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

I feel like this could have been a really fun concept, but fell flat.

There were a lot of details that were either poorly done or unnecessary. The Machine story line could have been completely left out, the stealing of the spill book was anticlimactic, Greg's arrest (though much deserved) felt as if it came out of no where. This story was all over the place and a lot of it just felt like it didn't belong or wasn't realistic. I wish the author focused on one big secret or the dark sides of Greek life.

The summary sounded promising, but didn't live up to the potential. There are four main characters, and consist of short chapters alternating POVs. It took a while to fully be able to tell the characters apart and follow their stories.

This one was just not it. I had high expectations .- but it just seemed unrealistic with the timeline. Like it was just really unrealistic that these girls were so into social media, yet hadn’t spoken to their best friends in five years. It also just didn’t seem realistic at all, where it made it hard to get into it.

I was excited to read this book because I have a lot of experience in my sorority both in college and after. In general, I am always happy to read about the complexity of female friendships and I do believe in sorority being a great place for that. I was disappointed by how it seemed to be only negative stereotypes chosen to push the story forward. It felt expected and I didn't find myself pleasantly surprised by the way the book was going. The end did wrap up in a way I was happy with but before that it was hard to pick back up in the middle.

I wanted to enjoy this but I felt taken out of the story from the stereotypical description and out of the reality of this world story lines, etc.

I really liked the idea of this book, but was expecting a better execution. It was, however, a fast and entertaining read. I look forward to seeing what else this author will bring to the table.

Rush Week wasn’t for me. Greek Life at the University of Alabama is legendary and I looked forward to this glimpse into that world. Unfortunately, I never got on board with the different plot strands of the book and found the main characters immature and unlikable. The dual timeline made for a sluggish narrative and there were also timeline issues that made aspects of the story hard to follow. I understand that the author took some creative liberties with the time and place of different cultural references, but these additions to the story were just another thing that did not come together for me.

I expected more from a book vetted by this publishing house.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of RUSH WEEK by Michelle Brandon in exchange for my honest review.***

Michelle Brandon’s “Rush Week*”is an engaging read that delves into the exhilarating and often cutthroat world of sorority recruitment and the life after. The novel follows a group of women who must come back and partake in the festivities of RUSH WEEK for their old sorority ADL. The book has a back-and-forth story line that goes from THEN until NOW/

One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its portrayal of female friendship. The bond between the main characters feels authentic, capturing both the excitement and pressure of joining a sorority while trying to remain true to themselves and each other. While the girls all have their own secrets, their secrets help built their character and make them grown stronger together.

However, while Rush Week delivers on drama and emotional depth, there are moments where the pacing lags. Certain sections feel overly drawn out, particularly those detailing the minutiae of recruitment events and inner sorority politics. These moments slow down the story and make it feel repetitive at times, taking away from the tension that drives the plot forward.

Despite this, Rush Week remains an entertaining and relatable read for anyone interested in college life, friendship, and the challenges of fitting in. Brandon crafts a world that feels immersive, even if it occasionally gets bogged down in unnecessary details. If you enjoy stories about female friendship, secret lives and Greek life, I recommend this book for you!

This was so disappointing! I was so excited to start this book - who doesn't love some Bama Rust Tok and the dark side of sororities, with a little blackmail thrown in? The first 30% of the book was great, I was invested, but the last 70% was such a drag. Aside from the initial blackmail letters, there was really no more mention of the blackmailer - it was more going back to the characters' college days and what they were currently doing during Rush Week. It would've been great if the blackmailer was an anonymous narrator or if the blackmail was stepped up as the book progressed. Additionally, it felt like the characters were a little young to be blackmailed - they are my age! They haven't lived enough life to have truly blackmail-worthy problems. I think the book would've been better if the "blackmail" were about a murder or something equally juicy.
The other problem I had was that the book flipped from current time to the characters' college days, but then also differentiated between each character, with a little blurb at the beginning of each chapter from yet another character. So you would have a blurb from Brooklyn, the chapter would be about Taylor back in college, then another chapter would have a blurb about Annabelle and be set in current time in Asana's POV. It was very distracting.
Overall I would recommend skipping this book.

Five years after graduation, group of 4 sorority sisters find themselves back at the University of Alabama for Rush Week. These 4 girls are there 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 that was supposed to be open in 100 years. Only it's been opened early and their confessions are threatened to be shared.

This book definitely draws from the current craze of tiktok and "rushtok" with OOTD references. I felt like the secrets of the main characters were a little far fetched - a sugar baby, drug dealer, and thief. The LGBTQ storyline felt very dated but maybe also appropriate for the deep South.

As someone who was in a sorority in college, I appreciated the sisterhood aspects of the book but the hazing, secrets, backstabbing, and mean girl esque parts were not for me.

This book has something for everyone! A very modern-day, technology laden rush experience from the most looked at school for recruitment. As a former sorority gal, I LOVED reading this book and remembering how weird and culty sororities are - and how, for a long time, I understood the draw of one.

There’s drama (LOTS), intrigue, hot-button topics….a slam dunk for the college crowd. Not necessarily my speed but I did enjoy the read!

Thanks to Net Galley for choosing me to read an arc copy of Rush Week by Michelle Brandon.

Rush Week follows the life of four women who were apart of the sorority house during their time at the University of Alabama, the notorious college known for #Rushweek on Tik Tok.

One thing I loved about this book was the multiple perspectives between the four women, both past && present tense. POVs show what they were like during college && what they’re like now years later.

The reason they’re brought back to the University of Alabama well before their college reunion? A major secret that threatens the livelihood of each woman.

