This idea was cool, but...disappointing? I was expecting more full-blown horror over having nightly dinners with drunk antagonists.

This book is told from a reflective Geer in first person, this mean once in a while we get a reminder than bad stuff is gonna go down. It hypes up to nothing in my opinion. Yeah, something happens, but its kinda small (in terms of books).

The bad guys are bad, the main characters do stupid stuff for no reason. The ending doesn't work well for me. I have specific reasons, but we don't do spoilers here. They feels like this book had another ending at one point, because something that happens would have made more sense if the characters had done the more obvious thing. I really hope that things weren't changed to force a sequel because this book doesn't need one and the ending would have been stronger. Like I feel like its been set up for one, but I don't think there's enough interesting stuff going on for another book. There's nothing wrong with being self-contained.

We have another pointless romance. Why ROMANCE? This is weakly use to give character motivation, that's not needed, nor is it done well. It's stated. This is more a general YA complaint, I'm just going to complain until someone gives me friendship and and developed characters. I actually would have liked the relationships, the thing is this book just has a lot small scenes that overbalance it into the negative for me and with only 300 pages they have a big impact in my memory when trying to review this book.

Geer is all about the film references, since she named after film star. I usually enjoy this sort of thing; but it soon becomes apparent that this a crutch to cling to other people's imagery and emotion than your own ability. Also the youngest film she references is Twilight.

I live in the country, I basically always have. Deer and pheasant are roadkill. If you're city folk, you might be horrified by shooting a deer, but pheasant are pigeons. Deer are counted as vermin due to how many they are. They like to jump in front of cars in pairs, like sheep. Pheasants choose to wander roads to be ran down and cause damage to cars. There a point where Geer (a name that never flows) picks up a dead pheasant, I thought it was alive, never questioned it until she started crying in her head. Pheasants are stupid, a pheasant would let you pick it up as it stares at its dead comrades. If I wanted I could catch a pheasant, I could. Literally, no reason to do so. Hunting Pheasants is the same as fishing in fish farm. I don't approve hunting without reason, eat what you catch and don't agree with some of the practices but as a country girl I have kill pheasants and I will probably kill again (Stop jumping in front of my car).

Geer becomes dislikable when she doesn't care about fish...The one thing that there is not an over-abundance of (though, they probably farmed anyway). Though, if your a city girl like Geer, you won't know this stuff so really this is just my pet problem. I often have those.

The plot while interesting, makes very little sense. Modern society is bad, there clearly think its bad in several ways, but ends up being all about the internet. The arguments for and against the internet are hella weak. It involves the media's wrong definition of what an online troll is. Trolls don't specifically harse someone and bully. Troll is someone who intentionally annoying and idiotic, yes often offensive, but not towards individual people. The art of the troll is annoy large groups of people. If someone sends you a death threat or personalised insult they are not a troll. Sadly some people are just as dumb as trolls prend to be. Though, it probably getting to the point that media is dumb enough that keep repeating, the definition might have changed for younger people, but living with a 13 year old, I can tell you they don't call their antagonists trolls. It kinda felt like it was written by someone who doesn't use the internet (with research I can tell that this non-debut novelist has to be a like ten years older than me and therefore did not grow up with the sites that can be argued to have shaped the modern internet and might be like my sister who knows nothing about internet despite using it daily). The arguments are dumb because hate mail has existent since the start of anonymous mailing systems have and bullying has been a problem for like always. Geer nor any of the characters challenges this argument meaning it doesn't do much. Argument have to be challenged to stand at all. By the way, I would have took Vine out of this book, as vine has been dead for a year, there is no way it couldn't be took out. It just quickly dates this book. I wonder if Vine had a bigger part until it died or no one noticed it died (I got an arc but it doesn't have the Proof disclaimer at the front so...I'm going with its the finished novel).

