Hamilton is THE it girl at Fidelity High School; sure, Olivia, Zelda, Nordica, and Shelly all think they have a chance to knock her from her thrown, but the fact of the matter is, they don’t have a shot. And they never will.

Hamilton’s known for her parties, and people are dying to get invited. She posts her guest lists in the school so people can see whether they’ve gotten her stamp of approval or if they’ve once again been snuffed. Of course, Olivia, Zelda, Nordica, and Shelly are always invited, but they’ve noticed that different people have been invited and showing up lately — people who aren’t popular and who aren’t members of their elite clique. And it seems that Hamilton’s been more and more removed from the parties herself: she’s becoming more and more broken up over the fact she’ll be graduating soon and need to grow up, make new friends, and create a new name for herself outside of Fidelity. Even her boyfriend Alex can’t seem to shake her from her sadness.

That is, until all of the secrets unwind, and we as readers see exactly how all of the characters come to create this clique and maintain their power.

Popular is a fast-paced, engaging read told through multiple narrators. The way it pulled me in reminded me a lot of when I first read Courtney Summers’s Cracked Up to Be, and for many reasons, these might make great readalikes. Immediately, you know something is fishy, and you know that things are going to fall apart and do so fast. Grosso’s use of the multiple narrators is essential here, and it’s a technique that I’m usually skeptical of as a reader. I think she does a good job of delineating each voice, but they’re not entirely unique. As a reader, I didn’t believe in each of them; however, this is okay. It can’t be any other way.

Hamilton is a broken girl: sure she’s popular, but clearly there is something much more problematic going on. Most people their senior year of high school revel in the freedoms they will have upon graduation, but Hamilton dreads it. She’s so disengaged in her life and so removed from her place at the top of the social hierarchy that as readers, you want to know more. But like any good story about cliques and popularity, you can only get so much, since there are other characters vying for this attention. Much of what we learn about Hamilton comes from her friends, as well as from Alex. In the first half of the story, she’s defined through Olivia, Zelda, Nordica, and Shelly; in the second half of the story, Alex defines her.

Beware, though, as this is also not a story about popularity. It’s much deeper and much more twisted. This will have appeal to fans who enjoy a little bit of a mystery and a little bit of suspense. Grosso successfully weaves a story told both in the present and in the past, and piece by piece she builds a compelling character study complemented by a plot that’s got enough pulse behind it to move the story forward. There’s honestly not much that happens in the book, but that’s okay. It’s a bit of a refreshing read after a number of books that seem to be trying to offer too much in plot and too little in character.

Because I don’t want to spoil the mega twist that happens in the story — the point at which everything in the book comes together and at which all of the small clues dropped in the first part click into place — I’ll say this much and include the spoiler-ridden link: this book does what this book did much, much stronger. Personally, I wasn’t surprised in the least of where it went, but it didn’t bother me. Where the aforementioned book fails to give me a compelling character, Grosso’s Hamilton is so much more engaging (or maybe the word is disengaging) and has much more depth to her story. More than that, it feels more authentic and less like a ploy. Even though I suspected what would happen, it didn’t feel like a cheap narrative device but instead was well executed.

My big quibble with the story lies in Alex’s narration. I didn’t believe him as a male character, as he’s a little too emotionally invested in Hamilton. Fortunately, I don’t think it’s necessary to believe him and I don’t think it’s necessary to even care about him at all, since his narration comes simply as a way to give us more insight into Hamilton.

Even though some of the writing was a little weak for me as a reader, particularly when it came to dialog that didn’t necessarily move the story and didn’t always ring true to the teen voice, the appeal on this book is quite high. This is Grosso’s debut novel, and she has much opportunity to hone those technical skills, given her story telling ability is already quite tight. Fans of Pretty Little Liars would likely enjoy this one quite a bit, and as I mentioned before, both fans of Summers’s first book and fans of the book linked in the previous paragraph will dig this one. I think the appeal for reluctant readers is here, as well, since the pacing is fast and the writing isn’t that challenging. There is little in terms of language, drugs, or drinking — even amid the party threads running in the story — and I’d be completely comfortable giving this one to a middle schooler. It’ll appeal for younger and older teens easily, and it will have wider appeal for girls than it will for guys.

Cara and Zoe were best friends in their youth, but since sixteen-year-old Cara moved away, they’ve drifted. Now, Cara’s lonely in her new school and is harassed by a group of mean girls in her school. What’s worse is living next door to one of these girls who hosts parties nearly every weekend. It makes Cara’s life miserable.

But when an incident in the school cafeteria brings Cara close to her big crush Ethan and Zoe mysteriously appears at her house, begging for shelter, things change. Suddenly, there’s a dead girl, a missing girl, and perhaps a little more possibility for Cara to snag Ethan all for herself.

Choker is a fast-paced novel that can be devoured in one sitting — which is saying a lot, since I don’t usually read things cover to cover. This one, though, I completely ate up.

At the beginning of this novel, I didn’t buy Cara’s assessment of the girls in her school: she seemed convinced they were mean to her, but I had absolutely no evidence of this. The girls made fun of her but it didn’t seem to me anything beyond typical (it’s high school, after all). This really bothered me, and it made me question my belief in Cara as a narrator almost straight away.

As the plot unraveled further, I saw that my assessment was solid here. I saw what was happening in this book from the first pages, even though I didn’t want to acknowledge it immediately. That is to say, this book is really predictable. Almost too predictable. I knew what was coming well before it came. The end didn’t surprise me in the least and in fact, I was pretty let down that it didn’t take a twist I didn’t expect. Unfortunately, I think that teen readers will see this ending coming from a mile away, as well.

