Book Review: The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

Author: Goldy Moldavsky

Title: The Mary Shelley Club

Genre: Horror, YA, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Suspense

Format: paperback

Pages: 468

Published: April 13, 2021

Where I Got It: Borrowed from friend

Summary: 

New girl Rachel Chavez is eager to make a fresh start at Manchester Prep. But as one of the few scholarship kids, Rachel struggles to fit in, and when she gets caught up in a prank gone awry, she ends up with more enemies than friends.

To her surprise, however, the prank attracts the attention of the Mary Shelley Club, a secret club of students with one objective: come up with the scariest prank to orchestrate real fear. But as the pranks escalate, the competition turns cutthroat and takes on a life of its own.

When the tables are turned and someone targets the club itself, Rachel must track down the real-life monster in their midst . . . even if it means finally confronting the dark secrets from her past.

Review:

A friend suggested I check out this book so I borrowed it from them. 

Here we follow Rachel Chavez. She is eager to make a fresh start at her new school but she is a scholarship kid so she struggles to fit in. After getting caught up in a prank gone awry, she finds herself with a lot of enemies. However, this also gets the attention of the secret club called the Mary Shelley Club. This is a club with one objective: come up with the scariest prank to orchestrate real fear. As the pranks escalate....someone starts targeting the club itself and Rachel must track down the real-life monster. 

I struggled a lot with this one. Things got better after the halfway-mark, but man that first half had me nearly DNFing it. I felt guilty since it was a book I borrowed from a friend who really liked it so I decided to keep on it and keep pushing to at least finish it. Lucky for me the last half was a bit better. 

The big twist was good. I had my original suspicions and it turns out I was right, but I changed my thoughts a few times.

The biggest issue I had with this book was Rachel. Yes, she is young and has some trauma. BUT O.M.G shut up about your horror movies for two seconds. She was barely sympathetic or likeable. 

TBH the whole club was unlikeable. I couldn't stand any of them. Sure, there are bullies that needed a piece of humble pie, but some of the pranks were not pranks at all. They were cruel. 

All-in-all, I wish I had liked this more but the characters bothered me. The last half was much better but still not really my cup of tea. Dang. I wish I had liked this as much as my friends. 2 stars. 

ONE WORD SUMMARY: Unsatisfactory

Challenge(s):

- Cloak and Dagger - #17