Good Girls Lie is a twisty, thriller that was much darker than is usually found in young adult books, and I loved every bit of that.
The story takes place in an elite, all-girls, private boarding school, a school that comes with an interesting history to say the least. The school’s honor code is the most important covenant to the school community, and to break it is virtually unheard of. But there are exceptions… the secret societies that are a barely hidden secret.
The atmosphere of the book is very gothic, giving the story a deliciously creepy feeling. The old buildings of the school, the iron gates, the sometimes dark history of the school. And that atmosphere really underscored the dark aspects of the story. From the very beginning, there is the overwhelming realization that things are not what they appear in the school and with some of the girls. There are secrets at every turn.
Perhaps even more than the atmosphere, the characters drove the story. The Goode girls, by and large, came from wealthy, powerful families. They are smart, driven, used to getting their own way. And the education they get at Goode is at a much higher level than one might expect, as most of the girls are Ivy League-bound.
This is a twisted tale of manipulation, secrets, broken trusts, and revenge!