How did I get the book? Netgalley, thank you St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Mystery
Synopsis: In this breathtaking debut that reads like Gossip Girl crossed with Twin Peaks, a Queen Bee at a blue-blooded New England prep school stumbles into a murder mystery.
Anne Dowling practically runs her exclusive academy on New York’s Upper East Side – that is, until she accidentally burns part of it down and gets sent to a prestigious boarding school outside of Boston. Determined to make it back to New York, Anne could care less about making friends at the preppy Wheatley School. That is, until her roommate Isabella’s body is found in the woods behind the school.
When everyone else is oddly silent, Anne becomes determined to uncover the truth no matter how many rules she has to break to do it. With the help of Isabella’s twin brother Anthony, and a cute classmate named Brent, Anne discovers that Isabella wasn’t quite the innocent nerdy girl she pretended to be. But someone will do anything to stop Anne’s snooping in this fast-paced, unputdownable read – even if it means framing her for Isabella’s murder.
200words (or less) review: Let me start by saying that when you put words like “breathtaking” & “unputdownable” in a blurb you are setting my expectations really high. I enjoyed Prep School Confidential, I really did but for me it wasn’t breathtaking – it was fun.
Anne Dowling is a privileged girl that ends up Wheatley School following an accident involving her setting fire to her old school. Her new roommate, Isabella, is a scholarship student who doesn’t fit in with the elite at Wheatley. Despite the short time they spend together Anne thinks of Isabella as her friend and takes her murder investigation into her own hands as the local police make no headway.
As a protagonist Anne took a little while to win me over but the more I got involved in the story the more I liked that she was complicated. There are a lot of characters in Prep School Confidential and especially the girls are easy to mix up. The mystery itself goes here, there and everywhere, so keeps you guessing.
I enjoyed reading Prep School Confidential and will keep an eye out for book 2 as the next mystery sounds really promising.
Recommend it?
Yes
Luna's Little Library 
I hate it when synopses say that a books is ‘breathtaking’ or whatever. It means nothing to me, of course they’re going to say it’s good – they want me to buy it! 😉