This novel is a crime novel mixed into a college novel. I had good expectations for this book but after several tries of trying to get into it, I just couldn’t. It wasn’t my cup of tea. That being said, it is well written, it just wasn’t for me.

A hit-and-run accident on the University of Georgia campus sparks an investigation into fraternity culture and hazing. When police detective Marlitt Kaplan witnesses a fatal car accident involving a pedestrian, Jay, who belongs to a prominent campus fraternity, she rushes to examine what she excitedly insists must be her case. While others on the force are willing to dismiss the incident as an accident, Marlitt tenaciously resolves to uncover not only the identity of the driver but also disturbing truths about Jay and his fraternity brothers.

I enjoy stories with a university campus setting, and the plot was sufficiently intriguing to grab and hold my attention to the end. The mystery, however, seems to take a backseat to what emerges as an expose on fraternity hazing and, by extension, an indictment on white-male-dominant culture. At one point, the narration becomes so didactic as to include an actual definition of hazing, as though the author doesn’t trust the reader to develop an understanding from the plot descriptions and needs to be helped along. This tendency toward explanation and hyper focus on the logistics of one particular hazing tradition actually served to diminish the impact of hazing’s effects rather than illuminate it.

Although I enjoyed the way the author moved the mystery forward, I had an issue with the first-person narration. I couldn’t tell whether the author intended Marlitt to come across as an unreliable narrator, but seeing the situation through her eyes posed some problems for me. Her voice was inconsistent for a cop in her late twenties, often sounding like a 12-year-old spoiled brat who couldn’t forgive her parents for making her an only child and sometimes coming across as an older, wiser social commentator. Some of the characterizations were a bit odd to me, too: a whole hospital full of nurses who couldn’t tolerate (and exhibited rudeness toward) the behavior of a burn patient? I think the author meant those scenes to reveal how irritating Marlitt could be, but it played out as an indictment of the compassion capability of health care professionals. Marlitt finally and suddenly seemed to grow up in the epilogue, but until then, she was a hard read.

Overall, I would recommend this book as an intriguing mystery in a campus setting with the caveat that it contains inconsistencies and agendas that are distracting but not completely debilitating.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book. My review is voluntary and reflects my honest opinion.

This book was a little different for me, I did understand it but I felt maybe a little lost at times?! The storyline was Interesting and I did enjoy reading this book but it just wasn't my top favorites. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

4 stars
This is a solid thriller, especially good for a debut! It is a quick paced, and fascinating look into frat life and hazing. I look forward to more books by this author.

What a great first book by this author! I greatly enjoyed this book that takes place on the campus of a college in Athens, GA. The book is written by the POV of a newer police officer that hustles to get the case. She is the first police officer on the scene of a hit and run of a fraternity leader. The witnesses say that he was hit by a driver that looked just like him, with a huge grin on his face. This book leads you in an out of the dark side of Greek life and the lengths that are gone to for covering a crime.
I greatly enjoy this book. It had a wonderful pace and kept me engaged to keep turning the pages. The ending did not happen like I expected, but I felt it did wrap up the story. I can hardly wait to see what else this author has up her sleeves!!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to preview and give my honest opinion of this book.

“The Resemblance” is a college campus thriller by Lauren Nossett. This book was a bit to take in, as it first seems to be a pretty sad hit-and-run accident, which ends up being more about “frat life” and the horrors of hazing. My longest puzzlement was “why this title,” but in the end it all becomes clear. I’m not comfortable reading about hazing in general (just not my thing), so parts of this book were difficult to read. I found some of the background about the campus interesting, but part of me wondered if it was included to denote the “good old boy” network that comes into play later in the book. While I found this book interesting, parts of our main character’s life outside of the case I didn’t really care for, but maybe it was included for more character depth - it just didn’t seem necessary and at times bogged down the main story about the case.

The Resemblance by Lauren Nossett Much time was given to the description of the fraternity lifestyle and it's inner workings, the excesses, the hazing, and the secrecy and loyal expected of it's members. At times it was unpleasant to read. A solid thriller, just couldn't connect with Marlitt Kaplan whose POV was the basis of the book.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

"On a chilly November morning at the University of Georgia, a fraternity brother steps off a busy crosswalk and is struck dead by an oncoming car. More than a dozen witnesses all agree on two things: the driver looked identical to the victim, and he was smiling."

