People Like Us

Beneath the silvery moonlight, our skin gleams like bones.From that gorgeous first line, I was hooked. The blurb from the deal announcement just doesn't do it justice. PEOPLE LIKE US is a seductive psychological thriller with beautiful literary writing and an unreliable narrator. It takes place in an all-girls private school -- oh, and it's super queer. There might be more queer characters than non, AND I LOVED IT.This book is about cutthroat ambitious girls and secrets that won't stay in the past. It's about what we sacrifice for the sake of our own self-preservation. It's about the blurred line between friendship and more-than-friendship, and the pure agony of being trapped there.I'll have chills for a long time.

Did you like the suspense in 13 Reasons Why? Did you like the hidden secrets in the show Riverdale? Do you like the characters from Mean Girls? Do you want all three in a book? Well then, People Like us by Dana Mele might just be the book for you. It is plot twist-filled story but with a dissatisfying end.Kay Donovan wanted a chance to reestablish herself after a series of tragedies that scarred her life and tore apart her family. She had secrets hidden under her sleeves that she didn’t want anyone to see. When bestowed with a chance to attend Bates Academy, a prestigious private boarding school, Kay was quick to grab that opportunity. There, Although she is on an athletic scholarship, which sets her apart from her incredibly rich classmates, she changed herself, became a start soccer player, and ruled the school with her popular friends. This all comes crashing down their senior year, when Kay and her friends found the lifeless body of Jessica in the campus lake. Was it a suicide? A homicide? But Kay and her friends were definitely suspects. Well as it turns out, Kay was sent a link to a blog from the dead; a blog was the meant for revenge, forcing Kay to expose her friend’s dirty secrets with the help of a new friend. Will Kay’s secret get out or not? And you can’t help but wonder "Does someone who does one bad thing, even one really bad thing, deserve bad things to happen to them? Deserve to be murdered or framed for murder?"Dana Mele creates People like us with plenty of interesting plot twists so that the reader cannot trust any of the characters. Mele beautifully portrays sexuality as a natural part of life without focussing the story on any part of the on the sexuality but rather on the relationships between various characters. Readers get a exquisite insight on how selfishness and secrets can hinder with relationshipsIn my opinion, the characters, especially Kay, are probably too selfish which can make it hard for readers to connect and immerse themselves into the book. The selfishness is so distinct in the book that readers might not want to read it. In addition the ending was very dissatisfying, especially after such a climaxing scene a few pages before. But it was a good read, and would definitely make a good movie to binge watch.

This is definitely a read for the younger age set (late high school through the 20's. A good easy read. A bit predictable most of the time but captured the "mean girl" persona perfectly. Recognition of the consequences bullying behavior can have on the victim is appreciated. An underlying theme of homosexuality and identifying as such as a teen is also present. Th book gives a great depiction of the drama of high school life but with a murder twist.

Once in a while, if you're lucky, you come across a book like People Like Us. A book that sucks you in so fiercely, that for a moment the story becomes more visceral than reality itself. The pages grip you even as you walk through daily chores and find their way into your dreams. Dana Mele's characters are beautifully flawed, complex, intelligent and magnetic. The plot twists, turns and unfolds at a riveting pace, so that you can't help but hold your breath until the mystery is revealed. Then you are left breathless and enthralled, already missing it, desperate to live in it all over again.

The queer aspects were my favorite part of this one- capturing that young friendship/is-this-more feeling was really well done. But other storylines in People Like Us just felt too far-fetched for me. It always shocks me what high school kids in YA novels can get up to. An excellent who-dun-it, though, and Kay was a unique, troubled main character. I recommend for fans of this genre for sure.

This book is about Kay and her friends living at a boarding school where they are known to be those girls we all hated in high school. They rule their school bullying everyone who breathes in their direction. Then everything changes when a girl named Jessica who "no one knows" is murdered. Kay doesn't even know her which is why it's odd when she receives an email from her telling her to take down the bullies or Kay will be taken down with her own secrets. I had to read this book as fast as I could just so I could have the chance to tell people everywhere to read it. This book has it all, lust, sex, drugs, scandal. It was nuts. I couldn't help but continue to say that this book was like pretty little liars but at a boarding school. I knew it was going to be good but it was better then good. It was SO GOOD IT WAS EXHAUSTING. I couldn't stop reading until I found out who did it. And GODDDD was it worth it.

El libro es muy entretenido!! A mi hija adolescente le ha encantado!!!

I read a lot of reviews for this book and am surprised how low the ratings are. I find mysteries are pretty predictable nowadays but I felt that even though the killer was predictable there were character beats and twists that always keep you in your your toes. I think that the characters were not as unlikable as people as people say mostly because you know that at least the main character feels guilty about what she did. I did really enjoy the book though more than I thought I would and would love to read more suspense thrillers like this!

I truly recommend this book , without a doubt the best thing I have ever read. This book was simply great. As a young person who doesn't read often and usually struggles to comprehend whats happening in books I find it very hard to submerge myself into a book. My dad bought me this book in hope I would enjoy the story line and characters. And he was right ! This book is amazing , I had transformed from not reading at all to waking up and wanting to read this from the moment I woke up. It is so gripping and leaves you constantly thinking about the characters and unexpected story lines , my mind wouldnt let me think about naything else! Right from the start I noticed just how well the author can use such great descriptions of scenes and people and found it a pleasure the whole way through because of the way she writes. As For the story line, I loved getting to know Kay and her group of friends throughout the book all of her troubles and life choices made for a really well tied together story and dramatic ending, all the characters are so well thought about and put together ,making it so inventive but realistic at the same time. I loved Bates school and found it so easy to picture it in my head because of how fantastic the author can set the scene.The plot had me so intrigued and every time I thought it might end I realised I still had so much to read and that it it wasn't just straight forward.The more you read of this book the more you start to understand about things mentioned at the start that all tie in with each other. Personally I loved the character Spencer and loved how when Spencer was involved it was so nice to reed that I could picture every move he made in my head.This book was incredible and has started a new reader inside of me. As soon as this book ended I looked up to see if this had a sequel and that just shows how good it was. So yes the only criticism of the book would be why wasn't there a number 2 !!

"Mean Girls" meets "Pretty Little Liars" in this boarding school set thriller with a clique of popular girls, revenge plots, dead bodies and lots of betrayal. "People Like Us" is wickedly engrossing as it deals with serious themes including suicide, mental illness, sexuality and bullying. While the ending could've been stronger and slightly less predictable, readers come out of the story remembering why it's important to be nicer to everyone around them.“It’s the sort of thing that bugs you after someone dies. You remember little ways you wronged them. Even if they deserved it.”

I really like this book, the characters really such you in, you sit there saying please don’t be them I like them lol, Kay is a student with grate friends and a great life on the serface, when a body is found at a yearly ritual that serface crack and everybody’s secrets are out there, can Kay save her friends form there secrets being known by everyone and keep them safe from a killer????. I did take one star away because some of the explanations and inner monologue are quit long winded but that is my opinion and would still highly recommend by chapter 4 I was hooked and read the whole book in a day and half, and I would definitely recommend to others, there are some really great twists I have not seen in other crime related books.