April 1, 2021
Gr 9 Up-In this dark, thrilling mystery, high school junior Nancy Luo's former best friend Jamie is found dead. Nancy and her three friends are taunted by an anonymous person known as The Proctor. They are in a race against time as they try to uncover The Proctor's identity before their secrets are exposed to the entire school on a social app, Tip Tap. Secrets shared on Tip Tap have real consequences, including ostracizing, suspensions, or even loss of scholarships. Nancy's story alternates between the past and present as she remembers how Jamie belittled her, instilled fear into her, and used her own good deeds to get Nancy to do whatever she wanted. After taking an emotional beating the majority of the story, Nancy learns how to stick up for herself, which will be a relief to readers. Nancy endures school stress, the impact of social media gossip, low self-confidence, and the high expectations of her parents, who are Chinese immigrants. Zhao sheds light on the competitiveness students face in the private school sector, driven by parents and social media. This story includes scenes of drug use, excessive bullying, suicide, and a romantic relationship between a teacher and a student. VERDICT Readers who love Karen M. McManus will enjoy this fast-paced, dramatic story.-Kharissa Kenner, Bank Street Sch. for Children, New York City
Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 7, 2021
In this YA debut by Zhao (the Dragon Warrior series), Sinclair Prep, a private “elite high school that ranked number one in every area imaginable” on New York City’s Upper West Side, is home to myriad sins. Domineering Chinese American junior class president Jamie Ruan fell from grace two months ago after her father was arrested for embezzlement. When she goes missing, Chinese American poet and junior scholarship student Nancy Luo is eager to fill her queen bee shoes. That is, until an anonymous figure called the Proctor starts posting on school gossip app Tip Tap, implicating Jamie’s former best friends in her death. Nancy, fellow Chinese American scholarship student Alexander Lin, Indian track star and hotel heir Akil Patel, and Korean fashionista and pharmaceuticals heiress Krystal Choi must find the murderer—and protect their own secrets—before the Proctor takes them down. Discourse regarding drugs, fashion, gangs, race, and privilege feels shallow, and an apparent lack of research undermines credibility. Still, interwoven Tip Tap posts, text messages, and flashbacks maintain intrigue, and Nancy’s first-person narration capably drives this fast-paced thriller to its unrelenting close. Ages 14–up. Agent: Penny Moore, Aevitas Creative Management.
June 15, 2021
When Sinclair Prep's top student winds up dead, everyone suspects her ex-best friends, whose secrets are about to be unveiled by an anonymous messenger. Surrounded by wealthy peers, Nancy Luo is a scholarship student at the prestigious Richard Sinclair Preparatory School and a second-generation immigrant determined to repay her parents for their sacrifices with academic success. But it's impossible to outrank Jamie Ruan, whose brutal competitiveness leads her to do whatever it takes to come out on top, including hurting Nancy, her friend of over a decade. After her dad is imprisoned for embezzlement, Jamie goes missing and then is shockingly pronounced dead by someone with the username The Proctor on the gossip app Tip Tap. The Proctor identifies four potential suspects among the student body: Nancy, Akil Patel, Krystal Choi, and Alexander Lin. All were former friends of Jamie's, each one has a secret, and all of them, including Jamie, have been haunted by The Incident, which they've kept buried since freshman year. This standout prep school murder mystery features a predominantly Asian American cast that varies in ethnicity and socio-economic background. It honestly depicts the psychological struggles of overachieving students, especially those arising from parental pressure. The truth of The Proctor's identity might strain credulity, but careful pacing and a tantalizing cliffhanger ending will leave readers thirsting for more. An enticing new treat for fans of Pretty Little Liars and Karen McManus. (Mystery. 13-18)
COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
August 1, 2021
Grades 9-12 Sinclair Prep on New York City's Upper West Side is home to the brainiest students from the area's richest, most powerful families. Junior Jamie Ruan ranks number one until her father is caught embezzling from his Fortune 500 company. One by one, her four best friends--Akil Patel, Krystal Choi, Alexander Lin, and Nancy Luo--step away from her. When Jamie is found dead, the four are implicated in a series of posts by "The Proctor" on Tip Tap, a social media platform. Each has dark personal secrets, including a freshman-year incident that, if revealed, would carry dire consequences and expulsion for all. Told by Nancy in the present and past, this publisher-billed "Asian American recast of Gossip Girl" is a page turner. Zhao tackles suicide, drugs, mental illness, anxiety, bullying, and, commendably, the colossal pressure students are forced to deal with in private schools. Despite an unexpected shallowness in the discourse between these exceptional students and an unsatisfying ending, this is one that fans of Sara Shepard and Karen M. McManus will kill to read.
COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.