ARC Review: The Legacies by Jessica Goodman

Old money. New secrets. One killer party.

Scoring an invitation for membership to the exclusive Legacy Club in New York City is more than an honor. It gives you a lifetime of access to power and wealth beyond any prep school doors and guaranteed safety and security as Legacy Club members always look out for their own. That is, after you make it through a rigorous week of events and the extravagant gala, the Legacy Ball.

So it’s not surprising when Excelsior Prep seniors Bernie Kaplan, Isobel Rothcroft, and Skyler Hawkins are nominated as Legacies; their family pedigrees have assured their membership since birth—even if they're all keeping secrets that could destroy their reputations. But scholarship kid from Queens Tori Tasso? She’s a surprise nominee, someone no one saw coming. Tori’s never fit in this world of designer bags, penthouse apartments, and million-dollar donations. So what did she do to secure her place?

The night of the Legacy Ball is supposed to be the best night of these seniors’ lives, a night of haute couture, endless champagne, and plenty of hushed gossip.

Everyone expects a night of luxury and excess.
No one expects their secrets to come out.
Or for someone to die trying to keep them hidden.

Title: The Legacies
Author: Jessica Goodman
Publisher: Penguin Books For Young Readers Razorbill

Expected Publication Date: July 25, 2023

Review:

Teen drama, mystery, intrigue, a who done it? Yes please.

This was my first Goodman book and I was not disappointed with how it went. Was it somewhat unbelievable, perhaps. Did the teens have a bit too much power, for sure. Did it matter in the end, nope. I went to private school for 10 years and, while it wasn't exactly what is represented in this book, I can definitely see things I experienced in the stories of these characters.

I read this book in almost one sitting. The pacing and cadence were spot on. The characters were well developed. The relationships between those characters were somewhat unexpected. I enjoyed seeing the book through several points of view. This helped solidify what each character was going through and also see a different perspective of each character through multiple perspectives.

The mystery was fun. I did figure out who it was that actually died prior to the reveal, but that didn't keep me from turning the pages to get to it and see how it happened.

I will say, I can't see how such a big secret could be kept forever without guilt eating away at someone. But perhaps the point is what the characters have to live with to maintain their place in the society they have grown up in. Well, all except the one character who truly didn't seem to belong until she did.

Overall, a page turner that kept me wanting to get to the end to see how things wrapped up. I'd delve into another Goodman book, given the chance.

Jessica Goodman is the New York Times bestselling author of young adult thrillers They Wish they Were Us, They’ll Never Catch Us, The Counselors, and The Legacies.

She is the former op-ed editor at Cosmopolitan magazine, and was part of the 2017 team that won a National Magazine Award in personal service. She has also held editorial positions at Entertainment Weekly and HuffPost, and her work has been published in outlets like Glamour, Condé Nast Traveler, The Cut, Elle, Bustle, and Marie Claire.

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