4.5 stars for This May End Badly by Samantha Markum!
**Trigger Warning: sexual assault/misconduct by a trusted person of power**
Synopsis:
When a high-stakes boarding school prank war leads to a fake dating scheme, two teens must decide if they are ready to take the ultimate risk — falling in love.
Pranking mastermind Doe and her motley band of Weston girls are determined to win the century-long war against Winfield Academy before the clock ticks down on their senior year. But when their headmistress announces that The Weston School will merge with its rival the following year, their longtime feud spirals into chaos.
To protect the school that has been her safe haven since her parents’ divorce, Doe puts together a plan to prove once and for all that Winfield boys and Weston girls just don’t mix, starting with a direct hit at Three, Winfield’s boy king and her nemesis. In a desperate move to win, Doe strikes a bargain with Three’s cousin, Wells: If he fake dates her to get under Three’s skin, she’ll help him get back his rightful family heirloom from Three.
As the pranks escalate, so do her feelings for her fake boyfriend, and Doe spins lie after lie to keep up her end of the deal. But when a teacher long suspected of inappropriate behavior messes with a younger Weston girl, Doe has to decide what’s more important: winning a rivalry, or joining forces to protect something far more critical than a prank war legacy.
I feel like I say this a lot, but I ended up liking this book way more than I thought I would! When you get an arc, you just never know, right? But this one did not disappoint, which is great because after having COVID, getting sick again right afterward, having some family visit, and moving house...it's safe to say that I am waaaaaay behind on my blog, reviews, and Instagram. Anyway, back to the book.
If I had to go to a boarding school growing up, The Weston School is where I would want to go. Is there some cattiness? Of course. It's an all-girls boarding school, but what I liked was that the author did not focus on that at all. This May End Badly is about the rivalry between The Weston School and Winfield Academy (but really at this point it's between Doe and Three), but more than that...it's about the desire to protect something important to us and the fear of growing up, letting go, and moving on.
Doe's character development is some of the best I've seen recently in a YA book. Sometimes I feel YA arcs are rushed and we don't get really believable character development from them, but This May End Badly does not fall prey to this potential pitfall. For me, Doe's transformation was believable. She starts at singularly minded about stopping the merger and beating Three. Even though some of her choices hurt her as she's making them and she hates lying to her friends and family, she's still completely willing to do it if it means achieving her goals. Because of this, we slowly see Doe's friends and even her family pull away from her. At first, she's angry at them for it, but it's only a facade to cover the fact that she knows she messed up. Once a bigger threat to the girls of The Weston School is discovered, Doe starts to really see what it means to stand up for something and someone. She's always been a leader at the school, but now we see her come into her own and even work with some unlikely people in order to do some actual good.
"I contain multitudes, Doe." He returns his attention to the TV. "And I like watching couples fight over backsplash. Sue me."
I love that part. That's the only reason why I included that quote, haha. In general, Wells was just a fantastic addition to the book. I mean all the side characters were great and I would 100% read a book about any of Doe's friends or Three, but Wells was my favorite. A ridiculously attractive boy who loves books definitely would have been my choice in high school as well. Although I wish there had been a little more about why Doe thought Wells would never actually like her.
My niece is 13 and this is a book I would be happy for her to read. I'd warn her (and maybe her mom) about the sexual predator teacher (sorry, spoiler, but really Doe mentions it in like the first chapter sooo...), but really it'd be good for her to read about. She's going to an all-girls high school next year and while you hope they'll be safe, it's important she's aware of what is and isn't appropriate behavior from a teacher. Dark, but true.
Now to the food! Doe and I do breakfast the same way. I also like to get a skillet of food and mix it all together and it DOES taste better that way, thank you very much. Add a dash of hot sauce and it's perfect. I knew I needed to make breakfast for this review as soon as Doe and Wells are in the diner and Doe has to (good-naturedly) defend the way she eats her breakfast. After almost 9 years together, I still sometimes get side-eye from my husband when I mix my breakfast all up in a bowl. The only way to make it better? Add a side of pancakes! On this, I am sure Doe would agree with me.
Thanks for stopping by!
-Kim
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