Review ~ Get Even by Gretchen McNeil

Get Even (Don't Get Mad, #1)
by Gretchen McNeil

Publishing date: September 16th 2014
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
320 pages

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The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in Gretchen McNeil’s witty and suspenseful novel about four disparate girls who join forces to take revenge on high school bullies and create dangerous enemies for themselves in the process.

Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers.

When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose.

I am really not sure what to get out of this book. I kinda walked into it knowingly. I did know it was going to be very similar to Pretty Little Liars. Now, I never read the books. All I know about PLL is the TV show, but still... I just couldn't shake off all the similarities and I found myself comparing the two ALL THE TIME. But not just that. I usually don't take much notes while reading, but by the time I finished this book, I had soo many notes that I know already half of them will not make it into this review. The best way to portray you how I felt about the book is the likes and dislikes divide, but first, let me tell you a little bit about the story first.

There are four very different girls. They have nothing in common, but one thing. DGM aka Don't Get Mad. They're the brains behind secret group of people who are revenging those who can't defend themselves against bullies by humiliating their bullies. While some envy them, there are also those who want to take them down and have them expelled or worse. Then, a guy from their school ends up murdered, and the murderer set DGM up. It's up to them to figure out who the real killer is...

What I liked:

The mystery. Yes, the mystery in Get Even was kinda good. There was sooo many suspects that in no moment you could have guessed who the killer is. It's was like figuring out who Gossip Girl or -A is. Anyone could be it, and you have no slightest clue who it is.
The diversity. There were four main characters here, and all of them were different. They all came from different backgrounds and it was exciting figuring out who they are. We have Kitty - she is Asian, and from what I gathered, the beautiful one. We have Olivia - she is the poor one, but also one of the most popular girls in school and her passion is acting. We also have Bree - the rebel one. Her dad is a very important politician, and she couldn't give a fuck about it. At last, we have Margot - the geek. But also one with the problematic parents. She was overweight, she tried to kill herself and she knows everything there is to know about tech.
The romance. Or more precisely, lack of romance. I really liked that this book was not centered around romance. Of course, at times we could see bits of romance, but it wasn't overwhelming.
The cover. I couldn't leave it out. It's just to pretty not to be mentioned. I love the pink/blue/black color mix, and the girls silhouetted in the background add to the mystery.

What I didn't like:

The beginning. The beginning was just SO confusing! We have four girls with different stories, with different set of friends. It was just too much! My head was spinning around from all the names and things I had to remember in order to keep up with the story.
The Pretty Little Liars. I already mentioned earlier how much it bothered me how similar to PLL it was. I actually had a few notes about how this book just screams PLL. I also noticed that some people compare it Burn for Burn series, but I haven't read it, so I can't say nothing about it.
The Don't Get Mad. Okay, so the whole Don't Get Mad - Get Even thing is actually "getting revenge for those who couldn't get it for themselves." They were the anti-bullying squad. They hated it, and that was the only thing they actually had in common. BUT, what they did is nothing else but different kind of bullying. They publicly humiliated every bully they set their eyes on. I didn't like that. It was kinda missing the whole point of the book in my opinion.
The Father Uberti. I think he was a priest. It's a Catholic school, and they call him Father Uberti, so I guess that makes him a priest in my eyes. The thing I don't get is, why is he that coy and cunning and awful? Now, I went to Catholic school myself, our principle was a priest, and I know quite a lot of priests too. I don't get how did Gretchen McNeil get the idea to make a priest the bad guy and not even bother explain why she did it. A little bit of elaboration would be helpful.
The authority. Another thing that Ashley from Nose Graze described in much detail is the problem with the authority. Everybody is doing what normally should be Police business. But no, everybody else feels that they should take the matter in their hands, and Police is mentioned, like almost never. Father Umberti feels like he should be the one to figure out DGM and the murderer, DGM feels like it should be them, Coach Creed is also lurking around, and not to mention that their friends/boyfriends are also trying to figure it out.
The friendship. Or lack of friendship. Those girls should have become close seeing that they were working together for 2 years on an important things, but no. What they did is actually accuse each other of being the possible killer instead of working together on figuring it out. SO FRUSTRATING!
The ending. WTF was that ending? I feel like it was the last straw. But, nevertheless, it kind of helped me in my decision, which is that I won't be continuing this series.

So I guess you figured out there is much more things that I didn't like in this book, then the ones I actually liked. Also the things I didn't like are much more important in my eyes. I guess, you also figured out that I won't be recommending you to read Get Even, but if you feel you would like to read it, go ahead, maybe you even end up liking it.

About Unknown

Hi. I'm Anatea, a 23-year-old Croatian girl, living in Germany. I enjoy reading books, traveling, fashion and photography. Let me show you my world.