I took a quick hop on over to Amazon to read the synopsis of this book and to see how the professional reviewers describe this book, and I saw words lI took a quick hop on over to Amazon to read the synopsis of this book and to see how the professional reviewers describe this book, and I saw words like, "chilling", and "fear".
I snorted. Because I didn't feel anything chilling or fearful in this book. I don't know if that speaks to just how screwed up my sense of humor is or what. Because I LOVED this effing book so much because I found it morbidly, perversely funny. This is snarky, dark, psychotic humor.
Belmont Academy is like its own ecosystem: it spawns, nurtures, encourages its inhabitants to go out into the wild to find mates and reproduce, and then to bring their offspring back to the mothership so the process can begin again. Sometimes, as with most of the teachers, going out far into the beyond to find the right mate and reproduce isn't necessary, so sticking close to the mothership and letting it take care of you as you take care of it in turn is for the best. And if new inhabitants are introduced to the ecosystem? Well, it upsets the balance. Just as with any malignancy, it takes time, but it does end up upsetting the balance and the ecosystem will eventually fail if no one takes notice and action in enough time.
Private schools are like gates communities: they don't keep problems out. They keep problems festering inside within the walls without public oversight to point out the issues that would be plain as day to outsiders. Of course, that's what parents and boards want when it comes to private schools: they don't want the government putting its fingers into their children's educational pies, but oversight is what keeps gardens from dying.
What I LOVE so much about this book is how EVERYONE acts like they're in high school. It's like, with them all being in this closed ecosystem, they can't help but be tainted with this same type of privilege that smacks of arrogance, snark, narcissism, and spite. It's what kept me laughing continuously throughout the book. This continuous notion of thinking they'll get away with things, of begging forgiveness instead of asking for permission, of being naive enough not to think of every possibility because OF COURSE you could never be caught or someone could outwit you.
And Teddy Crutcher is the absolute worst, being a downright malignant narcissist stuck right there in the middle of the sociopathy scale. He's not a complete sociopath, but he has a God Complex almost as bad as some surgeons you see on prime time crime procedurals. It's either all about him or it should be. If it's not about him then how can he make it about him? If he makes a mistake and the blame gets shifted to someone he feels is his responsibility, then someone else will just have to take the wrap--but it has to be someone he doesn't give a whit about and he thinks is an inconvenience to him or has done him wrong in some slight way before--because that mistake wasn't part of the plan and now that wrong has to be righted.
I'm not even mad the book ended pretty much how I thought it would or that the epilogue went pretty much how I thought it would. I'm not mad AT ALL. Because in the end this book had me laughing my morbid ass off and I wouldn't trade my black sense of humor for anything. ...more
I liked this book as much as I thought I would, but in a totally different way than I thought I would.
See, I had thought this book would be closer inI liked this book as much as I thought I would, but in a totally different way than I thought I would.
See, I had thought this book would be closer in tone to "The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels", and so I was expecting a lot more whimsy and dry wit. Instead, it was much more grounded (err, literally) and had a wittier (and maybe even a touch of screwball) sense of humor to it. There were also deeper political and social questions woven into this book that I wasn't really in the mood for when I read this book but I'm not mad about it.
Sadly, it was kind of predictable, but I guess I'm not too torn-up about that since "whodunit" isn't the prize at the bottom of the cereal box we're after in a romance novel like this.
But it was what it advertised, and I liked it a lot. ...more
DNF - It's not a poorly-written book. I just got very triggered because I have had bariatric surgery, my mom almost died from complications from the sDNF - It's not a poorly-written book. I just got very triggered because I have had bariatric surgery, my mom almost died from complications from the same surgery, and I have a friend who passed away from stomach issues. I just couldn't with all the digestive issues talk. ...more
I've been wanting to read this for ages, so I checked out a digital copy from my county library system through Libby. And it was even better than I thI've been wanting to read this for ages, so I checked out a digital copy from my county library system through Libby. And it was even better than I thought it would be. Delightfully droll, incredibly diverting, fantastically funny, and just such a refreshing read when everything is grey and gloomy outside. Can't wait for the next book in the series....more
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