This review and others are posted at Inspiring Insomnia.When we are introduced to Anne Dowling in Prep School Confidential, she kind-of, sort-of accidentally sets her Manhattan school on fire. He parents decide to ship her off to a boarding school outside Boston, and Anne immediately decides she wants nothing to do with these "Mass-holes." But even as she rebuffs her classmates, she is quickly absorbed into the cool clique.
Anne's roommate, Isabella, is definitely not one of the cool kids. Isabella brings out Anne's protective side, and the two girls are becoming friends when Isabella is murdered. Administrators at the school close rank, and students are strongly encouraged to not discuss the murder with anyone. But with Anne's personality, if someone tries to close a door in her face, she will bulldoze right through it. As Anne fearlessly, and at times, recklessly, investigates Isabella's murder, she uncovers long-buried secrets and what may be a very dangerous conspiracy.
I loved Anne's character from the beginning. It was clear that Kara Taylor had no interest in giving us a sparkly, unblemished heroine, and that was a big part of what made Anne such a captivating character. She could be rude and crude, but she has a great, biting sense of humor, and she's easy to root for.
Prep School Confidential was much darker than I expected, based on the playful-looking cover. We get the answers to Isabella's murder, and it's not pretty, but I was so happy with the way the ending set up a brand-new mystery for Anne to tackle in the 2014 sequel, Wicked Little Secrets.
Check out my interview with Kara Taylor about Prep School Confidential here.Note - I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.