Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten Published by Penguin Teen on May 15, 2018
Pages: 336
Goodreads
Perfect for summer reading, this powerful and twisted psychological thriller will draw comparisons to We Were Liars and Gone Girl, and rightly so. As Quill & Quire states, "smart, dark, entertaining, and unpredictable," Beware That Girl will keep readers guessing until the very last line.
The Haves. The Have-Nots. Kate O'Brien appears to be a Have-Not. Her whole life has been a series of setbacks she's had to snake her way out of--some more sinister than others. But she's determined to change that. She's book smart. She's street-smart. Oh, and she's also a masterful liar.
As the scholarship student at the elite Waverly School in NYC, Kate has her work cut out for her: her plan is to climb the social ladder and land a spot at Yale. She's already found her "people" among the senior class "it" girls--specifically in the cosseted, mega-wealthy yet deeply damaged Olivia Sumner. As for Olivia, she considers Kate the best friend she's always needed, the sister she never had.
When the handsome and whip-smart Mark Redkin joins the Waverly administration, he immediately charms his way into the faculty and students' lives, becoming especially close to Olivia, a fact she's intent on keeping to herself. It becomes increasingly obvious that Redkin poses a threat to Kate, too, in a way she can't reveal--and can't afford to ignore. How close can Kate and Olivia get to Mark without having to share their dark pasts?
Beware that girl has been on my wishlist since I first heard about it but never picked it up until I heard that Teresa Toten was going to be at the Montreal YA fest that was held this past May (2018) and I knew I had to get it then and sadly I didn’t pick it up to read until this past week.
Even though I didn’t read it back when I got it I am happy that I finally decided to read it now. In case you didn’t know it Teresa is a Canadian author and has written several books all of which I have not read but hoping that 2019 will be the year that I do read them along with more Canadian authors.
One nice thing about reading a new author is you have no idea what to expect and wow I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to read. This ended up turning into a page turner and something I had a hard time to put down which is all good because we need more books like that in our lives.
The book is told in two points of view that of Kate and Olivia (sometimes together). Its also told almost in a daily entry that begins September 22nd and ends March 22nd, The entries are super short so you can pretty much read this in one sitting.
As I mentioned this is told in Kate and Olivia’s points of view although Kate’s is more in first person where as Olivia’s is more third person, Both girls attend a private school in NYC. When it comes to Kate she comes off really secretive and I felt that the whole time she was up to something. Kate has no family and there is more to her then meets the eye and as the story progresses we get to learn a lot more about Kate and her growing up. Her life was the complete opposite of Olivia. She had to work hard to get where she is today and basically keep her private life private from everyone. I have to say that there was so many times that I was questioning her motivates. She seemed to be her own person but at the same time was trying to be someone else. Plus not a single adult was questioning anything about her. Such as Kate moving in with Olivia and her dad. I mean if my son wanted to move a friend in I would be questioning him why? Where is his family etc but none of these things came up during the book.
Now Olivia is the exact opposite of Kate. She grew up with everything she could have ever wanted. When you look at Olivia you think she has got it all but gradually you soon realize that there is more to her then meets the eye. She has secrets you wouldn’t think she would have. As the story progresses you begun to uncover her secrets. All of which I have to say was a shock but not overly shocking considering the times we are living in now.
Now you know there has to be a love interest in the book and there was and that was in the form of Mark. He was involved in the school system and Mark also had some deep dark secrets he was carrying around with him. Mark was that kind of “teacher” who would make the young and old do whatever he wanted and he got away with it. They would literally throw themselves at him and flirt. Good looks alone didn’t get him what he wanted or where he wanted, he was a master manipulator.
He would search to get the goods on his victims and then black mail them. He got away with it each and every time but not this time.
This time he has met his match. Can Olivia and Kate stop him before he ruins the girls?
This was definitely one of those books where every character has flows and clearly no one was thinking straight. It basically was every man for himself to get what they wanted and they didn’t care how they got it or who they hurt along the way.