Release date: October 24, 2023
Publisher: Lake Union
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Synopsis:
Audrey Singer revels in her position as the admissions director of an exclusive Manhattan private school. Parents cater to her whims and desires, desperate to give their children an edge. Audrey’s power is undeniable; privilege comes with the territory. Her perfect marriage completes the glossy picture of her life.
Until the arrival of the neurotic, vulnerable Sarah Price. Determined to get her son into the city’s most coveted kindergarten class, Sarah inserts herself into Audrey’s world, testing boundaries at every turn. For Sarah, everything Audrey has is a potential target: her job, her friends…even her marriage.
But what seems to be another ploy by an overachieving mother takes a dark and ominous turn. Sarah seems to be hiding secrets of her own. Are her designs on Audrey’s life purely about getting what she wants for her son?
Or is there something more sinister at play in this cutthroat game?
Review:
I didn’t really have any firm expectations about this one before I started it, I just knew I wanted something suspenseful and the whole private school admissions vibes sounded like an ideal fall read. It definitely delivered on both the suspense and the fall vibes but it also surprised me by how twisty and addicting it was.
You get dual perspectives, Audrey who is head of admissions at Easton and Sarah who is beyond desperate to secure a spot for her son in Easton’s next kindergarten class. Sarah’s desperation causes her to develop an unhealthy obsession with not only the school itself, but with Audrey too and nothing in Audrey’s life is off limits. That’s all I’ll say but I loved how the author explored obsession and how not only was this a tense ride, there was an emotional complexity to the characters that sucked me in. I loved the creeping sense of dread that intensified as the book progressed, I loved the NYC setting and I loved the explosive ending. Definitely recommended as a really great fall suspense read.
Overall rating: 5/5
Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.
Novelgossip 