The screaming was coming from the sea. A figure was standing by the water. The sun had disappeared from the horizon, but there was enough ambient light to see by.
A body lay on the sand, waves lapping at the soles of her feet. She was on her front, but her head was tilted to one side, her lips tinged an unnatural blue.
Pale skin, blue lips, tangled strands of hair, twisted limbs.
And on her back,, and elaborate tattoo of a magpie...
THE MAGPIE SOCIETY: ONE FOR SORROW by Zoe Sugg & Amy McCullock
Published: Oct 2020
Genre: YA Thriller, Mystery
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"...there's an almost sombre feeling in the air, a quiet reverence."
I've not read many co-writes, but this book really was exceptionally pieced together in terms of story, content and consistency with characters. Told from the perspectives of two teenage girls, Audrey and Ivy, it's clear that the two YA authors that conceived them had a clear concept of both the characters to be able to write them so well.
Honestly, I loved this book! I flew through reading it, and was itching to write a review. The Magpie Society is a modern and edgy take on child detective stories like Nancy Drew, and boarding school sagas like Malory Towers.
The boarding school setting is genius, allowing for all the brilliant feels of an old-school murder mystery set in a large, historic house full of nooks, crannies and secret passageways disguised as priest holes. The expectation and traditions of Illumen Hall casts a prestigious and sombre tone that provokes ominous shivers from chapter one, when Audrey arrives at its doors to the accompaniment of howling wind and rain.
The scene was thoroughly set.
Audrey is a southern-belle, new to England and struggling to adjust to boarding school life - especially since the school still seems to be recovering from the recent death of a student at the end of last term. A student who's old room she finds herself assigned to.
"Don't get too comfortable. This room is cursed."
Her roommate, Ivy, is less than welcoming.
Ivy is a scholarship student who lives and breathes for the school that has been her home for six years. The girl who died, Lola, was a mentor and a friend and it's clear she's grieving. The last thing she wants is a new roommate, an American no less, who doesn't understand the collective grief the school is going through.
But when a mysterious and anonymous podcast is released online, casting doubt as to the accidental circumstance of Lola's death, Ivy and Audrey find themselves thrown together by circumstance as they begin an investigation of their own, following clues to discover the details of the surreptitious and reputed Magpie Society that seems to have some connection to Lola.
The pace of this book was gripping. And again, I reiterate how fluidly it reads. There is nothing to suggest that it was written by two talented authors, rather than one. It's seamless and effortless in it's delivery.
This book has all the traditional components of a murder mystery: an austere setting, dubious characters, rumours of secret societies and suspicion shifting on every page.
I don't feel that the YA genre detracted from this either. If anything the distraction of lighter teenage dramas creeping in contrasted well with the underlying darkness and very real threat in the book.
I'm now desperate for the next instalment Two For Joy that is set to be released in 2021. This book has left me hanging with so many unanswered questions and I'm desperate to know more about the mysterious connection of magpies to the school.
Who are the Magpie Society, and what are their intentions?
This may now be my most sought after book going into 2021. I encourage all lovers of YA fiction, mysteries, thrillers and boarding school sagas to read this brilliant book by Zoe Sugg and Amy McCulloch.
Zuzu 🖊
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