This is a really enjoyable, fast paced YA book.

The premise is that 3 "misfit" teenagers get invited by the schools elite to a weekend of "hunting', shootin' and fishin' " As the weekend progresses the teenagers slowly realise that the local wildlife isn't the only prey, and they have to come up with a plan if they are to stay alive.

The book touches on peer pressure, isolation, teenage bullying, the role of social media and power and privilege, albeit on a fairly superficial level. There is little character development, but the plot more than compensates. The tension as the weekend comes to a close is palpable, and just when I thought it was over, ratchets up a notch and the book ends on a possible cliffhanger for a sequel.

Thanks go to the publishers and net galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I wanted to read S.T.A.G.S because i read the blurb on Netgalley and thought it sounded a little bit different to assist my genre jumping.

This book is a great read for a YA and I would certainly recommend it to my friends teens up to about 16/17. For a bit of a giggle and a step into fantasy world for an hour.

I sort of enjoyed this book, it had all the starting of a great thriller but at each of the many pathways the story took you on , they all seemed to come to a feeling of a dead end. The writer didn't 'do anything 'with them.

The mobile phone just wound me up! it did anything and everything even though the use of technology was said to be 'Savage' and wasn't allowed.
Then there are other issues covered such as bullying, but not covered nearly enough. this could have been a fabulous way to get anti bullying into books of this kind. (missed opportunity`) maybe next time?

The main character (1st person) made it feel like it was 'the Greer Chronicles' the characters came in but didn't spend enough time to get to know them well enough to follow any menacing moments with them,

I felt I needed to read to the end of the story to give it a chance so I did, I got a bit excited and then thud, a little bit long winded to get to the conclusion.

Overall it was a well written debut, with all the beginnings of more to come, i will read more from the author to see how they progress

Greer, a down to earth film buff, knew that life would be different once she accepted the scholarship to St Aidan the Great School but she did not realise how lonely she would be. Ostracised for not having money, status or a title, like the majority of the other pupils, she is either ignored or laughed at by the ‘Medievals’, the school’s most popular students. When they suddenly invite her to a long weekend of huntin’ shootin’ & fishin’ at their leader Henry’s estate she jumps at the chance to finally fit in. With two other outcasts, Chantal, whose crime is coming from new money, and Shafeen, whose Indian heritage makes him the target of bullying, she is thrown into a world of luxury and privilege the likes of which she has never seen before. Despite the enticing pull of the lavish lifestyle and her growing attraction to Henry, she cannot shake the feeling that something about the weekend is off, but it is only when the blood sports begin that she starts to understand why they are all there.

This novel had a lot of promise and, although it was not a complete disappointment, I failed to relate to any of the characters, which made it hard to care what happened to them. Bennett’s writing abilities are evident in the excellent descriptions of the stately home and rolling lands that surround it, and it is obvious that a great deal of research went into the portrayal of each ‘sport’. The plot, though predictable, was well paced and interesting enough to hold my attention to the end, but I did find the romance a bit shoehorned in. The premise behind the book is a little too out there to make this a commentary on class, bullying or social mobility but it is a fun, thriller that will appeal to many.

"Nine students. Three blood sports. One deadly weekend."

I read the sampler of this book back in the summer, and I was absolutely hooked. Who could resist the opening liner: "I think I might be a murderer..."

When I finally got my hands on a copy of STAGS I couldn't wait to devour it. I really enjoyed this thriller/murder/boarding school YA. It's fairly short and quite easy to whip through (304 pages). I enjoyed the main character's interest in films, and the references throughout. Having said that the tension and disturbing scenes throughout kept me turning the pages and I won't be forgetting this novel for a while!

I reckon this if going to be a hit in the teen section of my library. Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book, I have now bought one for the library :D

This book flowed nocelt and was well paced. However it promised me blood but gave me nothing more than splatter! THERE WAS NO SURPRISE! The expected tension was dispelled with a simple sentence at the beginning. I was expecting far more death – I was possibly even looking forward to a nice gruesome read – and I find myself left feeling disappointed. The twist ending was obvious and i really did finish the book wondering if the characters were a special level of idiot…

This is told from Greer’s point of view and she doesn’t start off coming across as sort of stupid bit I really don’t think she’s nearly as clever as she thinks she is.
She’s a film-a-holic and she’s often explaining things in film scenes, which is helpful if you’ve only seen a handful of the ones mentioned…If you haven’t you’re left to imagine the scene out in your mind rather than recalling the scene in your mind – which might just be the point of the book.

