ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: They call me ‘New Girl’…
Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her. Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.
Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.
And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back. -Goodreads

Review: What first appealed to me about New Girl is that it’s actually a modernization of a novel from 1938, Rebecca. Granted, I’ve never read it but I love the idea of revamping classics to suit today’s readers. I hope this might even encourage people to read some older novels since they clearly have equally interesting stories to current books, just with language and pacing that we may not be used to.

Anyways, enough about that… onto New Girl. I was pulled in right from first chapter. There is something about boarding school stories that always grabs at my inner “what if”. After being sent away to Manderly (by well meaning but misguided parents), the main character settles in to a world devoid of cellphones and full of history. She is immediately compared to the student whose place at the school she has filled which makes it difficult to settle in and find a place for herself.

There was a dark edge to this story while still managing to stay true to modern teenagers. Most of the students were on the over dramatic side, but considering that one of their classmates is missing it never seemed over the top. No more over the top than actual teenagers anyways, hehe. The mystery at the core of the story had me on edge throughout the whole book, always wondering about hidden agendas and well kept secrets.

This book is a beautifully written example of combining mystery novels with YA books, which isn’t something I see an abundance of in today’s market. Paige Harbison managed to write a story with a lot of twists and turns, no obvious answer and all without making the whole thing too Nancy Drew. Highly recommended!

Buy the book @Amazon (US) @Amazon (CAN)

Rating:

Second Opinions:
@Bird Brain BB
@My Keeper Shelf
@The Bawdy Book Blog