February 5, 2015

Book Review: The Scandalous Sisterhood of Pickwillow Place by Julie Berry


Title: The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place
Author: Julie Berry

There's a murderer on the loose—but that doesn't stop the girls of St. Etheldreda's from attempting to hide the death of their headmistress in this rollicking farce.

The students of St. Etheldreda's School for Girls face a bothersome dilemma. Their irascible headmistress, Mrs. Plackett, and her surly brother, Mr. Godding, have been most inconveniently poisoned at Sunday dinner. Now the school will almost certainly be closed and the girls sent home—unless these seven very proper young ladies can hide the murders and convince their neighbors that nothing is wrong.

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place is a smart, hilarious Victorian romp, full of outrageous plot twists, mistaken identities, and mysterious happenings.
 


What a cute fun book! It was just fun to read! This review will be short, though, because I can't say too much without giving things away! If you like a good old-fashion whodunit with a dash of madcap humor thrown in, then this is the book for you! I loved reading and trying to figure out who had killed their headmistress and brother. And I loved watching these girls get into one mess after another as people continue to show up at the house! It was great!

Now the cast of characters in this book is huge so be prepared. There are 7 girls at the school alone to keep track of! Plus a bunch of other suspects characters that show up and make you wonder! Thankfully there are two pages at the front with pictures of the girls with their names and that really helped until I got them all down! What also helped is that they were referred to with part of the personality or physical feature. So for example - Smooth Kitty. She is called that because she's smart and can smooth things out or get things done smoothly. There's also Disgraceful Mary Jane called that because she likes to flirt! I thought at first this might annoy me - naming them this way - but actually it really help!


I loved all the girls. Everyone of them was smart or kind or giving. None were mean. And they were so nice and caring towards each other! Never once did they turn on each other. Oh there were a few suspicions here and there, but they supported each other. I really like that about the story! I also liked how smart and capable they were. Pocked Louise is so smart! She really knew her stuff!


The ending was great. I thought I had things figured out, and I did a little. But I didn't know or guess the entire story!!! 

Well done!


2 comments:

  1. I just added this to my TBR list. Thanks for telling me about it. It sounds like a lot of fun.

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  2. So agree, the unique way Berry introduces the girls by descriptors was what made this so fun. Smooth Kitty was my favorite of the girls, well and Alice.

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