Beware That Girl

by Teresa Toten

From Governor General award-winner Teresa Toten comes a powerful and twisted psychological thriller that will rightly draw comparisons to We Were Liars and Gone Girl. Beware That Girl will keep readers guessing until the very last line.


The Haves. The Have Nots. Kate O'Brien appears to be a Have Not. Her whole life has been a series of setbacks she's had to snake her way out of--some more sinister than others. But she's determined to change that. She's book smart. She's street-smart. And she's also a masterful liar.
     As the scholarship student at the elite Waverly School in NYC, Kate has her work cut out for her: her plan is to climb the social ranks and land a spot at Yale. She's already found her "people" among the senior class "it" girls--specifically in the cosseted, mega-wealthy yet deeply damaged Olivia Sumner. As for Olivia, she considers Kate the best friend she's always needed, the sister she never had.
     When the handsome and whip-smart Mark Redkin joins the Waverly administration as head of fundraising, he immediately charms his way into the faculty and students' lives--especially Olivia's, although she doesn't share what's going on. It becomes increasingly obvious that Redkin poses a threat to Kate, too, in a way she can't reveal and can't afford to ignore. Mark has his own plan for a bright future and never doubts that he can pull it off. How close can Kate and Olivia get with Mark without having to share their dark pasts?

• ISBN10: 0385678363
• ISBN13: 9780385678360
• Publish Date: 31 May 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: CA
• Imprint: Doubleday Canada
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9780385678360

Reviews

[wcs53]

I received this book free from LibraryThing Early Reviewers for an honest review.

It took me a while to get into this book, as I wasn't really sure where it was going. I'm glad I persevered. Once I got about half-way through I breezed through the rest. It was a fairly dark teen thriller that didn't end where I thought it would. There were some really strong and diverse characters, with hidden pasts and different motives. The unexpected ending made it worth reading. I also liked the way the narrative switched between the two main characters. Not too much was given away at any time, which may be hy I found it hard to get into, but this sparseness of information added to the suspense and guessing of what was going on.

[elvinagb]

Edge of your seat read. And my favorite twisty, twisted ending.

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I went into this book blind. I picked up this book at BEA, I knew it was a thriller type book set in NYC, and I didn't need to know more. I found the book entertaining.

Beware That Girl is centered around Kate, the orphan scholarship student, and Olivia, the socialite, who is repeating her senior year. Both girls are harboring secrets they don't want revealed, as they believe the secrets will destroy their chances at admission to Yale.

I liked the way Toten painted Kate. At first I did not like her, but as the story unfolded, I was treated to another side of her. I also began to understand her a little better as her backstory was revealed. On the other hand, I was more sympathetic towards Olivia, but as the story unfolded, I became suspicious of her. Toten did a good job of making me wonder who That Girl was, and why she was That Girl.

I felt the buildup was done well. The trickle of information leading to the delivery of each characters' secret (Kate, Olivia, and Mark) was one of the things that kept me reading. I liked the short chapters, and the alternating between Oliva and Kate's POVs. I found it interesting that the author chose to write Kate in first person and Oliva in third. Some people found this unsettling, but I feel it was a choice that cements Oliva's "secret". I want to explain, but I have issues with spoiler type stuff. I was not completely surprised by the ending, but I was shocked in how it played out.

A quick, entertaining read, which reminded me of (oft mentioned from other reviewers) Gossip Girl meets Pretty Little Liars (not a negative thing).