The Legacies

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Jessica Goodman’s new release, The Legacies. I absolutely fell into her novel  The Counselors, but I found  They Wish They Were Us deeply disappointing. 

Overall, this fun thriller has major Gossip Girl vibes, in all the good ways, with a hint of GG‘s over-the-top ridiculousness. Rich Manhattan kids, of the motivated and party varieties, plus a hardworking outsider, plus drama between the parents, all with the upscale cocktails and couture backdrop.

Like in They Wish They Were Us, the novel revolves around a semi-secret society of connected, privileged teenagers. However, while I couldn’t really buy into the Players weird secrecy-fame setup, I could accept the Legacies, a Manhattan private-school tradition of wealthy, well-connected and inter-connected parents setting the next generation up for the same thing. There’s even a back-patting acceptance of the single scholarship nominee, which felt believable too.

Bernie Kaplan, and her lifelong bestie Isobel, and her fated perfect boyfriend Skylar, and a few others from their set all knew they’d be inducted into the Legacies, since they all have a parent from the elite Manhattan society. The Legacies can’t nominate their own children, of course, wouldn’t want to have any nepotism, would we? But naturally every member’s child is nominated by a close family friend. The young Legacies from Excelsior Prep are all friends from childhood, of course, meeting similar teenagers from other prep schools and other well-connected families at all the new Legacy events. 

Tori Tasso is the smart and hardworking scholarship kid, and yeah, ok, the book lays it on a little thick, with a struggling diner in Astoria and a tragic family loss. But come on, I don’t think n elite backstabbing thriller without that one hardworking scholarship kid is even allowed, and I felt like the novel was aware of this. In one scene, scholarship recipients give public speeches of gratitude for the generosity and opportunities,  full of all the clichés about opening doors, etc, etc. Later, one of the recipients privately and caustically admits it’s all fake, but that playing their game has gotten her further so she’ll be back next year to say it again. 

I love this kind of teen thriller,  so of course I loved a teen drama with couture and college apps, full of backstabbing and who said what at a party on Shelter Island. I also loved how interconnected all the storylines are, there’s almost no throwaway chatter. Every mention connects back to one of the plotlines, so there’s a constant state of curiosity and anticipation. 

I also enjoyed how basically unlikeable everyone in the book is. There’s a flash-forward storyline (or maybe the other half in a flashback?) about investigating a mysterious death at the Legacies, and since I didn’t really like of the characters, I was just curious about it, not worried. Also, I knew that none of the Legacies would actually face consequences, so I was just hoping poor Tori wouldn’t end up taking the fall for someone else’s cold-blooded murder. 

The Legacies was a fun and fast-paced thriller, perfect for fans of Gossip Girl.