Get Even by Gretchen McNeil

Released: September 2014

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in Gretchen McNeil’s witty and suspenseful novel about four disparate girls who join forces to take revenge on high school bullies and create dangerous enemies for themselves in the process.

Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers.

When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose.

I was a bit surprised by the actual storyline, it didn’t meet the punchline of the synopsis. The story had no parallels to The Breakfast Club. This is what immediately intrigued me, I loved the film, it remains a favourite, and PLL is a bit of borderline obsession for me.

This book had a bit of a bumpy start. I was overwhelmed with the amount of characters and the substantial amount of drama each of their backstories told. What was even more confusing was how the characters blended together in a linear timeline.

I almost gave up…Almost.

I’m glad I didn’t.

As soon as I wrapped my head around who-was-who and what their stories were, what was happening in the present time made more sense. I found the story  enjoyable. Remniscient of Jenny Hann’s Burn For Burn Trilogy and Sara Shepard’s The Lying Game.

Group together four girls from different ranks in high school—secrets come to life, and no one is safe. Including themselves. I like this spin. Yes, you may disagree; but bullying is wrong: always. So, it is good for YA readers to experience these stories, to know that fighting fire with fire ultimately changes them from victim to bully themselves.

Eager to read the second entry. This book introduced the players, the backstories and now I feel the real mayhem is about to bust loose in book 2.

Thank you, Harper Collins for the review copy.