I enjoy "Dark Academia" that actually makes an attempt to subvert the White, colonial origins of the genre (see R. F. Kuang's "Babel" or SJ Sindu's collection of short stories "The Goth House Experiment") and Lauren Ling Brown has delivered, on one hand, a blunt but effective rebuke of the obscene entitlement afforded the rich, powerful, and well-connected. However, on the other hand, the messy execution of the plot and the confusing narrative framing undercuts an otherwise strong message, leaving me underwhelmed. The story follows two sisters a decade apart in age through their separate experiences in a fictional secret society at Princeton known as "Greystone". Both sisters reckon differently with their status as mixed race Black and East Asian students in an overwhelming White institution - Maya, the older sister attending Princeton in the 2010s, by attempting to assimilate and use the society to get ahead, while Naomi, a member of Gen Z attending in 2023 works to dismantle the society from within.

This isn't a spoiler because you discover it basically on the first page - but Maya's primary storyline is concerned with trying to solve Naomi's murder in the present, interspersed with flashbacks of her own time at Princeton, while Naomi's backtracks from several months before her murder to the day of her death. To say that this was confusing would be an understatement. Maya and Naomi are two sisters with similar lived experiences attending the same university while in the same secret society, albeit in different decades. I was constantly confused what time period the story was taking place in, and mixing up which characters and relationships were important in each timeline. It didn't help that several characters exist across Maya's present, Naomi's present, and Maya's past, making it difficult to place exactly what was going on where. Furthermore, while Maya and Naomi are well built out as protagonists, none of the side characters feel especially deep or meaningful, especially given that a large handful of them exist solely as red herrings in the hunt to find Naomi's murderer. Despite the insightful commentary, this is ultimately more of a thriller than anything else.

Maya and her younger sister, Naomi, are orphans. When Maya gets into Princeton, she sees it as a way to make a better life for her and her sister. Of course, college fun distracts her a bit, but she makes what she believes to be lifelong friends. But there’s something darker lurking amongst the campus. She knows something isn’t right, but what can a young adult do when up against powerful, wealthy people? This is a great read about Maya, Naomi, their friends, and all the craziness of college life (and then some!).

Synopsis:

After graduating from Princeton, Maya returns after ten years for her sister, Naomi's graduation. When Maya's weekend is ruined by news of Naomi's death, but while the police maintain it was an accident, Maya believes there is more to the story. As she digs into Naomi's life, she realizes that there is much she did not know about Naomi's life. Despite Maya's best intentions and warnings, Naomi joined the elite club known as Sterling. The more Maya uncovers about Sterling and Naomi, the more she must confront her own life and lies.


Review:

Let's start with the positives.

The sisterhood bond in the novel accurately reflects life. Lauren Ling Brown crafts a bond between two sisters with a ten-year difference in a way that feels true to life. In my experience as an older sister, Maya's commitment to Naomi feels very much like my commitment to my sisters. Maya struggles to balance her life with her husband and daughter while also trying to support her sister. While I do not have that exact experience because my parents have been extremely supportive and helped all of us, I know that I would do whatever it takes to ensure they were safe and successful.
Lauren Ling Brown's writing is incredible. The dark academic setting of Princeton is deeply unsettling and while not centered around real life, feels like something that could happen. As a debut novelist, I was surprised she wrote with such finesse and prowess.
Lastly, the commentary in the novel is powerful. Brown herself is interracial and has faced her share of racism. In the novel, Maya and Naomi are half-black and half-Chinese. As such, they face a lot of racism. When she meets with a professor about a potential job, he explains that she is perfect for the job because the company is trying to reach a diversity quota. However, she must lean into one side of ethnicity more than the other because her "ambiguity might confuse them." If Naomi does this, she will ignore one-half of her identity and dismiss her identity, her family's struggles, and her personal experiences. The commentary here is different from what I have read in other books. Sure, I have read books that comment on race and sexuality, but focusing specifically on the struggles of being an interracial person of color was interesting and enlightening.

Now, let's move on to what I didn't enjoy.

