They say only the good die young, but that’s just a line in a stupid song we used to sing. It isn’t real. It isn’t true. I know that because Shaila Arnold was so many things—brilliant and funny, confident and wild. But honestly? She wasn’t all that good.” The characters were nauseating and none of them had any good qualities. I wish I could have pushed them all off of a cliff and it would have been end of story. I almost gave up a few times but I persevered and pushed on through hoping it would get better. Wrong! So very wrong! Jessica Goodman's thrilling debut is a modern-day Gossip Girl—but darker.”– Marie Claire, The Best Fiction by Women in 2020 Now, it’s Jill’s senior year and she’s determined to make it her best yet. After all, she’s a senior and a Player–a member of Gold Coast Prep’s exclusive, not-so-secret secret society. Senior Players have the best parties, highest grades and the admiration of the entire school. This is going to be Jill’s year. She’s sure of it.

When Jill starts getting texts proclaiming Graham’s innocence, she doesn’t know what to do. Her friends, who along with her were there the night Shaila was killed, tell her to leave it alone, let the past stay in the past. But if Graham really is innocent, that means someone else killed Shaila. Is it worth risking her friendships, her future, maybe even her life, to know the truth? Jill's best friend, Shailia died on initiation night freshman year and her boyfriend, Graham was arrested for her murder and now 3 years later...questions are emerging, did he really do it?A juicy, fast-paced, addictive tale that’s more than a mystery—it’s a timely exploration of ambition, loyalty, and how far we’ll go to belong. I couldn’t put it down.” went to the book store to see this on the shelf today! so excited for everyone to read “They Wish They Were Us” by @jessicagoodman 🙂 I should have known what I was getting myself into when they compared it to One of Us is Lying. I couldn’t even finish that book and here I thought this one would be different. I’m too old to be playing these games but I gambled anyway. I’m sad at myself. The plot twists were to be expected, because this is a murder mystery. There was a notable red herring, because what’s a mystery without one or five of those?

Henry - mixed feelings. He was a cinnamon roll hiding behind the mask of a Player and I liked that. But I also didn’t like how passive he was. I think it's important to see a "softer" male character like him. He was definitely a unique character and he brought in a lot of new aspects, but he also got on my nerves so much. Marla - the badass athletic queen. I admired her, but I totally would have been super intimidated by her in real life. She was super chill for most of the book, but she definitely went in on some parts of the book. Five hundred and twenty-three Gold Coast Prep students, ages six to eighteen, raise their voices. Even the new kids, who were instructed to memorize the stupid words before they even set foot on campus. Realmente he terminado haciéndome preguntas casi rozando lo filosófico. No es un libro que te induzca a ello de manera directa, sino que es tan realista en muchas ocasiones que conecta de alguna forma con esa parte que todo el mundo tiene de querer pertenecer a algo. Cueste lo que cueste. Esto es sin duda el tema principal del libro, narrado de una manera exquisita por Jessica Goodman.Girls being taken advantage of, initiates being mistreated or harassed just so that they can prove they’re “tough enough”, being subjected to public humiliation to prove their worth - it was raw. Concerning. And painful, because while the book might be exaggerated to fit the story...this stuff still happens everywhere. To a lot of people. When I first read the plot for this novel, I thought this would be pretty mediocre since many authors have used this plot before. I liked learning about the different characters in the novel and seeing their little development (even though Robert had the least development). It was interesting seeing Jill's perspective of everything she knew completely flip, and see her handle all the shit she went through. I appreciated the author showing Jill actually talking to her parents and talking to Nikki about what happened, even though I personally don't think Nikki deserved her.