There's an obsession with rich YouTubers...yeah some of them are trash, but YouTube is never defended as being more than a place for rich boys doing nothing and hosting viral cat videos. Its hosts several community involving intelligent discussion and artists as well. Also there are tons of daily vloggers that puts tons of work into their videos. I've been on YouTube for ten years and the target market will include people who remember YouTube always having been a thing for them. If this is gonna be such a thing in the novel, then at least give me a character that watches YouTube. Geer loves films, there are tons of films on YouTube and there is the more legal practice of reviewing and discussing films. There are groups of young filmmakers that make short films on YouTube. There are production value on YouTube. It would have better if anyone had challenge them.

Overall, I give this 3/5 stars for This is M.A. Bennett's first YA novel. This an okay, quick read that tries to place class snobby within the internet age. Secret murder societies are bordering schools are over done and the internet aspect just wasn't done well enough to be interesting. I think a big problem is this book wasn't as cool as the summary made it sound and therefore I am disappointed. There were things I should have liked and enjoyed about this book, but sadly it was very whatever. It's an okay read, if certain things had been different it could have been brilliant.

BTW, I read this on my phone. I read books on my phone the majority of the time, phones are carry of media. Another argument that could have been used in their favour.

Perfect for readers of YA mystery or psychological thrillers. Right from the start we know there are murderers and a murder. We are just waiting to learn the how and why of it. The entirety of this book is so fun, fast-paced, and entirely original. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep readers on the edge of their seats. Bennett's writing is excellent truly building up tension and suspense. This is one unputdownable read. Highly recommended to readers of YA thrillers. We've got a hit here! Be sure to check out today!

After Greer starts at prestigious school S.T.A.G.S on a scholarship she's isolated for the majority of term. When she's invited for a weekend of huntin'shootin'fishin' with the 'cool' group of the school, she jumps at the chance. But... is it friendship they're looking for? Or victims? 

I wanted to read S.T.A.G.S. because it sounded like a really different kind YA book. I'm not used to reading YA thrillers. Plus, I had high hopes it would actually be thrilling and not just claim to be a thriller. The premise intrigued me so much because I wanted to know what was going to happen on this hunting, shooting and fishing trip.

I loved the premise of the book. From the very start we know a murder will occur by the end of the book. Therefore anticipation builds throughout as we wonder how it's going to happen. Full of stereotypes, the villains aren't particularly sneaky but they are highly manipulative with the victims. I felt that in some places the posh stereotype was overplayed slightly but it was more funny than annoying. The plot also affected more than the 4 days we living it within the book, which made it more interesting.  

The three victims were all very different characters. They're all distinct  whereas the Medievals are carbon copies of one another. I also found it funny how they showed how backwards they were in thinking, they discussed technology as if it was a big problem. Greer our main character happily points out all the fantastic things we can do with technology, and I wholeheartedly agree with her. I honestly didn't understand how all the pupils in S.T.A.G.S. didn't use mobile phones just because the popular crowd didn't. 

This isn't a classic whodunnit mystery. We know who is murdered and by who fairly early on. The biggest mystery is about what the trip to Longcross is really for, and why the students are going along with this trip every year. The ending, although shocking, felt abrupt. There was a little bit too much time spent on filler. Such as a clichéd YA romance and Greer talking to a stuffed deer head(??). It would have been better focusing on why it was happening earlier on in the plot. Overall though, I really enjoyed reading S.T.A.G.S. as it really caught my attention.

I was expecting S.T.A.G.S to be a dark boarding school tale with a hint of horror and was thoroughly looking forward to reading it. Greer has received a scholarship to attend the prestigious school whilst her single father is working abroad. She's from Manchester and not from old money, so she doesn't fit it. So she's quite surprised when she received The Invitation from the Medievals to the annual huntin' shootin' fishin' weekend at Longcross.

Now at the very start Greer admits to being a murderer and the blurb gives away the fact that people end up being hunted. So the main impetus to carry on reading was to find out who they killed. It was overall a bit tame, no one ever seems to be in mortal danger. Yes, the hunting aspect is cruel but it felt more like pranks played by bullies rather than any murderous intent. I thought there'd be more running (or hiding) for their lives.

Honestly, I found the Medievals were caricatures of posh people and therefore were a bit unbelievable. They reject technology and all things they consider "savage", wishing that the world had never moved on from feudal days. Although they have more moral arguments against technology. And Greer was so ridiculously mooney-eyed over Henry, even when it was obvious to everyone that he was a bit of a nob.

