Beware That Girl
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4.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From Governor General award-winner Teresa Toten comes a powerful and twisted psychological thriller that will rightly draw comparisons to We Were Liars and Gone Girl. Beware That Girl will keep readers guessing until the very last line.
The Haves. The Have Nots. Kate O'Brien appears to be a Have Not. Her whole life has been a series of setbacks she's had to snake her way out of--some more sinister than others. But she's determined to change that. She's book smart. She's street-smart. And she's also a masterful liar.
As the scholarship student at the elite Waverly School in NYC, Kate has her work cut out for her: her plan is to climb the social ranks and land a spot at Yale. She's already found her "people" among the senior class "it" girls--specifically in the cosseted, mega-wealthy yet deeply damaged Olivia Sumner. As for Olivia, she considers Kate the best friend she's always needed, the sister she never had.
When the handsome and whip-smart Mark Redkin joins the Waverly administration as head of fundraising, he immediately charms his way into the faculty and students' lives--especially Olivia's, although she doesn't share what's going on. It becomes increasingly obvious that Redkin poses a threat to Kate, too, in a way she can't reveal and can't afford to ignore. Mark has his own plan for a bright future and never doubts that he can pull it off. How close can Kate and Olivia get with Mark without having to share their dark pasts?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kate O'Brian is a good liar when she has to be, and because of her violent past, that's most of the time. She's also good at making "demented rich girls" love her, which is how she goes from sleeping in a storeroom under a Chinatown market to sharing Olivia Sumner's penthouse apartment during the girls' senior year at New York City's posh Waverly School. Toten (The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B) switches between Kate's first-person account and a third-person look at Olivia, who has secrets of her own. The other plot engine is charismatic Waverly fund-raiser Mark Redkin, who is working on bedding most of the staff and some of the seniors. When Olivia's turn comes, readers realize that he is far worse than just a hound. As the title suggests, the book combines a Gossip Girl milieu with the unsettled psychological terrain of Gone Girl. But while Kate is a strong character and there is no shortage of suspense, Toten's desire to keep readers guessing results in a confusing and rushed climax. Ages 14 up.
