Pub Day! This May End Badly by Sam Markum

April 11, 2022

by Samantha Markum

Published: April 12, 2022

5 stars out of 5

☙ ☙ ☙

Pranking mastermind Doe and her motley band of Weston girls are determined to win the century-long war against Winfield Academy before the clock ticks down on their senior year. But when their headmistress announces that The Weston School will merge with its rival the following year, their longtime feud spirals into chaos.

This May End Badly is a story about friendship, falling in love, and crossing pretty much every line presented to you—and how to atone when you do.

☙ ☙ ☙

I thought this was an excellent book. It was so much more than a fake dating trope and a high school prankster. The characters were great. The plot was fantastic, the premise unique. Great writing. The opening scene was hilarious. It definitely set a certain tone for the rest of the book. The feminist Girl Power vibe I got from the brief Weston school history lesson early in the book was especially satisfying when it circled back around in a big way at the end.

Doe’s first person narration is great. She’s witty and sarcastic and makes a very enjoyable narrator. I really appreciated how the author seamlessly blended typical teenage drama with much heavier topics. It gave gravity to a story that could easily have been frivolous and ridiculous. It’s peppered with important lessons that even grownups often still need to learn but without feeling too preachy.

I really liked Doe’s friend group and her (not so) fake boyfriend, Wells. Their relationship is pretty sweet and they’re really great together even when they’re not “together”.

Doe deals with all the typical teenage stressors like friendship drama and feeling like she’s expected to know what she’s going to do with her life, but she has to deal with much more than just that, which is what makes this book so interesting and, I think, unique. Doe’s got more issues than Vogue and they all come creeping up on her in the 11th hour of her time at Weston. She loses nearly everyone close to her because of her behavior. This is relevant not just to teens but pretty much any person who is alive and breathing. We all need to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves. And she done wrecked herself. Doe then realizes she needs to engage in some much needed self reflection.

Every character is well written. The dialogue is excellent. I’m pretty impressed with this author. I will definitely be up for reading anything else she writes.

Side note: At one point, Doe recounts a conversation she had with someone at school where they talked about what food they missed most from their hometowns. Hers was Provel cheese which is the bat signal that means she is from St. Louis (and loves St Louis-style pizza!) That’s my girl! 🙌🏼 😂 All the authentic St. Louis references made this native St. Louisan happy. ❤️

I would recommend this to anyone.

5 stars out of 5

🃏📚🏫🎓

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the ARC.