The Meadowbrook Murders is a YA murder mystery that is told in a dual POV format. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would to be honest. I loved the academic setting which is an elite boarding school. YA doesn't always grab me but this author did a great job pulling me and the pacing? The fast pacing and short chapters ( yes! i love short chapters) had me turning pages until I was finished.

The story is told through Amy and Liz's POV. AMy's bestfried and boyfriend are murdered in their dorm but AMy slept through the whole thing! Liz is a reporter who wants to uncover the truth and report on the murders. They are absolutely not friends but as the story grows so do they and it is done in a believable way. Do they become best friends, no but reading how they work together was an absolute joy for me.

I enjoyed the predicatable plot twist but it did take me time to get there so that's an absolute win for me.

Overall this is a fun, fast paced murder mystery that I would absolutely recommend for fans of a good YA and a good mystery!

Thank you so much to G.P Putnam, Netgalley and Jessica Goodman for this ARC! I think I need to pick up more books from this author ASAP!

Not my favorite Jessica Goodman book but I still enjoyed it. I love boarding school settings so it was alright for me. It’s a quick interesting read with a somewhat foreseeable culprit.

I’m always down for a boarding school story, but what makes one even better? When there happens to be a murderer among them. In what I’m starting to see as Jessica Goodman’s usual writing style, The Meadowbrook Murders was a fast-paced and fun murder mystery to dive into on a slow afternoon.

Written in two first-person POVs, we follow Liz, an avid student journalist, and Amy, the suspect (ahem I mean, roommate) of the two students who were killed. I’m seeing a trend in YA murder mysteries to be written in at least more than one POV to give us more insight into the investigation, and thereby suspect more people, but in this case, I am not sure if it was my favourite use of it. I’ll get back to this point later. But with senior year about to start and fellow students in the lower grades still yet to arrive on campus, this book gave almost a locked-room mystery vibe as who else could have done it than someone with access to the school dorms on a private campus?

We get introduced to a number of different characters through Amy and Liz’s interactions. I will say that I didn’t immediately predict everything or who could’ve been involved, but we know off the bat that certain people were acting suspiciously. Namely, Amy and her boyfriend Joseph. In the room right next door, how did Amy not hear anything happening? Was this just a clever red herring or are one of the POVs intentionally misleading?

While I enjoyed the quick succession of chapters alternating between Liz and Amy that never slacked, I will say I still had some gripes with the book. I still rated it highly as pacing is super important to me in a mystery or thriller, but the characterization was a little lacking in my opinion. I constantly was confused between Amy and Liz’s voice, having to look up which chapter I was in. Although they came from different family backgrounds and class, the way they described their worldview felt too similar to easily differentiate. Their characters weren’t distinct, relegated to simple facts in their history that “impacted” their present choices.

In this regard, I also didn’t feel it was done well. While Amy had traumatic run-ins with the media in the past that made her even more wary of the press during their coverage of the murders, it wasn’t fully addressed how she could reconcile a potential allyship with Liz who practically represented the press. Likewise, Liz was far too stuck on pressing for the truth in her writing no matter how that may impact the people she was writing about. How could she balance that in her writing in the future as a journalist covering stories that weren’t just stories but the life and death of others she may even know? The ending of the story was pretty rushed and never really gave us a direct sense that they were able to overcome these issues. At most, it was brushed over as something they conquered or got better at, but it was never truly shown on page.

So if you like your murder stories as whirlwind whodunnits with good characterizations secondary to the plot, I would say this book is definitely still a fun one to read. It won’t change your life or anything, but it makes for an entertaining evening.

I enjoyed reading this book because I enjoy murder mysteries. It takes place at a boarding school, and Amy, a senior, finds her roommate and her roommate’s boyfriend dead in their dorm room. The story is told from two main viewpoints: Amy and Liz, the school newspaper's editor. I like the many twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat as you read. This book would be a great backdrop for discussions on dysfunctional families, peer relationships, loyalty, personal safety, and trust issues. I would recommend this book for a high school library.

I think I just really like Goodman’s thriller formula. Every book is different, but I always enjoy myself.

Great multi-faceted characters, an engaging writing style, and a juicy plot where you never know what is going to happen next. You get all of that here, with The Meadowbrook Murders. Two people are dead. A mystery rooted in secrets and friendship. A killer running around at Middlebrook… I love friend group drama and this book has plenty.

When Sarah and her boyfriend are murdered in her room during the first week of their senior year, shocks are felt through this prep school and their happy little town. We follow Amy, Sarah’s best friend and Liz, editor for the school paper. Both of them are determined to uncover the truth, for different reasons.

The unlikely two, the girl who everyone knows had a fight with Sarah shortly before her death, and the school outcast looking for her big story, and subsequently a chance at something bigger in life, have to team up.. and I live for this plot line!!!!!!

This book was just FUN. There is always so much going on at any given moment. The ending was as explosive as it was satisfying. This was all around, a good time! I listened to the audiobook while reading along in the book. The narration was great.

3.5 ⭐️

A boarding school thriller where two students are murdered in a dorm room, Sarah and Ryan. Sarah is on the girls soccer team along with her best friend and roommate, Amy. The book flips between Amy’s POV and another student Liz, who is a reporter for the school’s newspaper. Amy is trying to make sense of what happened to her roommate and Liz is digging to uncover the truth of what happened. There were several twists and turns, wrong people being blamed, secrets being uncovered. I was surprised to learn who had actually done it in the end. Overall, it was an interesting read.

Thank you Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to Penguin Teen Publisher for an advanced copy of the book for my honest review.

Meadowbrook Murders is a suspenseful young adult book that takes place at a boarding school for teenagers. It was a fun and engaging read and I highly recommend it for teens who are starting to get into mystery or thrillers. This is a perfect starter book for both genres.

As a teacher who loves to recommend books to my students, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one. While there are references to "hooking up" and the murder, everything is written without going into too much detail.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman. As a fan of Jessica's previous works, I was excited to dive into this latest mystery, and it did not disappoint. Overall I would rate it a solid 4 stars.

The Meadowbrook Murders is a quick and engaging read, perfect for those who enjoy a blend of suspense, murder, and drama at a private boarding school.

Amy awakens to the horrifying discovery that her roommate, Sarah, and Sarah's boyfriend, Ryan, have been murdered in the next room. This sets the stage for a gripping narrative filled with lies, privilege, and the quest for truth.

As the investigation unfolds, Amy finds herself entangled in the mystery, becoming a lead suspect in the case. Goodman's writing skillfully keeps readers on their toes, weaving a web of secrets and suspicion that keeps you guessing until the very end (even thought i was able to identify the suspect early on in the story).

Fans of Jessica Goodman's previous novels will appreciate her knack for creating compelling characters and well crafted settings.

Overall, The Meadowbrook Murders is a must-read for mystery enthusiasts. Its fast pace and intriguing plot make it a perfect addition to any TBR.

I’m a big fan of boarding school settings, so any murder mystery that takes place at one is an immediate add to my TBR 🎒

Meadowbrook Academy is an elite boarding school in Connecticut. It has a mix of upper crust nepo babies, scholarship kids looking to better their futures and townies who look down upon them all from outside the walls.

This group should lead to a lot of interesting class issues that were touched on but I thought could’ve been explored a little further to add more depth to the story. We get two points of view in this book: one from Amy, the roommate and best friend of the girl who was murdered, and the other from Liz, a student journalist. While I liked both of their POVs, they each got quite repetitive, and I do wish we’d had at least one or two more to round it all out.

While I also loved Goodman’s writing style and how she wove in the clues amongst red herrings, I needed more action throughout the middle. This is a slow burn mystery, and at times I almost lost interest waiting on a break in the case. The ending was worth it, though. And even when I clocked the killer early on, I still liked how we got there in the end.

Probably wouldn’t put this at the top of my recommends list, but it was good and I’d like to give some of her other books on my physical TBR a chance!

I do enjoy YA murder mysteries, bonus if they’re at a boarding school.

Nothing revolutionary but an enjoyable mystery that alternates between two girls at the school. I do with they had formed more of a bond early on and worked together, I enjoy that sort of thing. And I feel like I didn’t get to know Sarah or Ryan much. But those are small complaints.

I read this with the intent to sell it in our store and I'm glad I did. I thought it would be appropriate for an 11-13 year old but I would probably handsell this to a slightly older audience based on some minor language and allusions towards drinking and sex. The mystery was predictably resolved but still suspenseful and I think this will be a great option for younger audiences looking to read more suspense.

