I fell in love with Goodman’s writing last year after reading The Counselors and was extremely excited when I heard the premise for her latest release, The Legacies. This book is made for people who love dark academia and rich people problems with a YA flare.

Goodman unravels The Legacies through the eyes of several narrators: Bernie, Isobel, and Tori. Each girl felt genuine in her actions and decisions based on the backstories that Goodman revealed to the reader over time. I loved watching their worlds collide and trying to guess what would ultimately happen.

To make things even more suspenseful, the reader knows from the start that a death has occurred at the Legacy Ball, but we’re forced back in time by three days to tensely march toward the fateful event. Goodman keeps the suspense, tension, and guesswork moving forward by including glimpses into the events after the ball. These chapters are short, but provide lots of fun hints and red herrings.

If you’ve ever been a fan of Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars, I think this book perfectly fills that void with all of the teenage drama, lies, secrets, and deception you could want!

A huge thank you to Penguin Teen & Razorbill for my gifted copy!

"We're all here for a reason, one predetermined and predestined, set into motion by our parents or grandparents or the powers that surround our very beings. None of us are better or more skilled or more special than the others. We're all here because of who we know, and what those closest to us feel that we are owed."

Bernie Kaplan and Isobel Rothcroft are both students at the exclusive Excelsior Prep, just like their parents were before them. They know exactly what their lives will hold, starting with nominations to the exclusive Legacy Club, which will help catapult them to all the best colleges and careers afterwards. Bernie knows she's destined to marry Skyler Hawkins, the son of her father's law partner, Lulu Hawkins (who is also her mother's best friend). Everything is going according to plan. Except that Bernie's mother, Esther, who's been preparing her for Legacy Week all her life, has suddenly vanished and Bernie has no idea where she is...

Isobel is keeping a devastating secret from her best friend and it's causing her drug and alcohol habit to spiral out of control. And besides that, she's thinking she may not really want to be part of the Legacy Club...

And then there's the Legacy nominee that shocks everyone. The one no one was expecting. Tori Tasso, the scholarship student with no money or connections. No one can figure out how Tori got nominated, why she's there with them. What secret could Tori be holding? And when the Legacy Week culminates in the decadent Legacy Ball, will all of them survive the night?

"The Legacies" was an interesting enough read with decent plot twists. The whole book shifts narrators between Bernie, Isobel and Tori divided by small, short sections where the story goes back to what is happening the night of the ball in the Legacy Club. Bernie and Tori are the most enjoyable characters. Isobel's addiction to substances kind-of defines who she is, and she's taking new things to slide off into oblivion in practically every single chapter. Addiction is a sad and terrible condition, but it makes for a rather boring character, especially when a lot of the problems that Isobel is running from are of her own making and she refuses to take responsibility for any of them, even if she knows she's in the wrong. Skyler is the thoroughly unlikeable slimy, preppy jerk boyfriend.

Most of the family members of all three narrators are complicated people, except for Tori's family. Being low income, they are mostly grounded and lovable people. Side characters are also usually likable people with the possible exception of Tori's partner, Joss, who seems only to be concerned that Tori is joining a 'rich people's club' and that it's causing her anxiety and she's tired of hearing Tori go on about it. Although she accuses Tori of being self-absorbed, she is the one who comes across this way.

There are things in this book that I feel wouldn't be appropriate for younger teenagers. There's also a lot of profanity in the book. I know that's how high school age kids talk these days, but it still feels a bit unnecessary. All in all, I would have enjoyed it more with a few more characters I could root for and a bit less language, but the story was still okay for fans of mystery and high school drama. If a person liked "One Of Us Is Lying", I believe they would probably enjoy this book as well, and those are the readers I would recommend it to. Thank you to NetGalley and to Penguin Young Reader's group for the advanced reader's copy.

(3 POV from three main characters)

Regal club “elite”high school seniors are trying to get into with one outsider who is mysteriously connected… plot sounds good right.
But ugh..This book was so hard to get into and get through. I like the twisted plot but it felt so dragged out to get to and it really wasn’t enough for me. If it wasn’t an ARC read I wouldn’t have pushed myself so hard to finish. I would suggest this is a definite YA book also.

