Review: Get Even by Gretchen McNeil

 

Release Date: September 16, 2014

Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 320
Source: eARC for Review

ISBN-10:  0062260855

Rating: 2 Hearts

Book Description

"The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in Gretchen McNeil’s witty and suspenseful novel about four disparate girls who join forces to take revenge on high school bullies and create dangerous enemies for themselves in the process. Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers. When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose."

Review

Short and Sweet:

Gretchen McNeil certainly knows how to set the mood for a thriller, but it ultimately just wasn't my taste.

To Elaborate...

For years, Bree, Kitty, Margot, and Olivia have secretly ran DGM, a society that sticks up for those who are bullied and harassed. While executing one retribution, they are interrupted by something they never expected: the murder of the bully they were going after. With mysterious envelopes, threats, and fear everywhere they go, trust will run thin among the four friends. 

While I always like to throw in a good thriller in my reading pile to mix things up, I can be kind of picky as to what kind I like. It's not so much about the writing, just more of a personal taste kind of thing. In this one, though the writing is (up until the end) great and the author absolutely works chills and terror into a story well, I found myself struggling through it a lot. There are a lot of characters with all sorts of agendas, and it was hard to keep up with them. I enjoyed several of the romances, but sometimes it was even difficult to remember who liked who, and who was whose ex. 

The ending fit into one of my top bookish pet peeves: a cliffhanger that halts mid scene. It wasn't mid line or anything like that, but I didn't feel like any of my questions where answered. Literally none. I didn't feel like there was any sort of resolution at all. I understand it's the first in a series, so of course not every question will be answered, but I felt like even the most basic ones just cut off. It's the kind of cliffhanger that has the opposite effect on me for what cliffhangers try to do. It doesn't make me want to pick up the next book to find out what happens, because I feel like depending on how long the series is, I might get an ending like that every time. 

I think in the end, while I did enjoy parts of the story, it wasn't for me. If you like Pretty Little Liars, this is probably a super good pick for you though. 

2 Hearts