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People Like Us

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People Like Us

By: Dana Mele
Narrated by: Erin Spencer
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About this listen

"Mean Girls meets Donna Tartt's The Secret History with a little bit of Riverdale mixed in. So yeah, it's epic."--HelloGiggles

"In People Like Us, Dana Mele delivers the Gossip Girl meets Pretty Little Liars young adult novel you've been waiting for."--Bustle


Kay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet, but the past is past, and she's reinvented herself entirely. Now she's a star soccer player whose group of gorgeous friends run their private school with effortless popularity and acerbic wit. But when a girl's body is found in the lake, Kay's carefully constructed life begins to topple. The dead girl has left Kay a computer-coded scavenger hunt, which, as it unravels, begins to implicate suspect after suspect, until Kay herself is in the crosshairs of a murder investigation. But if Kay's finally backed into a corner, she'll do what it takes to survive. Because at Bates Academy, the truth is something you make...not something that happened.

Debut author Dana Mele has written a taut, sophisticated suspense novel that will keep readers guessing until the very end.
Mysteries & Detectives Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thrillers & Suspense Fiction Mystery Suspense

Critic Reviews

“This juicy prep-school thriller has queen bees, super-cliques, and hints of PLL and Gossip Girl. But if you think you’ve got every plot turn figured out, think again: the drama is just getting started.”—Seventeen Magazine

“[A] whirlwind, fast-paced YA mystery. . . Not only will Mele’s gorgeous, melodic writing have you entranced, but the layered mystery of it all will have you scrambling to turn the pages to see who-dun-it.”—Buzzfeed

"Steeped in scandal and profound tragedy, this is a dark and thrilling look at female friendships, the pressures of scholastic success, and mental health . . . A classic and frightening tale of betrayal and mental illness told in a fresh and contemporary way, this book is difficult to set down for even a moment. It is an intricately designed, beautifully written, and extraordinarily chilling story."—School Library Journal

"Mele creates a cast of sharp-edged, prickly students; the fluid sexuality of various characters is handled well, and themes of betrayal and bullying are front and center. An eerie, unsettling thriller with deadly consequences."—Publishers Weekly

"Mele . . . weave[s] a tale of mystery, intrigue, and revenge in the style of Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why (2007), but with its own twists to keep readers on the their toes."—Booklist

"The characters and their relationships are nuanced, especially sexually fluid Kay, who has intimate encounters with males and females. This blend of predictable prep school elements with unpredictable suspense makes this a fizzy read for fans of the genre."—Kirkus Reviews

"This is a fun, dark whodunit with loads of twists and turns to keep readers guessing."—VOYA

"A . . . sophisticated read that is fast-paced and surprising to the last page."—School Library Connection
All stars
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Kay is a self-styled Queen Bee at an elite boarding school who will do whatever it takes to create a life where she is popular, successful and in control. She is an unreliable narrator, reframing and rewriting her tragic past where her actions and infections contributed to the death of her beloved brother and best friend. To retain her spot in the social order, she torments those further down the pole; actions that come back to bite her when a fellow student is found murdered and she becomes a prime suspect.

The adults in the book, for the most part, are two dimensional caricatures, and this is what made it impossible to suspend disbelief as the body count increased and the tormentor became the tormented. It beggars belief that staff would not intervene when Kay's door is covered in vile graffiti written in permanent marker, no matter what she had done previously. Sports are suspended but parents aren't contacted when students are interviewed by police and there is no mention of special assemblies or counselling or anything else as the school is rocked by tragedy.

I correctly guessed the murderer early in the book and was constantly irritated by the stupid decisions Kay makes.

On the plus side, this was a compelling listen, possibly due to the excellent narrator.

A flawed and predictable whodunnit

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I addmit so many names at the start was hard to keep track and the yard bi$%ness annoyed me at first.... but it was woven in to the story. And bam great stuff

started slow but dam... go hard stromg

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