FICTION

Our Wicked Histories

Delacorte. Jul. 2024. 384p. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9780593703953.
COPY ISBN
Gr 10 Up–Meg is on scholarship at Greyscott’s Academy, and she struggles to fit in with the highbrow crowd at the exclusive art school. Lottie Wren, the queen bee, brings Meg into her friend group. Lottie’s gorgeous twin brother, Seb, flirts shamelessly with Meg behind closed doorsGervais, Alison. A Game Most Foul. but seems to have something going on with Lottie’s friend Laure. Meg’s friendships with these people are tenuous, but the school means everything to her and her future. Then something awful happens—which remains a mystery to readers until the end—and Meg gets suspended from Greyscott’s. Her only way back in is to convince Laure not to press charges. When Lottie invites her to a party at Wren Hall, her ancestral home in Ireland, Meg jumps at the chance to get back in Laure’s good graces. However, as guests arrive, it’s clear that no one really wants Meg around, and when Laure disappears, fingers of blame point in her direction. What’s going on at Wren Hall, and what happened between Meg and Laure that fateful night? The story switches perspective frequently from the past events that lead to Meg’s suspension to the happenings at Wren Hall. The double mysteries are compelling, and the twist at the end is clever, but the frenetic pacing makes for a choppy read.
VERDICT Inspired by The Fall of the House of Usher, this novel has banshee lore, a closed room mystery, a gothic mansion, and a forbidden romance. All the elements are there, but it just doesn’t quite come together. An additional purchase.

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