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rinku's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Boarding schools and murder mysteries are two of my favorite topics in YA books, so naturally I was interested in reading One for Sorrow. Both of those elements were executed well, and the rest of the story was good, but there was not much more to it.
The story is told from two POVs: Audrey’s, the new girl, and Ivy’s, the old girl. The beginning of the story where we get to know them was already a bit cliché: Audrey arrives at the boarding school which she enters without her dad because of their bad relationship and meets the headmistress. We are introduced to Ivy as well who shares the room with Audrey. Audrey quickly learns that an unsolved murder happened at the school and that she lives in the room that was once the room of the victim. This constellation with a new and an old girl that first don’t like each other is nothing new; I’ve recently read about the exact same constellation in The Ravens. I liked the execution here a bit more though since the old girl is not too mean to the new girl like it was the case with The Ravens.
Nevertheless, I found the plot around the podcast about Lola’s death interesting. It was especially interesting to see what effects it had on the students and how distrustful they became of each other. You probably could’ve guessed who the producer was, but I didn’t. The mystery itself was okay; I guessed from the beginning that Mr Willis had something to do with it, while I was surprised that he wasn’t the murderer. It took our main characters a bit too long until they figured out that something was going on with him and Lola. I wonder though if Lola is actually dead or living in the caves that they found towards the end . It annoyed me a bit how irrational Ivy became about her teacher. It was firstly dangerous that they talked to him alone and secondly, I hated how she burned the picture and only evidence of him and Lola at the end, leading to the teacher not getting the punishment he deserves . In general, towards the end, the story became a bit too melodramatic, and the ending was weird as well.
The writing style itself was okay; it was able to portray an interesting vibe together with the boarding school setting, even though it felt like I’ve seen this one before as well (a forest surrounding the school, an old chapel etc.). What annoyed be about the writing though were the many pop-cultural references, the try-hard teenage language and the random capslocks.
I also generally liked the characters, and it was so nice to see Audrey’s and Ivy’s development and how they slowly become friends. Just like with The Ravens though, I wish we got a romance between those two. Sadly, we’re instead presented with an insta love and a teacher crush. The teacher crush was obviously terrible and it’s implied that it’s two sided, but luckily, nothing more happens. Another thing about the romances that annoyed me was the fact that it was so obvious that Theodore is Teddy but none of our characters notice this .
Besides those aspects, I liked One for Sorrow and was entertained by it. There’s still much potential for the sequel, especially around the name giving Magpie Society, so I’ll hope that we will learn more about it and figure out the mystery around Lola.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Violence and Kidnapping
franticfreya's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Bullying
enmcurrie's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I actually enjoyed this book a lot, I loved the atmosphere (the secluded boarding school feel) and I loved the character development. The plot definitely kept me hooked. However, I think the first half was actually stronger than the second half of the book.
I had 3 main issues with it:
1. The transitions between chapters weren’t very smooth, and I think that sort of comes naturally when you have two different writers. There were also some inconsistencies (albeit some were quite tiny, such as Audrey - the American, saying ‘sofa’ or ‘shall’). Also, it’s pretty easy to tell Zoe wrote Ivy’s parts and Amy wrote Audrey’s parts.
2. The plot was very predictable in the second half (and maybe that’s my fault for reading too many YA mystery books) but it’s always the same stuff. The book is also scattered with cliches - especially Ivy and Audrey. Ivy is the epitome of your typical intense overachiever student that’s good at everything and is definitely burnt out and Audrey is your stereotypical American moving to England - rich and a Southern sweetheart, who had the typical and probably unrealistic popular high school student life previously. Some parts of the plot just felt slightly forced - such as the attempts at romance, but it wasn’t awful to the point where I didn’t enjoy it. Maybe younger readers wouldn’t notice it so much.
3. The ending. I’m all for having an open ending to set up for a sequel/series, but I hated the way it ended so abruptly and practically mid-conversation. There was the big build up and culmination of tension and then it just ended. (More of a nit-picky one but still)
Even though it sounds like I had lots of issues with it, I still enjoyed it and I’ve already ordered the second book to read. It has potential, so I hope the sequel rounds the story off in a satisfying way.
I had 3 main issues with it:
1. The transitions between chapters weren’t very smooth, and I think that sort of comes naturally when you have two different writers. There were also some inconsistencies (albeit some were quite tiny, such as Audrey - the American, saying ‘sofa’ or ‘shall’). Also, it’s pretty easy to tell Zoe wrote Ivy’s parts and Amy wrote Audrey’s parts.
2. The plot was very predictable in the second half (and maybe that’s my fault for reading too many YA mystery books) but it’s always the same stuff. The book is also scattered with cliches - especially Ivy and Audrey. Ivy is the epitome of your typical intense overachiever student that’s good at everything and is definitely burnt out and Audrey is your stereotypical American moving to England - rich and a Southern sweetheart, who had the typical and probably unrealistic popular high school student life previously. Some parts of the plot just felt slightly forced - such as the attempts at romance, but it wasn’t awful to the point where I didn’t enjoy it. Maybe younger readers wouldn’t notice it so much.
3. The ending. I’m all for having an open ending to set up for a sequel/series, but I hated the way it ended so abruptly and practically mid-conversation. There was the big build up and culmination of tension and then it just ended. (More of a nit-picky one but still)
Even though it sounds like I had lots of issues with it, I still enjoyed it and I’ve already ordered the second book to read. It has potential, so I hope the sequel rounds the story off in a satisfying way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
rainetheghost's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I AM OBSESSED. THIS BOOK MADE ME FEEL THINGS
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying