Kate O'Brien has had her sights set on Yale since she was 10. Using street and book smarts and more than a few lies, she's landed a scholarship for her senior year at New York City's prestigious Waverly School, which should give her enough clout during the admissions process. Connections can't hurt either, so she befriends Olivia, whose family has attended Yale for generations. Chapters switch between the girls' perspectives, revealing that both have secret histories and agendas for pursuing a friendship with one another. The arrival of gorgeous Mr. Redkin at Waverly sets off an alarm in Kate's head, but Olivia falls victim to his predatory charm. Toten moves her psychological thriller forward at a quiet pace, building tension as she teases out character motivations and unsavory secrets. The private school setting, beautiful blondes in designer fashions, and air of mystery make this ideal for fans of E. Lockhart's We Were Liars (2014). Some may find the story's final twist unconvincing, but many will revel in the insidious masquerade.--Smith, Julia Copyright 2016 Booklist

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. Agent: Marie Campbell, Transatlantic Literary Agency. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Predators become prey in this private school novel. Kate O'Brien is the new scholarship student at Waverly Academy in New York City, but she's also a seasoned con artist armed with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and she intends to do anything and use anyone in order to get away from her past and into Yale. Kate targets Olivia Sumner in order to get out of poverty and in with the popular girls, but she finds her cold calculations tempered by friendship. Kate's first-person narration proudly details her manipulative methods (with flashbacks to a traumatic childhood that offers motive), while the third-person voice in Olivia's chapters goes from detached to disjointed as she pops Ativan like Altoids but slowly spills her secrets. Kate and Olivia, both white, think they can swim with the sharks, yet both are outclassed when a man complicates matters, and only Kate can see the sociopath beneath the suave charm. Shallowly drawn schoolmates are also saddled with enough psychological issues to fill Kate's beloved DSM but otherwise fulfill rich-girl, private school stereotypes and provide background color. Toten's use of sexual predation and parental abuse as plot devices is problematic, but she also delivers a social-climbing satire with a ridiculous resolution, making for a reading experience that feels simultaneously riveting and like rubbernecking. A tense teen thriller that is half mind-game, half misery litcall it 50 Shades of Grey Area. (Thriller. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

First-class manipulator Kate worms her way into the highest social and academic ranks at NYC's exclusive Waverly School. When an unscrupulous administrator threatens not only Kate's best friend, Olivia, but also Kate, she finds herself in the unusual position of victim. Tantalizing secrets are revealed in the girls' alternating narration in this dark and sometimes convoluted thriller for older teens. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 10 Up-Kate has always been a liar-out of necessity rather than malice. She's smart and savvy and knows how to be a good friend. She's also the best scholarship student Manhattan's tony Waverly School has ever had. Olivia, by contrast, has grown up with every possible material privilege, but her mother is dead and her father travels frequently, leaving the housekeeper her only constant adult. Kate maneuvers herself into the posh guest room of Olivia's penthouse and quickly becomes earnest BFFs with her. When handsome new head of advancement Marcus Redkin enters Waverly's "estrogen pool," he makes waves no one can ignore, including Kate and Olivia, albeit for very different reasons. With her consummately youthful voice, Jorjeana Marie narrates, alternating between charming and treacherous, with impeccable timing. VERDICT Older readers in search of bone-chilling terror-think E. Lockhart's We Were Liars or Laura Ruby's Bone Gap-will surely relish the fear here. ["Complete with a disturbing yet satisfying conclusion, this is a must-have for teen fans of psychological thrillers": SLJ 5/16 review of the Delacorte book.]-Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.