All These Beautiful Strangers follows multiple perspectives with the main being Charlie a 17 year old girl who is attending a prestigious prep school for the elite called Knollwood Academy. She is struggling to overcome the dark legacy of her family and is trying to become a member of the school’s elite secret society called the A’s.
I liked the multiple perspectives and the way we time jumped from present day back to the summer that Grace went missing; slowly piecing together all the details really made me engaged in the story and eager to read on to find out what was going to happen. Is Grace alive, did Alistair kill her, did something else happen? Having this story woven into the present day situations that Charlie has to deal with kept the anticipation at an all time high!
I actually really liked Charlie’s character. I think her being one of the rich kids and getting that perspective was quite refreshing for me. Her not really having to worry about money and blending in so well with the other wealthy kids at the school and seeing how they function was fascinating and a point of view that really isn’t explored a whole lot in YA. I like that she is so unaware of how much she really does manipulate those around her to get what she wants and the fact that it is thrown back in her face unexpectedly was gratifying!
I liked the pace of the book, there was definitely tension built up throughout the story line. Mixing in the initiation process for the A’s and having that come full circle was really entertaining. All of the characters are very morally ambiguous and you really can’t predict what anyone is going to do next as they all have the means to be able to pretty much get away with anything!
School setting are always a favourite of mine and even though I never went to somewhere as prestigious as Knollwood it did bring around feelings of nostalgia for me.
⭐️4/5 stars Suspenseful, unexpected, tragic!
Very Atmospheric!
Amy Leigh Reads 