This book was very similar to one by holly jackson. The twists and turns keep you guessing, unlike most books in this category. Great book, would recommend

All the yes! I finally got around to reading one of my most anticipated reads and it did not disappoint at all. It kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the page and not wanting to put it down. I loved everything about it from start to finish and just wish I could read it again for the first time.

SPOILER FREE! Let’s just say Pretty Little Liars and The Ritual had a baby and popped out this amazing story! I loved how she mixed mystery with southern belle aesthetic. I am definitely getting a physical copy to add to my bookshelf! If you love a good mystery book to cuddle up on the couch with an iced coffee this is the perfect book! Also the twist and surprises in this book will leave your jaw unhinged! I honestly wanted it to be longer but I’m just greedy lol. It was well written and I’m definitely looking forward to more stories Olivia Worley has to offer! The book releases on October 29th and is available to preorder now on Amazon!

https://www.amazon.com/Debutantes-Novel-Olivia-Worley/dp/1250881463

Thank you to NetGalley, Olivia Worley, & St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Debutants is Pretty Little Liars set in New Orleans. I really enjoyed the setting of this novel. It was refreshing to read a YA novel about the upper crust that wasn't set in New York or the east coast. Worley's ability to weave in elements of Mardi Gras, old money, and teenage sleuthing will have you devouring this novel as fast as you can. What happened to Lily? Did she meet the same fate as Margot? Can her friends figure out what happened before it's too late?

Book 89 of 2024.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
[YA/ARC]
Read this book if you like AHS Coven, Pretty Little Liars, or The Selection series.
Dark and gritty. Relatable characters (after you get to know them). Great setting. Unique premise.

The book was kind of predictable and some of the things where easy to spot in the story. However, I did enjoy this read and look forward to reading more from this author.

Solid YA thriller set in New Orleans around Mardi Gras. I liked this book was a quick read that definitely had a lot of twists and kept me guessing till the end how it was going to unfold. I liked the different POVs in the book and love and setting having to do with NOLA. Would rate this 3/3.5 stars and will be recommending. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Debutantes is a young adult thriller set in new Orleans. This thriller has the right amount of twists, and unfolds at a good pace. The backdrop of New Orleans is so well written it becomes a character. I love New Orleans and it gives me all the feels. I would highly recommend this book!

A great young adult thriller. This book definitely gave me vibes of Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl. So many twists and turns throughout that will definitely keep you wanting to read in one sitting.

I am a huge fan of YA, especially when it’s well-written and delivers a good thriller—and Olivia Worley's new book gave me all of that! From the moment the story opens with the mysterious disappearance of Lily LeBlanc, the new Queen of the Les Masques Ball, the tension never lets up. Worley masterfully combines the glamorous world of New Orleans’ elite with a dark, twisty mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat.

I loved how the story alternated between the perspectives of Vivian, Piper, and April. Each of the girls had her own secrets, and I found them all to be well-developed and relatable. The mix of personal drama, secret societies, and the feminist undertones really made this thriller stand out for me. It felt like a fresh, modern take on the classic mystery genre.

Worley’s writing pulled me right into the glamorous yet sinister world of debutantes, Mardi Gras, and hidden power dynamics. The pacing was perfect, with plenty of twists that kept me guessing, and I appreciated how the book touched on real issues like privilege and patriarchy without slowing down the action.

If you love fast-paced, twisty thrillers with strong female leads, I highly recommend The Debutantes. It’s one of the best YA thrillers I’ve read in a long time!

Another great ready by Olivia Worley! The Debutantes is packed full of thrills and twists. I loved the setting of New Orleans and the author does a fabulous job. This part really is what makes the book stand out. The book is from multiple POVs and at times it didn't flow well together and made the story kind of choppy. This made it slightly hard to track at times, but also maybe I was just tired when I was reading. It was still a very enjoyable and thrilling read for me!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The lovely cover of “The Debutantes” caught my attention, but it was the exciting description of a “twisty YA thriller set in the glittering world of Mardi Gras in New Orleans where secrets – and bodies – never stay buried” that made me want to drop everything and read this book!

Skillfully written with well-developed characters, loads of twists and unexpected turns, lies and secrets uncovered, I was fully immersed in this story and couldn’t stop reading to find out what would happen next. I did deduct one star from my review due to a couple of large plot revelations I figured out much earlier in the book, but I still enjoyed the story and would recommend it as a very good book.

I really liked how the story’s chapters switched POV between the ball’s three Maids: Vivian, Piper, and April. However, I was sometimes confused which girl was which at times because they were together so much, and I started thinking it would have helped to have the POV from one of the Dukes at the ball as well to break things up a bit.