When you're not caught up in the story or characters, it's a lot easier to be irritated by small details and unfortunately this happened a lot in this case. One thing that's worth saying is there is a spoiler for The Fault in Our Stars. Why do that? I know it's been read/watched by a lot of people but there will always be new readers coming along, especially when you're writing for young adults. There are ways you can reference things that will be understood by fans yet vague enough not to directly spoil.

I probably should have DNFed it but I was reading on my daily commute and I'd got so far that I wanted to know who they actually killed. It's all a bit convoluted and I felt it was trying to be too many things at once.

Honestly if you're not dying to read this book after reading the blurb, then I'm lost for words. It promised teen drama, of the boarding school variety, the glamour of the rich and wealth, and danger in the most brutal form of bloodsports. As soon as I saw this on Netgalley I was itching to read it and am not at all surprised to hear it's been optioned for the big screen.
The characters in the book are so clearly depicted, from the outsiders: Greer, our protagonist, 'Carphone Chanel' and 'The Punjabi Playboy', to the Medievals: six gorgeous, sleek and shiny upper sixth students who run the school. The book had me constantly second-guessing characters and unsure who to trust – even to the last page!
Whilst at times Greer's constant movie references (and spoilers) became a little tiresome, on the whole the tight plotting of this this book had intrigue, murder, romance and suspense and I am sure we'll be seeing more great things from M.A. Bennett.

I found out about this book a few months ago and ever since its been one of my anticipated reads, this book is a YA, thriller, mystery, which is one my favorites!

The main character, Greer, attends S.T.A.G.S on a scholarship where she’s in sixth form, where she soon receives an invitation to go to Longcross Hall for a few days where the Medieval’s, (like prefects), are hosting, huntin’, shootin’, fishin’, and they invite three other people from the school to attend, they chose the three most ‘outcast’ and different from the other students that attend S.T.A.G.S

I read and finished this book in just a day only putting it down for food. It was absolutely gripping and interesting, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and I didn’t want to put it down whatsoever and I wasn’t let down by my anticipation for it which was good!

‘I think I might be a murderer.’

After the first line in this book, we already understand that there has been a murder, and by the second chapter we know who got killed, but however we are left questioning what happened and why did this happen, I wasn’t disappointed, by the end of the book I was left wanting more. From the way that this book ending I believe it could go two ways by it being a standalone or a sequel coming out. I kind of want there to be a sequel because like I said, I was left wanting more, I want to know a bit more about what happens and how Greer and her friends deal with it so if there is a sequel I will be picking it up in a heartbeat.

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy a good thriller/mystery and also if you’ve read and enjoying One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus which is also an incredible read if you haven’t read that either.

"It was a bit like that bit in Beauty and the Beast when the Beast dances with Belle. Except there was no Belle. And no music. And no candlelight. Just a beast."

* * *
3 / 5

I don't often read books of the thriller variety, but this one was a special treat for me, mostly because there wasn't that much actual thriller. It's got all the staples of a classic YA boarding school story: rich kids, fancy buildings, pretentious British house names, privilege, power, and bullying, and adds a little hint of thriller. S.T.A.G.S was easy to read and had a couple of likeable, realistic main characters.

"Maybe I accepted it because I was lonely. Or maybe, if I'm being honest, I accepted it because it came form the best-looking boy in the school"

First, we have Greer. She's a bit of an archetype initially: poor girl who gets scholarship to one of the most prestigious schools in England, doesn't really fit in with all the rich kids and is excluded. Bennett gives Greer a splash of individual character by making her a complete film nut and she often describes scenes in terms of famous films, which is pretty cool and unique. Greer, social recluse (not by choice), is thrilled to receive an invitation to spend a holiday "huntin' shootin' fishin'" at the manor of Henry de Warlencourt alongside the rest of the Medievals, the elite group of six Sixth-form students.