While I liked the plot and the twists, the pacing did feel off. At 384, the novel is on the longer side for a thriller, and that comes through in the last 15% of the novel. For the first 85% of the book, the plot moved quickly, and I could not put it down. However, towards the end of the book, the reading got slightly laborious. Told in dual timelines, it began to feel like I was reading the same plot points from different perspectives. As an avid thriller reader, I expect the last 15% of a story to be fast-paced with various twists and thrills. Here, however, the novel took a drastic turn in pacing. Because I enjoyed the other 85%, I blame the pacing issues on the author's novice.
If you have been around for any length of time, you can probably guess what my next complaint is. If you guessed a time jump, you would be correct. Right when we figure out what is happening and what the truth is, there's a sudden time jump. GASP! Man, I hate when time jumps are used as a plot device to avoid solving or explaining the issue. What's even crazier is I knew it was about to happen. I could feel it in the unraveling and the pacing. Authors, why? Do you not know how to end your story? I'm just confused at this point.

Final Thoughts:

As a whole, I thought Brown's debut novel was successful. The descriptions of elitism and the dark academic setting were intriguing. Despite my issues with the novel, I would recommend this book and will be reading more from Lauren Ling Brown. As such, I give her debut novel a 3.5 out of five. She is a promising author with a unique perspective and writing style that draws readers in.


Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I love dark academia, it’s what immediately made me request this ARC. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting invested in this book. The POV from each of the sisters time periods were very similar, making it harder to keep track of in the time jumps and POV chapter changes.

I liked Society of Lies all right, but I’m not sure that I would recommend it to others. It follows two sisters in the same social club but in different years. It does take a bit to get used to the alternating POVs and timelines. Overall, it read like a TV drama. There was just so many secrets and sneaking around, and lies. It was exciting in that respect but overall it was repetitive.

Society of Lies is a mystery debut novel set at Princeton in a fictional secret society. Readers will follow a multiple-POV story as Maya investigates her sister, Naomi's, mysterious death and uncovers secrets from the society that date back a decade earlier when Maya herself was part of the secrecy and lies. As a reader, I typically gravitate towards thrillers, especially those with multiple POVs. However, the particular storyline and POV jumps were a little difficult to follow and felt very similar to one another. I, unfortunately, felt very uninvested in this and would have DNF'ed but I wanted to give it a fair shot and read the whole thing for this review. The writing and characters felt very juvenile and immature to me. I think if you are a reader who tends to enjoy more YA, slower-paced books then this book could be for you! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this!

This book had me in a chokehold! I was dying to find out what happened next and how different things tied together. This was the first "dark academia" book I've really liked, and it's made me very excited to read more from the genre. I found Naomi's portrayal and relationships to be very relatable and realistic, despite the fact that her story centered around the fictional Sterling and Graystone entities. I've seen other reviews remark on the story having a slow pace, but I truly didn't feel that way at all; I couldn't put it down!

I would definitely recommend this book to fans of dark academia and mystery/thrillers - it's not horrific and gory, but Brown's writing can be eerie enough to make your hair stand on end. I sincerely look forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC.

This had a compelling premise and a strong opening that I was immediately invested in. The concept of secret societies in college campus settings is an intriguing one. However, there were some issues with pacing and unresolved details that detracted from the story.

The story and timelines alternate between present-day Maya, past Maya, and past Naomi. The sequence of events was actually pretty easy to follow, but it sometimes felt like a tantalizing tidbit was introduced in one timeline and then not addressed for a while, by which time its impact felt less meaningful and its place in the story less suspenseful. I also felt like some of the big reveals at the end were done too quickly and felt like there was too much chance involved in how the mystery eventually unraveled. Additionally, a huge question I had about a certain aspect was briefly mentioned as an aside and not really addressed or explained. I also wanted more details about the aftermath for some of the characters introduced in Naomi's chapters. In the end, it felt like the author forgot about some of the side characters and just wanted to focus on wrapping up present-day Maya's arc.

There were several interesting discussions about multiracial identity, class divides, and privilege on college campuses, in addition to manipulation and controlling relationships. All of these issues felt very relevant considering the setting, but I overall felt that the college itself was missing from the story. More characterization of at least one professor may have helped this (this character seemed to just randomly be "there" and didn't really contribute much to anything).

