Review: Prep School Confidential by Kara Taylor

 In this breathtaking debut that reads like Gossip Girl crossed with Twin Peaks, a Queen Bee at a blue-blooded New England prep school stumbles into a murder mystery.
Anne Dowling practically runs her exclusive academy on New York’s Upper East Side—that is, until she accidentally burns part of it down and gets sent to a prestigious boarding school outside of Boston. Determined to make it back to New York, Anne couldn't care less about making friends at the preppy Wheatley School. That is, until her roommate Isabella’s body is found in the woods behind the school.
When everyone else is oddly silent, Anne becomes determined to uncover the truth no matter how many rules she has to break to do it. With the help of Isabella’s twin brother Anthony, and a cute classmate named Brent, Anne discovers that Isabella wasn’t quite the innocent nerdy girl she pretended to be. But someone will do anything to stop Anne’s snooping in this fast-paced, unputdownable read—even if it means framing her for Isabella’s murder.

Prep School Confidential was a great mystery read and kept me guessing all through the book as to who the killer was. I liked how the author made it so Isabella was alive when Anne came and stayed alive for a little while so readers could get to know her before she was killed off. It made Anne solving the murder all the more dramatic.

The romance in this novel was cute, but as a warning there is a sort of love triangle to those who don’t like that kind of thing. The love interests fell a bit flat to me, especially Brent, and I honestly think the story could’ve done without the attractive boys (or at least without one of them). Hopefully, Anne’s love life will become less complicated in book two.

Although Anne was a bit bratty and spoiled in the beginning, she grew on me because she began to get what real life was like. I’m not one who typically enjoys stories that follow rich girls, but I really did like Prep School Confidential. There were just enough scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat and the ending really surprised me. I’m interested to see where Anne’s story goes in book two.

3.5 Stars!  

Out now!

Source: Publisher