Genre: YA Thriller
Published: October 29, 2024
Pages: 345
Jessica Goodman meets The Agathas in this taut, twisty YA thriller set in the glittering world of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where secrets--and bodies--never stay buried.
For the New Orleans elite, the Les Masques Ball is sure to be the social event of the season—if they can avoid another dead Queen. When debutante Margot Landry was found dead the morning after her reign at last year’s ball, it was a tragedy, but not a shocking one. Margot was a wild child with a self-destructive streak, nothing like this year’s Queen, Lily LeBlanc. With a perfectly poised debutante on the throne, everything is going according to plan…until the ball is hijacked by a mysterious figure in a Jester costume. That night, Lily sends a text to three of the Maids on her royal court—her best friend, Vivian; her boyfriend's sister, Piper; and April, her former frenemy—asking them all to meet the next morning. But Lily never shows up.
On the surface, these three debutantes don’t have anything in common except their exclusive private school and their ties to Les Masques. But soon, they realize why Lily brought them together: something dark is lurking beneath the glamorous surface of the debutante world, and it might be the reason she disappeared. And the further the girls dig, the more they begin to suspect that Margot's death may not have been an accident—and that Lily may be next. When the Jester starts threatening to expose their own secrets, this unlikely trio must team up to uncover the monsters behind the Mardi Gras masks—before they’re left with another dead debutante.
For the New Orleans elite, the Les Masques Ball is sure to be the social event of the season—if they can avoid another dead Queen. When debutante Margot Landry was found dead the morning after her reign at last year’s ball, it was a tragedy, but not a shocking one. Margot was a wild child with a self-destructive streak, nothing like this year’s Queen, Lily LeBlanc. With a perfectly poised debutante on the throne, everything is going according to plan…until the ball is hijacked by a mysterious figure in a Jester costume. That night, Lily sends a text to three of the Maids on her royal court—her best friend, Vivian; her boyfriend's sister, Piper; and April, her former frenemy—asking them all to meet the next morning. But Lily never shows up.
On the surface, these three debutantes don’t have anything in common except their exclusive private school and their ties to Les Masques. But soon, they realize why Lily brought them together: something dark is lurking beneath the glamorous surface of the debutante world, and it might be the reason she disappeared. And the further the girls dig, the more they begin to suspect that Margot's death may not have been an accident—and that Lily may be next. When the Jester starts threatening to expose their own secrets, this unlikely trio must team up to uncover the monsters behind the Mardi Gras masks—before they’re left with another dead debutante.
I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.
I know next to nothing about the debutante tradition, and only have a cursory knowledge of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, so this was really a new world for me. It's a world that I'm not sure I like, and even has me seriously thinking twice about my desire to visit New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
When I started reading this, I was expecting much more horror than I received. It really felt more like a cozy mystery in the end than a typical YA thriller. Not that it was particularly cozy, but it didn't have me on the edge of my seat like I expect from YA geared thrillers.
It took me a few chapters in each characters' head to really get a grasp on which debutante was which and how they were connected. They do have very different personalities, but those didn't shine through early on in this story. And it is told in multiple POVs, rotating through the Maids for the most part, so just when I'd feel like I was getting a handle on one of them, I was getting dumped in someone else's head.
The ending was predictable-adjacent. I'd mostly figured out where things were heading, but not completely. Overall I give The Debutantes 3.8945 out of 5 stars. - Katie
Olivia Worley is an author and actor born and raised in New Orleans. A graduate of Northwestern University, she now lives in NYC, where she spends her time writing thrillers, over-analyzing episodes of The Bachelor, and hoping someone will romanticize her for reading on the subway. People to Follow is her debut novel.
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