Helpful Score: 1
Secret society activity is usually pretty cool, though easily clichéd. However, Tom Dolby's debut novel just doesn't cut it. SECRET SOCIETY reads like a tired retake on a cloak-and-dagger Gossip Girl-esque world, with flat characters and a marked lack of action.
While I thought that all the characters' initial setups were quite well done, the character development in the rest of the development unfortunately doesn't follow through with it. Phoebe, Lauren, and Nick's personalities blend together into a monotonous swirl of uncertainty and fear at their new statuses. Possible romances and family troubles are toldânever shownâto us, as are many other things about the characters and plot.
These rich high school kids' lives aren't nothing you've read before. Readers may be interested in the various clubbing and society scenes generously scattered throughout the book, but the thread connecting everything together is thin. There's a lot of potential for suspenseful and exciting moments, but I found it difficult to connect with the story, and thus never felt invested in the outcomes of these characters and their involvement with the society.
Still, if you haven't read too many secret society novels in your day, you might be able to enjoy this one. Dolby paints an intriguing picture of New York rich-high-school-kid life, one that will be good for reluctant readers looking for a guilty pleasure. The more well-read reader might have trouble finding anything original or attention-holding in this book, though.
While I thought that all the characters' initial setups were quite well done, the character development in the rest of the development unfortunately doesn't follow through with it. Phoebe, Lauren, and Nick's personalities blend together into a monotonous swirl of uncertainty and fear at their new statuses. Possible romances and family troubles are toldânever shownâto us, as are many other things about the characters and plot.
These rich high school kids' lives aren't nothing you've read before. Readers may be interested in the various clubbing and society scenes generously scattered throughout the book, but the thread connecting everything together is thin. There's a lot of potential for suspenseful and exciting moments, but I found it difficult to connect with the story, and thus never felt invested in the outcomes of these characters and their involvement with the society.
Still, if you haven't read too many secret society novels in your day, you might be able to enjoy this one. Dolby paints an intriguing picture of New York rich-high-school-kid life, one that will be good for reluctant readers looking for a guilty pleasure. The more well-read reader might have trouble finding anything original or attention-holding in this book, though.
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