Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC to review.

Maya is supposed to be celebrating her little sister Naomi’s graduation from Princeton; instead, she is mourning her death. Initially, it seems like Naomi tragically drowned in the lake, but Maya knows there is something much darker at play – something likely involving a secret society and another mysterious death ten years earlier. Now it is up to Maya to figure out who is behind what happened to her sister and if it is connected to Maya’s past.

Told from the alternating viewpoints of Maya and Naomi, the reader is given clues from ten years earlier, the months leading up to Naomi’s death, and the present day. Some of the plot is a bit predictable (Maya and Naomi are women of color from less privileged backgrounds taken in by a wealthier group of friends – some of them questionable; there is a prestigious club with powerful people covering up dastardly deeds) but it is a fast-paced read with an intriguing plot. Maya and Naomi make for solid protagonists, as both women are likable.

Overall, this is a solid choice for fans of mysteries and would be a good selection for a book group.

I love a good dark academia story and I also love stories of the rich behaving badly—and this fit both bills! I could see this being a popular Summer release,

Thank you to the Publisher for my arc!


Where do i begin? this book had me in a choke hold from the first page. you are drawn in to this heartbreaking story about two sisters and the corrupt Ivy League college that they find themselves in. I loved the discussions on race, the difference between upper class and lower class and the relationship between Naomi and Maya made me cry because there was just so much left unsaid and the ending left me speechless. highly HIGHlY recommend this book.

This was an okay read. It felt as though I have read this before, but it was not bad. No complaints, but it was also nothing special.