Joining Greer is Shafeen, tall, handsome and from Rajasthan in India, teased despite his moneyed background and branded with the moniker "Punjabi Playboy" despite being neither Punjabi nor a playboy. He's my favourite character of the book: kind, chivalrous without being sexist, rich whilst being aware of what is has done for his life, sensible and headstrong. The third individual to receive The Invitation is "Carphone Chanel", also new to STAGS, whose only mistake is to have the "wrong kind" of money, living the Gatsby lifestyle.

"It wasn't just the stockings that marked them out; it was a particular kind of confidence they had about them. They lolled about like expensive cats"

When the three outcasts accept Henry's invitation to a weekend of blood sports, they aren't quite sure what they're getting in for. The first fifth of the book is set in the school, building up to the trip, and it's a solid start. Bennett definitely knows how to write; Greer's voice was very engaging and Bennett clearly did their research as regards hunting. Shafeen, Chanel, and Greer all accept The Invitation for different reasons but as the trip goes on and the stakes get higher, they begin to think that there is something very wrong about Longcross Estate. That perhaps this hunt is not quite what they thought.

This book doesn't rate higher for me because of a couple of details. First of all, Greer spends a lot of time waxing lyrical about how beautiful Henry is, about how charming and delightful his lifestyle is. Now, I don't blame her for buying into the illusion, to be seduced by the allure of the rich, but I don't need to hear about how much she likes his face every three paragraphs. This normally happens when the action and suspense of the book lulls; there are parts that I thought could have been cut in order to preserve the quick pace and emotional engagement of the book, like Greer's chats with her maid or her traipsing round map rooms. There also needed to be more to differentiate the other five members of the Medievals: all I could recall about them was that the two guys drank too much and the three women were beautiful but intelligent. That's it.

"I might have been academically smart, but I was monumentally stupid not to realise sooner what was going on. It's not as if I wasn't warned."

I did think the suspense aspect of STAGS was done really well. Like I said, I'm not a massive thriller fan, but I thought this book hit the right note for me. There's that vague, ominous sense that something isn't quite right conveyed throughout the book, though you aren't quite sure what it is. What was quite surprising was the introduction of quite an important plot point at about 85% the way through the book; this aspect felt rushed and a bit predictable. It did result in quite an impactful ending, however.

Overall, I found S.T.A.G.S to be a quick, easy read that tries to instigate a bit of thought about class, morality, wealth, and the role of technology in our lives, but is mostly just a fun thriller.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book.

Pleasantly surprised by this book, I thought it would be a lot like The Hunger Games, but it was very different in the end, which I enjoyed. I wished for more gore, but that's just my personal preference. It was a good read though, well written, good plot, and great ending!

This book was touted like part Looking for Alaska & part Hunger Games or Battle Royale. And when the book starts with the phrase "I think I might be a murderer" you expect a thrilling ride. It was actually spoiled kids playing at a weekend of Downtown Abbey (without the charm of the series) where the hunt is supposed to turn into something more sinister, but does not really rise to the occasion.

The protagonist Greer (who is a movie obsessed likeable character with a sardonic wit) gets a scholarship to the titular exclusive boarding school, complete with "Mean Girls" type group called the Medievals. She is mostly ignored due to her no money status, until she receives the quite coveted Invitation to the yearly Medievals' weekend of blood sports.

The premise was actually a compelling idea, and trying to understand the dynamics of this unique school at the beginning was interesting. But then until more than half the book nothing really happens & the narrative was very uneven. There were parts where it started to get engaging & you thought "okay here we go" and then it would suddenly get so slow I could feel my eyes glaze over.

But the book aggravates you so much you even start to be annoyed by Greer, especially with her desperate wanting to fit in & liking the "villain" even with all his despicable behavior. The cute movie referencing becomes excessive movie name-dropping to such a point that they don't make sense anymore.

There was a great idea for the "truth" of the school at the end of the book, which if presented earlier may have changed the whole course of the story making it the exciting fare it could of been. STAGS might of worked as an episode of procedural TV drama, but as a book, not so much.

Running Man, Hard Target - human hunting now hits schools

A school of privilege, and one in which the wealthiest invite 'lesser' classmates home for the weekend, to be targeted in blood sports. Many films have used similar themes - Battle Royale and Series 7 The Contenders as a sign of a weakening, immoral society, as well as those mentioned above. It's a concept that shocks but also fascinates - who would hunt a fellow human?

