Beware That Girl

by Teresa Toten

[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).