Overall, I would suggest recommending this book to older teens and young adults due to some of the content. It delivers on its promise of being a mystery thriller that you won’t be able to put down until the very end!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book for an honest review.

this was such a fun read. i agree with previous reviews mentioning that this is very reminiscent of shows like Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl, with a touch of The Originals subtract the supernatural aspect because of the New Orleans backdrop. it's very suspenseful and keeps you on edge wondering what's going on.

i will mention that early on it was a bit confusing. it's actually why i knocked off a star. there are several characters with their POVs and more background characters. i really had to focus on which character was the focal point of the chapter. but once i got past a third of the way, i got the hang of it and the storyline really picked up.

i love the way New Orleans was portrayed here. the atmosphere, city, and culture were captured beautifully. the author did well to respectfully mention some of the history behind these type of debutante balls, including the racism and wealthy privilege.

i highly recommend this to those who enjoy YA suspenseful thrillers and murder mysteries. it's personally one of my favorite genres, so it was no surprise that i'd enjoy this one.

thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. i received this book as an ARC. all thoughts and opinions of this book are my own, and i leave this review voluntarily.

I loved this book!! It was such a great mystery/thriller book, I loved the plot and the writing with the way everything went. The characters weren’t my favourite but I did like them.

The Debutantes is a mystery/thriller book in New Orleans during the elite Les Masque Ball. Piper, April and Vivian get pulled into a mystery involving their queen of the ball, Lily who goes missing. Weirdly enough before she goes missing she sends a message to Piper, her boyfriend’s sister, April her former frenemy, and Vivian her best friend. The story goes deeper than what you might think as the former queen, Margot was found dead by an overdose the morning after the ball. You follow the story in all 3 girls POV.

I thought the plot was really interesting, and it took me awhile to get into this book but the plot twists really leave you wanting more and I was hooked! I felt that it was a good amount of plot twists for how the book was paced.

The thing that didn’t really click with me were the characters. As much as I liked them all I didn’t connect with them in any way and individually, they weren’t interesting to me.

I would recommend this book! I thought it had similar vibes to Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Pretty Little Liars. If you liked Jennifer Lynn barnes books, I would say to give this a read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday books for giving me an arc of this book in exchange for a free review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Wow - I thought I’d like this but didn’t anticipate enjoying it quite as much as I did. It did take me a bit to get into- but the twists, turns and mystery kept me engaged and needing to know the ending!

With a few characters to follow- I didn’t feel like it was too much and felt each character’s development was done well, too. Some of the time I didn’t really feel like they were believable but the story was fun and I loved the setting of New Orleans so it worked!

A fun read overall- definitely thankful to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this fun arc in exchange for my honest review.

Make sure to read The Debutantes when it publishes on 10/29/24

The Debutantes by Olivia Worley is a peek inside old traditions in the “big small town” of New Orleans. The queen of the 60th Annual Les Masques Ball is missing only hours after being crowned, and last year’s queen was found dead by the levee shortly after her inauguration. What secrets are there in a city where bodies never stay buried?

This YA novel took a little bit to catch my attention. Once the drama started building up, it was hard to put down! Secret societies? Cult-like organization? Family secrets dating back centuries? Yes yes yes. I really enjoyed the character development of all four girls that toggled back and forth each chapter. I feel like the author really embraced the mindset and emotions of barely 18 year old “adults” and their desire to conquer the world but still so naive. This book has me guessing and changing my mind as the story progressed as to what happened to their missing friend Lily.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC! While not my typical genre (YA), I found this story was well paced, suspenseful, and had great twists and turns. Overall a solid four star read!!

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 Beyond Bourbon Street and the beads is another side of Mardi Gras where the belles of the ball make their debut in fancy gowns. Still shaken by the death of debutante Margot the previous year, this season is off to a murky start when another Queen goes missing and menacing letters threaten Les Masques Maids. The arc of the story builds as excitingly as the Mardi Gras season, culminating in one thrilling young adult read that captures the essence of New Orleans perfectly!

Review is on Goodreads and will be on instagram closer to publication date and on Amazon when published!

The Debutantes centers around the social event of the season for the New Orleans elite, the Les Masques Ball. Last year debutante queen Margot was found dead the morning after the ball. This year everyone wants to forget about what happened last year. Lily is the debutante queen this year. Everything seems to be going fine until the ball is hijacked by a mysterious figure in a Jester costume. That night Lily sends a test to a few of her friends asking them to meet up the next morning. Everyone shows up but Lily. Now people think Lily going missing might be connected to what happened to Margot. But as they dig further into the truth the Jester starts threatening to expose their secrets. Will they be able to figure out what happened?

This was a typical YA thriller. I enjoyed this one for the most part. I did not like that it had multiple POV's in this book. I think that made it a little hard to keep up with what was happening. I did think this book was good and I was hooked. I will say I have read a lot of books with a very similar plot. I did think this writing felt a bit young ( which makes sense because it is a YA book) so that made me like this book less. But it is worth the read.

Thank you Olivia Worley, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

I loved the premise of The Debutantes, and I can see it making a fun limited TV series or a movie, but reading it was not quite as enjoyable. The story is told in 3 alternating POVs, and was a bit confusing as the characters didn't have clear, distinct voices. A fun and thrilling mystery culminated in a tired trope of an ending, which was disappointing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book really makes me want to watch Pretty Little Liars again. A group of “friends” band together to find a their missing queen while running through the streets of NOLA in ball gowns and bare feet. This was a great YA read and I suggest it to anyone who likes a little drama.

One star docked because I wish the epilogue was different or from a different POV.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Olivia Worley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.