The Magpie Society by Zoe Sugg & Amy Mc Culloch

I think I am currently in the mood for thrillers/mysteries…

Themes: YA, Mystery/Thriller, Dark Academia

The synopsis

Illumen Hall is an elite boarding school. Tragedy strikes when the body of a student is discovered at their exclusive summer party – on her back is an elaborate tattoo of a magpie.

When new girl Audrey arrives the following term, running from her own secrets back home in America, she is thrown into solving the case. Despite her best efforts to avoid any drama, her new roommate Ivy was close to the murdered girl, and the two of them can’t help but get pulled in.

The two can’t stand each other, but as they are drawn deeper into the mystery of this strange and terrible murder, they will discover that something dangerous is at the heart of their superficially perfect school.

Welcome to The Magpie Society.

One for Sorrow will be told via the alternating first person perspectives of the lead characters Audrey – written by Amy – and Ivy – written by Zoe – with the narrative being jointly plotted by both authors.

The review

If you are looking for a murder mystery taking place in an old English school in the middle of nowhere, you have found your book!

This reading was quite atmospheric with the setting being this old school with a lot of history, secrets, and a bit secluded. The mystery was very intriguing (even if I had guessed the main plot twist) thanks to the new elements the end of the book is giving us and especially with the secret society which seems to be a big part of this school. To be honest, the tension towards the end was so high that I was compulsively turning the pages of the book to see what would happen. And obviously, it is ending on a big cliffhanger.

Concerning the characters, the adults were the most developed and all seem to know more than what they were saying. Otherwise, it is where I felt the YA aspect of this book, in both the construction of the students and in their behaviour which was, let’s say it, immature. But the evolution of the relationship between Ivy and Audrey was done well enough to keep my interest. I was also helped by the fact that Ivy was obviously hiding something and I was wondering what it was.

In brief: This mystery is not the best one in the genre but is still doing its job. We are not talking about a Shakespearian writing style but of one which is really easy to read and makes the book bingeable (yes I read it in one day, again…). So, I cannot wait to dive into the sequel!

My rating: 4/5