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The Society of S is about Ariella Montero, a very sheltered, educated 13-year-old growing up in Saratoga Springs, NY. Her father is a brilliant, handsome, reclusive research scientist who is home-schooling Ari and raising her alone. Ari’s mother left them immediately after Ari’s birth. Their Victorian mansion is full of secrets that Ari decides to investigate.
This was just okay for me. I have to admit that this is a young adult book and I’m not a young adult, but that doesn’t usually bother me. The book is well-written, and the story is interesting, but I think my biggest problem was in believing that this was supposed to be pages from a 13-year-old’s journal. There might be 13-year-old geniuses out there who are this introspective, thoughtful, and well-written, but they’re few and far between. I just had a hard time buying it for that reason. And, this is kind of a small thing, but there are interjections thrown in that would just throw me off. Like, “I think in colors. Do you?” Okay, is she really talking to me, or is she supposed to be telling this story to someone? That wasn’t cleared up until the very last pages, although, if I’d really thought about, I could probably have figured it out in the first couple of pages. Obviously I wasn’t paying that much attention.
All in all, I really just felt like this author, while telling a completely different story, was really just trying to cash in on the popularity of Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight series. Read those instead, but if you’re left hungry for more, you might want to turn to this one. Just be warned that you probably won’t enjoy it as much.
Reviewed January 19, 2008
Read an excerpt.
Find author Susan Hubbard on her website and Facebook.
Read other reviews at Bloody Bookaholic, Once Upon a Bookshelf, and The Book Muncher.
If you liked The Society of S, you might also like Beautiful Creatures by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia, Ruined by Paula Morris, and The Dark Divine by Bree Despain.
Buy The Society of S at
Friday Flashback Reviews are a weekly feature here on The Introverted Reader. These are old reviews I wrote on GoodReads. Thanks to Angieville and her Retro Friday Reviews for the inspiration and encouragement!
I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.
