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The Legacies Hardcover – July 25, 2023

by Jessica Goodman (Author)

4.0 274 ratings

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"Our new favorite thriller." – COSMOPOLITAN

A glitzy YA thriller set in New York City elite social circles, filled with backstabbing and blackmail, twisty secrets, and a dead body, from New York Times bestselling author Jessica Goodman.

Perfect for fans of Euphoria, Holly Jackson, and Jessica Knoll.

An invitation for membership to the exclusive Legacy Club in New York City is more than an honor. It gives lifetime access to power and wealth beyond any prep school doors, as Legacy Club members always look out for their own. That is, after you make it through a rigorous week of events and the extravagant gala, the Legacy Ball.

It’s not surprising when Excelsior Prep seniors Bernie Kaplan, Isobel Rothcroft, and Skyler Hawkins are nominated as Legacies; their family pedigrees have assured their membership since birth—even if they're all keeping secrets that could destroy their reputations. But scholarship kid from Queens Tori Tasso is the surprise nominee no one saw coming. She’s never fit in this world of designer bags, penthouse apartments, and million-dollar donations. So what did she do to secure her place?

The evening of the Legacy Ball arrives, and everyone expects a night of luxury and excess, haute couture, and plenty of hushed gossip.
No one expects their secrets to come out.
Or for someone to die trying to keep them hidden.

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From the Publisher


	They Wish They Were Us	They'll Never Catch Us	The Counselors	The Legacies

Customer Reviews	3,466	792	835	274
Price	$9.33	$9.87	$10.70	$12.10
	Gossip Girl meets ONE OF US IS LYING in this emotional, immersive thriller set at an elite prep school where nothing is as it seems.	A fast-paced thriller about two sisters vying for the top spot on their cross-country team—until a teammate’s disappearance throws their lives off course.	A twisty new thriller about three best friends, one elite summer camp, and the dark secrets that lead to a body in the lake.	A glitzy YA thriller set in New York City elite social circles, filled with backstabbing and blackmail, twisty secrets, and a dead body, from New York Times bestselling author Jessica Goodman.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Our new favorite thriller." —COSMOPOLITAN

"A skillfully executed thriller with a decadent setting that fans of the genre will adore." —Kirkus Reviews

"Sharp and snappy dialogue; a fleshed-out, intersectionally diverse cast; and thought-provoking interrogations of classism elevate this adrenaline-packed read." —Publishers Weekly

"Thrilling and unputdownable. These dimensional, expertly crafted characters will sear into your mind and leave a mark long after you’ve turned the last page. This is Jessica Goodman’s best work yet." —Diana Urban, author of Lying in the Deep

About the Author

Jessica Goodman is the New York Times bestselling author of They’ll Never Catch Us, They Wish They Were Us, and The Counselors. She is the former op-ed editor at Cosmopolitan magazine. Her work has also been published in Marie Claire, Entertainment Weekly, The Cut, and Glamour. Follow Jessica on Twitter @jessgood and on Instagram @jessicagoodman.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

after the ball

The Legacy Ball had never ended in a murder-obviously. Usually, the seniors from New York's elite institutions capped off the night by watching the sunrise at some elaborate after-party. An all-nighter at a mansion in Bronxville. A beach bonfire at a sprawling estate in Southampton. A strobe-lit rave in a Ridgewood loft. This year, the nominees were supposed to be whisked away in a fleet of Suburbans heading to someone's country manor in the Hudson Valley.

But that's out of the question now, with the body and all.

Bernie Kaplan stands on the corner of Sixty-First Street in glittering four-inch stilettos and a silk pleated gown, Skyler Hawkins's tuxedo jacket hanging off her shoulders, even though it's warm for September. If you look closely enough, you can see she's trying not to shiver. A light breeze whips at the diamond drops dangling from her ears. The sirens from the cop cars wail, and Bernie glances down at her pale pink manicured fingers, now flecked with blood and dirt. Her bright red hair is messy, out of place. Her mother usually whispers for her to tuck back the flyaways before onlookers can snap photos, but Esther Kaplan is nowhere to be found, so Bernie lets them go free.

Bernie's eyes move to the curb as the rest of the attendees of the Legacy Ball spill onto the street to see the commotion. She wishes Tori were by her side. A week ago, that girl was no one. A scholarship senior from Queens who had stayed in the background for three whole years. Now, it's obvious that all of the Legacies underestimated her.

Bernie opens her mouth as if to say something but snaps it shut when the whispers around her erupt in to frantic, excited chatter. The wondering, the gasps, as police roll a stretcher away from the side entrance of the Legacy Club, away from the Ball. The body's on it, covered by a white sheet. An outline of lifeless fingers, legs, arms. The medics push the corpse in to an ambulance and shut the door. It speeds north.