I’d have loved to have seen some of this book from Shafeen’s POV to be honest. I’d have liked to see further explanation for the reason why he finally accepted the invitation after so much time, I didn’t think that the reason told was sufficient for what I thought was coming at least.
I thought Nel was going to be a rival so I was prepared to dislike her then never really cared either way.

I don’t support the harassing of fellow peoples, but I was almost with Hen when it came to his assessment of technology. I know someone with multiple Amazon echoes in their home and other people with an electric salt grinder which just amazed me, especially having watched SpyKids 2 recently. Hey look, a film reference you won’t get if you haven’t seen the film! (They wind up on a magnetic island and all of their voice activated items and gadgets don’t work)
iPads are given to children to shut them up and make them go away instead of having a chat with them or playing with them and we spend all our time on our phones – can’t stand a moment of boredom, can’t think, must be entertained! Me too – Instagram – Pinterest – Amazon Kindle.

I loved how the world of posh old money was described. Their things were old. There was history behind them and they still had them because they were still in working order. It appealed to me because I’m not a fan of our throw away would. I try and do my part – I’ve replaced things in my life with re-usable options etc but with the world of technology moving at the pace it does it’s likely to only get worse.

In short, I wasn’t wow’d but I also wasn’t bored. It didn’t give me the bloodbath I wanted, but it did make me think.

This was such a quick read for me, it was so interesting and quite different to books I normally read, I don't usually read mystery/crime books, but I'm glad I gave this one a try!

STAGS is a pretty enjoyable thriller, with excellent twists - especially the very end! I would give it a solid 3.5 stars.
It lost marks a little with me for all the movie references, they were a bit jarring and sometimes unnecessary. Especially if you've not seen the film! And also despite being A levels they were set (unlikely unless the school is super massive, which it doesn't seem to be) and all doing the same subjects, or too many subjects which was a bit confusing and unlikely. I also felt it needed a little more build up to going away for the huntin', shootin' and fishin' as it felt a bit sudden and then the initial confusion of being at the house with people being nice didn't quite fit.
Aside from that though, it was a relatively well paced mystery/thriller. Genuinely freaky in places, and I especially liked the way the tension built.

This was one of those stories where you had a sense of what to expect, and it was more about how it all came together.

A YA thriller... I haven't really seen many of these within the YA book community, so when I received S.T.A.G.S from the publisher to review, I read the blurb and I was very intrigued to see how a YA thriller would be written. There were some of the usual 'rich people' tropes that were in the book, but all in all, it was a very enjoyable read.

It is the autumn term and Greer MacDonald is struggling to settle into the sixth form at the exclusive St. Aidan the Great boarding school, known to its privileged pupils as S.T.A.G.S. Just when she despairs of making friends Greer receives a mysterious invitation with three words embossed upon on it: huntin' shootin' fishin'. When Greer learns that the invitation is to spend the half term weekend at the country manor of Henry de Warlencourt, the most popular and wealthy boy at S.T.A.G.S., she is as surprised as she is flattered.

But when Greer joins the other chosen few at the ancient and sprawling Longcross Hall, she realises that Henry's parents are not at home; the only adults present are a cohort of eerily compliant servants. The students are at the mercy of their capricious host, and, over the next three days, as the three bloodsports - hunting, shooting and fishing - become increasingly dark and twisted, Greer comes to the horrifying realisation that those being hunted are not wild game, but the very misfits Henry has brought with him from school...

As I mentioned at the start, S.T.A.G.S has the usual tropes throughout this book: a girl who is considered an outcast in a posh school and the mean, rich kid stereotypes. Not all people who have a lot of money are evil and for once, I would like to read about upper-class people who aren't mean and don't care about anyone but themselves. ANYWAY.. What I was saying what that, yes there is the mean, rich kid stereotype, but once you look past that, there is actually a very good storyline here.

The book is fast-paced which I love in a thriller and one of the things that I also loved about this book was that you knew who died at the beginning and you knew you did it, but the whole mystery that surrounds this book is how that death came about and the mystery surrounding an entire weekend. Another thing that I really liked is that there wasn't an unreliable narrator. In most of the thriller books that I read, the main character is very unreliable due to blackouts/memory loss, but in S.T.A.G.S, the main protagonist, Greer is very reliable as she takes us through the twisted world of her school.

I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, and each plot twist left me hankering for more. And the ending! OH.MY.LIFE. THE ENDING! I just remember closing the book and staring at it for a good 10 minutes because I couldn't believe how Bennett had ended the book (in a good way). Bennett writes the ending so that there is a possibility for a sequel but then writes it in a way that it also makes for an immense cliffhanger and just ruins the reader.

One of the things in the book that was really interesting was the way of thinking of the Medievals. They believe that technology is "savage" and that it destroys our way of thinking. The Medievals are all about learning through books and their definition of recreational activities is huntin', shootin' and fishin'. In a way, I agree with the whole 'technology-is-ruining-society' because I see my little sister invite her best friend round to the house and all they do is go on their phones for hours upon end, hardly talking to each other. All I see when I sit down with family is my Mom playing Candy Crush, my sister on Snapchat and me and my Dad just looking at each other like "great family time this is". But then you also have the perks of technology. Without it, I would never be able to write this review and share it with millions of people, without technology, I would never be able to talk to my family in The Netherlands... So yes, I completely understand why the Medievals think that technology is savage. This conversation is also turned into a debate between Henry and Greer and it was interesting to read their debate.

Even though Henry is evil and just the worst person ever, part of me really did have a soft spot for him... Is that crazy and stupid? I think I just really liked his cleverness and how you could uphold a sophisticated conversation with him. I mean, that's the only thing that I like about the guy, the rest of him is just pure craziness.

Overall, this is a very good read. And it's an actual thriller book! It's not a book that is being marketed as a thriller book to gain a bigger audience, it's actually a thriller book. Which is amazing. I still can't get over the ending though. It ruined me.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

ARC gratefully received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I finished this book several days ago and I've been thinking about it ever since. I don't know anything about the author. I don't know if this is a debut book or the latest of many. Either way it was fantastic.

The best way I can think to describe this book in short is Made in Chelsea meets Riverdale.

S.T.A.G.S is an immersive, edge-of-your-seat type of read. I haven't read anything quite this for some time. I loved how the story was almost told in reverse. Our narrator Greer makes a bold statement in the opening pages. The rest of the book is then Greer telling us all about the weekend she was invited to go huntin' shootin' fishin'.

I was completely invested in this book from the first page to the last. Everything was intense and vivid and realistic. It felt more than "just" a book. I felt like I was sat round the table at meal times with Greer and the others. I felt like I was quite literally huntin' shootin' fishin'.

This is a dark, twisty and surprising novel. I had no idea what to expect and I was totally blown away. I requested a copy to review because I loved the cover. The tag line made me think this was a sporty story (a genre I love) which it was I guess and so much more.

Read this book. If you are looking for a book that will make you question your loyalties over and over again. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I feel as if this is suited for a younger age range than my own. Ie. 12-16. It's just not what I look for in a thriller type book so I've skipped out on a proper review for this one. Although I think younger audiences will ideally enjoy.

I have been wanting to read this book since I saw the synopsis months ago and thankfully it lived up to my expectations and more.
I have always loved books with rich powerful teens who exist in secret societies and have read many books with these types of characters but this was unlike anything I had ever read before. The huntin', shootin', fishin' was a really unique concept (if very hard to read about) and I was always on edge over what the Medievals would do to the Savages. At the school no internet, mobile phones and modern technology are really used and it just added to the overall creepy vibe although the main character Greer regularly threw in film references and things she had done when she lived at home before going to the school and I really liked seeing them. It made me realise how weird it must have been for a regular teen to be caught up in this twisted new world.
My only annoyance is that I didn't know a big part of this book is set at the Lakes District where I will be visiting in around 6 weeks and I wish I had kept it to read until then.
Oh and there is totally gonna be a sequel, right?

An intriguing story of privilege, friendship and murder. STAGS mixed the old and the new with it's archaic school and practices in a modern world. I thought the ending, although left open, was really well done. It reminded me in some ways of the film A Young Sherlock Holmes, which I'm sure Greer would approve of!

An interesting take on the boarding school story, but instead of midnight feasts and tuck boxes we have huntin' shootin' fishin' and the Medievals, a group of students who would seem to have it all. The main character, Greer, admits to being a murderer in the prologue so the story is about finding out exactly who she is meant to have killed.

A pretty decent YA novel, with a bow taken in the direction of Christie's And Then There Were None but ultimately nowhere near as satisfying. I enjoyed the story and was intrigued by the whole premise. At the end of the day though it wasn't quite thriller/suspense-y enough for me. I suspect 13-year-old me would have devoured it though!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A fresh take on boarding school. I was unable to put it down

There are few books that can keep me up and reading late into the night these days. STAGS was the first one in a while, but it was just so good. I didn't want to stop reading, even when I knew there would be a while before the action got really good again.

It was all just so ominous. Even when Greer was trusting Henry and putting the "accidents" that happened down to just bad luck, there was this background sense that they were being toyed with. I'm not sure how much that's because of what it says in the synopsis. If the synopsis left us questioning more over whether they are just genuinely accidents, would it have felt so ominous? It would be something I'd like to know.

I really enjoyed the relationships between the characters. The friendship that formed between the three victims and the way that they barely knew each other before, but being in the house drew them closer together.

After the way it ended, I'm really hoping for a sequel.

Brutal and gory account of three teens deadly brush with the popular crowd. Set at St Aidan the Greats - an exclusive boarding school where future politicians and business leaders begin networking, Greer is getting used to the fact the Medievals - the richest, most beautiful students - will never know she exists. So when she's invited to a weekend of Huntin' Shootin' and Fishin' at Henry de Warlencourt - the king of the Medieval's - country pile, she's surprised, but excited. Only to find entertaining her, and her fellow classmates isn't the only thing the Medieval's have in mind. Not a perfect book - I would have loved to see more of the activities, and also more clues as to the eventual ending on the way. I wish the author had gone a little further with the gruesomeness, and also found the final activity anticlimactic compared to the other two. But it was thrilling enough to keep me awake until 2am, and have me scrambling for it again when I woke up.

I was excited for this book from the first moment I heard about it. The very premise was something that pricked my interest. I was able to get a copy of this book signed by M.A Bennett during YALC this July and I impatiently waited for The Reading Quest to start so that I could start this book. As you can tell, there was a lot of build up and a lot of anticipation for this release.

S.T.A.G.S reached all of my expectations.

From the very first line – “I think I might be a murderer” – I was engaged in this story.

It’s written like almost like a memoir, everything told in retrospect which I think adds to the tension and thriller aspects of the story. You know something happened, you know someone died, you know who is responsible – you just don’t know what it is.

Bennett is really good at keeping the tension up throughout the story. The events of the deadly weekend are paralleled against the posh blood sports that take place each day – day 1, huntin’; day 2, shootin’; day 3, fishin’. Details about each bloody hobby are described and then seen acted out by the perpetrators. It’s a great way of adding foreshadowing – and therefore tension – to each arc of the story.

I really liked Greer’s voice. I enjoyed the moments of uncertainty that she felt, I liked all the movie references because that was something that was distinctly her and gives her a fantastic voice that you can follow with ease.

All the characters really were charismatic and entertaining in their own way. From the ‘Medievals’, blond and beautiful, to Shafeen, who wants to find out the secrets and save those he cares about, to Nel, who just wants to fit in. Each of them have you questioning intentions or feeling empathy deep in your chest for these feelings of inadequacy.

There’s a lot of focus on the modern world vs the old, and the social commentary that comes with that is incredibly interesting to read. Positives and negatives are both raised, the romanticisation of the past repeatedly challenged. In the end, this questioning is something that sets the characters and the world that S.T.A.G.S inhabited apart from everything else.

And as for the plot twist, well, let’s say – M.A. Bennett, is there going to be a sequel?

This was such a fun book to read. It tells the story of Greer, the new girl at a prestigious school and the weekend away from hell. What I liked the most here, was the tone. The narrative is told from Greer's perspective and she has a really sassy voice that works so well. The story is interesting and the plot construction keeps your attention, despite always having a fair idea of what is going to happen next. The characters are well drawn and the dialogue is smart and feels authentic. There are parallels with any school clique story and the underdogs banding together, but the author has managed to use these tropes in novel ways with a strength of prose that is undeniable. I like all the film references and overall, really enjoyed this book.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

WOW! I am still reeling from this book even though I finished it hours ago, and if I didn't have a serious need to get through some books on my reading list before school starts, I would delve right back into S.T.A.G.S again from the beginning to see how many more little details I missed. I've already tweeted and told friends that this book is like Hogwarts meets How to Get Away With Murder, but there is honestly so much in this book to get excited about, and I hope I can control my excitement enough to write a coherent review.

S.T.A.G.S stands for St Aidan the Great School. It is the prestigious boarding school that Greer, the protagonist, has won a scholarship to attend for sixth form. Intimidated and lonely, surrounded by children who are wealthier than her and know all the rules better than she does, she is intrigued and excited when she receives The Invitation. She has been invited to spend a weekend 'huntin, shootin, fishin,' at Longcross, the manor house belonging to the school's golden boy, Henry de Warlencourt, along with his gang, called the Medievals, and two other misfits. However, Greer's belief that she might have finally been welcomed into S.T.A.G.S begins to waver. As each of the bloodsports ends in a well-timed 'accident', the three guests begin to wonder whether they are the predators, or the prey.

This novel has a mystery feel to it from the beginning. I loved how Bennett uses foreboding so well, instantly telling us from the start that a 'murder' takes place, and that there is something ominous going on in S.T.A.G.S, and yet, like Greer herself, we can't quite figure out what it is. Just as she does, we're suspicious of characters, and then we see them in a slightly more flattering light and we wonder whether they're really the bad guys at all, or whether they're just misunderstood. I liked how she alternated tense scenes, like the hunting scenes, with Downton Abbey-esque dinners, more romantic scenes, or slightly friendlier chats with the Medievals. It meant that your idea of the characters was never set in stone, and they changed with every scene. Until the very last page, you can't quite put your finger down on the problem, you can't figure out who the real bad guy is, where the 'bad guys' end and the 'good guys' begin, and how Greer and her friends will ever be able to escape.

The plot moves forward constantly, and even where the pace of the story is slower, there is always tension bubbling away beneath the surface. Every conversation that the characters have, every room that we enter, every little detail means something, and you are kept on your toes throughout. I loved the way that the three guests at Longcross, Greer, Nel, and Shafeen, come together to try and figure out what is really going on at Longcross, and discover that the seemingly harmless traditions of not using technology hide something far darker underneath. I never felt that Bennett's writing dragged the story down, even though she often described things like buildings and dresses, because she did so in a way that felt natural to Greer's voice and fit in with the story, and always picked up details that she had mentioned and made them important later in the story. She has an excellent skill at weaving details and storylines together in a way that you suspect they will add up to something more significant, but can't quite figure it out. In fact, right up until the last page, she is pulling tricks out of her sleeve and shocking you.

Underneath all of this excitement, mystery, and suspense, there are deeper themes of class, race, and tradition. Even if the setting of S.T.A.G.S and Longcross is as establishment as it comes, and as alien to you as it was to Greer and me, this book is not Downton Abbey or Hogwarts-esque. It isn't even, as Greer jokes, Mean Girls-esque. It is dark, thrilling, and thought-provoking. It makes you question establishment and traditions, and also wonder what deep, dark secrets could be lurking in plain sight.

I've said this in a few reviews recently, but this is definitely one of my books of the year, and even after writing this review, I'm still reeling. I just know that I'll read anything that M.A. Bennett writes after this.