It’s no secret that #RushWeek in college is a stressful time of trying to fit in and meet sometimes unreal (my opinion) expectations placed upon them in order to please their sorority sisters. During pledge week the women are subjected to silly activities however some of them cruel like sitting on a washer && having fellow sisters circle all the areas of skin that juggles. The women take part in a Burn Book spilling their darkest secrets as a way to gain trust amongst one another. The secrets spilled range from things done during college time, to mention of SA (check trigger warnings), all of which could have devastating affects upon their current lives. After believing the burn book was long gone, the women are in for a rude awakening when they discover someone is blackmailing them using the burn book’s secrets. The women must put aside issues of past and present to put a stop to the threat of their lives.

The twist had my jaw on the floor. I was NOT expecting the outcome whatsoever. However my personal opinion while Rush Week did touch on a few of the negative behaviors that occur in sorority houses, I don’t feel as though much resolve was showed or how things had changed in the present sorority house compared to their time in college.


Overall the book was a good read. Lots of juicy scandals && redemption for the women. I would recommend Rush Week.

I enjoyed Rush Week but I feel like the characters needed to be a little farther removed from their college days than only 5 years. It was a WILD ride to follow 4 main characters through their current and past days and experiences of Rush Week in Bama. Having attended a large state university in the south and been a part of a sorority there... there were a lot of things that I recognized and remembered! As a reader, I came to hate several of the characters and really felt sorry for the shallowness of many of the girls. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC opportunity.

I was excited about this one, especially if you watch the rush week stuff on TikTok. I thought it was going to be kind of a cross between desperate housewives and mean girls. It gets told through a dual timeline. I just didn't like it. I didn't finish it. It just wasn't for me. I thought it was yeah. Just not good. I'm sure some people will love it, especially if they really are into these kind of books but just couldn't do it

Thank you, nat galley for a arc.In exchange for an honest review

Thank you netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to review this book before its release. This is a cute novel about sorority sisters and their (not so) secret book getting stolen that they spent their entire college years gossiping in. I just wish this story had more depth and suspense, but overall a 4/5 stars

There's only one reason you choose to read a book with this description and that's because you are titilated by the premise. And I bit. Strangely, it was much more than I expected and a really clever mystery. Also, this is the kind of book that brings you into a world that most of us know nothing about and isn't that kind of fun? Especially in these times? So, I can heartily recommend it for a lovely escape that will keep you engaged. The ending seemed a little forced and contrived, but it essentially had nowhere else to go, so I guessed it and most readers will. But that won't keep you from enjoying the ride!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. Can you say Guilty Pleasure?

While this wasn't a hit for me I think I wasnt the right demographic. I loved the southern setting and thriller style lies. The writing perfectly fits the tiktok generation . I would recommend for fans of PLL and similar shows

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am not and will never be a TikTok person, so I never actually got into the wormhole of RushTok. But I did read several articles about “Bama Rush,” and I watched the documentary (and I have a cousin in a sorority at Auburn, whose Insta frankly frightens me!). I was never in a sorority, but I find them fascinating from afar. This whole book is bonkers and I loved it. Like eating frosting right from the can.

The story follows four Bama besties - Brooklyn, Annabelle, Asana, and Taylor. When the novel opens, they’re five years out of college and have been invited back to their old sorority house for the opening of the time capsule they buried senior year (it was meant to be opened in 100 years, but the former house mother died and her family wanted the ring she put into it, so they insisted on digging it up). The problem is, Taylor put the “spill book” inside. It’s basically a notebook where Taylor bullied all of the sisters into writing down their secrets for the whole four years of college, and there’s plenty of incriminating stuff inside. Taylor put it in the capsule intending for it to be safe until they were all long gone, so this obviously isn’t great news. We follow all 4 girls back and forth through time - seeing what secrets were being told in the past, and what they’re doing to mitigate damage in the present.

All four girls have something to hide from the past and a lot to lose in the present. There’s a ton of jumping around, obviously, and each chapter also opens with a secret from the Spill Book, so there’s quite a bit going on. It’s never hard to follow, and I didn’t have issues telling the 4 girls apart, which is definitely a plus. I also kind of hated all of them? They’re all pretty terrible people in their own ways, so there wasn’t anyone whose chapters I was anticipating or dreading, if that makes sense. It does sort of bug me that they’re presented as the heroes, when again, they’ve all done some pretty terrible shit. And the majority of their problems in both the past and the present are ultimately solved by the fact that they all have a LOT of money. So again, kind of tough to root for (not that I was actively rooting for something awful to happen to them, but it’s annoying to see that they’re able to get out of pretty much everything because they’re rich and white).

Bama Rush! Yes, please! This cover drew me in and the story kept my attention. As a former sorority member, I needed to know the ins and outs of Brandon's book. It was entertaining and juicy. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Such a fun take on the Rush Tok craze... Mean Girls meets Sex Lives of College Girls.

This book follows 4 college freshman from Rush Week to 5 years post grad when they are all reunited after their spill book is leaked. They each had their own secrets in college and they have their own secrets now and this book perfectly linked the two timelines and each of the four women as they explored how strong are the bonds of sisterhood.

I was part of Greek life in college (way back when facebook just started...so no tiktok here) so it was fun to reminisce and speculate how much has changed regarding Greek life... and just how much has stayed the same. Very entertaining read!

Thank you to Net Galley and William Morrow for the ARC.

Thank you for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! I really enjoyed the drama of this book, but it got to be a little too over the top. I wish they removed some of the story lines and focused more on the ones they kept.