The commotion gets louder. People are screaming and sobbing, drowning out the crackling voices coming in over walkie-talkies. Bernie longs for Isobel, what they had lost. For Skyler, too. For what he represented.

But she can't think about them right now. Because in this moment, there are questions. So many questions. And no one seems to have the answers.

All anyone knows for certain is that as the clock strikes midnight, a member of one of New York City's oldest, most exclusive institutions is dead, and that Bernie Kaplan is the one with blood on her hands.

Four Days
Before the Ball

Bernie

"Isn't it weird?" Isobel asks, her voice lilting. "To see all these strangers here, at our school? At Excelsior Prep?"

We're standing together at the entrance of our high school's cafeteria, though cafeteria isn't really the right word to describe this room, with its sky-high marble entryway and custom round oak tables that seat twelve. Dining room is more apt, though Architectural Digest once called it "the prettiest place to eat in all of the five boroughs." Across the atrium, floor-to-ceiling picture windows overlook the lacrosse fields down below, freshly mowed to a uniform length.

On the western side, you can see the turrets of the lower school peeking through the orchard across campus, the weeping willows and tall apple trees swaying through the glass. Headmaster Helfrich likes to say that Excelsior's campus is a fifth the size of Central Park and just as beautiful, a massive sprawl north of Manhattan, over the Bronx border.

If I close my eyes, I could walk right out that door and all over Excelsior's grounds without tripping or falling or bumping in to anything. We're only a few weeks away from the start of senior year, and coming here, even today before classes begin, feels like coming home.

Except I can't help but feel a wave of anxiety building in my stomach. Isobel and I inch forward in line, and I look behind me at the other nominated seniors from different schools in the Intercollegiate League. They're dressed in their most appropriate luncheon attire, standing up straight, smiles perky. Skyler's at the back of the line with Lee, Isobel's boyfriend, since they were late and I refused to wait for them. I spot the other Excelsior nominee we know about, Kendall Kirk, in a heated conversation with the debate champion from the Quaker school, Manhattan Friends, over by the drinks table. There should be six of us from Excelsior, but no one's figured out who the last nominee is. Not yet. I crack my knuckles, tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear. I remind myself that I'm wearing what I'm supposed to wear, acting how I'm supposed to act. Everything will go exceedingly well this week. It must. But my sense of unease won't go away.

"They're not strangers," I whisper, leaning close to Isobel so none of the students behind or in front of us hear. "At least they won't be by the end of the week."

Isobel nods, considering this assessment. If I were feeling a little less on edge, I might take the time to remind her to not be so snippy, which has been her default defense mechanism since I met her in fifth grade. After all, first impressions start now, as my mom told me, and can last until the final donation is made during the Legacy Ball in only four days. If you want to win-and we all do-you have to start on a good note, even with your peers. You never know whose parents or aunts or family friends are already in the Club or how deep their pockets are.

Plus, most of the other nominees are people we've seen around our whole lives-other seniors at schools in the Intercollegiate League we've played in field hockey or competed against in Model UN. There are only thirty-six of us here-six chosen from each of the six sister schools-and half of these kids summer out east with me, and the other half I recognize from Skyler's party scene.

The ones we don't know, we sure as hell will soon. And if we're smart, we'll keep them close for the rest of our lives. That's what Mom says, at least. Those chosen for the Legacy Club will be our college roommates, spouses, business partners, and investors. They'll be our allies in not only New York society, but in our long, storied futures that are only just beginning.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Razorbill (July 25, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593619501
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593619506
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 14 - 17 years
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 920L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 9 - 12
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.81 x 1.08 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #304,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #611 in Teen & Young Adult Friendship Fiction
- #724 in Teen & Young Adult Thrillers & Suspense (Books)
- #1,121 in Teen & Young Adult Mysteries & Detective Stories

Customer Reviews:
4.0 274 ratings

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Jessica Goodman

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Jessica Goodman is the New York Times bestselling author of They’ll Never Catch Us and They Wish They Were Us. The Counselors is her third novel. She is the former op-ed editor at Cosmopolitan magazine, where she won a National Magazine Award in personal service. She has also held editorial positions at Entertainment Weekly and HuffPost. Follow Jessica on twitter @jessgood and Instagram @jessicagoodman.

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Giovana

NY Glamour and murder

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book was very good and I enjoyed reading it so much. However, I found it very similar to her previous book They Wish They Were Us, and that can become repetitive. I liked this one better, tho. I found the mystery and the construction of the plot much more captivating. What I liked the most was the characters' development, each one showing their struggles in such ways that you couldn't not be angry and sad for them and wanting to protect them.

