i don’t think ya is really my thing anymore, i felt like the characters were too immature. i don’t think these authors are for me anymore.

The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra

The Rumor Game is a young adult contemporary novel about cyber bullying and sex shaming among the children of Washington D.C.’s elite.
This novel centers around Georgie, Bryn and Cora as they navigate their senior year at an exclusive D.C. prep school. Georgie is back from a weight loss camp and is suddenly noticed by the popular kids at Foxham Prep only to have rumors starting that she’s flirting with a boy who isn’t available. Cora is the school’s Queen Bee but she is struggling with her self-esteem after her twin sister graduates early and attends Harvard and she’s faced with rumors her boyfriend is cheating on her with Georgie. Bryn is used to having everyone gossip about her after a car she was driving almost killed her ex-boyfriend and his friends and everyone believed it was on purpose. These three girls will experience personally how the culture of cyber bullying, gossip, sex shaming and issues around consent will begin to unravel everything they’ve worked for.
This novel had a lot to say but wasn’t boring or preachy. The storyline moved along quickly and it was entertaining. It has a diverse cast of characters and the backdrop of Washington D.C. and the offspring of political movers and shakers made it stand out from the rest. Like the authors’ previous novel (Tiny Pretty Things) I think this would make for an entertaining movie or series.

3 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

3.00 stars
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TW: Bullying, Sexual Assault, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Racism, Rape, Car Accident, Drug Use, Drug Abuse
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This book is filled with drama, just when you think nothing else could happen, it gets worse. We follow along with the students of Foxham Prep, an elite-posh private school as they navigate growing up and the effects that social media can take on one's life. The story is told via multiple POVs as we flip between Bryn, Cora, and Georgie as their lives all intertwine together. Bryn used to have it all, 'it' girl at her school, with the perfect life, perfect boyfriend, and best friend Cora by her side until things changed. One mistake sends her down the chain of popularity leaving her with no one by her side. With a new year starting, Bryn will stop at nothing to ensure she gains her life back.

I had a hard time getting into the characters of this book, finding it very hard to relate to any of them, it seemed like every point of their lives was outlandish. I really don't remember anything like this ever happening in my high school, Bryn for me was annoying. I've been in her shoes, where you mess up so bad you'll do anything to bond those mended relationships. Throughout the entire book I was rooting for her, understanding that what she did had been a mistake, instead, just when you think things are looking up, she goes and does something else that ruined every hope that I had for her.

After reading this book, I felt like I had wanted a bit more, the book is quite chunky, to begin with. It felt like we were going around in circles with the plot being a tad repetitive, the more I think about it, I'm starting to feel like YA is not for me currently.
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I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a great read! The main characters are believable. The story has so many elements included that it can be used to teach some valuable lessons. The story is very realistic and late teens/young adults will find it very relatable. As the story unfolds, the author demonstrates the power of social media and how it can be harmful. This title could be used as a young adult book club choice where rich conversations could include elements of race, class, body image, social status, cyberbullying, and so much more! The possibilities are extensive! Thank you to NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This is five stars!

This one was fun . Hit the target audience and has a lot of twists and turns to keep readers of many ages engaged.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I"ve always been a big fan of Dhonielle Clayton's writing and this was no exception. It's a fun read, perfect for teens

Loved the characters. Well developed and an interesting storyline. Did not see the twists and turns coming. The authors did a great job of bringing a diverse cast of characters to life.

I appreciated the diverse character attending this elite private school rather than the upper-class white characters I usually find in these types of stories. While I am about twenty years removed from the problems of high school, The Rumor Game put me back in those hallways. Bryn, Cora, and Georgie came across as multi-faceted main characters, and there experiences with rumors and social media seemed all too real. High school and college aged students should read this as a cautionary tale.

I love to mix YA reads in to my TBR and I was excited to be approved for The Rumor Game - anything surrounding a school setting is my absolute favorite! This one is an eye opener and shows just how a single rumor can really set ablaze and take over someone's life. Drama, social media spirals - I can't imagine what it's like going to high school in 2022 (but this book sure helps)! This one was ok for me and a fast read.

Bryn just wants to get her life back after an accident that made everyone see her as crazy and destroyed her social life.
Georgie was sent to a weight loss camp by her family and came back HOT and now there are rumors that she is hooking up with Baez, the most popular boy in school.
Cora is the girlfriend of Baez and desperate to stop the rumors.
All three of them will have to work together to figure out who is spreading and starting these rumors before they ruin them all. 📚
Such a whirlwind of a book and I LOVED how it featured texts between character, and Instagram posts and showed how comments can be super hurtful even when they aren’t meant to be. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Bryn makes a big mistake that gets several of her classmates hurt. The backlash from the incident leads to severe cyber bullying. The book follows Bryn and some of her friends as thing get seriously out of control.
This book started out really slow and it took multiple chapters for me to get invested. I enjoyed the plot. This book does not end with a happily ever after there are consequences for the actions of some of the characters. I would definitely suggest this book for a high school book club.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.

