Sweet Deceit (Privilege #4) by Kate Brian
Ariana Osgood has been tapped for Stone and Grave, Atherton-Pryce Hall’s most exclusive secret society. But so has her arch-nemesis, Kaitlynn. They go head-to-head during Hell Week, but Ariana has worked too hard for her luxe life at APH to give it up without a fight. When the competition turns deadly, only one girl will walk away from it alive…
SPOILERS: If you haven’t read or aren’t up-to-date with the Privilege and Private series, don’t read anymore.
I’ve mentioned this before, but these types of books fall squarely into what I call “guilty pleasures”. Rich teens, boarding schools, mystery, hijinks, secret societies. So down.
The Privilege series is a spin-off from the Private series, also by Kate Brian. Sweet Deceit is the fourth book in the series, which takes place after Ariana Osgood gets arrested in the Private series. In the first books in Privilege, she kills another girl and assumes her identity and place at Atherton Pryce-Hall, a boarding school near Washington D.C.
Sweet Deceit is every bit as good as the other novels in this series and the original Private series. Brian has a captivating style that draws you and keeps you turning the pages. The twists and turns are always surprising, but what I like in particular about these novels is that they highlight the intelligence, strength, and ingenuity of their title female characters. Though Reed Brennan is decidedly good and Ariana Osgood decidedly not.
Still, reading about Ariana’s struggle to keep her new life is engrossing. The girl has been labeled super smart for a reason.
Perhaps the books strike a note of unbelievability more than a few times, but it’s escapist fiction for a reason. It’s fun and light, but dark and interesting enough to keep you reading at break-neck speed.
