Beware That Girl

You and me, Olivia—together. Just us. Kate was back and Olivia exhaled.

content warnings for: child abuse, domestic violence, emotional abuse, physical abuse, mental health issues

Well this book was certainly a bit of a rollercoaster.

Beware That Girl follows Katie O'Brien, a poor orphaned scholarship girl, and Olivia Sumner, her seemingly complete opposite, over the course of six months, and the friendships and romances they develop.
Both girls have secrets, but Katie basically picks Olivia out as being vulnerable and is going to exploit that to ensure she gets into Yale.

Yep, this story is full of lies and deceit and manipulation from start to finish.

The ending twist? Probably a little bit predictable but still enjoyable nonetheless. I was pitying Olivia throughout the whole book, thinking that she was being taken advantage of, but the ending definitely added a little bit of depth to her character even if it was stereotypical.

This is a book that is full of stereotypes; the heavily accented housekeeper, the private schoolgirls self-medicating and being whisked away at even the hint of a scandal, the mysterious and charming male member of staff who's clearly hiding something under the dazzling smile. It's all stereotypical and you almost know how it's going to end from the start, but once the shallow writing and mostly two-dimensional characters fade a little bit (i.e. once you near the end of the book) this does

Beware That Girl was definitely marketed wrong and definitely suffered as a result. The characters feel like teenagers (as in 15ish) but with their ages and the adult material this should definitely be classed as a new adult novel. Because it straddles these two genres, it's hard to pin down exactly what it's trying to do and accomplish.

Yes, this book could have been better. But yes, this book did have enjoyable elements. The dynamic between Olivia and Kate was particularly interesting, and the sinister yet loving edge to it was probably the most interesting part of Beware That Girl.

If you're looking for strong and interesting characters then this is not the book for you. If however, you're looking for characters that you love to hate, and to waste a few hours going down the rabbit hole, well then, this is the book for you.

A terrifically trashy teen thriller, just in time for beach season.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for the advance reading copy.