Overall, I was left wanting more from the college setting, character development, and pacing. I feel like the suspense and thriller aspect could have been more prominent. I would suggest this book to anyone interested in stories about secret societies and mysterious deaths.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I'm trying to be generous here but the pace of this book has been a slog. The dual stories with the sisters Maya and Naomi are so similar I kept forgetting which was which sister, Maya in 2011 and Naomi in 2022-2023. Maya and Naomi lost both their parents, a Chinese mother and Black father. Maya is 10 years older and didn't really raise her sister.

The secret society angle could have been interesting but the plot was derailed by the multiple timelines/points of view and pacing. It took so much effort to stay engaged with the story. I appreciate the point with privilege and wealth and dichotomy with poorer 1st generation American immigrants. It's tragic from the start with the younger sister dying by suspicious means. Book is available August 2024.

Society of Lies
By Lauren Ling Brown

This is a book about two sisters, years apart in age, who have lost their parents at a young age. Maya, the older sister, tries to care for her sister, Naomi, but must leave her behind when she matriculates at Princeton University.

When Naomi's turn for college arrives, she chooses to follow in Maya's footsteps to Princeton, much against Maya's advice. Naomi, who always felt that Maya had abandoned her, could not understand Maya's opposition.
But Maya has good reason.

Now that Naomi is graduating, Maya and her family arrive to celebrate, only to find that a tragedy from Maya's college days seems to have been repeated. The eating clubs – and other secret societies – have taken yet another victim.

While this book is reasonably well written, the topic did not particularly resonate with me. I am too old to be much interested in what goes on at university.

I requested to read and review this book for free from Bantam an Imprint of Random House. This book title is what the core book is about. When a group becomes powerful does that mean they are above the law? How far will they go to protect themselves? Can the whole truth come our or only parts of it? Does the truth set you free or cause more trouble? A group of friends such as Maya, Daisy, Kia and Cecily come from different backgrounds but they some click to be friends for years. But do they truly know one another? Do they protect each other or themselves? Does friendship run stronger then love? This book will keep you guessing until the every end! This book is for a mature reader and can be ready anywhere.

Hard to believe that this gem is a debut! Fantastic writing and storytelling with crazy great characters. Some I loved and some I loved to hate. I did find myself raising my voice to cheer on the good guys and jeer a bit on the bad ones.
Action packed and full of mystery, intrigue and so many emotions. All round great book. Can’t wait to read more from this author.
Thank you NetGalley, Lauren Ling Brown and Random House Publishing Group -Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review this cracker of a book.

Wow! What a great read! The shifting of perspectives throughout unravels the story without giving away the suspense. This is a story about complicated relationships with those we love and the things we are willing to do to ensure those we love are taken care of. This was a really great read!

As someone who loves a good thriller/mystery, this was a no-brainer for me. Imagine The Secret History by Donna Tartt, but in college, with a ton more diversity, and much more murder and intrigue. This book was so fun, but at the same time gave very interesting insight into how interesting and exclusive places like Princeton operate. It also took a hard look at the issues not only women face, but women of color and how they are singled out in these places. We follow two deaths in Maya's life, and how they are affected by race, sex, and socioeconomic status, as well as secret societies. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller, but especially if you want something with a new and insightful look at the genre.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Naomi is days shy of graduating from Princeton, living the dream so many people with they could: a member of a prestigious eating club AND its secret inner society, a rich boyfriend, a job offer from a successful hedge fund. So when she is found dead, her sister immediately suspects foul play. Not only does she immediately reject the idea that her sister would have taken drugs, but having been a part of that insular world years before, Maya knows how cutthroat it can be. And how dangerous. Because she remembers another young woman who paid the ultimate price for asking too many questions, and she wonders if the same thing happened to Naomi.

This book is told along three different timelines: the present; Naomi’s life leading up to her death; nd Maya’s time in college leading up to the death of her friend, which she fears is related to Naomi’s death.

