Secret Society
Author: Tom Dolby
Series: Secret Society (#1)
Publisher: HarperTeen
How Received: publisher
Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone...
An eccentric new girl. A brooding socialite. The scion of one of New York's wealthiest families. A promising filmmaker. As students at the exclusive Chadwick School, Phoebe, Lauren, Nick, and Patch already live in a world most teenagers only dream about.
They didn't ask to be Society members. But when three of them receive a mysterious text message promising success and fame beyond belief, they say yes to everything—even to the harrowing initiation ceremony in a gritty warehouse downtown and to the ankh-shaped tattoo they're forced to get on the nape of their necks. Once they're part of the Society, things begin falling into place for them. Week after week, their ambitions are fulfilled. It's all perfect—until a body is found in Central Park with no distinguishing marks except for an ankh-shaped tattoo.
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It may not be the most elegantly written, but Secret Society sucks you in and doesn't let go until the last page.
Though it's not this beautiful, lyrical piece of work, Tom Dolby has created a story that kept me on the edge of my seat. We only learn things as the characters learn them, and as things become more dangerous and fast paced, you can't help but turn the page, wondering just what is going to happen next - and what is the Society up to?
I enjoyed it; I didn't want to put it down, even though I had to. (Sleep was required.) It was the first thing I did when I woke up, though - I picked it up and finished reading. The main characters are real, and I loved reading about them. I felt that the background characters - Nick's father, for instance - fell a little bit flat, as if they didn't really have a reason for doing what they do.
But I suppose that's part of the Society's hold, isn't it?
There were a lot of questions about the Society itself left at the end of the book, though all the plot points had been wrapped up, so I wasn't quite satisfied. However, as we were learning with the characters, and they didn't know everything at the end, I suppose that's to be expected. I only hope the *sequel* answers some of those questions!
Overall Rating & Final Comments: 9/10 - it kept me on the edge of my seat, and I can't WAIT for the sequel.
Cover Notes: LOVE! That is all.