Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten

I'm back with a review on a book that's from the thriller genre. Today I'm gonna give you the scoop on Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten. Let's get started!

What's The Story?

Kate O'Brian's life has had a series of setbacks, some of which are very sinister to talk about. However, she has determination to both shake off her past and change everything. Having all of her work cut out for her, she is the scholarship student at Waverly School in NYC with big plans to get into Yale. She discovers Olivia Sumner, who appears to be extremely rich but also deeply damaged. Olivia considers Kate to be the best friend she needs and is practically the sister that she never had. However, a smart and handsome guy named Mark Redkin joins the administration and begins to charm his way to the lives of the students. He begins an extremely close relationship with Olivia, and it also becomes obvious that Redkin is posing a threat to Kate as well. But how close can these two get to Mark without having to reveal to him their dark pasts?

Likes

This is just another one of those reviews that are a little complicated to explain. For me, Beware That Girl had moments that were awesome and some that were the total opposite. In the beginning, things were moving pretty slowly and I was almost on the verge of putting it down and reading something else. But then stuff started to really pick up, and I'm really glad that I didn't stop! It took a little bit for the suspense to build up, as you have to learn a little bit about Kate and Olivia's backstories. But once you begin to dive deeper, it becomes a lot more rewarding. 

Once I learned more about Kate and her past experiences, I really began to care about what was happening around her. She was crafty and would practically do anything to get what she wishes. She grew up in very terrible conditions, and had to really work to get to where she stands in the novel: A very elite school in New York City. Kate knows that if she ever wants to succeed with what she has planned, she'll need someone with a steady income. And that comes to her in the form of Olivia, a damaged but also very rich girl. To sum it up, Kate and all the other characters are a wonderful part of Beware That Girl.

The build-up to the suspenseful moments, I'm my opinion, was actually pretty good. While some parts of the story weren't as shocking as others, the amount of dread that some moments give you is fantastic. I also enjoyed the way that some of the secrets were revealed, as well as how we get information about the characters that builds up to reveal the truth.

And last but definitely not least, we have the conclusion of the story. Holy moly, that just happened! Now I'm not going to give away spoilers as to what really happens near the end, but let's just say that it totally hits you and leaves you with a lot of questions. If you want to know what I'm talking about, though, you're gonna have to read it for yourself.

Dislikes

I'm not gonna lie... I'm probably going to get a little nit-picky with some of these dislikes. But these were just a couple of problems that I personally found with the story.

Like I said before, there were moments that were just awesome and some that were the opposite. In the beginning of the story, things were moving at a slow pace and I wasn't sure if I should continue. But once you get passed the first parts and start learning more about Kate and Olivia, that's when things get interesting.

The second problem comes in the form of Mark Redkin. Mark, I hate your guts! I know this isn't a major problem with the book; it's just more of an opinion, I guess. Mark was just too perfect and appeared to have no weaknesses or signs of being able to stop him. Not cool, people!

As I said in my summary of the plot, you know that Olivia and Mark begin some kind of relationship. Now I'm not gonna go into big details regarding that, as that would be giving away spoilers. Let me just say, though, that their relationship was one of the things that were unenjoyable about this book. I know that is was giving us an inside scoop about what was happening through Olivia's eyes, but to me it was just very uncomfortable.

I know this last thing is getting extremely nit-picky, but I thought it would have been nice that Olivia's POV was written in first-person. Just to clarify, Kate is the narrator of the story and Olivia's chapters are told in a third-person narrative. I don't know why I mentioned this, but I just wished that maybe we could hear portions of the story in Olivia's words. You know, just to get an idea of what she was feeling on the inside.

Is It Worth Reading?

This one's tough! I truly don't know what to fully say about this one, considering that there's mixed emotions coursing through me. At first things were not as interesting, but things escalated quickly and I found myself truly submerged into the story. I found myself thinking about it for awhile after I finished it and thinking about some of the questions I still had about it. To wrap things up, if you're a fan of psychological thrillers and the like, I'd suggest giving this a shot.

Rating

★★★☆☆