My Thoughts

I am stealing the end quote that is in book description which states “The Meadowbrook Murders is a gripping mystery about the inextricable way power, privilege, and secrets are linked, and how telling the truth can come at a deadly price.”

True words that were borne out over the course of this story.

Words that are both descriptive and also a warning to readers that what seems at first to be a straight forward who done it turns out to be a much more complicated tale which I enjoyed as it unfolded.

Feeling sure whom the murderer actually was did not in any way, shape or form detract from it’s actual reveal near books end.

I actually felt kind of relieved when correct because it proved that what you see isn’t always the truth, in real life or in fiction.
[EArc from Netgalley]

On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

A great murder mystery set at an elite high school boarding school. I loved the format of the story, told in alternating chapters between Amy, the roommate of the murdered girl, and Liz, a school newspaper reporter. As all eyes turn to Amy as a suspect, she and Liz both work on finding the real killer. The pacing was great. I never felt it was moving too fast or too slow. Things unfolded in the way they should. There was more than one suspect to make the reader question what happened. I enjoyed this one.

I randomly figured this one out about 3/4 of the way through, but I’m ok with that. It was far enough in that I didn’t feel cheated out of the mystery. I love a boarding school setting, and the pace of this was really good. Lots of good twists along the way.

Decent mystery for teens set in a boarding school. One POV is Amy, chief suspect and supposed BFF of the victim, the other is Liz, an outcast who wants to be a journalist. Together, well... no surprises, they become partners (and roommates). Unfortunately, both voices sound the same so it doesn't really matter which you're hearing from. The killer is a surprise, with no real clues for readers to follow: the motivation and opportunity are only explained after the fact (which might disappoint those trying to solve the mystery on their own).

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

Jessica Goodman is one of my auto-buy YA authors. I always love getting my hands on her next book so I had to dive right into this one right away!

Power and privilege are at play in this twisty mystery set at a prestigious New England boarding school.

I loved the dark academia vibes! Jessica Goodman writes complex characters and complicated friendship dynamics so well. Amy’s best friend was brutally murdered in their dorm room. But as Amy searches for answers, she finds out that there was a lot she didn’t know about her best friend.

Liz’s POV added a lot to the story and I really enjoyed following along her journey as the editor of the school paper!

Read if you like —
🔍 YA mysteries
🔍 dark academia
🔍 multiple POVs

If you’re wanting to dive into young adult, Jessica Goodman is an amazing place to start 🙌

The main characters were good, with histories and flaws that complicated their lives. The action was pretty slow at first, with lots of mourning and confusion, but it got a lot better near the end of the book. The mystery was okay...I correctly guessed the killer about half way through the book.

gripping and twisty dark academia with a lot of clever twists and vibes and some interesting and strong intrigue. 5 stars. tysm for thea arc.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Jessica Goodman is one of my new favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint. The plot was compelling, duel perspectives intriguing for the reader trying to solve the crime along with Amy and Liz, and powerful writing that evoked so many feelings. It took me a while to finish this book because it seemed to hit a lull in the middle of the story. It was still interesting and entertaining, but it didn't match the fast paced nature of the beginning and end. Goodman's ability to create realistic characters is, in my opinion, best seen in this work. Even the characters we don't get an inside view of and/or meet once or twice pop off the page and introduce themselves immediately.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to read it again once it's published!

Thank you, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers group for the copy of The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman. I enjoyed this book so much! It was an easy read and Liz and Amy were good characters even though I sometimes would get confused about whose POV I was reading. I never try to figure out who the villain is, so I liked the ending. The epilogue was touching. 4 stars.

I went into the story with no expectations and I could not remember what the synopsis said, so basically I went into the book blind. I was unfortunately very let down with basically everything associated with the story. I could not connect to either main character so therefore I rooted nobody on and was not invested enough to care what happened. Also, I knew who the killer was pretty early on, so that was not a surprise either. The author tried to throw in lots of suspects and twists, but they were all just dead ends and felt a little like filler to the big reveal at the end. I am sure others might enjoy this story, but it did not do it for me.

