I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel! I previously read this author's novel, The Legacies, which I quite enjoyed so I was very excited for this one! I love how this is written with the back and forth between two different characters on totally different social spectrums in this boarding school. You have Liz, who seems more like an introverted loner who just wants to make sure she has a future AFTER high school. Then, we have Amy, who is part of the sporty, popular kids who are very much living in the moment and not worried about any financial issues.

When I first was reading this novel, I very much got the vibe that this was feeling like an Amanda Knox retelling and I was wondering if that meant we were potentially not going to get a proper resolution...but then we started getting some suspects, so I stopped getting that feeling.

I appreciated how this novel slowly told this story with sooooo many twists and turns, many that were highly unexpected and some that I felt I could see coming. In the ending, this was a satisfying ending to the novel and we DO find out 'who done it' and more importantly, why?!?! Really enjoyable novel and I will absolutely keep looking up novels by this author!

So good I loved the dual pov and seeing both sides to the story. Seeing the side of the victim and side of a detective ish mind set was amazing and having them join together to find the truth and save an innocent person 😉😉 from going to jail is everything a good murder mystery book needs

3.5 stars rounded up- The Meadowbrook Murders is a high school private school murder mystery. Amy is asleep in her room when her roommate Sarah and her boyfriend are killed in the adjoining room of the dorm they share. Liz is the school newspaper editor and is itching to break a big case and win a big scholarship. The girls are both working to find a killer as they are forced to become temporary roommates. Suspicion is thrown right and left as secrets and lies come to light. The story twists and turns and the whodunnit comes out of left field. The mystery is unpredictable but I wasn’t too enthused with the main characters to make this story a slightly above average read for me. My voluntary, unbiased, and non-mandatory review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

This was a very quick read and while I was entertained by the plot, it was not the most well-written and was quite predictable. The boarding school setting was interesting but not very well developed or explored, and the concept of a week before school starts where all the students are there without teachers or any security measures set up yet felt like lazy writing rather than an actual plot device.

Very well-written novel of life at a boarding school with a slight twist. One of the main characters is in charge of the school newspaper, she's learning how to report a crime against her friends with the right amount of emotion. Pleasing read for anyone but maybe a little more relevant to the teen reader.

This was told from the points of view of Amy and Liz. Amy was Sarah’s best friend who found her body along with her boyfriend, and Liz who was an ambitious journalist. I wanted to know why Amy and Sarah fought the night before her demise, and I wanted to find out who killed the two teens and why.

I was intrigued by the prestigious and bougie boarding school along with the bratty students. I love a dark academia plot, but this one was just okay to me. The buildup was strong, but I wish the ending and motive had a bit more insight than what was given.

This was a twisty, entertaining read and if you are a fan of YA mystery I would recommend. The ending was very well done and I couldn't figure out who did it which was automatically a plus for me. I enjoyed the characters and the setting, it made the book more tense and exciting while the dynamics between the characters was fun to read.

Three stars for this one.

Amy and her best friend Sarah are seniors at Meadowbrook Academy in Connecticut when Sarah and her boyfriend are murdered in Sarah’s dorm room; Amy was asleep in the next room when they were killed, along with her own boyfriend. As the investigation begins it turns out that Sarah lied about a lot of things.

Liz, the editor of the school newspaper and social outcast wants to find out what happened, hoping she’ll win a journalism scholarship. As she searches for answers she risks bringing the murderer’s wrath down on herself next.

Another YA for YA. This one was just all right for me, but I do love things set at boarding school, where everyone is at risk of murder constantly. It must be exhausting.

Cute! I was able to guess who did it. The murder was quite brutal though and I wish there was more info on what actually happened.

Jessica Goodman is an auto-buy author for me! I love YA thrillers and this did not disappoint. The boarding school setting was so good! I loved this one.

I've been into YA mysteries lately (as is much of the reading world, given the popularity of A Good Girl's Guide To Murder and the books that have come out in its wake), so I jumped at the chance to read The Meadbowbrook Murders when Netgalley offered it up. It is a really solid entry to the genre, and I absolutely recommend it if this is an itch that you want to scratch.

I really enjoyed that the points-of-view alternated between the roommate of the murdered student and the high school newspaper editor. Both voices felt distinct, and I enjoyed that there was the YAish element of both of them growing up a little bit over the course of the story and figuring out what kind of person they want to be. I was a little worried that the solution to the mystery was being telegraphed a little too hard, but it remained twisty and turny and left me surprised in the end.

