Book Review: Get Even

 Title: Get Even (Don't Get Mad #1)
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: September 16, 2014
Genre: Young Adult // Murder // Mystery
Format: eBook
Source: Library


The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in Gretchen McNeil’s witty and suspenseful novel about four disparate girls who join forces to take revenge on high school bullies and create dangerous enemies for themselves in the process. 
Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers.
When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose (goodreads).



I've always been a big fan of Gretchen McNeil. She always knows how to write intrigue and mystery in such a way that I feel like I'm watching a Teen Slasher movie. I was happy to see that Get Even did not disappoint!



Plot: This book boasts similarities between The Breakfast Club and Pretty Little Liars and that is the exact feeling that I got from Get Even. It starts off simple enough - four girls embarrassing a verbally abusive teacher - and that quickly goes left and we're in the middle of a murder investigation. I love Gretchen McNeil because she always keeps you guessing, hell she still has me guessing! Get Even ends with a cliffhanger that will make you suck in a breath and start the countdown for Get Dirty

Characters: Get Even is told from the perspectives of the members of DGM. We have Kitty - the Academic, Olivia - the Popular Girl, Bree - The Rebel, and Margot - the Social Outcast. Get Even confused me a bit because of the multiple perspective changes within a chapter. I'm more used to following one perspective for an entire chapter, in Get Even we could be following Bree's perspective for a paragraph, and then it changes to Olivia. It took a majority of the book for me to get all of their personality types right and to get used to the multiple POV shifts. 

World Building: I felt the world building to be a bit sparse but it worked for Get Even. I always felt somewhat disconnected from the plot, which made the mystery even more interesting - if that makes any sense. By not fully exploring the pasts of the characters or the community, the mystery seemed even bigger!

Short N Sweet: Get Even is the perfect balance of mystery with character development. If you liked The Breakfast Club or Pretty Little Liars, this one should be right up your alley!


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