Okay, so, I am really excited to tell you about this book! The other day I was complaining to my roommate about not knowing what to read, despite having filled every nook and cranny in my room with books.
None of them felt right, you know?
Anyway, a little while after, she came back with a book. Yes, you guessed it, All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth. She asked me to read the first few pages and tell her what I thought and I decided to read ten. But I just couldn't put it down.
(thank you Yosi)
Synopsis
The Calloways
Other Characters
Review
Conclusion
Similar Books
Synopsis
(from Goodreads, fight me)
In the last day of summer, Grace Fairchild, the beautiful young wife of real estate mogul Alistair Calloway, vanished from the family’s lake house without a trace, leaving behind her seven-year-old daughter, Charlie, and a slew of unanswered questions.
Years later, seventeen-year-old Charlie still struggles with the dark legacy of her family name and the mystery surrounding her mother. Determined to finally let go of the past, she throws herself into life at Knollwood, the prestigious New England school she attends. Charlie quickly becomes friends with Knollwood’s “it” crowd.
Charlie has also been tapped by the A’s—the school’s elite secret society well known for terrorizing the faculty, administration, and their enemies. To become a member of the A’s, Charlie must play The Game, a semester-long, diabolical high-stakes scavenger hunt that will jeopardize her friendships, her reputation, even her place at Knollwood.
As the dark events of past and present converge, Charlie begins to fear that she may not survive the terrible truth about her family, her school, and her own life
The Calloways
old money, cold, manipulative
Charlie (Charlotte) Calloway: she is the main character, 17 years old, a student at Knollwood Prep (the most prestigious school in the country) and heir to the Calloway Group. As far as she knows, her mother abandoned them ten years ago without any explanation and not even the private detective could find her.
She would do anything to join the As.
Seraphina Calloway: Charlie's little sister, attends a boarding school in Reading, has a horse named Peppermint
Alistair Calloway: Charlie and Sera's dad, he is the current leader of the Calloway Group and has two younger siblings, Teddy (their mother's favourite son) and Olivia (a conceited brat).
He was once engaged to Margot Dalton (then Whittaker)
He liked Grace since the moment he laid eyes on her.
I actually don't really know what to make of him, I guess he always did the best he could.
Grace Calloway: The mum. Her first love, Jake, killed himself when she was 16 and she never got over it, but when she met Teddy she fell head over heels for him. After finding out that Teddy was only playing a game with her she and Alistair got together.
When Charlie was seven, she disappeared. No-one knows what really happened.
Other Characters
Drew: She is Charlie's best friend and roommate and trying to join the As as well. She is the link between Charlie and her other girlfriends (Stevie and Yael)
Greyson: Oh my, Greyson, oof. Well, Charlie had a crush on him when she was younger and meets him again after several years when she picks up her mother case again since he was her mum's best friend's son. He kinda likes her I guess.
Royce Dalton: Sweet Jesus, Dalton, Dalton, Dalton, He messes me up. I really liked him at first. Sure, he was not someone you should date, he was a player, but he was a good friend to Charlie and he was funny and sweet. And then he screwed up and then he fixed it and then he pranked Stevie and then ughhhhhh...
Leo: He is also a Calloway and Charlie's cousin. When their mother left, Charlie and Seraphina lived with him and his family for two years and he always looked out for them. Though that just made me angrier when he admitted to having put Charlie on his board game (Four In a Row - Can you get them to sleep with you?)
Review
9/10
This. Book. Is. So. Fucking. Good.
I read the book in about a day and a half and stayed up on Sunday evening until 2 in the morning reading this book. Truthfully I would have finished it sooner if I hadn't had to study or go to class. It was mind-blowing, and after finishing it I walked around in a haze, not really knowing what to do with myself. A wonderful book hangover.
I think that the book has a fairly good representation of teenagers, in the sense that I could take you to my school and point out several Daltons and Drews and Charlies. The characters are well built and three dimensional and the story is relatable (as relatable as a story told from the point of view of one of the richest families in the Upper East Side, who were abandoned {or killed, depending on who you believe} by one of their own, can be).
When I read the title I expected something entirely different, I was certain it would be one of those sloppy teen romances where they all have a secret or something like that. But it wasn't at all and I cannot emphasize enough on how glad I am about that. It is not misnamed though, Charlie slowly discovers that everything she knew about her family was wrong, they are all strangers and she didn't actually know them until now.
The only reason I didn't give it a 10 is that the ending felt a little rushed. The rest of the story took almost 500 pages, and while according to some critics it could have been shorter, I disagree. The detail and stretching out only further fuelled my interest and need to find out what was going to happen. The ending, however, was wrapped up in a few short pages. Charlie publishes the article and that's it. The reader only gets a short description of the consequences for all the participants and accused and in the epilogue, she merely glosses over her relationship with Greyson. Which, as a Greyson Fan myself, is quite annoying. I mean come on, there was no mention of her breakup with Dalton and all we get to show for her new relationship with Greyson is this:
"Met any cute boys?" Claire teases.
Greyson puts his arm around me and pulls me close as I laugh. "Hey now, none of that," he says, planting a kiss in my hair
yeah…
Conclusion
You probably know by now, but I really enjoyed the book. I really did. And I don't care that the ending could have been better and more detailed because though it wasn't as striking as the rest of the book, the overall was still impressive.
Similar Books
We Were Liars (E. Lockhart)
The Girl Before (J.P. Delaney)
yours truly,
Mia
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