Title: The Rivals (The Mockingbirds #2)Author: Daisy Whitney
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Acquired: Received free for an honest review
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: 92% or A-
Buy It: Amazon
When Alex Patrick was assaulted by another student last year, her elite boarding school wouldn't do anything about it. This year Alex is head of the Mockingbirds, a secret society of students who police and protect the student body. While she desperately wants to live up to the legacy that's been given to her, she's now dealing with a case unlike any the Mockingbirds have seen before.My Thoughts::
It isn't rape. It isn't bullying. It isn't hate speech. A far-reaching prescription drug ring has sprung up, and students are using the drugs to cheat. But how do you try a case with no obvious victim? Especially when the facts don't add up, and each new clue drives a wedge between Alex and the people she loves most: her friends, her boyfriend, and her fellow Mockingbirds.
As Alex unravels the layers of deceit within the school, the administration, and even the student body the Mockingbirds protect, her struggle to navigate the murky waters of vigilante justice may reveal more about herself than she ever expected.
After reading The Mockingbirds, I really really wanted to read the sequel, but I didn't quite see the need for one. I felt like nothing more could be said Alex, the school's way of NOT disciplining students, or the Mockingbirds. But I was really really wrong.
I loved and hated Alex in this book. I loved her because she was getting her confidence back and moving passed her date rape. She was getting stronger and I loved her for it so much! She was also very smart, she saw a lot of things about the case that I didn't even begin to think about. But other times she took things too far and made the worst possible decisions imaginable. She also kept repeating the mistake of not telling people what she should tell them. She just kept digging herself into a bigger hole, which was hard to read at times.
This book did a great job of creating a mystery. But not just some creepy mystery, more like an old detective type novel. This made the book very exciting and kept my mind working. Even when there wasn't much going on, I was still thinking about the clues and evidence that we had and contemplating who the culprit could be behind the drug ring. There were several twists and surprises along the way that kept making me change my mind about things.
Overall I think that this novel was a great continuation that shows even more faults in their school system, while also giving hope that they will be solved. There were many elements to this book that makes sure that you won't become bored. Afterward you'll be left with plenty to think about.
2 comments:
I enjoyed the first book a lot although I was troubled by some aspects and I really want to read this second one although I expect I will be infuriated by some of Alex's decisions.
While The Rivals stands on its own, first time readers of Whitney's YA novel - set again at an exclusive boarding school for elite kids who are just too damn smart and talented for their own good - may enjoy it more if they have read The Mockingbirds first. But if you are up for a mystery, try this one first.
To recap, The Mockingbirds is about a student run justice league meant to protect victimized students and serve justice to those students who are guilty of inflicting crimes, when the school administration looks the other way. The first book tackled the all so real and heavy subject of date rape. In the sequel The Rivals, victim turned survivor/heroine Alex is back as the new leader of the justice group the Mockingbirds.
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