I knew it! I totally guessed who the killer was but the author did a great job at making me second guess myself! There were so many hints and evidence planted to make one suspect quite a few people.
It was the motives that were unclear but made me second guess and think.
Liz, seeing the murders as a good story, rubbed her peers the wrong way and was hard to trust. Then there was Amy, the dead girls roommate.
Everyone suspected her, and then her boyfriend. It got complex in a good way and kept me on my toes. I was completely drawn in and rooted for who I thought was innocent.
Then to find out just how twisted the murderer was....wow 🤯
Definitely recommend for those that like a good mystery, with a taste of thriller, school settings and drama!
Not sure how I feel about the ending though. I just wanted....something more. But overall great read and would recommend it 😊

A nice easy Y/A read. I enjoyed this book. It had nice short chapters that drew you right into the lives of the characters. It keeps a pretty good pace so you don’t really feel like there is too much going on and you have a hard time keeping track.
If you’re a Y/A or even an adult looking for an easy fast mystery I highly recommend trying this one out. A few twist to kinda throw you off. But I’m sure you will enjoy it.

very thrilling! did not see the plot twist coming at all. the book kept my attention all throughout. the plot was very interesting and the characters were likeable. no complaints! will read more from this author

This is a YA mystery of who murdered two prominent seniors at an exclusive boarding school. Amy wakes up to find her roommate and the roommate's boyfriend murdered. There is no sign of forced entry to their suite and at first it seems only Amy is a suspect because she was seen fighting with her roommate the night before at a party. Sara, the roommate, and Amy were also best friends. Amy was sure she knew everything about Sara, but as time goes on she learns Sara had many secrets.

The school must move Amy to another room and that just happens to be the one the editor of the school paper, Liz, resides in. The story alternates POV between LIz and Amy. They don't like each other at first and seem to be working against each other in the investigation.

There are many times I had to remind myself this is a YA book and not meant for adults. I am a sucker for a book set at a boarding school and that is what made me pick this up. However, the students in the book seem to have a lot more say in their lives than most teenagers. I am sure this appeals to the younger set, but I had to work at suspending my disbelief. It was also evident pretty early on to me who the killer was though the author throws out a lot of red herrings.

If you enjoy a murder mystery meant for young adults then this is a great book for you! Thank you to netgalley for the ARC!

I'll always have a soft spot for YA books, especially mysteries, and this was a fun one. Fast paced, well crafted, and hard to put down. The characters felt very real - even the more minor ones - and the vibe of the school and the town were really well done.

Jessica Goodman is a YA murder mystery queen, but this wasn't my favorite. She moves this story along at a fast clip, but the plot and characters seemed pretty paint-by-numbers for this one: When Amy's best friend Sarah and her boyfriend Ryan are murdered, Amy's senior year at Meadowbrook, a posh boarding school, becomes a nightmare. The book alternates between Amy's POV and Liz's, the newspaper editor-in-chief and a yearbook scholarship student, as they try to solve the murders. The short chapters and alternating POVs kept the book moving, but it was easy to figure out the murderer and I think the contrast between rich, snobby Amy and scrappy, intrepid scholarship student Liz was too familiar a trope to feel original. I missed some of the richer original details and characters from some of Goodman's past novels. Nevertheless, she remains a finely tuned master of her genre.

While I enjoyed the end (even though I guess the killer) the characters were very unlikable and I couldn't root for either protagonist. Liz obsession with being a jouanlist was beyond strange, and Amy didn't seem to have any authentic emotion even though her friends were murdered. Goodman books also seem to follow a similar pattern of having a "poor" character and a rich character, but the "working class" character is written in a way that makes it seem like Goodman has never met anyone like that at all. Strange and unnecessary trope. I also miss the old covers of Goodman books. They used to be so dynamic and interesting, but these AI covers are so boring. I will say the book picked up at the end and while I liked her debut novel, Goodman books seems to be mostly copy and paste.

Thank you Penguin and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. Amy and Liz attend Meadowbrook Academy, a boarding school in Connecticut. Amy just had a fight with her best friend, but they’ll make up in the morning, except she finds her roommate and her roommates boyfriend dead. Liz isn’t like the other students, she’s on scholarship and needs a big break to get a scholarship to journalism school. When news of the murders breaks she finally has her chance to write an article that is sure to get het what she needs. Amy is devastated, she didn’t hear a thing, but there are secrets she needs to keep about that night. When the two become roommates their relationship is full of tension. But they’ll may need each other to figure out who murdered their classmates. After all Amy was the only other person in the room. Will they find who killed them? Will Liz get her story? Or will they both find themselves in danger? Thrilling and unputdownable! It’ll have you questioning everything and everyone! Another hit mystery for Jessica Goodman!

Unfortunately, this one was kind of meh for me. I thought the plot moved quite slowly and was a bit underdeveloped. I felt like I never really got hooked to the story. I would have rated this book two stars if it weren't for the ending plot twist, which actually managed to shock me.