I absolute devoured this book! Love the premise of the book. It could use a little bit more detail, but overall it's a great and easy read.

“The Meadowbrook Murders” is a captivating read that takes you deep into the world of a private school through the eyes of two very different girls, Sara and Liz. The writing style is truly engaging, making it hard to put the book down.
The story is told from two distinct points of view, with Sara and Liz each narrating their own parts. This dual narrative approach adds a unique and fun twist to the reading experience. Sara and Liz see their private school life through very different lenses, and their alternating narratives weave together a compelling story of murder, love, and unexpected friendships.
One of the standout aspects of this book is how it explores the complexities of love and friendship. It shows how love can sometimes be a burden and how friendships can form with people who are outside your usual social circle. The characters are well-developed, and their interactions feel genuine and relatable.
Overall, “The Meadowbrook Murders” is a super enjoyable read. It’s a perfect blend of mystery, drama, and emotional depth. If you’re looking for a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat while also tugging at your heartstrings, this is definitely one to pick up.

#TheMeadowbrookMurders #NetGalley. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ahead of publication. This book was well written but the pacing dragged a bit in the middle. The book felt as though it was a bit too long and/or it could have covered the same material less. At one point I stopped and flipped back because I swore I read the same paragraph several chapters before. I love the author and how she weaves spoiled rich kid drama into her stories, but this one felt lacking in that area. I did like the ending and thought the author wrapped everything up nicely and it didn’t feel rushed. Overall, a solid read - just not my favorite by the author.

This is such a gripping dark academia novel with a twisty murder mystery that you can easily devour in one sitting and enjoy the full experience. I'm rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 for its attention-grabbing short chapters and balanced pacing.

The story takes place at the highly prestigious Meadowbrook Academy, revolving around Amy, one of the POVs, who finds her best friend Sarah and Sarah's boyfriend Ryan bludgeoned to death next door to her dorm room. Nobody can easily trespass the place, which means the killer might be someone close to the victims. This pushes suspicion onto Amy because she had a terrible fight in front of witnesses at the late-night party about their boyfriends. She insists she doesn't remember hearing anything suspicious to protect her boyfriend Joseph, with whom she spent the night. But everyone is too adamant to ruin her reputation, presuming her to be the killer.

The other POV belongs to work-oriented, disciplined school paper editor-in-chief Liz, who has never been popular in the school's social circle, only focusing on her investigative journalism skills to earn a scholarship to a good college for pursuing a better future. Her reporting about the crime gets criticized by the school community. And when Amy, who is not her biggest fan, is forced to share a dorm with her, she seizes this as an opportunity to dig out more about the crime, but Amy has no intention of helping her out. Only Peter, whose father is the owner of a powerful media company and who is grieving his best friend Ryan, seems to be on her side. But when Amy gets shunned by the people she considered friends, she realizes her enemy at the dorm might be the only person who can help her.

It is interesting to see Amy and Liz, who come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, sharing the same fates as outsiders to solve the mystery for different expectations. Amy tries to clear her name as much as she wants to find the real culprit who killed her friend, while Liz tries to accomplish something for her own future after being lied to and neglected for years. They are forced to live in the same dorm room, reluctantly becoming each other's confidantes, and interestingly, both of them know firsthand how lies destroy the lives of their families. They dig out more to face the truth at the expense of embracing their regrets.

Overall: It's a quick, gripping, interesting read with a somewhat foreseeable culprit. But I mostly enjoyed the two heroines' character development and fast pacing. I definitely recommend it to dark academia fans like me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group / Penguin Young Readers Group / G. P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for sharing this gripping YA mystery's digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts

For a teen mystery/thriller, it was enjoyable. However, the writing was just okay and the characters did not have enough depth for me. I wish I connected more with them to feel thrown off by the resolution of the killer :/ It was a quick and fun read though, i love love rich kid drama.

Huge thank you to Penguin Teen and Jessica Goodman for sending me a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It's Amy and Sarah's senior year at Meadowbrook Academy. This is their year, their entire futures stretched out in front of them, a year full of boathouse parties and dates with their boyfriends and getting ready for college. But that's before Amy walks into Sarah's bedroom one more and finds her and her boyfriend, Ryan, lying dead in Sarah's bed-brutally stabbed to death, all without Amy having heard a thing in the next room.

But when Liz, the editor of the school newspaper, makes a decision to report on the situation without permission in hopes of landing a college scholarship, all eyes flip to Amy as the number one person of interest in Sarah's death. And with pieces missing, half-truths, and a whole lot of skeletons in the closet, things start to unravel fast. And with the police set to catch the killer as soon as possible to avoid bad publicity for the prestigious school and their angry-at-the-wrong-things alumni, Liz and Amy find themselves at the center of a storm that they never anticipated.

This is not my first Jessica Goodman book, and there's a reason I keep coming back. She writes excellent murder mysteries with well-fleshed out casts of characters. YA thrillers are hard to master because you run into the issue of cardboard characters, too many characters, and trite dialogue with chaotic side plots that leave you confused. This book had none of that. This was a YA thriller with the feel of an old school murder mystery, just the right tone and level of emotion and intrigue.

The Meadowbrook Murders releases on 02/04/2025 and I highly recommend adding this to your TBR list right away.

This murder mystery at a boarding school will definitely keep you guessing and turning. I really liked the different POVs of Amy, the roommate of one of the murder victims and Liz the editor in Chief of the school paper who is on the outside of the senior class. I could not put this book down

Thank you to Penguin Teen for my arc!

This story is entirely the reason why i enjoy YA Thrillers so much because you just have a good old fashion murder mystery which you don't get to read a lot in YA anymore and it saddens me so The Meadowbrook Murders was fantastic. I loved Liz and Amy and their friendship and how you get to see them grow and the plot weirdly reminded me of something I've seen in the news recently and I'm curious to know if this book was based off that but this story was so fast paced, I was constantly wrong about who the killer was and when it was finally revealed, I was completely surprised. really enjoyed this!

I've read four other books by this author, this one might be my favorite. I really enjoyed the switching POV between the two girls, one directly involved as the best friend/roommate, while the other is trying to report on this mystery. The two of them are forced to become roommates. They don't really work together until the very end, but I was cheering when they finally teamed up. It also has a fun setting of a boarding school. Can't wait for this author's next YA thriller and to see where it's set!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.