Jessica Goodman always writes a solid thriller and this one is no exception! It’s a page turner until the very end!

Unfortunately, the idea of this book was so much better than the actual book for me. I just could not get into it and was having a lot of trouble staying invested in the story. I don’t know if it was the book or my issues with the YA genre in general lately. The characters seem to just drive me crazy.

I genuinely could not care less about off-shore accounts and embezzlement and whatever other financial tomfoolery this book’s plot was trying to throw at me.

Thank you PenguinTeen for sending me a copy of this book! I really wanted to like this one more than I ultimately did... I know I enjoyed a previous book from Goodman, but beyond the fun summer camp setting and intense class divisions, this fell flat for me. While the mystery and reveal itself were fine, there just wasn't enough action to call this one a thriller. The flashbacks got monotonous and frustrating, dragging out the current timeline rather than adding anything new.

The main characters had one personality trait each: Goldie loved camp, Imogen loved acting (not that we ever see her act or use her skills to lie or anything), and Ava hated her stepsisters. Given the length and pacing of this book, there would have been time to develop these characters if the author had chosen to do so. As it stands, I didn't feel attached to any of them, and then the book was over.

I really loved this one! I enjoyed the flashbacks and felt the way they came together to tell the story worked perfectly. The writing style is great for teenagers and adults and I enjoyed how the author showed some of Goldie’s growth via the writing style.

Jessica Goodman writes it, I read it - that's the rules.

Set at a creepy camp?! SAY MORE: Camp Alpine Lake is *the* camp for the rich and prestigious to attend over the summer, however the townies reap the rewards too. Goldie is back as a camp counselor, ready for summer, and to share a deep dark secret with her besties when they arrive. But someone else has a secret too... and when a teen turns up dead at camp, they know the death wasn't an accident. (and I'll leave it here)

5/5 Stars. No notes.

Jessica knows how to write creepy YA, and incredible page turners. This book is especially fun to read during the summer months, bonus points if you can read it in a cabin or lakeside (or both).

*Gifted by Netgalley & Razorbill / Penguin Teen - thank you! All opinions are my own.

This book was entertaining, but it definitely isn’t going to win any literature awards. Let’s do a critical analysis by taking a pro/con approach.

Pros:
-The main character was likable and relatable especially with how she feels torn between two worlds; her friends at camp and her life in her small hometown.
-The setting. Camp is always a good setting for murder and mayhem.
-Plot. The plot had some really good twists to keep readers interested.

Cons:
-Character Development- Besides the main character we only know small tidbits about the other major characters including the victim. It doesn’t really induce a reader to want to invest their time,
Plot- Although there are some twists to keep the reader interested, there are some major plot holes in this book. There is no way a girl will stay silent about not being the driver of a car when she gets dumped by the boy she is covering for. No way, I also don’t believe an entire town would turn on one teenage girl for one mistake. Lots of plots holes…

Even though there some issues with this book, it is definitely worth a read. I recommend it if you have some extra time on your hands.

I have been a fan of Jessica Goodman's books since her debut novel, They Wish They Were Us. I loved reading a story about a girl with two lives - her daily life as she lives it 80% of the time, and her life during the summer, where everything else melts away and she has the summer camp she's grown up on. As a kid who went to sleepaway camps for several years in a row, it is an indescribable feeling. But when her camp life and real life cross paths after her ex-boyfriend is found dead on the property, the summer takes a dark turn. I loved the set up for this book and the path the story followed. Goodman always does an excellent job setting up engaging storylines and giving the readers twists and turns they could never expect. I love how well she sets up different suspects and it is so believable every time. In the end, I wasn't surprised when the killer was revealed, but it was still a great reveal regardless. I hope to read more from Goodman and I'm always eager for a new murder mystery!

Goldie, Ava, and Imogen are best friends formed during countless summers spent at Camp Alpine Lake. This year, they are all back at camp working as counselors. Goldie needs camp more than ever this year because she has been keeping a dark secret and needs their comfort. When the boy who broke Goldie's heart ends up dead in the lake, the night before camp starts, Goldie learns she isn't the only person at camp who has been keeping secrets.

This is a solid murder mystery with a fast pace that keeps you hooked from the opening to the end. The end wasn't surprising. The best aspect of this book was the bond between the three girls. I enjoyed the tension between the girls and the depictions of camp life, which was full of traditions. It brought back my own time spent at camp and as a counselor. I also enjoyed the format of the book, flashing back and forth between past and present it allows you to see what happened in the past and gives more of a slow burn as things are pieced together.

I would recommend it to people who enjoy murder mysteries, with the caveat that this is not a slasher or horror book. I think the cover and the description may have misled some people.

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️
TW: murder, violence, and car accident

“For a second, I wonder if they know me at all—or if I’ve changed so much that I barely remember myself.”

Camp Alpine Lake is the only place where Goldie Easton feels safe. She’s always had a special connection to the place, even before she was old enough to attend. The camp is the lifeline of Roxwood, the small town she lives in. Even with her "townie" background, Goldie has never felt more at home at camp and now she’s back as a counselor, desperate for summer to start and her best friends, Ava and Imogen, to arrive. Because Goldie has a terrible dark secret she’s been keeping and she is more in need of the comfort than ever. But Goldie’s not the only person at camp who has been lying. When a teen turns up dead in the lake late one night, she knows that the death couldn’t have been an accident. She also knows that Ava was at the lake that same night. What did Ava see and what does she know? Why hasn’t she said anything to Goldie about the death? Worse—what did Ava do?