At STAG (St Aidan the Great) Boarding School, Greer is a scholarship girl, the only student without money at a highly privileged and ancient institution run by monks. Invited to a fellow sixth former's ancestral home one weekend with fellow misfits, she is put to the test as she begins to suspect her host and his friends of using them as sport.

It moved quickly, but I was a little disappointed in the danger the threesome were put in - rather convenient escapes and near misses, it never had the feeling of 'The Wicker Man' when everyone turns on the victim and you fear for their lives. The final twist isn't too much of a surprise, though I did enjoy the reasoning behind the whole scheme.

Greer herself benefits (to my film fan mind) from a quirky love of films, seeing significant events as key moments in films and telling us what she is reminded of. Personally, I loved these references though I can imagine that not all readers will recognise the references.

Enjoyable enough, not really any surprises but a few elements that make it memorable. Would transfer well to the screen.

With thanks to Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Honestly I read this book faster than anything else this year and it was incredible. Gripping, mysterious, gruesome, and shocking at times. I'm always a sucker for a boarding school story and this novel delivered that and so much more suspence and twists that I could have ever expected. It was kind of slow around the half way mark but the ending completely made up for that, and I look forward to a potential sequel. The End?
The vharacters were well thought out, and diverse, there were lots if strong political and economical messages that were weaved throughout the story which really packed a punch.

Overall I enjoyed this much more than I expected and will have to pick up a physical copy for my collection! I'll have to keep my eye out for more work by this author as well.

The first thing I have to say about this book is that I disagree with the comparative titles listed on the Goodreads blurb, which are 'Looking for Alaska' and 'The Hunger Games'. Yes, there's a boarding school, but it's an ancient (well, medieval) English one full of class divides and privilege, and doesn't resemble the one in 'Looking for Alaska' in the slightest. And yes, there are teens being violent towards other teens, but in a secret, old-fashioned way that looks nothing like the highly televised public world of 'The Hunger Games'.

It's like they just chose two YA books at random that had a single element in common with this. And more than that, two American ones, which seems an odd choice: this book is very much set in England, and wouldn't really work anywhere else. It certainly wouldn't work in the States. You've got a school that is literally medieval (founded in the 630s which... okay sounds dubious but fine) and a lot of aristocratic heritage and the very obvious class divides that still pervade our country. So please, give it some British comp titles. And some books that actually resemble it. Not that I can think of any; my best point of reference is that it's KIND OF a British, YA analogue of The Secret History, though it's got a very different vibe and that's quite an imperfect comparison. Fits better than those other two though.

ANYWAY. I wasn't sure if I'd like this; I feared I'd find it uncomfortable and frustrating. I enjoyed it more than I was expecting, but the frustration was definitely there. The main character, Greer made some bizarre decisions that seemed to lack any logic whatsoever, and I found it hard to put myself in her shoes when I think the first way in which we differed was that I'd never have gone to S.T.A.G.S in the first place, because it sounds horrific. Why would you choose to go to an odd, esoteric school full of crazy-rich aristocratic teenagers when you could, like... not?

(It also had a really bizarre-sounding uniform that I honestly couldn't visualise in the slightest, no matter how hard I tried. I could've done with an illustration.)

From taking up her place at St Aidan's, Greer continued to make increasingly odd choices. Why WOULD you sign up for a weekend of blood sports when you've never done it before, and when the people doing it have mostly ignored your existence, or worse? But I guess I've mostly never felt the urge to fit in that seems to dictate so many characters' choices -- I spent my school years being deliberately and defiantly weird -- so I wouldn't get that. Also latent romantic feelings aren't exactly my style.

Overall, my feelings were mixed. I enjoyed the book more than I feared (after how frustrating I found 'The Secret History' and other books like it, I thought I'd given up on books about spoilt murderous rich kids), but I still found it and Greer's choices somewhat infuriating.

(This is my Goodreads review. I may write a longer review on my blog in the near future, but I'm not sure.)

