Book Review: Secret Society by Tom Dolby

 
Secret Society by Tom Dolby

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publish Date: September 29, 2009

Hardcover, 352 pages
Young Adult

My Review:
Why I read this:  I love private school books and secret society books so I was intrigued.  Plus the second book will be coming out soon and I was getting it from a tour.


How is the novel driven:  Character and action, there is quite a bit going on in this one so I will say more action, but there is character development as we get to know Phoebe, Lauren, Nick and Patch.



My thoughts: An interesting book.  This is not fine literature but it's a fun young adult book.  I enjoyed the secret society aspect and the intrigue of The Society.  Nick, Phoebe, Patch and Lauren are in the middle of things and constantly trying to figure out just what is going on.  While Patch isn't offically in The Society, he did see things he wasn't supposed to and that puts him in the middle of the game where the higher ups in The Society use tantalizing jobs and opportunities to manipulate the new Society members into their debts.

The characters are all different, Phoebe, the girl who has just moved to the city and is neither rich or poor, not really a typical member of The Society.  Nick who is the perfect member of the society, rich, handsome and perfect in every way, yet he is a very likable character, not stuck-up or haughty, he's very down-to-earth.  Lauren another perfect member of the society, though her interior decorator mom's business is going downhill due to her alcohol problem.  Lauren also has her own insecurities to deal with.  Patch's family was once rich, but now Patch and his grandmother live in Nick's building due to the closeness of Patch's family and Nick's family.   I think my favorite character by far is Nick's grandmother - she's made of tough stuff and is extremely likable and fun.


Intriguing and a quick read,  I found Secret Society to be hard to put down.  There's not a whole lot of meat to this one, but it's entertaining and the characters have potential.  I would recommend it to people who enjoy this type of book, it is a worthwhile read and I look forward to reading The Trust to see what happens to Phoebe, Lauren, Nick and Patch next.


My Rating: 4.0/5.0

About the Book:
Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone. . . .
An eccentric new girl. A brooding socialite. The scion of one of New York's wealthiest families. A promising filmmaker. As students at the exclusive Chadwick School, Phoebe, Lauren, Nick, and Patch already live in a world most teenagers only dream about.

They didn't ask to be Society members. But when three of them receive a mysterious text message promising success and fame beyond belief, they say yes to everything—even to the harrowing initiation ceremony in a gritty warehouse downtown and to the ankh-shaped tattoo they're forced to get on the nape of their necks. Once they're part of the Society, things begin falling into place for them. Week after week, their ambitions are fulfilled. It's all perfect—until a body is found in Central Park with no distinguishing marks except for an ankh-shaped tattoo.

Tom Dolby makes his teen fiction debut with this riveting novel about a dangerous society so secret that once you get in, you can never get out.


About the Author:
Tom Dolby is the author of the novels The Sixth Form and The Trouble Boy. He was born in London, raised in San Francisco, and now divides his time between Manhattan's West Village and Wainscott, New York. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he received his BA in the history of art. This is his first book for young adults.

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FTC Information: I bought this book for my Kindle to read, enjoy and review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.