Two girls, the murder of two students, and a student body filled with secrets. It's the first week of senior year at Meadowbrook Academy and for two girls, Amy and Liz, their lives are about to change. Amy is best friends with Sarah but after a fight... Amy finds Sarah and Sarah's boyfriend brutally murdered in their dorm room. Now Amy knows she's going to be deemed the main culprit as she was Sarah's only roommate and the only other person there when Sarah died.... or at least that's what she said when in fact her own boyfriend is the one she's covering for. Then there is Liz, the editor of the school newspaper and a social outcast but someone determined to make it big as a journalistic investigator and this case could be her big break and land her the scholarship to a prestigious college. Liz and Amy become roommates and Liz is the only person who can actually help Amy solve this case.. but piecing together the night means that the killer is closer to them they either have realized... and if they make a mistake the killer could come after them next. This was definitely a mystery that I think would honestly translate better as a movie or a tv show. The whole reading of it just kind of felt slogged down and finding the difference between the voices was a bit difficult since both girls' POVs were told in first person and neither of them sounded distinct. I found myself kind of getting lost in who I was reading from and just getting a bit bored. I feel like I would have had more fun watching this than reading this, which is not something I say often with mystery books so do with that what you will. I never really found myself all that attached to either of the two main characters and not that fully invested in the mystery either, unfortunately.

Release Date: February 4, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

ARC Review!!!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

A boarding school where 2 students are murdered and no one can find the murder. This books takes you through the twists and turns of figuring out the case and thinking you know who did it when in reality it's someone else. It becomes noticeable a little towards the end. But the hints are there all along. This was such a well written book. Sarah and Ryan are killed one night in her dorm room but her roommate and best friend, Amy, never heard anything while she was right next door. Sketchy. Liz is the school reporter trying to make it big and find her story that will break the case. An unlikely alliance and friendship between Liz and Amy comes about but is very organic. The end was good and tied up nicely!!
4 Stars!!

Well-crafted mystery with well-written characters. It was an enjoyable, if not slightly predictable, page-turner of a book.

Amy wakes one morning in her dorm and finds her roommate and best friend, Sarah - bludgeoned along with her boyfriend, Justin. But Amy heard nothing during the night and isn't helpful with the police.
Different suspects are arrested but the real perpetrator dances all through the story - but who is it?
The police play a minor role, but Amy and Liz (an aspiring journalist) are the ones who crack the case.
All of this takes place at an elite boarding high school called Meadowbrook. The town boasts only 1000 inhabitants - and the school quite small.
There are lots of secrets that are uncovered in the hunt for the killer. Some are just heart breaking.
Told by Amy and Liz, it's a good story.

The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Godman is a dark academia thriller. The book follows Amy and Liv. Amy is a senior at Meadowbrook Academy whose friend and boyfriend were recently murdered. Liz is a student journalist who is desperate to uncover the truth. I really like YA mysteries and this one did not disappoint.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

50/100 or 2.50 stars

This was not bad, but it was forgettable, even for a Teen/YA thriller. I know that author is popular, and successful, so I wanted to check her out. This was not a strong start, but I would be interested in reading something else from Goodman in case this one is just not it. It was fine, but the charcters felt flat and not fleshed out. I kept reading since I had already read over half of it, and it is a quick read, so I kept going, but this could have been one that I didn't finish, read spoilers, and not felt either way about it.
I think the writing itself was fine, which is the main reason I was able to finish this. I didn't dislike this enough for 2.0 stars, but it was not good enough to be a 3, so I settled on 2.5 stars. I am hoping this is just me, and that the next book I pick up by Goodman is better.

This book was just okay for me. Unfortunately it did not grab me from the very beginning and I did not have the desire to find out how the book ended. I did appreciate that the number of characters was more limited which made it easier to follow.

This book delivers a gripping premise with a sinister small-town vibe and plenty of dark secrets to uncover. Goodman excels at creating an atmospheric setting, and the story has moments of genuine suspense that keep readers intrigued.

The pacing was uneven, with some sections dragging while others felt rushed. The characters could have used more depth to make them easier to connect with and care about. Additionally, the resolution, while surprising, felt somewhat underwhelming and left a few loose ends.

Overall, it’s a decent mystery that delivers some thrills, but it doesn’t quite live up to its full potential. It’s an enjoyable, if not entirely memorable, read for fans of crime fiction.

I really enjoyed this! Deeply reminiscent of Truly Devious, a series I love, and very well crafted! I really enjoyed Amy even though Liz got on my nerves. I thought the dual perspective was well managed and the girls' voices were different enough that I never got confused after the first few chapters! I thought the mystery itself was very good and I didn't expect the twist!