I genuinely thought I was going to thoroughly enjoy S.T.A.G.S. because I requested in during the same period I was watching this brilliant BBC mini-series called, wait for it, “Stag”. The concept was similar and being me the idiot I am I thought it was a sign from the gods to read it. In “Stag” a group of men go on a hunting trip on a friend's stag night. Then one by one they get killed off. My kind of thing if you know me! In “S.T.A.G.S.” a group of kids who attend a very posh boarding school is invited on a hunting trip by the very elite of this place. Soon they realize somebody is trying to hurt them. What was brilliant in “Stag”, the suspance, the mystery, the splattery murders, the character development and the backstories, was what lacked in “S.T.A.G.S.”. This last one tries too hard to be a thriller and a YA novel and it shows. It feels like it dumbs down the mystery as not to bore the reader but what it achieves is quite the contrary. Every now and then the chapters will end with a foreshadowing that always assures the reader that a murder is about to take place. In its place though we get long descriptions of places and a useless romance, then when we’re ready to deal with the juicy bits they’re rushed and left underdeveloped. The villains are one-dimensional and won’t appeal to the reader at all (view spoiler) .The main character is an annoying young girl who loves movies and never shuts up about it. I thought that this element would have served a purpose plot-wise but was just a quirk of hers. The ending could have been brilliant had it been built upon solid foundations, having been the overall story quite simple and pretty uneventful it just felt like a last attempt to throw in there a witty plot-twist/cliffhanger which will perhaps open the doors to a possible second instalment?

Maybe I didn’t like this book the way other readers did because I had raised the bar way too high (when it comes to gory murders the BBC is always a cut above us all!) so if the genre appeals to anyone who’s reading this review I’d recommend not to be completely put off by it, give it a chance and see for yourself!

I have mixed feelings about S.T.A.G.S. Broadly it was an easy read, that I finished comfortably in a day and that is typically a good sign, books that take me ages are usually a slog for a bad reason.

The story is about bullying, a conspiracy at England’s oldest private school, and the class divide. It starts out making a bold claim about the main student’s and to avoid spoilers I won’t go into detail, but that claim, I felt, doesn’t really come to fruition. Which made the ending a bit of a disappointment, although there was a somewhat predictable twist right at the end.

It’s a simple plot that’s easy to follow with pretty engaging characters, I liked the scene setting too, although the first 15% of the book reads very bizarrely. It’s almost like a shopping list. I think it could have done with a further edit to make the description flow better.

The main character was likable, and the constant references to films could have been a big risk – a cheat for metaphors and description, but actually, I quite liked how the character viewed the world and compared it to movies.

Overall, this was an okay book. It was a good, quick read, with characters I liked to hate, but it didn’t blow me away. That being said, I probably would read another book by this author.

Entertaining fast-paced thriller set in an elite boarding school with archaic traditions aimed at keeping the elite well-removed from the riff-raff. Misfit Greer is surprised when she receives an invitation to spend the weekend at the country house of charismatic head boy Henry de Warlencourt. Ignoring her misgivings she joins more misfits for a weekend of blood sports hoping it will be her pathway to fitting in with the popular kids. The final third of the novel needs quite a big suspension of disbelief and some readers will struggle to follow the plot but all in all an enjoyable light read with some good characterisation.

Although aspects of this book were very good, with a likeable narrator, an irreverent sense of humour, deliberate flagging and self-awareness of the ridiculousness and slightly farcical nature of the book, there were a few things which dropped it down from very good to just good for me.

Greer is a likeable, believable, funny narrator. A scholarship girl at a posh school, she’s naive enough to trust the Medievals, but worldly enough to figure out, once she gets to Longcross, that something very strange is going on. I particularly liked that the story was told as if Greer was discussing it with the reader after the fact, so little addendums increased the humour of the situation as narrator Greer flagged up aspects of her own past character which were, well, dumb.

I also liked the setting, which was firstly an old school, St Aidan the Great, or STAGS, followed by Longcross country estate, in the Lake District. Big points for making the settings sound believable, but adding in that incredulity which comes when one views the archaic nature of the British aristrocracy through fresh eyes.