This is a fast-paced YA thriller set at a prestigious boarding school where Amy and her unlikely new roommate Liz team up to investigate the murder of Amy’s best friend and her boyfriend. The alternating perspectives kept things interesting, and while I guessed the killer early on, the twists and character dynamics still made it a fun, suspenseful read.

The first week of senior year is a time for the students of the prestigious academy to blow off steam before they begin their final academic year. Following a late night party. Amy and her boyfriend Joseph sneak back to her dorm for an hour of closeness before he goes out the window and Amy falls asleep. When she awakens the next morning she finds her roommate and her boyfriend Ryan murdered next door. Immediately falling under suspicion Amy is devastated reeling from grief. She finds an unexpected ally in Liz, the socially awkward and general misfit who is editor of the school newspaper. Liz dreams of a journalism scholarship and feels that covering this crime and finding the culprit will land her the coveted prize. Amy discovers that the girl she thought she knew so well was not that person and that her secrets .did not die with her although she paid a heavy price. This twisty YA thriller related from multiple points of view was engaging and thought provoking. One of the aspects I enjoyed was the interaction between Amy and Liz, two opposites who are able to put aside their differences and work together and the bond they form. The solid who dunnit plot was enhanced by the exploration of grief and loss and how it affects individuals differently .A sudden death is devastating to anyone but for teens it a totally new experience. A solid entry in the dark academia genre..

This is a fast paced mystery as two students attempt to find out who killed two of their classmates. Amy was the best friend and roommate of one of the students who was killed and has since been moved into a dorm with Liz, the ambitious journalism student who is itching to cover a career making case.

Liz and Amy are unlikely allies and often butt heads as they both try to uncover the truth behind their peers death. I liked the growth both characters had throughout the story. And while the culprit wasn’t hard to anticipate, I enjoyed the way this story wrapped up.

Overall, if you’re looking for a YA past paced dark academic mystery, check this one out!

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin for the ARC. I'm always in the mood for a boarding school murder mystery but this was just an extremely one dimensional read. The characters have absolutely no depth, they're just cliches, and the plot itself was really boring, the setting generic, the mystery lacking, the killer obvious. The only reason I finished this book was because I read the first half on a flight and then finished the second half while waiting for my return flight.

Title: The Meadowbrook Murders
Author: Jessica Goodman
Genre: Teen/YA Thriller
Publisher: Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: February 4, 2025
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pages: 336

Best friends Amy and Sarah are approaching their senior year at the prestigious boarding school Meadowbrook Academy,
The school year starts off with ‘Senior Sanction’ which is a day of welcome rituals reserved just for the senior class. It is way for the seniors to bond before the lower class arrives. The seniors are excited as they know this will be a year full of memories.

However, now Amy Alterman’s senior year will have the horrible memory of finding Sarah and her boyfriend, Ryan, lying dead in her bed having been stabbed to death.
Amy’s room is next door and she never heard a word.
The Academy has high security so the fear is the murderer is on campus.

Since Amy’s room is a crime scene she is assigned Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Charles as her new roommate. Liz is a Scholarship student and editor-in-chief of the school paper.
Liz has never been popular with other students and now is highly criticized about reporting about the tragedy. Liz has desired of writing an outstanding article to be considered for a college Journalism scholarship Amy is not happy and fears that Liz sees being roommates as an opportunity to find out more about the deaths and thus het the ‘inside scoop - Amy wants no part of helping her dig around!

As we had hoped Amy and Liz find they have more in common and finding whodunit it important to both.

I did like the story as I like story in an academic setting – boarding schools are always interesting as well as enjoyable for me.

Want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 4, 2025.

I love a private school thriller! The mystery was intriguing and the dual perspectives definitely made things more interesting. If another red herring or two had been introduced this would have been a perfect read for me!

