Review by Booklist Review
Compromising your morals may be the only way to get out of Yates, a school full of billionaires' children and ruled by the most ruthless of them all. Liam is the reigning monarch; Milo is the poor scholarship student paying his dad's rent with the money he makes as the unofficial PI at the school. Ostensibly, they have nothing in common--until Liam hires Milo to figure out who is sending the notes accusing Liam of murdering Ari, Milo's best friend. Forebodingly, the first POV chapter belongs to Ari. Although most named characters have at least one POV chapter, the story is primarily told through the eyes of Liam, Milo, and Ari, all of whom are keeping secrets from the reader. While enough information is presented for readers to develop theories of their own, Milo is always slightly ahead, adding an extra thrill to the steadily unfurling mystery. The bullying at Yates is severe, yet chillingly believable, forcing every character into the morally gray, regardless of their desires. Beware: nobody will graduate Yates unscathed.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this propulsive and shocking mystery from Callender (Infinity Alchemist), a boarding school's brutally enforced social hierarchy crumbles following a student's death. Returning to Yates Academy in Upstate New York after a brief absence, Black, transgender scholarship student Milo endeavors to probe the mystery behind the campus fire that killed his best friend, Ari, also a Black scholarship student. Meanwhile, Liam--the king of Yates and illegitimate half-Black and presumed half-white son of a magnate--has been receiving threatening messages relating to Ari's death. As the crowned king, Liam is able to mark other students as targets for intense, physical bullying without worry of school administrators interfering; he offers to call off Milo's mark if he can uncover the sender. Meanwhile, Liam's white friend Preston, who is in love with Liam's girlfriend, shows growing irritation with not being king himself. Then incriminating texts linking Liam to Ari's death go viral. Alternating chapters shift seamlessly between myriad confidently crafted characters, each contending with challenges surrounding class as well as sexual and gender identity. Hair-raising plot twists conjure a sinuous tale of harmful traditions and the institutions that uphold them. Ages 14--up. (Mar.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--Milo Pace has returned to the Yates boarding school for his senior year after leaving abruptly due to the death of his best friend Arianna in a tragic fire. Milo is one of the few scholarship kids on campus, meaning that he is the target of ire and harassment from his wealthy classmates. His primary nemesis is Liam, the self-styled "King of Yates." Liam rules the school with his girlfriend Sadie and his best friend Preston. When Liam himself becomes the target of mysterious and anonymous notes claiming that he murdered Ari, he hires Milo to help find out who is sending the messages and why. This also exacerbates underlying tension with Sadie, Preston, and himself, further complicating the physically intimate relationship they maintained among the three of them. As Liam begins to look more and more guilty, Milo grows closer to the truth about what happened to Ari. This thrilling novel shifts perspectives of most of the main characters, including flashbacks to earlier time frames from Ari's perspective. The story is clever at addressing the historic and resigned acceptance of bullying in schools. The characters are believable and relatable, but few are as compelling as the asexual, transgender Milo whose difficulties with verbal communication and making friends will likely connect with readers. The mystery of what happened to Ari is compelling and difficult to predict, so most mystery lovers will be engaged and ultimately satisfied with the resolution once Milo solves the case. VERDICT A recommended first purchase for YA collections.--Ryan P. Donovan
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Review by Horn Book Review
Contrary to official sources, Milo doesn't believe his best friend Arianna's death was an accident. As a Black trans scholarship student at an elite private high school where the oppressive social hierarchy is enforced through constant physical and psychological violence, Milo knows firsthand just how far his fellow students at Yates Academy will go to maintain power. Despite the traumatic bullying he faced in the past and the danger to himself in the present, he returns to school in search of the truth about what happened to Arianna. Milo's investigation puts him in the path of Liam Reeves, the boy whose rule over the student body as the so-called King of Yates is thrown into jeopardy by a string of threatening messages accusing him of killing Arianna. Milo agrees to help Liam find the blackmailer and clear his name, but his inquiries only unearth secrets that arouse his suspicions further. Told in multiple alternating first-person narrative viewpoints, the story is suspenseful, full of surprising twists that also dig into the psyches and layered social dynamics of an array of teens. True to its name, the book interrogates the complicity of the various characters, including underdog protagonist Milo, with whom readers are set up to identify. Shenwei ChangMay/June 2025 p.83 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
