoyed all the rich people drama that came along with this, but the book had some plot holes and questions I couldn’t shake and didn’t feel were answered. This story was a quick read, but I had a hard time connecting or rooting for or even loving to hate the characters and that made it hard for me to love.

While this is certainly salacious, it is scattered and likely for a younger audience. It was a bit of a 'brain break' after reading a few books in a row that dealt with more substantive/heavier topics.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

The premise of the book sucked me in right away—as a fan of the old ABC Family show Greek—but as I moved through the book, it fell a bit flat for me.

The book alternates between the past and present (then and now) of four best friends and sorority sisters: Brooklyn, the social media and soccer star; Annabelle, the legacy and perfect Southern lady; Asana, the New York it girl with her family's empire, connections, and money at her fingertips; and finally Taylor, the one and only leader of the self-proclaimed BATA clan. Since the story hinges on the secret contents of the "Spill Book" it only makes sense that each chapter begins with a secret from one of the four girls from their college days, a fun and clever way to keep interest throughout the book. That said, the ending seemed a little anticlimactic for me...

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for this ARC!

A salacious tale of sorority sisters gone very, very wrong. Kind of like a grown-up version of Sweet Valley High, it's great for fans of Desperate Housewives, #RushTok, and Lie to Me.

These four sisters of Alpha Delta Lambda go way beyond the ordinary level of sorority scandal, and are downright felonious. Three of them come from very privileged backgrounds, while the fourth is on scholarship and desperately trying to keep up with the rich girls. Five years after graduation, they return to Bama for rush week because they're being blackmailed about their filthy secrets, which they had voluntarily written down in a notebook while they were in college.

Let’s start with the cover: I really didn’t like it. There were so many creative directions that could’ve better captured the tone and themes of the book, but this one just didn’t land. It felt like a cheap design choice that tried to be clever but came off as tacky.

I was initially intrigued by the premise — a group of sorority sisters returning to campus during Rush Week after being blackmailed, grappling with a resurfaced “Spill Book” and long-buried secrets. I did enjoy the drama for a bit, but it got pretty tiring about halfway through. I found myself struggling to connect with the characters. The story is told through four POVs, alternating between “then” and “now” in short chapters. While that structure had potential, the characters were poorly developed and often made frustrating decisions that didn’t make much sense. I had a hard time sympathizing with any of them. Their lack of depth made it difficult to get invested, and their behavior often came across as exaggerated or shallow — truly awful at times.

This book felt like the author just typed away without putting much effort into research, relying instead on surface-level stereotypes of Greek life. And adding The Machine storyline wasn’t all that necessary, just felt like an add on that wasn’t really well thought out even though it’s a real thing at Alabama (if you’ve ever went down that rabbit hole, you know). It read like someone who thinks they know how sororities and fraternities work because of TikTok. The writing lacked nuance and authenticity — just vibes and tropes.

The characters, supposedly in their mid-to-late 20s, either acted like they never grew out of their teen years or way too old for their age. It was inconsistent and often cringey, making it nearly impossible to engage with the story.

The pacing dragged at times, and honestly, the book could’ve been 50 to 100 pages shorter. I’d read a chapter or two, feel drained, and have to put it down. What started a promising read quickly became repetitive and exhausting. And the ending? Uneventful, anticlimactic, and totally unsatisfying. There was no real buildup or payoff — just a quiet fizzle instead of any meaningful reveal.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 | 𝘈𝘷𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦-𝘈𝘙𝘊. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.💐ᡣ𐭩

There are reasons that I'm not on TikTok and don't understand BamaRushWeek or whatever.
There's also reasons that I wasn't part of Greek life. during college.

I lived in a house in the middle of Greek row called "POG" - Piss on Greek.

This story is full of dumb girls, doing dumb things, to make dumb friends.

Nah.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

A world of rituals, rules, traditions, promises, friendships, and trust are compromised when the past collides with the present. Four Alpha Delta Lambda graduates return "home" older, wiser, and some living a not so "picture perfect" life. When their deepest and darkest secrets once buried and left behind are soon discovered it will threaten to destroy their lives and legacy. One word of advise...when putting something into a time capsule ask yourself...what would you do if someone discovered it while you were still alive?

If you liked Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, and are familiar with the Mean Girls Burn this dual timeline story takes you into the depths of Rush Week at Alabama University packed with plenty of drama, suspense, secrets, and spice. In a world where everyone is watching don't believe everything you read or hear, and be careful who you trust. Everyone has a price...what's yours?

This book was one with an amazing premise. But while I LOVED the Bama vibes and the campus setting, the plot fell a little flat for me.

In full disclosure, I’m a Bama Law grad. I love the campus. I love Greek life and Greek drama and gossipy books about the 1%. But I kept waiting for some HUGE reveals given all the foreshadowing, and this just didn’t deliver. I found it to have many plot holes, a disconnect between the MC’s campus lives and the time that passed between student life and their reunion, and a wholly unrealistic epilogue.

Overall, I really enjoyed parts of this, and if you go in expecting that there will be plot holes, it might be a better result. It was a fast read!

⭐️ 3.5 stars
If you like rich girl drama, gossip, and secrets then this is for you. I enjoyed the sorority aspect of it because sororities always gave me uncomfortable vibes, so paired with a mystery was very fun. There are a lot of secrets and a lot of now and then but the story at times dragged on to me. The reveal was a bit lackluster after everything but I still enjoyed the way there.

Thank you to William Morrow Books and NetGalley for this ARC.