Image is everything, especially at Foxham Prep. This tony private school serves as the playground for the children of Washington DC’s elite. And one bad decision can unravel a charmed life in the blink of an eye. Bryn Colburn knows this firsthand. A scandal has cost Bryn her boyfriend, best friend, social standing and put her future career in politics in jeopardy. But she has a plan to get it all back. She just needs the help of her neighbor Georgie, who has become the school’s latest It Girl following her summer makeover. But standing in Bryn’s way is her ex-best friend Cora – cheer captain, student vice president and Foxham’s resident queen bee. And when rumors about the girls start blowing up on social, it becomes harder to shut them down and soon things really begin to spiral.

Authors Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra collaborate again for a teen novel that examines issues of beauty, gender, race, sexuality, privilege, cyberbullying, parental expectations, etc., through a diverse lens. It’s broken into four parts with narration from each of the girls with texts, posts, emails and articles peppered throughout. Much like social media, it’s an addictive read with the takeaway that actions do have consequences.

Rumors have power. Their power can give someone the world, or rip their lives apart, and a fancy high school in DC is about to get a lesson no one should have to learn.

The Rumor mill starts off with Bryn. She used to be the biggest power player in the school, until the car not-so-accident took away her popularity and life as she envisioned it. But she will do anything to get that life back.

Her best friend Cora is not only the cheer captain, her longtime boyfriend almost died in that car crash. Plus, with a super genius twin sister, life is not as easy as it should be. She doesn’t know what she wants but she knows what she doesn’t want, if only she could admit it.

Georgie is the formerly fat next door neighbor to Bryn. She is Punjabi, an immigrant, and newly noticeable on the hotness scale after losing 40 pounds at fat camp.

In this book the reader watches rumors change people, events, and the school. What is real, and in a world of social media, does it really matter what is real? All that matters is how things appear. If it appears that Georgie kissed Bryn’s ex-boyfriend, then she did. If it appears that Georgie had sexy fun time with Cora’s boyfriend, then she did. But rumors are like a game of telephone. They start off one way and take on a life of their own until they cause the fall of everyone.

This was an interesting read. The audiobook is very well done, in each of the three main girls are voiced by different narrators. The rumor list gets very repetitive when listening in audiobook form, but at the same time, that list is everything. This book is definitely social thriller, but as an adult looking back on the rumors from my time in high school, I could also classify this as horror. The things that happen, that no one tries to stop are the stuff that horror stories are made of. There may not be blood and gore, but the emotional horror can be forever lasting.

Overall I really liked this book but I didn’t love it. It was very real. It feels very much like over privileged teen agers let loose in a society where they see themselves as self-sufficient adults, but are really scared little kids looking for help and acceptance. As a bigger person, the constant harping on Georgie’s weight gets annoying, as does the constant praise of her weight loss. However, many of her emotions towards this are very real and very understandable. Cora is so unsure of herself. And while in a character this annoys me, it is very true to teen age life. Heck is Cora was surer of herself, maybe this would be a different book. And Bryn, well the less said the better. I think teens will see themselves, kids they know, and the school they go to, in these pages.

The authors of Tiny Pretty Things are back with another messed up look at the potential of wildness that can happen in high school, this time all around a rumor. Using multiple formats, including text messages and social media posts, they tell the story of how things can get out of control and change the lives of those involved.

Such a truthful novel about expectations and high school! This was such an interesting story that is very accurate as to what teens are going through today through the power of social media. The characters had lots of depth to them and made the story move along nicely, and the author(s) did a great job of laying out the different perspectives. It definitely was a little slower paced so don’t expect a twist and turn filled thriller, but overall a great representation of the social norm for teenagers today!

I gave this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to @netgalley & @disneybooks for the ARC!

Great book that deals with honest problems. I loved the main characters in this one. They were so well written you could almost believe they were real people.

Any book about rumors in high school serves as a reminder of how glad I am to no longer be in high school. They also serve as a reminder of how glad I am that my high school experience did not include the social media dimension. This is the story of a rumor that grows and grows and grows. Georgie returns to school having undergone a significant physical transformation, and with that, a rumor about who she is involved with and how spirals. With these growing rumors, others are pulled in and feel a certain kind of way about the allegations. This is very much about the web of rumors and how they are weaponized for hurt, as well as how quickly they can get out of control. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this recent release.

DNF @ 30% or so. I couldn't get past the vapid, unlikable characters. Some things aren't for me, and that's OK!

Loved their other books but couldn’t get into this one unfortunately. The cyber bullying story line was good but there were some plot holes for me.

The Rumor Game dives into the very realistic world of cyberbullying. Especially when it comes to high school kids. Whether it's a lie, the truth, or your every day king of rumor - things explode until the damage is done. So much happened throughout this book and each twist kept me on the edge of my seat.