THE MARY SHELLEY CLUB

 

SYNOPSIS

When it comes to horror movies, the rules are clear:

x Avoid abandoned buildings, warehouses, and cabins at all times.

x Stay together: don't split up, not even just to "check something out."

x If there's a murderer on the loose, do not make out with anyone.

If only surviving in real life were this easy...

New girl Rachel Chavez turns to horror movies for comfort, preferring stabby serial killers and homicidal dolls to the bored rich kids of Manhattan Prep...and to certain memories she'd preferred to keep buried.

Then Rachel is recruited by the Mary Shelley Club, a mysterious society of students who orchestrate Fear Tests, elaborate pranks inspired by urban legends and movie tropes. At first, Rachel embraces the power that comes with reckless pranking. But as the Fear Tests escalate, the competition turns deadly, and it's clear Rachel is playing a game she can't afford to lose.

Title: The Mary Shelley Club

Author: Goldy Moldavsky

Publisher: Henry Holt & Company

Publication date: April 13, 2021

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

I really try with YA novels, believe me, I do, but no matter how hard I try I can’t really connect with them and see what everyone else seems to do.

The premise of this one sounded so interesting. A mysterious club doing horror movies inspired pranks? Sold! Great premise, not so great execution.

I found the characters pretty bland. They were mostly rich, spoiled kids behaving obnoxiously like rich, spoiled kids just because they could. They were so immature I would have given them more than one slap. Funny thing was they thought they were really mature and had “the weight of the world on their shoulders” at 17 yo.

Another issue for me were the Fear Tests. While I appreciate how the author tried to tie them to different movies, I felt them lacking. For all their talk, some of them were pretty naive. Put a mask and…BOO!

It seemed like the plot was not going anywhere for almost 2/3 of the story, just a succession of Fear Tests and club meetings. The ending wasn’t satisfying at all, not only because it left things open for a possible sequel but because also left several questions unanswered. If the big reveal was supposed to make me shout “WHAT??!!” it just made me say “ok, whatever…” so…

Although it had some interesting aspects overall it was just an ok read for me.