Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I have loved everything that I have read by Margo Rabb and Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize is no exception.. If you like young adult books with solid story lines, lovable characters, and mystery that you can't put down then this one's for you!!

The title sounds like an adult book, the cover looks like middle grade, but it's a YA novel? Although the main character is a teenager, she acts like a middle grade protagonist, other than calling an adult a dick at one point and falling in love with an actual adult. The adult and the teen share a kiss (which is against the law) and then make a joke about how it's against the law? I loved that the main character was overweight, had asthma, and was working on sorting the good adults from the bad, but I just don't think people care that much about plants in fiction. The plot was just one event after another with a lot of suspense coming from a timeline that didn't make any sense. Then, the main character faints, and while she's unconscious, the whole mystery is solved so it can be explained to her when she wakes up.

Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize follows (you guessed it) Lucy Clark after she is suspended from boarding school and sent to New York to assistant the elderly Edith Fox. As soon as she arrives, Lucy finds out someone is trying to kill Edith, but the question is who? There is a surprisingly large number of people who want the old woman dead.
LCWNA is a quirky book with a quirky cast of characters. The characters and the story itself are strange and different, but also felt somehow unoriginal at the same time. We’re given a mystery that somehow comes together a little too neatly in the end—despite the loopy mess of an explanation on how it all made sense—and a main character who has things happen to and around her rather than actually doing anything.
Part of an issue—and I’ve seen this in other reviews too—is that there are just too many characters, none of whom are given enough attention to actually be fleshed out and fully realized as a character (I can’t even remember half of their names). The other part is that they’re made unique, but then given old-as-time identities. For example, we have Jack, a 19-year-old police intern—he’s also got major dad issues after his mom died; Mimsy, Edith’s best friend and the comedic relief, but also fits the “eccentric old lady” role to a T.
Another issue is that everything felt a little distant. Despite someone trying to repeatedly kill Edith, I felt no sense of urgency or real danger. Everybody escaped just fine every time. Lucy herself is too distant—she’s so quiet and has little personality.
I didn’t really like how the mystery element was wrapped up either. It felt messy and forced. I’m trying to be vague to avoid spoilers, but I couldn’t help but wonder why someone would go to all that trouble and fail so many times. Plus the way it connects back to Lucy is just weird.
Despite all that, I actually did like this book! It has it’s downfalls, but it is fun. I like the idea of the story and the direction it took. I liked that Lucy actually did something pretty bad to get suspended (not that I like what she did, but that it was something serious and we got to see her struggles with it).
To sum it up, it’s fun and quirky—worth reading, but it doesn’t quite follow through. It ends up forgettable. Recommended for fans of more contemporary mysteries and Jewish main characters.
Thanks NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

Try as I might, I just didn't get engaged with this one. I just never really found my foothold, or much interest in the mystery. I don't feel like it was a bad book - I think other readers might have a better experience. If you like a mystery, give it a shot.

Unable to finish this book. Despite being listed as YA it is clearly middle grade. I just don't have the patience to read something that is so simple anymore....

Rating: 4.5 Stars

After "the incident", Lucy was sent to New York. Her punishment was to intern for the fabulous and eccentric Edith, who believed someone was out to get her. While other questioned Edith's mental capacity, Lucy set out to solve the mystery and made discoveries about herself along the way.

For a story driven by the search for a murder, this was a rather sweet and charming tale. Rabb did an amazing job keeping this on the lighter side while still exploring weightier topics. The book was filled with a fantastic cast of characters, plenty of humor, and lots of feels.

Things that delighted me:

• The characters were definitely the biggest draw for me. They were such an interesting group, and I enjoyed every second I spent with them. They were wonderful as individuals, but it was the group dynamic that I loved most.

• The gardens sounded incredible. Rabb pulled me right into these whimsical and magical places, and as a native New Yorker, I revel in those green spaces that exist alongside the concrete jungle. The physical beauty of these gardens came across clear as day, but there was more to it. It was about what these places gave back to those who worked in them or simply gazed upon their beauty.

• Edith's columns were really lovely. There were some snippets of columns Edith wrote for a garden publication, but they were more about how gardening related to life. Each of those columns shared some real wisdom, and I loved the way Rabb worked them into the story.