Marlitt is a police detective assigned to investigate this case.

There was a lot of behind the scenes of a fraternity and the hazing. I thought it was really interesting. However, the author inserted herself into the story - Marlitt really hated fraternities and the hazing that they do. I get that, but I would stop and wonder about the author - why did she dislike them so much? Did she know someone who suffered from hazing? It felt disproportional to the background that we were given.

I thought this was a solid, interesting read. Am I glad I read it? yes. Will I run out and tell all my friends? No. This is more of a "get it from the library"

I do want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

I received an ARC of this debut novel through NetGalley.

There is a lot to like about the book. It is set at the University of Georgia in Athens. the plots is seen through the POV of Marlitt Kaplan, a police detective. She is quite determined and dedicated, and goes above and beyond the call of duty to solve this case.

What is the case? A fraternity member is run over and killed by a hit-and-run driver who, witnesses say, resembled the victim. Marlitt knows this was no accident, especially when it is found that the car was owned by the victim.

Marlitt's investigation takes her into the inner workings of fraternity life. The decadence. The hazings of pledges. And the secrecy and loyalty that accompanies those who choose to be fraternity members. A lot of time was spent on this. and it was not pleasant to read.

The suspense builds for the first 80% of the book. At that point, I did not have a clue as to who did it and why. This all gets resolved, though the resolution seems pretty implausible.

A solid debut thriller.

Greek life in the Old South…all the frat brothers look alike with swooped hairdos, Sperrys, khaki pants, polo shirts and drunken leers. And when one of them gets run down by his own BMW (and witnesses say the driver looked like the victim) Athens Detective Marlitt Kaplan is first on the scene, having been close by since her mother is a professor at the University of Georgia. Marlitt/Marley is familiar with the bullies and ugliness of fraternities: her investigation does not endear her to the “bros” who are apparently covering for each other. At Kappa Omicron, the first rule is “don’t betray the brotherhood” and the chief bully threatens Marlitt after a routine questioning.

It seems like a solid police procedural with Marlitt and her fellow detectives Teddy and Oliver following leads and interviewing frat brothers and complicit sorority sisters, but suddenly Marlitt is almost burned alive in a suspicious house fire and she’s off the case. Did she get too close to something?

Lauren Nossett’s novel is a campus thriller, a tightly written novel that highlights the unfairness of the elite brotherhoods with connections that allow them to not fear the police or worry about punishment. Hazing still exists and it’s frustrating that the hazing has to be spectacular to get any attention at all. A solid 4 stars.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES The narrator, Marlitt, quickly introduces herself as green-eyed, and the Kap-O “dream girl” has green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Chrysantheums and asters only bloom in the fall and November is horticultural autumn in Georgia

I found The Resemblance to be utterly riveting and unputdownable. The characters are memorable, the strife feels all too real, and the dialogue is snappy. I devoured it in just a few days. There were plenty of revelations along the way that kept me surprised and delighted.
I think this is a very well written and engaging book with strong characters who are realistically and believably portrayed.
The writing writing was great and kept me intrigued throughout.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Flatiron Books,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

This is an absolutely spell bounding thriller. I was immediately sucked in and the opening chapter and kept there until the last page. It’s a pretty fast pace story that keeps you interested quickly. I highly recommend this one!

College campuses are full of so much angst, lust, jealousy and competitiveness. The University of Georgia has seen the consequences of those emotions more than a few times in its storied history. Detective Marlitt Kaplan, the daughter of a UGA professor, is all too aware of those stories when she rolls up on a hit and run on campus that has left a frat boy dead. Witnesses describe a chilling scene, of the young man being mown down by man who looked just like the victim, a man who was smiling throughout the entire bloody ordeal. Nossett captures the essence of the world behind the closed doors of secret fraternities and the families of the wealthy and powerful who will do anything to keep their dirty laundry from being aired in the public eye. Evocative and creepy, with a smart, conflicted heroine, this book had me reading deep into the night