Julie Berry

An outrageous plot of villainy starring seven brilliant young girls. At Prickwillow Place, Disgraceful Mary Jane, Smooth Kitty and their fellow students are keeping a deadly secret. When the headmistress of St Etheldreda's School for Young Ladies drops dead at Sunday dinner, her seven pupils agree on a clever scheme: to bury their teacher in the vegetable garden, dress up Stout Alice in her place, and educate themselves. This is tricky enough in a small Victorian community, but when the girls deduce that their teacher was poisoned - (it was the veal!) - they realise there is also a murderer on the prowl . . . An outrageous plot of mysterious happenings, farce and friendship.

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place

"Seven very proper Victorian young ladies conspire to hide a murder from the authorities at their boarding school"--

Yoomi

Fun read! Kind of like a dark and twisted version of Little Women. ^_^

Lulu Bonning

I liked the premise of this book. The pacing and general intentions were good fun, as were the twists and turns of the plot, and the engaging language of the characters. There were several layers to the mystery, meaning the pages turned themselves and I did not want to put this thing down.

However, I have quite a few issues with this book, and most of them boil down to the boxes that each girl is put in, summarized by the adjective in front of her name. The seven pupils at St. Etheldreda's School For Girls are each given a different outstanding identifier and are referred to repeatedly by these adjectives throughout the story. Some are harmless, like Dear Roberta and Smooth Kitty. But I have a bone to pick with the others, and the message they portray to young readers.

To start, the idea of typecasting each girl and playing into these roles so succinctly by summarizing their whole being into a single word, then acting out their characters accordingly, isn't exactly encouraging the reader to go forth into the world and treat everyone equally, without judging them based on outward appearances or first impressions. Then there are the specifics of some of the adjectives chosen for the girls. Take Dull Martha, for example. She's often a few steps behind the other girls and has to be explained things twice to understand them, and is nothing overly pleasant to look at - supposedly, that's a deserving explanation of the poor girl. Or Disgraceful Mary Jane, the flirt of the group. Sure, it might not have been appropriate in Victorian times to giggle behind curtains with men you aren't betrothed to, but surely it's not reason enough to call her a hussy. Frankly, I'm not sure anything is reason enough to call someone a hussy. And don't get me started on Stout Alice, whose outstanding feature is her girth. 

I am probably sounding old and crabby with this criticism, particularly compared to the many glowing reviews of this book. Despite the slightly sour taste in my mouth that this book left behind, I did enjoy it. If you don't tend to read into the identifications of the characters as much as I have, dive right in and enjoy. But on the contrary to being old and crabby, I am young and optimistic and want to encourage readers to have the confidence to do whatever they want to, and not be limited by how other people pigeonhole them. This book does not do that.

Jessica Nottingham

Ah, how I do adore when a book seems like it won't be something I'll enjoy and then it snatches me up and proves me wrong! The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place did just that, and I couldn't be more pleased. Very much a Victorian farce, this is the story of seven young girls who suddenly find themselves in a rather unpleasant predicament. What follows contains murder, mystery, and plenty of witty banter. Delicious.
 
It took me a while to warm up to the young ladies contained within this story. Each one has a very distinct personality which, as you might imagine, is very easy to remember when their name is preceded by an adjective to describe them. From "Disgraceful" Mary Jane, to "Smooth" Kitty, each one matches their description to a tee. So my big question was, at first, why did we need the addition? What was the point? I'll tell you though, it grew on me after a while. It added to the feeling of tongue in cheek humor, and after a while it didn't bother me anymore.
 
On to the story, shall we? This reminded me a bit of the movie version of "Clue" in the way that it really didn't take itself seriously. I was given seven young women who, somehow, manage to cover up two deaths and pose rather well as though nothing is wrong. The twists thrown in were fabulous, the cast of supporting characters vibrant, and the clues perfection. I cracked up laughing more than once at the absurd entrances that possible suspects made. I loved that Julie Berry was able to write such a fun set of characters, each one perfectly fitting the space they filled. 
 
So, as you can see by my four star rating, I ended up enjoying this much more than I thought I would. The mixture of tongue in cheek humor, witty banter, and mystery wrapped me up and kept me reading. I'm so happy I gave this a shot! Much love to The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place. 
 
Note: This is shelved as Middle Grade Fiction but I highly doubt most readers that age would appreciate it. I'm shelving it as Young Adult Fiction instead.

Stefie 

So, I have a mixed feeling for this book. Because I like it a lot, but I also feel a bit bored in some part. 
Okay what I like about this book:
- This book got me out of the reading slump
- It griped me right from the start
- It has Agatha Christie vibes
- The twist was great.
- The last parts of the books are really tense & good.
- The mood & atmosphere in this book are "gloomy" which is why it's perfect to read on rainy days.

But there are some part of the book that is just feel plain. It was quite slow until the 40% before the book finish. 

All in all it was a great read, and I will still recommend it to you.

lily k

Kayleigh Septer

Rebecca Harwood

Pham Minh Nghi

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

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place

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