For our penultimate book club pick of the year, we read The Magpie Society: One For Sorrow, the first instalment in the murder mystery series co-written by Amy McCulloch and Zoella founder, Zoe Sugg.
If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, Pretty Little Liars and Broadchurch, consider The Magpie Society your new literary obsession.
Illumen Hall is a boarding school of tradition and achievement.
But tragedy strikes when the body of a student is discovered on the beach – and on her back is an elaborate tattoo of a magpie.
For new student Audrey, it is just another strange and unsettling thing about her new surroundings, along with the secrets the school seems to hide and its weird obsession with magpies. For her roommate Ivy, the death of her friend Lola is just one thing she desperately wants to get past – and having a new student asking questions and cluttering up her personal space is not helping a bit.
But the two girls are forced into an unlikely alliance when a mysterious podcast airs, with one sinister headline:
I KNOW WHO KILLED LOLA. AND ONE OF YOU IS NEXT.
Find out how the team got on with the first nail-biting page turner of the series!
Lareese
I love a good whodunnit mystery and The Magpie Society certainly delivered the goods – even if the cliffhanger was beautifully frustrating.
The podcast dialogue was brilliantly crafted (all the Riverdale vibes) and the transition between Audrey and Ivy’s dual narration is seamless. You would never know it was written by two different authors, which blows my mind. It’s utterly masterful.
As well as the two protagonists, I also LOVED the secondary characters, particularly Clover and Araminta.
I know how much both authors poured their heart and soul into this book, and to finally get to read it was a real 2020 highlight. Tension, atmosphere, secret-society intrigue, teenage angst – One For Sorrow has it in spades. I can’t wait for the next instalment!
Would you read again? Oh, in a freaking heartbeat!
Recommend: 5/5 (OBVS!)
Maddie
I was always going to love this book given how involved I’ve been in the behind the scenes, watching Zoe and Amy work so hard on this idea for years has been so exciting to be a part of and I’m thrilled so many people are loving it. That all being said, the early days brainstorms when the possibility of the Magpie Society was just an idea did not prepare me for the level of depth and story that Zoe and Amy have delved into to make it such an exciting page-turner. I love the characters so much and flip flop between who my favourites are constantly throughout the book. There is so much mystery that you only really just scratch the surface of before the haunting final scene which leaves you on a knife-edge wondering what happens next! Like everyone else who has read it, I CANNOT wait for the next book, I need to know what happens and who or what the Magpie Society is all about…
5/5 without a doubt
Holly
Young adult fiction is my favourite genre and one half of Magpie Society is written by one of my best friends so obviously I’m biased but I LOVED it! It’s written from 2 different character perspectives, Ivy and Audrey who are completely different personalities but both so relatable. This made it super easy to imagine being at Illumen Hall and I got so invested in the story instantly.
I loved that there were plot twists/you find stuff out all throughout the book, rather than leaving it to the last few chapters. It meant I was constantly wanting to read to see if anything would happen in the next chapter. The chapters are short and sweet which kept me up every night ‘just one more chapter’…
I cannot WAIT for the next book! I hope in the next book we get to know a bit more about the extra characters like Teddy, Harriet etc. Also, I know it’s necessary when its the first book in a series but how annoying to leave it on that much of a cliffhanger!
Would you recommend?
Obviously 100% yes
Charlotte
WELL THIS IS EXCITING! After seeing Zoe and Amy work on this project for such a long time I honestly couldn’t wait to get my teeth into this and delve into the world of Illumen Hall for myself! I used to love reading books set in boarding schools when I was younger (and weirdly enough actually begged my parents to let me go to one, ha!) and the nostalgia of that backdrop instantly flooded back to me. Despite what might feel like a setting that has been popular in the world of fiction, there was something about Illumen Hall that felt eerie and unpredictable from the start. The perfect balance of sinister yet subtle makes for a page turning read, as you desperately make your way through its chapters following the twists and turns attentively. Each character was memorable and offered a different perspective to the story, and the alternating protagonists dynamic is something I’ve come to love within multiple books I’ve read this year! I’m not usually one for scary reading or watching, but I think I might be converted! Also: THAT CLIFFHANGER. I NEED MORE!
The Magpie Society was the PERFECT lockdown read for me, keeping me gripped and away from the temptation of endless TikTok scrolling. I feel so attached to the characters and their story, and honestly cannot wait for the next instalment!
5/5
Would you recommend? YES X100.
Danielle
This book has basically everything I look for when picking out a read. YA, female friendship, secret societies, murder mystery, a boarding school, and even romance sprinkled in! After seeing how hard Amy and Zoe worked on this I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth and even found myself delaying picking it up because I didn’t want to finish it (am I the only person who does this?!) But finish it I did and all I want to do now is read the next one. I LOVED the back and forth between the character perspectives as it really helped the book keep pace, so much of it was unpredictable and kept me guessing, there’s so much I could say but I don’t want to give it away…
5/5
Would you recommend? Absolutely I’ve already lent out my copy to my sister!
Darcey
Well blooming heck! That was absolutely brilliant. After seeing how hard Zoe and Amy have worked on this book I couldn’t wait to finally read it myself! I quite literally inhaled this book within a matter of days, every chapter just made me want to dive straight into the next. I usually don’t go for a YA read but I loved every minute of The Magpie Society and think I need to start picking up more YA reads in the future!
I loved how we got to go back and forth between Ivy and Audrey, I adored their friendship and seeing both of their perspectives throughout. They both worked seamlessly together and you would never know that they were written by two different authors, that in itself is bloody brilliant. The ending was a reallllll cliffhanger and makes me super excited for the next instalment! I can’t wait to find out more about The Magpie Society.
5/5
Would you recommend? Absolutely!