#legacies #netgalley #jessicagoodman #keepreading

Blackmail, secrets, and so many drugs! The Legacies was a tense and thrilling book that I devoured, eager to find out what had happened and who was the one who was murdered.
It took me a moment to gain my footing, it really dropped me right into the story at the beginning, I had to take a minute to be like...wait? What's happening? I soon became immersed in the opulent world of the rich and powerful, rich kids and murder really pair well together.
I really loved the Jewish representation, and how some characters had their heads on straight.
I felt like I spent so much of the book waiting for action, or waiting for a reveal. When the reveal did happen at the end it felt....like a let down? It was revealed as if it was a big twist and a huge shock, but I just didn't find myself that into it.
This is one of those stories where everything could have been avoided with communication and one conversation, which makes it a bit frustrating to endure.
There were quite a few characters in this book, and it just felt there were so many at times in order to drag the story out a big longer. It just felt like none of them had any depth. Not in a "shallow/rich" way, but in a one dimensional character kind of way. I didn't really feel like they were in any danger, nor did I care what happened to them at all. They just spent all their time partying and that was it?
Everything regarding Bernies' Mom just felt...meh.
I ended up loving Isobels' POV the most, as she spiraled deeper into addiction the writing really conveyed her mood and unstableness.
I don't know if part of the story was meant to criticize, or be a bit of a metaphor for classism, and what gossip and power does to people. If it was then I don't think it should have ended the way it did. Or maybe showing that rich people can get away with anything was the point of the book.
I liked the concept a lot, but I feel the execution could have been better. It didn't really feel like a murder mystery to me.
If you really like YA Thrillers, then give this a read. If you are on the fence about this book, maybe check out some reviews before delving in.

The mystery and whodunit aspect of the book was done really well. The book opens with a missing person and a murder and then throws all these despicable characters at you. I enjoyed the suspense and the ending.

However, I didn't like the characters and the basic storyline of rich kids with one misfit felt like something I've read 100 times before. I was also disappointed we didn't get much of the school setting I was hoping for.

However, if you're looking for a fun mystery that you could ready on one sitting this is definitely choice.

Gossip Girl meets I Know What You Did Last Summer, with a dash of The Skulls in this story full of betrayal, longing, and murder where no one is exactly who or what they seem.

I've read other Jessica Goodman books and loved them so the bar was set pretty high and I wasn't disappointed.

I found myself alternating between jealous and terrified at what the children of the erlite were doing, while being fascinated at how this story played out.

With legacy comes privilege, with privilege comes responsibility, and with responsibility, well apparently that's just murder. At least it does on the upper east side.

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this E-Book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a YA mystery that revolves around an exclusive grouping of people. There are many character POVs from the past as well as current day when the events are happening. I appreciate the back and forth as things are happening to understand how things got to be where they are. There is a lot more than meets the eye for this group beyond the glitz and glamor of a high society. Some of the group seem to know there are bigger issues than the Legacy Ball and some are completely in the dark. The twist at the end is not fully what I was expecting which was a nice surprise.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, this is a voluntary honest review.

Each year, a collection of the most elite high school seniors on the Upper East Side get an invitation to join the ultra-exclusive Legacy Club. Entry into the secretive club will grant members a lifetime of access to power, wealth, and so much more. But when something goes wrong at the Legacy Ball - the night the new seniors finally get inducted - there are many questions about what happened and who is behind it.

Jessica Goodman is back with another Gossip Girl-esque teen thriller! I love the suspense she builds in her stories as well as the teens misbehaving. Throughout the book, I was wondering not only who died, but who was behind it. There were so many secrets to uncover along the way that kept me guessing and invested in this story from beginning to end. This book was fast-paced and fun to read!

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the gifted copy. #PenguinTeenPartner #TheLegacies

The Legacy Club is one of NYC's most exclusive and wealthy social clubs, and every year a small number of privileged seniors attending the city's most elite private schools are nominated to participate in an initiation week leading up to the famed Legacy Ball. The only catch is that you have to know someone in the club to have a chance of being nominated in the first place, and most of the nominations are already spoken for. Students like Berni Kaplan, whose mother is a club member, have been destined for this moment their entire life. So when Tori Tasso, a scholarship student at Excelsior Prep whose family is struggling financially, is nominated to join the elite, it catches everyone else off guard and leaves them wondering how she possibly could have earned her nomination.

The Legacies follows Tori, Berni, and Isobel in the week leading up to their initiation into the club at the Legacy Ball, a night filled with beautiful gowns, glamour, and memories that will last a lifetime. However, fate takes a dark turn as this year's ball ends in the murder of one of the club's newest members. But who did it, and what was their motive?

This is the second book I have read by Jessica Goodman, and it did not disappoint! The author kept you guessing who the murder victim would be as the story alternated between the days leading up to the Legacy Ball and the night of, heightening the suspense. Overall the book was well-paced, hard to put down, and a fun YA read. I highly recommend it to fans of Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl!

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Razorbill for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Jessica Goodman can do no wrong in my opinion. I’ve loved all of her YA thrillers and this one was no different!

Bernie, Isobel, and Tori have been nominated for the exclusive Legacy Club. With their entrance to this club will come a lifetime of power and wealth. The story alternates between the three girls’ POVs. I loved the alternating perspectives and seeing how their lives and secrets would unfold.

The Legacy Ball is the main event that will cement the girls as members of the club. But the night won’t go off without a hitch — by the end of the night, someone winds up dead.

I really liked how Goodman alternated between the events leading up to and the events during the Legacy Ball. The writing was engaging and I found this to be a super quick read!

As someone who didn’t always have a love for reading, I wish I would’ve had books like Goodman’s to read when I was in high school! I love the YA genre so much and can’t wait to read more of @jessicagoodman’s work!

