Meg and her sister Liza have been enrolled in Douglas Academy – an elite school for the very rich and famous. As scholarship students, they are different from
most of their peers, but are getting used to their new life after the loss of their parents.
Meg studies hard, and has made a close friend named Clara, but is worried about her little sister.
Liza doesn’t study or care that she is surrounded by the wealthy. A little ‘sister envy’ is also in the mix as Liza is gorgeous and confident, attracting friends easily. Meg prefers to hunker down in the library – but Liza is a social butterfly, going to parties and having fun.
Until she doesn’t.
Overnight, Liza insists on being called Elizabeth and is found in the library, studying. Meg’s feelings are split down the middle. She’s happy Liza is finally taking the school seriously, but is worried about her incredibly strange and sudden switch of behaviour.
What have they done to Liza McLean?
According to Meg, THEY include Liza’s friends, people she’s met at parties and maybe even school staff. Something is definitely not right at Douglas Academy.
Getting to know the only student who lives off campus (and also the wealthiest), is a bonus as Meg asks questions and bodies are found. Preparations for the annual prestigious Douglas Academy Garden Party are in full swing, but that’s not all that is going on behind the scenes.
School alumni are gathering, as Meg looks for answers about her sister’s transformation, her father’s death and her mother’s murder conviction.
A Mystery/Conspiracy theory/Love story all stirred into Dark Academia.
The school setting is one for only the ultra wealthy. But how did they become so, and why do they stick with only their own after leaving the school?
An interesting premise kept me reading as a love story bloomed between the pages, and two viewpoints are given to the reader. One from main character scholarship student Meg, and the other from an ultra-wealthy Benedict Hargreaves (the 4th).
The plot is straight-forward and thought provoking as an elite academy pumps out clever, single-minded ex-students into the world of wealth, power, and ruthlessness, for decades. What are they doing differently?
Author – Amy Doak
Publisher – Allen & Unwin
Age – 12+
(2025, School, Murder, Crime, Questions, Dark Academia, Wealthy, Rich, First Love, Romance, Friendship, Conspiracy, Power, Tech, Computers, Hacking, Mystery, Investigating, Plants, Secret)