This one definitely took me by surprise and I loved it!! As someone who consumes a lot of thrillers, especially those of the ‘summer camp’ trope, I always appreciate when I can find a unique story that draws my attention. A quick, easy read filled with nostalgic-campy vibes, this read was a thrill-packed ride! While there were moments I found a tad predictable, overall I really enjoyed Goodman’s writing style and the characters. I was also lucky enough to read this one with a good friend @ who enjoyed it just as much as me!!

I recommend this one to anyone who enjoyed a well-developed and paced thriller, fans of “Fear Street” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” and anyone looking for a summery read filled with lots of mystery.

The Counselors was an interesting take on how secrets can break friends and (truly) money is the root of all evil.

Goldie is living with a secret — a big one. One that changed the entire course of her life and those of others she knows. Her best friends have seemed to grow closer to each other, leaving her behind, and there’s *something* sus about camp this year.

Overall, I’m quite pleased with this one.

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Thank you to PenguinTeen for the ARC!!

The Counselors has all the elements that screams entertainment! Elite summer camp, teenage life secrets, high school drama, backstabbing, oh and a dead body!! Plus the story is fast paced with twisty corners. These are the reasons this book is an instant best seller. Read this now,

Thank you Penguin Teen via Netgalley for the arc!

Summer camp settings are one of my favorite tropes to read, and this one executed it perfectly! I loved that The Counselors had elements of both contemporary fiction and thrillers. There’s an overarching mystery but the friendship between the three girls is also central to the plot. The ending was a bit of a twist but also felt entirely plausible, something you don’t always get in thrillers. If you’re looking for a quick read in the form of a young adult thriller, this one is for you!

Love thrillers, this book kept me on my toes. I am huge fan of Goodman. it was definitely a whodunnit all the way. I loved the side characters more than the main character tho. The plot was pretty interesting!

This book was like if I Know What You Did Last Summer and the vibes of Fear Street had a baby. It felt more mystery to me than a thriller and I was kind of expecting more scary energy, but overall I enjoyed trying to figure out the ending and make sense of the misdirections. I will be recommending this to my teen readers when Halloween rolls around.

This is a pretty standard YA thriller. I did like the commentary about the town and classism, but otherwise, nothing special about it. This is the second Jessica Goodman book to leave me underwhelmed, so not sure I'll continue picking up books from her.

I apologize for how long it's taken me to review this book; I also received a physical arc/influencer package, and read that edition (thank you so much!). I really enjoyed The Counselors. I grew up going to summer camp, surrounded by impossibly privileged kids, whose wealth and status I didn't really understand until years later (my grandparents helped my parents foot the bill; I was comfortably off, but we didn't own a penthouse on the Upper East Side). I've been a counselor myself; I have fond, aching memories of campfires deep in the woods at the top of the hill, of long days walking to the lake, of the strange, ephemeral magic of sleepaway camp.

I was particularly missing it while I read this, so it hit at the right time. I did hope for more thriller/mystery, and I was a bit disappointed in how slowly things played out, considering it wasn't a terribly long book, and a lot of the quote-unquote "secrets" weren't nearly as compelling as I'd hoped; Imogen in particular felt underdeveloped, and I wanted more of her. The final twists were a bit underwhelming, and tax evasion as the culprit for everything was...... not exactly it for me. I did really enjoy this book overall, and really appreciated its exploration of the complicated relationship between privilege and love a summer camp, which sums up a lot of my own feelings. I just think it had a lot of potential, and never quite lived up to it.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the e-ARC of The Counselors and to PRH Audio for the complimentary audiobook!

This was not.. it. I wanted more out of a camp thriller but The Counselors is a completely forgettable read & the characters are Trash people & I didn't care about what happened to any of them.

I'm a big Jessica Goodman fan and really enjoy her YA mysteries/thrillers. They always have great character development, well plotted stories, and good twists! This was no exception and I did not see the twist coming! This is told in dual timelines and the reveals were carefully built and weaved into the story. I did guess the ending but there were other great twists in this one throughout! Very good popcorn, YA thriller with lots of fun secrets to unpack. Thanks for my gifted copy!

This is one of my new all time favorite YA thrillers!

I picked this book up not expecting to quickly fall head-over-heels into the story. "Just a few chapters" quickly became reading the book in 48 hours. The Counselors is the perfect Summer thriller I didn't know I needed. When I first read Jessica Goodman's earlier books, I wasn't the biggest fan. However, this one took me by surprise and I am so glad I gave this author another chance!

The plot of The Counselors was amazing. I loved the dual timeline and how Goodman carefully crafted and built the reveals of the story. I will admit - I did guess the ending of the book around 70% in. However, there were some other amazing twists I hadn't seen coming and the ending was still able to shock me.

Overall, I am SO glad I picked this up. I would highly recommend it to any fans of YA thriller, especially if you're looking for something that has major Summer camp energy.