Review: The Magpie Society: One for Sorrow by Zoe Sugg and Amy McCulloch
Author: Zoe Sugg and Amy McCulloch
Edition: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin (October 29, 2020)
Genre: YA, Mystery
Synopsis
Illumen Hall is an elite boarding school. Tragedy strikes when the body of a student is discovered at their exclusive summer party – on her back is an elaborate tattoo of a magpie.
When new girl Audrey arrives the following term, running from her own secrets back home in America, she is thrown into solving the case. Despite her best efforts to avoid any drama, her new roommate Ivy was close to the murdered girl, and the two of them can’t help but get pulled in.
The two can’t stand each other, but as they are drawn deeper into the mystery of this strange and terrible murder, they will discover that something dangerous is at the heart of their superficially perfect school.
Welcome to The Magpie Society.
My review of The Magpie Society
The Magpie Society: One for Sorrow is a fun but clumsily executed mystery with an atmospheric setting and plenty of secrets.
A Clumsily Plotted Mystery
The Magpie Society is best described as clumsy but fun. The plot is heavy-handed and multiple big reveals happen suddenly and are disappointing, killing any sense of suspense. Additionally, the story ends in a confusing whirlwind of action that fails to answer any questions and instead raises more. Ultimately, the strength of this book definitely doesn’t lie in the writing. If you’re expecting a literary masterpiece you won’t find it here.
However, I did greatly enjoy the setting of Illumen Hall! What can I say, I’m a sucker for mysterious boarding schools. The authors introduce places and traditions surprisingly well and I am curious to see where those crumbs lead us in the next book. I’m not going to lie, I still would’ve liked to learn more about the school but I’m crossing my fingers the sequel can deliver on that front!
An Intriguing Dual POV
Your mileage may vary, but personally, I loved the two main characters! There is Audrey, the new American student leaving her past behind, and Ivy, the cold and ambitious top student hiding plenty of secrets. They are as different as they could be and can’t stand each other as roommates. But when the podcast starts, they’re roped into investigation Lola’s death together. The two girls felt more multidimensional than I expected and I Ioved watching their dynamic develop! However, this comes at the cost of some of the secondary characters feeling underdeveloped, something I hope the authors improve in the sequel.
My biggest issue with Ivy and Audrey is that they’re just too naive! At one point in the story, they accept a timestamp on a photo shown to them on someone’s phone as an alibi. A timestamp as evidence? In this day and age? That really made me chuckle because it seemed like such a convenient way to rule out a suspect.
As mentioned, the book is told through alternating POV chapters, something I’ve always enjoyed in stories. To me, the characters’ voices felt distinct enough to keep the chapters interesting and made the double POV a choice that paid off. There was plenty of opportunity to relay different experiences and information to the reader and I felt the authors made good use of the POVs.
Overall…
…this book feels like the set-up to a series which makes it fall a little short in most aspects. It’s a fun read and I can see younger readers who are new to mysteries enjoy this a lot, even though it didn’t quite hit the mark for me personally.
This book is for you if…
…you like mysteries set at boarding schools
…you are looking for a book that’s easy to read and sets up a larger series.
A post you might also enjoy: My Review of I Killed Zoe Spanos
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