Thirdly, I liked the plot. Verging on the ridicculous, the idea of these misfits being taken to Longcross to be hunted and mocked was at once twisted, hilarious, and thoughtful at the same time.

However, I had several complaints and irritations about the book as well, so they dragged down the rating.

The book took too long to get going. Perhaps I’m just bloodthirsty, but when the blurb flags the fact that they end up going on a hunting trip where they’re the prey, I wanted it to happen almost immediately, but instead we had to go through pages and pages of Greer explaining how lonely she was, and how she deliberated over whether or not she’d go, and too much backstory about how Greer had gotten into this posh school. It was all tell tell tell, no showing, and I got bored quickly.

I also (and this is a personal difficulty) took issue with the word Savage being used as a negative. Firstly because it was capitalised every time (why…?), but secondly because savage, in Irish slang, is a really good thing. So the mental disconnect for me between savage as a compliment and Savage as a derogatory term was difficult to get around.

Greer’s is big into film. I mean really, really big into it. So her internal narration is absolutely packed with film references. Which, okay, is fine, but I am not into film, and I didn’t get half of the references. The only ones I did get were the disney ones, and even then, when Cinderella was referenced, it took me ages to figure out that perhaps it wasn’t either of the disney versions being referenced, but perhaps the Rogers and Hammerstein version, starring Brandy and Whitney Houston. But even still, I don’t remember the particular scene which was referenced, so almost all of those references flew right over my head. They also, I think, will date the book quite badly in years to come.

There’s little to no diversity in this book. I mean, as an upper-class British boarding school, it’s expected that the majority of the students will be snooty, but even still there was zero diversity here. The one PoC character was referred to as the Punjabi Prince. And okay, this is noted in the text as being extremely problematic, but that’s really the only nod to how homogenous this school and its students are. Greer’s supposed to be somewhat aware, so even an internal comment that it’s strange not to see any LGBT students wouldn’t have gone astray.

My last complaint was that the book was kind of predictable. I mean, the blurb gave away that the misfits were the prey, and the start of the book confirmed who survived, and one person who definitely didn’t, so there wasn’t actually a whole lot to figure out as you proceeded through the book. Even the final reveal was something of a let-down, and I had copped it several pages before Greer herself did.

There was a lot of potential in this book, some very funny parts, and a darkly funny twist behind the writer’s mood-setting. But there were a lot of weaknesses as well, which made this a relatively forgettable book in the end.

From the opening chapter I knew I would read this book in a heartbeat. 

We're immediately told and expecting a murder by the end of this book. We don't know how it happens or why, just simply that they were murderers. 

We meet Greer, a pupil at the well renowned boarding school known as S.T.A.G.S where technology and all modern etiquette is replaced with old traditional practices. Greer came to the school to avoid having to stay at her Aunt's while her Dad travels around the world filming for TV documentaries.  A school taught by Friars, students attending dinners and dances, and of course the high society students who keep the school running are the one's in charge. Little does Greer know that they're in charge of pretty much everything. The day she receives an invite saying "shootin', huntin', fishin'" from the wealthy and popular Henry de Warlencourt at his home in Longcross she can't quite believe it, but doesn't decline out of respect and curiosity. Greer soon realises that this is an exclusive event, and that only two other students who have recently started are invited too. Together they uncover something quite extraordinary about the school and these prosperous students.
I absolutely loved how this book had very much a mystery/thriller spark to it. At times it was quite disturbing and yet I really couldn't put it down. At first all seems normal (other than the old buildings and traditional outlook on things) until we reach Longcross and clues are uncovered as to why the three students are invited on a weekend to take part in old and dangerous sports. Greer is only confident and trusting in the two students by her side, despite her small love interest in Henry. 

For anyone who loves mystery and psychological thrillers this is the book for you. Its one of the best young adult books I've read in a long while!

A frightening concept - huntin', shootin' and fishin' anyone who is different.. I initially could not believe that it could really be happening. It seemed too surreal. The ending was even more unexpected - I assume the tale continues. I really enjoyed this time and feel it will appeal to pupils who have enjoyed The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner. Well written and pacy. I loved the descriptions of the house and servants a real step back in time. Interesting comments on the use of technology and social media.