When I finished the book, I couldn’t quite put words to what bothered me the most. I don’t think the predictability is what did it for me. I think that this is the kind of book that, had it been written down for a younger teen or tween audience, would be so much stronger. I think readers in that range haven’t quite read enough to predict the outcome and would find what happens to be really compelling and exciting. I don’t think there’s enough stuff with this sort of edge to it for that readership. However, because this book DOES have a lot of really tough stuff in it — sex and drinking — this isn’t an appropriate title to hand to those younger readers.

At times, I found the writing to be a little bit clunky, as well. I think it may have gotten tied up in the plotting here. There’s an overuse of verbs and descriptors that aren’t necessary, and I wish those words would have been used to build up the plot arc a bit more. Some of the repetitive images that come up didn’t seem to serve a greater purpose; they were there to slow me down and make me question my instincts about where the story was going. That tactic didn’t work for me as a reader, though I think it could work for a younger set.

That said, I think that Woods’s debut is one worth reading, despite the faults. It’s an easy one to read because of the pacing and because you will be wondering whether you’ve figured the game out or not. Fans of mysteries will probably like this (though they will know what’s coming) but you might want to try this book out on your fans of contemporary, edgy titles. It’ll give them a taste of a different genre. I think, too, if you know your middle grade/early high school readers — especially those in the 8th and 9th grade set — and you know that the heavy stuff won’t be problematic, you may want to try this one out with them.

It’s been a few years (probably 10 or more) since I’ve read the classic Bronte tale of Jane Eyre. Most of the details are pretty much lost in my mind. But let me tell you, reading April Lindner’s forthcoming Jane makes me want to pick the classic up again just to compare the original with the retold tale.

Jane Moore’s parents tragic accident forced her to make a decision that she didn’t want to make: she needed to drop out of her elite college in order to work. The investments that they had made for her had lost all value, and now she’s found herself seeking out nanny positions in hopes of making enough money to possibly return to school some day.

That’s when she’s placed as a nanny for Nico Rathburn, a rock star who everyone knows and adores . . . except Jane. She’s been sheltered and doesn’t follow pop culture, so it takes some research and hours of listening to his music to get caught up on who he is before she begins her job as his daughter’s caretaker.

Something strange is happening at his estate, though. She’s not allowed to go up to the third floor of his estate, despite the fact someone is living there. She’s woken up more than once to strange dreams and strange people wandering around, and there have been other strange events happening at Thornfield. But despite the feeling of something being off, Jane becomes enamored with Nico and Nico draws her closer and closer, until they find themselves in a very serious relationship, ready to make their love permanent. That is, until a horrible secret from Nico unravels before them.

Jane is a well-plotted story, with a cast of strong and memorable characters. Beyond the characterization and setting that make this book work well is an incredibly pleasing writing style. Lindner is a poet and this comes through clearly in her writing: it is vivid, smooth, and pleasing to the reader. This is a world I was easily swept away in because of how fluid her words ran.

Jane herself is a character for whom you have great sympathy. She never once tries to elicit this feeling from the reader, despite the hardships she’s had in her young life, and this is precisely why she gets it from the reader. It’s hard not to feel bad for a girl who has lost both her parents and her seemingly open future in one incident, and it’s even harder not to feel sorry for her when she becomes entangled in a romance that comes back to bite her. She’s strong willed and has a survivor’s fight within her, and with that, she’s willing to do what she needs to do in order to accomplish her goals. This is a theme we’ll see again and again with her.

Nico as a main male character is shrouded in mystery and allure. He’s your standard rock star but he has a different side to him. Throughout his interactions with Jane, it seems obvious he sees something much greater in her than simply her nannying skills with his daughter. At times it seems downright creepy (particularly in a scene where they’re spending time together in the pool) but the last few chapters made me rethink some of the assumptions I’d had about him. This in and of itself should speak to the writing skills of Lindner.

Though the book it set in contemporary times, this had all the feelings of a classic. While reading, it was hard not to feel like I was back in Victorian England along side the original Jane Eyre, despite the rock star musician and other pop cultural elements. It works well in this case, and I think it will give this book a little more staying time in an expanding teen market. This is the kind of book that would be well used in a classroom setting alongside the original. There are some language and situational issues to be aware of, but the book’s setting and characters make them work. They aren’t gratuitous or detract from the plot.

One element that didn’t quite work for me in this book was the pacing. This is a lengthy book — well over 400 pages — but many chapters have large time jumps in them, particularly in the second half of the book. Jane’s post-Thornfield time moves at breakneck speed, in an attempt to bring it to its conclusion more quickly. As a reader, this was a little irritating, as I found it hard to believe in some of the situations and some of the relationships she made after leaving Thornfield, and I wanted this to be as well-fleshed as her time at the estate.

This is a great book to hand to your fans of Victorian literature, as well as fans of the original Jane Eyre or similar titles. There’s romance, mystery, and a cast of enjoyable (and frustrating!) characters. Fans of Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s The Twin’s Daughter will find this an excellent readalike, as well. Give this one to your skeptics of young adult literature, too; it’s a fantastic example of what’s out there and could make those skeptics rethink their assumptions. And for people who haven’t read the original in a long time, it might just make them revisit the classic.

Did I mention that Lindner is a debut author, too? This is an author to keep an eye on. Jane comes out October 11!

*Review copy received from the publisher. Thanks!