Book Review: Prep School Confidential - Kara Taylor

Title: Prep School Confidential (Prep School Confidential #1)

Author: Kara Taylor

Release Date: July 30th 2013

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Genre: Young Adult

Source: NetGalley

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Anne Dowling practically runs her exclusive academy on New York’s Upper East Side—that is, until she accidentally burns part of it down and gets sent to a prestigious boarding school outside of Boston. Determined to make it back to New York, Anne couldn't care less about making friends at the preppy Wheatley School. That is, until her roommate Isabella’s body is found in the woods behind the school.

When everyone else is oddly silent, Anne becomes determined to uncover the truth no matter how many rules she has to break to do it. With the help of Isabella’s twin brother Anthony, and a cute classmate named Brent, Anne discovers that Isabella wasn’t quite the innocent nerdy girl she pretended to be. But someone will do anything to stop Anne’s snooping in this fast-paced, unputdownable read—even if it means framing her for Isabella’s murder.

When I first saw the cover and read the blurb of Prep School Confidential, I thought it was going to be a crazy mix of Nancy Drew and Gossip Girl, and I knew this book would be a sure-hit with me. And how right I was.

I liked Anne right from page one. She's smart, sarcastic, and sassy (yay for alliteration!). Her mention of being the Queen Bee only nailed my earlier comparison of her to Blair Waldorf. She indulged in her gutsiness while still being constantly fabulous.

I never run from trouble. Trouble is like a dog that wants to rip your throat out: If you stare it down, you have a better chance of saving your ass.

When Anne arrived at Wheatley, the students there had already heard of her accidental arsonist stunt... and feared-slash-respected her for it. The popular kids welcomed her into their group—all of them, except for the previous Queen Bee. The amount of adversaries that she had only increased from there, but Anne knew how to choose her battles. She was good at prioritizing, never worrying about everything all at once.

The mystery surrounding Anne's roommate's death built up slowly but surely, and soon enough, everyone was a suspect in my eyes. And while Anne was by no means the next Sherlock Holmes, her methods of deduction were a lot smarter than I'd expected from someone who was living such a privileged life.

And oh, love triangle alert! Ha, not really. Like I said, Anne knew how to prioritize, so she knew solving her roommate's death was more important than her love life. The two equally cute and mischievous boys certainly didn't distract from the mystery. 

Fast-paced and a true page-turner, this first book in a new series was wrapped up very well in the ending, and yet still managed to provide the build-up for what will come in the sequel. Wicked Little Secrets can't come fast enough!

MY FAVORITE PART is probably every time Kara Taylor's witty characters made me laugh. To give you an example:

"Brent, does something seem off about Sebastian to you?"

Brent shrugs. "His new moustache makes him look like a sex offender, I guess."

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