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James A. Glynn

The Upper-upper Class, Exposed

Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2023

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Not since Nelson DeMille’s “The Gold Coast” (1990) have I read an author of fiction who truly understands the difference between the old upper-upper class and the rest of us. Jessica Goodman’s first YA mystery, “They Wish They Were Us,” revealed this cloistered and very small social class through the eyes of young adults. Although she has not written a sequel, Ms. Goodman again chooses the YA genre for “The Legacies” (2023, 323 pages). As was the case with her earlier book, most of us will not be able to relate to her young characters.

Because Americans equate “social class” with degree of or lack of wealth, understanding the importance of lineage among those in the top tier of society is nearly impossible. If I were still teaching sociology and told my class that Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg are not members of the upper-upper class, my students would write me off as a prankster (or worse). But Goodman does the job as an author of fiction that I probably failed at as a professor of sociology. Her young characters never think about their wealth or their privileged positions in society because their way of life seems “natural” and they are essentially isolated from the rest of America.

The novel opens with the author telling us that, “The Legacy Ball had never ended with a murder — obviously.” The rest of the book is a review of the week of activities leading up to the event. Chapters are from the POV of three young women (Bernie, Isobel, and Tori) who are about to graduate from Excelsior Prep, one of the schools that comprise the Intercollegiate League of exclusive schools that are preparatory to matriculation at Ivy League or other A-List colleges and universities.

Bernie and Isobel are from “old line” families whose parents are alumni of the Intercollegiate League and who donate a ton of money to the prep schools and the colleges that their progeny choose. Each year, 36 students from the League are chosen to give presentations before the Legacy Ball, and the winner gets a check for $25,000, which — of course — is always donated back to the association. Those who are chosen as “legacies” are presented with a key to the Legacy Club in mid-town Manhattan, and that key will “open doors” to business and professional contacts for the rest of their lives.

Tori, however, is a scholarship kid whose father owns a neighborhood diner that is saddled with debt. If she wins, the check will help to wipe out the bills and save the diner. For this and other reasons (e.g., she come from Queens, for God’s sake), Tori doesn’t feel that she fits with her classmates who live in penthouses in Manhattan, get-away homes in the Hamptons, and pretty much anywhere else that they choose.

Kirkus Reviews states: “A skillfully executed thriller with a decadent setting that fans of the genre will adore.” But my friend who read “They Wish They Were Us” hated the characters and doesn’t want to read “The Legacies.” I understand. But I recommend the book as a well-told story about an America that we will never know or fully understand.

...Jim Glynn

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Daniel Paul Gustkey

Meh

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2024

This was a fun read and reminded me of the rich kid atmosphere of Gossip Girl. However, for being a thriller, the pacing was confusingly slow. I didn’t understand large parts of the plot and the dual POV wasn’t engaging like I expected. The ending tainted the rest of the story, but maybe that was the point.

I received an advance review copy for free via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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HEATHER

Slow start but a fun read

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2024

I will admit it took me a little bit to get into the story, I think in large part because none of the characters were particularly likable. I found this to be a pretty quick and fun read in general. I can't wait to read more of Jessica Goodman's books. I will be recommending this book!

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SSBelle

a fast and fun YA thriller - loved it!

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2023

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed Jessica Goodman's fourth novel very much; in fact I read it over 2 days on vacation. This YA thriller occurs over a 5 day span in Manhattan, and involves 3 teenagers who are all candidates to be admitted to an elite "legacy club," which will set them up for a lifetime of success and privilege. The Legacy Ball is where they will actually be celebrated and admitted; during this ball, someone dies. The story is told from 3 points of view ( the "queen bee" daughter of a Manhattan socialite, the eccentric "drugged- out" artist from Booklyn and the "outsider" Queens scholarship girl). There is also a fourth voice, a "narrator," who reports what is actually happening at the ball which becomes a crime scene. The desciptions of the glamor and glitter of the urban affluent life style are lush and decadent. As in her previous novels, the author manages to say a lot about class struggles and how it affects the dynamics amongst the girls. In addition, Goodman explores the previous generation and how their conflicts get played out in the girls' lives. Without giving too much away, suffice it to say that the book is ambitious in all it sets out to do: provide a fun, old fashioned murder mystery set in a glitzy city landscape while exploring the underbelly of the rich and famous and how these traits and patterns get passed down from mothers to daughters. It's a great read; don't miss it!

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Jan farnworth

gossip girl meets pretty little liars

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2024

The Legacies is a crime young adult thriller that reminds me of Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars. Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the legacy nominees who hopes to achieve the dream of being part of the club of high society.

Read this book if you enjoy:
Manhattan Elite
Gossip Girl
Pretty little liars
Dual timelines
multiple character pov
dark academia
This one was a solid 3 for me as it was not my usual genre, and the thriller part felt more like a cozy mystery. I found it a quick read, perfect for the young adult crowd, but not a show-stopping story.

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