4⭐️

Amy is thrilled to be back at Meadowbrook for her senior year and all of the “freedom” that comes with it. Except in the senior week before the school year starts, Amy wakes up after a night of a senior party to find her best friend and roommate Sarah, and Sarah’s boyfriend, brutally murdered. While the investigation begins, Amy is moved to a different dorm and roomed up with Liz.

Liz is the editor of the school newspaper and is fully committed to her job. She is obsessed with being the best she can be to secure a critical scholarship that will help define her future in journalism. Liz’s commitment has kept her on the outskirts of the peak social circles at Meadowbrook but when the best friend and roommate of their miseries classmate ends up sharing a dorm with her, Liz sees it as an opportunity to have the insider exclusive for this unfolding story.

Naturally, Amy’s world is turned upside down and she doesn’t trust Liz but as they’re forced together under the circumstances with a killer on the loose they find moments where they have no choice but to depend on each other.

I’ve only read a few YA mysteries and this one definitely leaned into the YA audience but it was a pretty quick, fun, murder mystery read with all of the fascinating boarding school academia elements. I enjoyed the two different POVs as it provided a more wholistic view of this unfolding case. It did, however, also allow for a bit of predictability in the story but it was still a good time watching it all unfold.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group| G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for the opportunity to read and review this eARC.

"The perfect dark academia read, filled with murder, twists, a jaw-dropping mystery and very privileged people doing deliciously bad things.” – Danielle Valentine, New York Times Bestselling author of Two Sides to Every Murder.

That sentence sums up everything this book is, with the twists and turns of an intriguing murder mystery, and interesting characters doing deliciously bad things. The Meadowbrook Murders is told from two different POVs: Amy, one of the privileged students at a very prestigious private boarding school in Connecticut, who is the roommate of one of the students killed (Sarah) who was her best friend and confidante, and Liz, a scholarship student and the editor of the school newspaper, who is determined to break the story from the inside, hopefully garnering the attention of and scholarship to a good college. When Sarah and her boyfriend, Ryan, are killed in the same dorm room Amy and her boyfriend, Joseph, are sleeping in, who hear nothing and claim that they know nothing about what happened, Amy is transferred to Liz's room while the police investigate. Liz thinks this is her chance to get the inside scoop on the story and tries to insert herself into the investigation and get Amy, who she has never been friends with, to trust her and help her figure out who really committed the murders. Amy wants nothing to do with that, until Joseph becomes a suspect, and then Amy is all in.

I really enjoyed this book. The mystery was interesting, with lots of twists and turns. The characters were unique and varied, and well fleshed out, which is always helpful. The pacing was good and the ending was satisfying.

All in all, I enjoyed this book very much and happily recommend it.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Jessica Goodman for the opportunity to read and review The Meadowbrook Murders.

This book pulled me in right from the start! It’s set at Middlebrook Academy during the first week of senior year when the tragedy strikes: Amy’s best friend, Sarah, and Sarah’s boyfriend are brutally murdered in their dorm. Suddenly, everything Amy has been looking forward to turns into a nightmare.

The story is told from two perspectives: Amy, who’s reeling from losing her best friend (and dodging suspicions), and Liz, the school newspaper’s determined editor, who’s chasing the truth behind the murders. I loved how these two totally different girls—Amy, the popular, grieving roommate, and Liz, the awkward journalist—slowly form this uneasy partnership. Watching them work together despite their differences made their dynamic so relatable and intriguing.

The mystery itself was so much fun to unravel. The author kept me guessing, and even when I thought I had it all figured out, I was wrong. (I love it when that happens!) The writing also did a great job of pulling me into the setting—I could almost feel the chilly fall air on campus and the tension brewing in the hallways.

If you’re in the mood for a bingeable YA thriller with a nostalgic murder mystery vibe, this is it. It’s gripping, emotional, and full of twists I didn’t see coming. Definitely a fun read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really liked the way that this book was split between Amy and Liz. I believe that because it is written that way you get the full perspective of the murder mystery happening at Meadowbrook. I did peg the killer pretty early on which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as I was interested enough to see if I was right. All in all, this is a solid YA mystery, and it will be available in February of 2025!

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC of this book!