Get Even by Gretchen McNeil

Get Even by Gretchen McNeil
Series: Don't Get Mad #1
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating:

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.

Raise your hands if you enjoy revenge stories. Keep them raised if you love a good mystery. *jumps around with arms waving madly* That’s pretty much what Get Even is. A revenge story in which someone gets murdered, which sparks off a giant investigation and mystery. My kind of book, don’t you think?

I would like to state before going in that Get Even is very similar to Burn for Burn, at least at first. There’s a group of girls who have nothing in common other than the fact that they’re seeking revenge on their fellow students who have wronged people. However, I still really enjoyed Get Even and I think that it is able to hold its own. I prefer Burn for Burn, but I don’t want to overload this review with comparisons of the two books, so I’ll leave that there.

The major flaw of Get Even is the character development. I didn’t really get a feel for any of the characters, and had a tough time telling them apart. I didn’t get into their backstories (did they have any?) and their relationships with each other and with other secondary characters felt shallow.

That said, I clearly enjoyed Get Even because I gave it 3.5 stars. In this instance, I don’t care about the characters being under-developed because the mystery is so bloody good.

I like to call myself Sherlock Amber, and yet I have no idea who could be behind the murder. McNeil’s books are a mixed bag for me. I was pleasantly surprised by the mystery and reveal in Ten, but I thought 3:59 was fairly predictable and I could tell what was coming. Now, with Get Even, I have absolutely no clue. I don’t even feel like I have picked up on enough clues to put together any theories. This has never happened before, unless I have been disinterested in the story, and I am really intrigued by this series now. I love stories that keep me guessing!

Get Even is a book where revenge and murder meets Rich People and High School Drama (two of my favourite things!), and it’s definitely one that I will be rereading again soon so I can make notes. I am going to have so much fun trying to figure out the mystery, I know it! And I have to recap it after it’s released for Recaptains, so I have the perfect excuse.

While I don’t think Get Even is the most original book out there, it’s still a lot of fun and is definitely entertaining. Especially ifyou’re like me and like being kept in the dark! I would recommend it because it’s thrilling and intriguing, even if the characters are kind of blah.