Read if you like —
🗝️ multiple POVs
🗝️ short chapters
🗝️ books about exclusive societies
🗝️ Gossip Girl

The Legacies is full of secrets, lies, deception, and privilege amongst old money as six teens from Excelsior Prep get tapped for the exclusive Legacy Club and someone ends up murdered.

I love the look into the lives of rich prep school crowd and what money and power does to people. This is only my second book by Jessica Goodman but she writes some pageturners! Trust no one!

This one gives off Gossip Girl vibes. There’s privileged private school kids being initiated into an exclusive club, plenty of drinking and partying, and always that one scholarship student trying to fit in with the rich kids.

A death is revealed in the present timeline and is slowly unraveled in between chapters that tell what’s been happening in the days before. There’s also another mystery hinted at that, to me, was the more intriguing of the two, even though I figured out one of the reveals. Add in a missing mother with secrets and you have a fun YA mystery full of betrayal, backstabbing, and teens behaving badly.

I really enjoyed this! I wasn't sure how it was going to end and it kept me intrigued the entire time. It moved at a good pace and is written well. 10/10 highly recommend! Special Thank You to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy prior to publication in exchange for an honest review.

The Legacies is a YA murder mystery that was reminiscent of Gossip Girl. This book follows a group of teens (with many secrets) that have been invited to join the exclusive Legacy Club in NYC.

This book immediately had me hooked & I loved the multiple POVs. The plot twists were also very unexpected which I enjoyed. If you typically enjoy YA mysteries/thrillers, I think you’ll really like The Legacies!

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This felt like going back to the early 2000s, when Gossip Girl and The Clique were what everyone was reading in contemporary YA.

Jessica Goodman did a good job updating the dated aspects of the "rich kids behaving badly" trope while still keeping what many YA readers love about it: the drama, the dresses, the secret societies, the lavish parties.

The forward/backward storyline, in which you aren't sure who in the group died and why and how, was effective in creating and maintaining suspense.

A fun read that a lot of YA readers will love!

Never saw it coming...they tease you at the beginning of the story that something bad happens that someone has died was it a mistake or was it murder? Was it one of the Legacy nominees or one of the Legacies? The chapters are divided between Bernie, Isobel, Tori, and the night of the Legacy Ball "accident". The chapters lead you into the lives of these 3 girls before the ball and leading up to what happened at the Ball. They introduce you to their struggles and insecurities and how they are hoping to impress and please those around them, mostly their parents and family. They need to live up to that high bar that was set for them, except Tori, she is just trying to help her family with money issues since losing her mom. Tori is different from the other nominees, she's a scholarship student and is put of the Legacy crowd. However, she is determined to make a mark for herself. You just won't see the ending coming and it's amazing. Lots of secrets, deceit and backstabbing on every single page and from chapter to chapter you will wonder who is good or evil and who will still be alive at the end!?

The Legacies is a skillfully executed thriller set in a decadent environment that will captivate fans of the genre. This gripping and irresistible novel introduces expertly crafted multidimensional characters that stayed with me long after reaching the final page.

I absolutely loved reading this! It had it ups and downs and the twists and turns. I love Jessica’s writing. I love everything that she writes. I couldn’t believe that ending! Shocking!

This book was filled with drama and lies and those are two things that entertain me so much. It reminded me of gossip girl. I loved the mystery surrounding The Legacy Club and it’s members. I did think the plot was very predictable. I guessed a lot of things that happened that were supposed to be big reveals. Anytime this happens it takes me away from the story so much, but that’s a personal issue of mine. The story was very entertaining and filled with amazingly flawed characters. I do recommend this if you’re looking for a dramatic YA mystery/thriller.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: N/A (mentions of sexual behavior)

For the TL;DR go to the bottom⬇️

Jessica Goodman did it again👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

The Legacies is Jessica’s fourth book, and I think it might be the best one yet! There is something about her writing that draws me in and makes me feel like I’m a part of the story.

This book follows Bernie, Isobel, and Tori, all students at a prestigious school on the Upper East Side as they prepare for the Legacy Ball. You’re going to get big Gossip Girl vibes, and I’m a sucker for a story about rich kids in NYC! Each girl has their own POV, and it was so easy to actually distinguish between each one! Without giving any details or spoilers, they each deal with their own issues and harbor so many secrets that all seamlessly tie into an intricate mystery. Each chapter revealed just enough information to keep me engaged, but not too much where the ending was predictable.

Speaking of predictability, as with any thriller, I love to make predictions. I made a guess at 21% (specific, I know) about who the culprit would be in the end, and I stuck with that prediction because I was so sure I was right. Wrong! I was totally backwards, but the actual reveal was perfect. I hate when the final reveal seems so out of place, but this ending fit perfectly into the narrative, and yet still surprised me!

As a final thought, remember that the characters in this book are teenagers! They’re about to be seniors in high school so they are going to be immature at times and make stupid decisions. It’s just what they do!

TL;DR- Gossip Girl meets Pretty Little Liars in this new YA thriller!