At the Ivy League Eli University, it's Secret Society Season, the time of year where all juniors are on pins and needles, interviewing to get into various societies.
Lit mag editor Amy Haskel's expecting to get into Quill and Ink, the writing society. However, she's thoroughly surprised to get tapped instead by Rose & Grave, the Skull & Bones-equivalent powermongering society. You know, the one with presidents as members, tons of scary clout, and (of course) men-only. Except for this year, because the senior guys have decided that it's high time that women be allowed to join. This causes some drama for her in having to "hide" (badly) what group she's supposed to be in and what they are doing, especially with her roommate Lydia who got into another society. Ditto her on-again-off-again fling boy Brandon.
Unfortunately for all current and new R&G members, the alumni board (the one that funds the meeting place, club, etc., and has all the strings to pull...) doesn't agree, and gives all current members the boot. Amy and her fellow taps, female and male, have to figure out what they're going to do about it, and/or if they even want to stay in this group at all...
I'm not doing the best job of describing this novel. That's the bare plot, but I'm not giving you a sense of the fun and/or surprising characters in it. I adored Amy's "big sib" Malcolm (and hope he can return in the next book even though he's graduated) and fellow tap George, and like Amy herself, got into Clarissa. There's one moment between the two that just got me kvelling, it was so great. And Amy's journey into figuring out what she wants and what her place is with regards to this group was intriguing.
Four stars from me, looking forward to the next one.
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