• It was really gratifying to see Lucy find herself and her people. Lucy struggled with feeling accepted. Her parents left her to be raised by her grandmother, and then when her grandmother died, they sent her to a boarding school. Though she formed a few solid friendships there, Lucy struggled to fit in. New York was a whole new realm for her, and I reveled in seeing her find a place she was accepted as she truly began to accept herself.

This was fun, warm, and cozy mystery, which surprised me in the best way. I enjoyed following the trail and getting to the bottom of things along with Lucy, but I didn't expect those pieces about belonging, acceptance, and family to be there or to warm my heart so much. Overall, this was a satisfying mystery, which left me smiling with the warm-fuzzies.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley. I enjoyed this book. There was a lot of twists and turns, a somewhat confusing resolution but it all kinda worked out. Parts of the book felt rushed. It seemed that a lot of imports info would be given at once, or a few sentences would sum up a series of events in order to get to the next event. Regardless, I enjoyed the book. I was extremely frustrated with many of the adults in the story. I also felt that the MC, Lucy, had some serious “issues” to deal with. At the end, these issues were being addressed, but throughout the story, they sometimes seemed either ignored or glossed over. In a way, this seemed like a very Young Book-maybe for middle grade, but I’m unsure of the age range this was written for.

This book was a really good read and it really pulls your heartstrings. I enjoyed the plot and where the author took the story. The characters were super relatable and easy to get along with. I will be recommending this book to all of my friends.

This book was so funny. The murder was a surprise to me,I kept guessing the wrong people.xD. I enjoyed this book so much.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A sweet, funny mystery that is a adventure without too much thinking to it. It's not bad or great, but its worth your time if you enjoy a cozy mystery.

This is a fun mystery about Lucy, who leaves her fancy boarding school to live in NYC to take care of an elderly lady who believes that someone is out to get her. Is the old lady crazy? Is it dementia? Or is there really someone who is trying to get to her and why?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so much fun and kept me on my feet the entire time! The mystery of the murderer surprised me, even though I was constantly guessing who it could’ve been or what might’ve been happening. I enjoyed every second of this book and found it so hard to put down. The blurb of this book described it as a “modern day version of The Secret Garden” and this book had so much of the charm and nature (literally) of that original story! All of the characters are so interesting and easy to like, even the ones that you’re supposed to be suspicious of. Lucy was such an interesting main character, as was Edith and their overall dynamic together and trusting of each other.

I loved this book! It was completely far-fetched and unbelievable, but I couldn’t wait to see how it would end. Was Edith paranoid and just showing signs of old age or is somebody really after her? And who, of her family and friends would have enough motive to try to murder her? Well done, Margo Rabb.

This is a fun mystery about Lucy, who leaves her fancy boarding school to live in NYC to take care of an elderly lady who believes that someone is out to get her. Is the old lady crazy? Is it dementia? Or is there really someone who is trying to get to her and why?

An interesting, modern "whodunit" that will engage many young teens who feel left out or unseen. The most engaging part of the story was the multi-generational connections between the teens and elderly. Often society overlooks those relationships, so it's refreshing to see them represented here.

For a sophisticated reader, this novel will fall flat. Although the overall plot is interesting enough, the individual characters seem flat and unrealistic. Lucy makes no decisions for herself until the very end - she floats listlessly through the experience. Often I thought she seemed much younger than 16; she was only 16 to make the plot work (she has to drive at one point). Other characters seem more like caricatures - having one main trait that overrules the rest of themselves. Although the two main teenagers have every single reason in the world to be angry, neither of them are (and this makes them feel numb, not able to rise above their pasts).

I did not guess the ending (the "who" of the whodunit), but I do not think the clues were there along the way. The author referenced many greats of the mystery genre - Nancy Drew, Hercule Poirot, etc - but the case in this novel does not build so the reader could solve the case along with the characters.

Still, the fact that the main character does not allow herself to be pushed around at the end is nice (even if unbelievable - 16 year old's can't actually just tell their parents that they are not going to live with them and get away with it without being labeled a runaway and sought by the police).