The Mary Shelley Club
by Goldy Moldavsky
Henry Holt and Co., 2021
480 pages
Young Adult (14+)
A teenage Midnight Society named for Mary Shelly because of the fateful night she spent with her husband Percy Shelley, step sister Claire, Gothic trend-setter Basil Polidori, and Lord Byron crafting stories. But instead of telling stories around a campfire, this club watches scary movies in posh mansions. And competes in what they call Fear Tests. With help of the others, each member takes a turn devising a horror-movie styled scenario. To be successful, the players must make the designated target scream in fear.
This is a Young Adult novel, written about teens, but aside from a bit of friendly stabbing has no overt sexuality or gratuitous gore that would keep it from the hands of a younger reader. I found the opening chapter awkwardly written, with lots of cool-speak, but that is quickly remedied and shakes out to become a fast-moving whodunit thriller in the vein of I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Rachel was recently a victim of a home invasion, and has just started attending a private high school populated by wealthy families where her mother is a teacher, but where she doesn’t fit in. She meets Saundra who seems happy to have her ear for the gossip she trades in, but Rachel soon makes an enemy in the alpha mean girl, Lux.
By accident, Rachel falls into a secret club of horror lovers and believes she has found her tribe, except the member who hosts the movie nights is none other than Bram, Lux’s boyfriend, the most charismatic guy in school. Channeling Byron himself, Bram starts dropping very thinly veiled hints that Rachel should leave the club. He alludes to Freddie not being what he seems, Freddie, who Rachel is developing a relationship with, but then explains outright that he feels she just doesn’t belong.
The narrative follows the members as the contest plays out, each taking a turn masterminding a fear test. Felicity, who targets her cheating ex-boyfriend, of course; Thayer, who takes on the jock jerk who’s been tormenting him (Thayer, I believe, is gay, but it is not specifically stated, so kudos for both diversity and characterization,) Rachel chooses her tormentor Lux, and the opening scene which must have been Freddie’s test since he was holding the sound effects remote when Rachel was first clued in on the club. After the third time they pull a prank, I thought to myself, this cannot go unpunished.
For some reason, Rachel oddly doesn’t tell the club that a masked person had appeared at the dance as well as the last two Fear Tests. A masked invader like the one who attacked her in her own home. Someone seems to be messing with Rachel specifically. Is it perfect Bram? Loverboy Freddie? The purposely under-characterized Felicity? Charming Thayer?
At Bram’s fear test, Saundra is chosen as the target. It’s OK, the last two were Bram’s best friend (if he actually has friends,) and his girlfriend, who suffered from a fall during the prank.
That’s when things start to go wrong. It’s no longer a game. The danger escalates after Bram’s birthday party, where Rachel and Freddie serve drinks. Someone appears to be targeting the Mary Shelley Club itself. Are they the only ones playing the game?
Don’t worry, the ending is satisfying. It isn’t some random character out of nowhere. The narrative allows you to keep your suspicions till the end, throwing in a few extra possibilities that, while this game is wrapped up, allows Rachel’s story to have a sequel.
