The Magpie Society: One For Sorrow 

by Zoe Sugg & Amy McCulloch 

2 out of 5 

Synopsis 

The brand new series from Zoe Sugg and Amy McCulloch

Illumen Hall is an elite boarding school. Tragedy strikes when the body of a student is discovered at their exclusive summer party - on her back is an elaborate tattoo of a magpie.

When new girl Audrey arrives the following term, running from her own secrets back home in America, she is thrown into solving the case. Despite her best efforts to avoid any drama, her new roommate Ivy was close to the murdered girl, and the two of them can't help but get pulled in.

The two can't stand each other, but as they are drawn deeper into the mystery of this strange and terrible murder, they will discover that something dangerous is at the heart of their superficially perfect school.

Welcome to The Magpie Society.

One for Sorrow will be told via the alternating first person perspectives of the lead characters Audrey - written by Amy - and Ivy - written by Zoe - with the narrative being jointly plotted by both authors. 

Review 

Audrey and Ivy couldn't be any more different, but they are stuck as roommates at their boarding school. They both begin to investigate the recent death of Lola, the last Head Girl, who just so happened to have their room before them.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ivy is from a poor background, and she has worked her arse off to be one of the top students at Illumen Hall. As a prefect, she was supposed to get a room to herself, but she gets stuck with the new girl.

When a podcast about Lola's death is released, casting a shadow on the school; Ivy is asked to investigate. As the most dedicated and driven student at school, she readily accepts.

Audrey finds her new life at a British boarding school very different to life in Georgia. She has lost her freedom and her friends, but she can also start afresh, away from all the drama.

Unfortunately, she arrives just in time to find her new school in the middle of a crisis. After a chance meeting with Lola's older brother, Audrey agrees to look into the Magpie Society, and how it was involved in Lola's death.

I liked how Ivy and Audrey eventually become friends, despite the bad start at the beginning of term. They quickly find out that they are better together, although this doesn't happen until after half-way.

The mysteries were intriguing enough that I wanted to find out the truth. The girls uncover their clues steadily along the way, and have several leads. It does keep you guessing throughout about Lola's death.

The not-so-good.

This was reeaally slow. In the first half nothing happens beyond Audrey getting lost and worrying about making friends; and Ivy pushing everyone away and worrying about getting into Oxbridge.

This goes on repeat.

I thought Audrey's tragic back-story was poorly done in the first half. You have sections wedged into her narrative without any logic. I kept getting thrown, thinking something was happening in the present, but it just happened to be not-subtle allusions to the fact that she has history.

The second half things get a little more interesting, and focused on the central plot; then a bunch of stuff got crammed in at the end.

A couple of the mysteries weren't even... I guessed the person behind the podcast immediately, and I didn't get why Ivy was being so dense.

It was also no mystery who Lola's mystery man was.

I didn't like how it all ended. The finale is less of a cliff-hanger, and more of a stop mid-story.

I also didn't like how Lola's story was wrapped up. I'm not going to give away what happened to her, but it felt like it was just hurried and put aside, so our characters could go back to focusing on the Magpie Society.

Overall, it was an intriguing idea, but didn't hit the mark.

Goodreads

Amazon