49 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Secret Society So-So, August 2, 2006
I was really looking forward to reading Secret Society Girl. It sounded just up my alley. I settled into a comfy chair and prepared to be swept away.
I wasn't.
Amy Haskel is a junior at Eli (read: Yale) University. Her dream job appears to be working for Glamour, yet she poo-poos her upcoming "posh" summer internship working for a New York book publisher. To bulk up her resume, Amy works on the school literary magazine, as does Brandon Weare. Amy likes Brandon as a friend, and she'll sleep with him as the need arises, but she doesn't want anything more from him.
The story kicks off when Amy is tapped by Rose & Grave (read: Skull & Bones). Only problem is, Amy has no clue why she has been tapped. She is not uber-wealthy (although Amy doesn't seem too concerned about how to pay for Eli, so she's obviously not hurting for cash). She's not uber-smart (although Amy brags about getting into Eli early decision). She's not uber-hot (although Brandon and the class stud are both very warm for her form.) She's also not male. It's the last item that becomes a sticking point, as Rose & Grave (also known as the Diggers) has been a males-only society up to now. The patriarchs, or Digger alums, make a 20th century fuss over girl cooties infecting their precious "tomb" (even the real Skull & Bones first let women in over 15 years ago) and threaten Amy's internship (which she suddenly decides she really, really wants). Will Amy stay in Rose & Grave or go?
Hint: this is the start of a series. In case there is any doubt.
The main trouble with the book, aside from the predictability of the plot, is that Amy is amorphous. We have no idea what she truly wants, other than to someday see her name on a magazine masthead. She vacillates over Brandon. She vacillates over Rose & Grave. She originally decides to join the society just because Brandon tells her she thinks too much & she wants to prove him wrong, instead of actively choosing to belong through a deep motivation of her own.
We have no idea of where Amy comes from; a stereotypical mother pops up now and then to nag about Amy's sex life but what about siblings? Family background? Childhood friends? Aside from a brief mention of a high school prom date, Amy appears to have arrived on Eli's campus like Athena springing from Zeus's forehead, fully grown with no prior development.
Because we never really get to know Amy, we never really invest ourselves in her or her dilemmas. When she decides to be Brandon's girlfriend (again, because he wants it, not because she does), it feels icky instead of sweet, especially as she obviously knows she has a crush on someone else. If Amy were a more fully developed and dimensional character, it might have the poignancy the author seems to be striving for. As it is, Amy comes off as weak and anything but a heroine.
The same goes for Amy's wishy-washy approach to Rose & Grave. It's obvious that the author needed to come up with some conflict to keep the plot moving, but Amy's wisecracking, "I am woman, hear me roar" narration clashes wildly not only with the Brandon situation, but with Amy's continual crawling back to Rose & Grave despite being humiliated, fake-threatened with forced prostitution, and being told she is second choice. I'd like Amy a lot more if she told Rose & Grave where to stick their pin for once and for all, but then there would be no series.
It also doesn't help that all the characters sound alike, despite different socio-economic and regional backgrounds. Both Amy and fellow Digger Malcolm use British slang. Nearly all the female characters address each other as "girl" or "girlfriend." The Hollywood princess and the Park Avenue princess sound identical, despite growing up in very different circumstances. The only character with a distinctive voice is Jenny Santos, and that's because she barely speaks.
Since Amy is concerned about her GPA, here are the grades I've been able to find for her. Kirkus Reviews gave the plot a B, but the heroine and dialogue pulled the overall grade down to a C. The Washington Post gave the book a C-. I'm going to give it a C+ for effort. The result: SECRET SOCIETY GIRL has a GPA of 2.0, far below honor roll.
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28 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
OK, but nothing new, July 24, 2006
Amy Haskel is a junior at Eli University. She's an editor of the campus literary magazine. Eli University has secret societies and Amy thinks she is going to be picked for Quill & Ink but she is really picked by Rose & Grave. Rose & Grave is supposedly a very powerful society that runs politics and business in America. They also only take males, so Amy doesn't know if she really was picked by them, or if someone is playing a joke.
This book is okay. Some of the writing is humorous. But the story is boring. Rose & Grave gets into trouble with its alumni because the current members decide to bring in women. So the alumni cause trouble for the members. The members fight back. If you like books where the action is a boardroom argument with privileged people fighting to stay even more privileged, then you might like this.
Amy can be funny and her lists are cute. But Amy's actions don't make much sense. She spends most of the book not sure if she wants to be in Rose & Grave. They play mean and sexist practical jokes on her during initiation and they lie to her. So why does she fight to stay in a club that she isn't sure she even likes? It seems just because the club is prestigious, which doesn't say very good things about Amy, who also accepts help from the society to cheat on her final.
From the title of the book, I was expecting some intrigue or suspense, but there wasn't any. Also, it sounded like this would be a thinly veiled look at the real life Yale secret society Skull & Bones. But Rose & Grave comes off pretty much just like your everyday college fraternity. And you don't learn anything about what makes life special at an Ivy League school either. There is nothing new in this book about university life and fraternities, just the usual drinking and hooking up.
It's hard to get worked up about whether some wealthy college kids get to keep their clubhouse. The club is depicted as pretty much white male elitist & sexist which makes you wonder why any self-respecting female or even male would want to be a member in 2006.
This book is pretty much just for those who think social status is everything. But if you know there is more to life than where you went to college or what fraternity you belonged to, you will want to pass.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Frothy, yet filling, June 6, 2007
This review is from: Secret Society Girl: An Ivy League Novel (Paperback)
For me as for most Americans the Ivy League is some remote planet about which I know little and care less. But Ms. Peterfreund can write, she can plot, she can develop interesting characters. The reader moves effortlessly into and through her quaint world. Maybe not a candidate for the "Great American Novel" but there's a lot to be said for a darn good read.
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