They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The Gist
They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman starts with promise—an elite prep school, a dead student, and a secret society that rules everything. It sounds like it should be dark, juicy, and full of twists. But it isn’t. The story drags, the characters fall flat, and the suspense barely shows up.
The Details
From page one, the pacing stumbles. For a book centered on murder, it lacks urgency. The plot meanders through parties, popularity contests, and Jill’s repetitive self-doubt. Shaila’s death, which should drive the story, fades behind shallow teen drama.
Jill, the main character, questions her role in the Players, but her emotional depth feels limited. Her reactions rarely change, even as secrets unravel. The other characters blend into generic molds—the queen bee, the golden boy, the edgy outsider. They act predictably. Their conversations lack real weight. No one feels fully developed or interesting enough to carry a mystery.
The flashbacks make things worse. The story constantly jumps between timelines without clear markers. These scenes should build tension or reveal secrets. Instead, they interrupt the flow and confuse the timeline. Readers have to pause just to figure out when things are happening, which ruins the pacing even more.
The mystery itself disappoints. The twist lands with a thud rather than a gasp. Readers who pay attention will probably guess it early. And when the big reveal finally comes, it feels rushed and unearned. Instead of building tension to a satisfying conclusion, the story simply ends.
They Wish They Were Us tries to explore privilege, power, and loyalty. But it never digs deep enough to say anything meaningful. The elite-school setting feels more like window dressing than a critical part of the story. And the Players? Just a group of spoiled kids enforcing nonsense rules for the sake of drama.
The Verdict
Overall, this book promises a stylish thriller but delivers a slow-moving, surface-level story with little emotional payoff. If you’re craving suspense or a strong voice, you may want to keep looking.
