Category: YA

4 star, YA

ARC Review: The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of They Wish They Were Us and The Counselors, comes a page-turning murder mystery set at a prestigious New England boarding school and the dark secrets a killer desperately wants hidden.

Secrets don’t die when you do.

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. 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. 

The Meadowbrook Murders is a gripping mystery about the inextricable way power, privilege, and secrets are linked, and how telling the truth can come at a deadly price.

**The Meadowbrook Murders comes out February 4, 2025**

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m always down for a boarding school story, but what makes one even better? When there happens to be a murderer among them. In what I’m starting to see as Jessica Goodman’s usual writing style, The Meadowbrook Murders was a fast-paced and fun murder mystery to dive into on a slow afternoon.

Written in two first-person POVs, we follow Liz, an avid student journalist, and Amy, the suspect (ahem I mean, roommate) of the two students who were killed. I’m seeing a trend in YA murder mysteries to be written in at least more than one POV to give us more insight into the investigation, and thereby suspect more people, but in this case, I am not sure if it was my favourite use of it. I’ll get back to this point later. But with senior year about to start and fellow students in the lower grades still yet to arrive on campus, this book gave almost a locked-room mystery vibe as who else could have done it than someone with access to the school dorms on a private campus?

Continue reading “ARC Review: The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman” →
3 star, YA

Review: A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Once Upon a Broken Heart #3

Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after.

Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out . . . but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.

Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test in A Curse for True Love, the breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy.

And finally we have it, the finale (see what I did there) of the Once Upon a Broken Heart series, the cousin of the Caraval series, coming to an end. As you can probably already tell by my rating, I was just a little bit disappointed how it all came to an end. I wish there was more explained, and in general the last book was a lot shorter than I thought it would be, for a book that would end a trilogy.

A Curse for True Love is the final part of the trilogy revolving around essentially what is the love story of Evangeline Fox, as she is torn between a real-life fairytale prince, or the feelings she gets whenever she sees Jacks, even though she remembers nothing about him. If she has always wanted her fairytale ending, why does her happily ever after seem like it’s not quite enough? And in that case, what is it that she’s forgotten but perhaps actually wants?

Continue reading “Review: A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber” →
5 star, YA

ARC Review: ASAP by Axie Oh

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

New York Times bestselling author Axie Oh’s ASAP is the much anticipated companion novel to beloved romance XOXO, following fan favorites Sori, the wealthy daughter of a K-pop company owner, and Nathaniel, her K-pop star ex-boyfriend, in a swoon-worthy second chance love story.

Sori has worked her whole life to become a K-pop idol, until she realizes she doesn’t want a life forever in the spotlight. But that’s not actually up to Sori—she’s caught between her exacting mother’s entertainment company and her father’s presidential aspirations. And as the pressure to keep her flawless public image grows, the last person she should be thinking about is her ex-boyfriend.

Nathaniel is off limits—she knows this. A member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world and forbidden from dating, he isn’t any more of an option now than he was two years ago. Still, she can’t forget that their whirlwind romance was the last time she remembers being really happy. Or that his family welcomed her into their home when she needed it most. . . .

So when Nathaniel finds himself rocked by scandal, Sori offers him a hideaway with her. And back in close quarters, it’s hard to deny their old feelings. But when Sori gets an opportunity to break free from her parent’s expectations, she will have to decide: Is her future worth sacrificing for a second chance at love?

Overall Recommendation:

ASAP is finally Sori and Nathaniel’s story that takes the elements I loved about XOXO and supplements in different ways that makes this a different experience while being everything I wanted. Another forbidden romance but this time with the baggage of a past history, the angst and chemistry between these two were real since the first day we met them in the previous book. While it can be read and loved as a standalone, I enjoyed seeing familiar faces in the XOXO group and a different side of the K-pop industry. Brilliant in its characterizations and emotionally heartbreaking, this was the perfect romance read that kept me entertained to the last page.

Publication Date: February 6, 2024

Diving headlong back into the glamorous world of K-pop and the XOXO group, fan-favourite characters (that included me!) Sori and Nathaniel are thrown back together again after graduating high school and somewhat putting their romantic history behind them. After all, their last foray into the non-platonic feelings almost brought a scandal for Nathaniel’s idol group XOXO just shortly after they debuted. It seems the world is just against them from being together.

I love a well-done forbidden romance as much as the next person, and Axie Oh just has a way of seeing into my heart and knowing which heartstrings to pull when she writes these romances. Sori and Nathaniel were so well written as characters that they felt like real people. Their chemistry was evident even when they were first introduced in XOXO but it was magnified in this book as we focus on their history and present.

Getting to know Sori was one of my favourite parts of the book. She is so much more than meets the eye. Her relationship with her mother, the CEO of an entertainment group, and her rocky relationship with her father made her such an empathetic character. The deep dive into another side of the K-pop industry was so much fun. Not only the music side, I loved seeing the preparation of groups before their debut and the variety shows they go on to make themselves known to their audience. As a K-pop fan, this made the story even more entertaining and real. Axie really drew me in with her depictions of this world.

For fans of the companion book, I’m so glad the boys of XOXO all made appearances that go beyond cameos. I think the biggest surprise was getting to see more of Sun who seemed to be more elusive in book 1 as he had already completed high school by that point. I honestly hope we get a book for each of the boys. *fingers crossed*. And for fans of Jenny and Jaewoo, they also make appearances so this book has a little treat for everybody!

Honestly, I can go on with my gushing, but this book (and series) is a love letter to those who love the K-pop world. It’s fun, fast paced and filled with emotional story arcs. ASAP follows in this same vein and doesn’t disappoint, even with the high standards I had for it. I urge you to go out and find a copy for yourself!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review