This book is an amazing peek into the life of the rich and powerful in the elite circles that we (or at least I, ymmv) will never get to experience. I always enjoy getting to sneak a look into a new world and experience it. And trust me, these people are not just playing around. They have tons of money, and they aren’t afraid to use it: parties every night, trips in and out of the city, yachting on breaks or staying at a relatives place- aka penthouse/townhouse - while completing an elite internship. It’s insane.

They also are involved in shady business, which is what this story centers on. And us it all comes to light, there are plenty of secrets and lies that come to light in the group of friends that both Maya and Naomi encounter across their timelines. It’s really intense. That’s also why it’s hard to tell who all is involved in the central murder mystery. But when it’s revealed, it’s quite satisfying. I enjoyed tge ending very much.

I just think the story goes on a hair bit too long. It could have been about 50 pages shorter. But overall, it wasn’t bad at all. I’d definitely recommend!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley. This was such a fun debut novel. The writing was a great time, and that prologue pulled me right in.

It's amazing to me that this was the author's first book, as it was very well written. The author gracefully switches between characters, bringing together two murders that lead to a third. It was hard to guess who the murderer was. At the end of the book, there's a twist, which makes it even better.

Book Title: Society of Lies
Author: Lauren Ling Brown (Debut Author)
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam
Genre: Psychological Thriller,
Pub Date: August 13, 2024
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pages: 384

Story is set in the famous Princeton eating clubs, these historic clubhouses built in the late 19th century, where many students spend their nights and weekends.
In this case the characters join a fictional club called Sterling Club and the secret society within it.
Story is told between sisters Maya and Naomi~
Maya - in the present timeline,
Naomi - in the past and
Maya- also in the past

Maya can’t wait to return to Princeton for her 10 year Class Reunion— she is looking forward to seeing classmate and reminiscing about college days.
This year is even more special because her little sister, Naomi, will be graduating from Princeton!
Maya's excitement ends the second she gets a call —Naomi is dead. The police believe it was an accident, but Maya doesn’t believe it was an accident.

Maya and Naomi are biracial with a Chinese mom and a black father.
While at Princeton Maya has joined the Sterling Club, Princeton’s most exclusive eating club.
Once a member she is bound by the secrets. She cannot believe she is a member surrounded by privileged students. She also discovers that additional she has been ‘tapped for Greystone Society. It is so secretive that most Princeton students don’t know it exist.

Maya warns her Naomi to avoid this social club - Maya's time at Princeton wasn't as wonderful as she always pretended it was
However, Naomi still joins the social club; Maya now fears her sister’s decision to follow in her footsteps might have been what got her killed.

Story kept me curious

Author, Lauren Ling Brown states this story is meant to be entertaining dark academia suspense but also, hopefully, to encourage conversations around privilege, multiracial identity, and sisterhood.
She graduated from Princeton and tells us that although we know the Princeton Eating Clubs are part of Princeton both the Greystone Society as well as the Sterling Club do not Exit at Princeton. Additionally Princeton has grown to be more diverse, (thanks to more generous financial aid) also more socially and politically active
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam for granting me this early eGalley!
Publishing Release Date scheduled for August 13, 2023.

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown was an intriguing mystery set in the Ivy League atmosphere of Princeton. Elder sister, Maya, is drawn into a privileged secret society. She brings her sister from poverty and neglect to live with a Princeton family who provide a comfortable and safe life. When Maya returns for Reunion week and Naomi’s graduation, old memories and Naomi’s shocking death bring all the secrets and lies crashing around her. Maya and Naomi tell the story with alternating timelines. I loved piecing the story together from dual narrators. And the dark academia atmosphere of secret societies are full of deadly lies in this debut novel. I loved the atmosphere of privilege, secrets and collegiate traditions.
5 stars – Pub. Date: 08-13-24
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Bantam for the eARC and the opportunity to read and review Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown.

Maya’s younger sister dies right before she is set to graduate from Princeton. What follows is a deep dive into secret Ivy League societies spanning decades. Overall I really enjoyed this book. Lots of twists and turns and the ending was a surprise. Loved the whole mystery behind the secret societies! It was a little slow in the middle and the ending seemed rushed. But definitely a great first novel and I will look for more from this author! Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Penguin for this ARC!