The 100 Society by Carla Spradbery

The 100 Society by Carla Spradbery
Buy The 100 Society by Carla Spradbery at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Jill Murphy
Summary: Graffiti, private schools, unrequited and requited love, and cold-blooded murder. This thriller ticks all the boxes, right? It's not entirely satisfactory, with some irritating exposition and characters behaving stupidly, but it's great at misdirection and there are some satisfyingly nasty goings-on.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 320	Date: September 2014
Publisher: Hodder
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 1444920081
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Grace and her friends at the Clifton Academy boarding school have a secret. They have resurrected the 100 Society and intend to complete the grafitti tagging of a hundred locations around the city. A scandal involving a previous incarnation of the society means that this is an expulsion offence so Grace is playing with fire. But to her, the 100 Society isn't a game; it's an obsession. And she's determined to complete the mission.

But then, the group's efforts catch the attention of a stalker - the Reaper. And things become even more dangerous. What does the Reaper want? Will he expose them? Can he carry out his threats? The 100 Society used to be a tight and loyal group but the pressure from the Reaper exposes things that no group could withstand. And when a student dies, there's no telling what will happen next...

Graffiti, private schools, unrequited and requited love, and cold-blooded murder. This thriller ticks all YA the boxes, right? And it is great fun - with some satisfying nastiness involved, too. Spradbery is great at misdirection and I changed opinion about the identity of the murderer several times before eventually getting it right not very far from the end. So I do think the whodunnit aspect of the story is its greatest asset. We all love a few red herrings to confuse us, don't we? And we also love a barnstorming showdown of a denouement and, without spoiling anything, Spradbery also gives us one of those, with bells on. If you love a good and gruesome thriller, you'll love The 100 Society.

I wasn't so keen on the boarding school setting, which seemed underdeveloped and more decoration than a genuinely claustrophobic setting for a thriller. And Spradbery has her characters - particularly Grace - behaving with ridiculous stupidity at times. And I don't mean typically adolescent stupidity; I mean nobody-in-their-right-minds-would-ever-do-that stupidity. I do like to retain some level of credulity and at times it was difficult. For fear of spoilers I don't want to be too specific about this; you'll just have to take my word for it.

Credibility levels aside, I really enjoyed The 100 Society. It'll make a great summer read for those who enjoy a good murder mystery with a side helping of romance.

If you enjoy thrillers with a romantic subtext, you could try Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. Those who prefer to eschew the lovey-dovey stuff could look at the superb Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks.

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