Skip to content
Responsive image
Vendor
Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories

THEY WISH THEY WERE US

Jessica Goodman

In this debut YA, set at an exclusive prep school, high school senior Jill Newman works to uncover the truth about her best friend's death three years ago and the role she and her fellow "players" - members of the secret society that rules the school - may have had in it.
Jill Newman's best friend, the enigmatic Shaila Arnold, was killed by her boyfriend three years ago. After that dark night on the beach, Graham confessed, the case was closed, and Jill and her friends tried to move on.

Now, it's Jill's senior year and she's determined to make it her best yet. After all, she's a senior and a Player--a member of Gold Coast Prep's exclusive, not-so-secret secret society. Senior Players have the best parties, the admiration of the entire school, and the highest grades. This is going to be Jill's year. She's sure of it.

But when she starts getting texts proclaiming Graham's innocence, Jill's dreams of the perfect senior year, in her perfect seaside town, with her perfect group of friends, starts to crumble. Suddenly, flashes of that night on the beach freshman year start coming back to her, along with memories she's tried to suppress. More than anything, Jill wants to uncover the truth about what happened to Shaila, but she soon realizes that doing so means putting her friendships, and her future, in jeopardy.

Jessica Goodman is a senior editor at Cosmopolitan, where she edits stories about career, money, love, sex, and food. She and her team received the National Magazine Award in Personal Service for their 2017 story, "How to Run for Office," reporting on women running for office throughout the US. Jessica can be found on Twitter @jessgood and on Instagram @jessicagoodman. THEY WISH THEY WERE US is her debut novel.
Available products
Book

Published 2020-08-04 by Razorbill

Comments

The chilling murder mystery is an irresistible hook, but it's the careful building of each character's fraught, internal conflicts that really digs in, elevating the work from a high society whodunit to a knowing mission to not just uncover one's own identity, but to build it. Read more...

...one of this summer's buzziest YA reads... Read more...

THEY WISH THEY WERE US is popping up on every round up, including: - Pop Sugar's list of 15 YA Novels Coming Out in Summer 2020 That Need to Be on Your Reading List -Elle.com's The 40 Best New Books of Summer 2020 - BuzzFeed's 7 Truly Excellent Young Adult Novels for "Gossip Girl" Fans and 17 New YA Thrillers And Mysteries You Won't Want to Put Down - Marie Claire's Most Anticipated Books of 2020 BookRiot's Summer 2020 YA Books: Your Reading List is Hot, Hot, Hot

BuzzFeed included THEY WISH THEY WERE US in their round up of 7 Truly Excellent Young Adult Novels for "Gossip Girl" Fans! Read more...

Did you catch Jess on the We Are YA Check-in? Read more...

Goodman deftly explores the complex nature of friendship, privilege, grief, and the often crushing expectations placed on teens, all of which dovetails neatly with a twisty murder mystery... A sophisticated and suspenseful debut.

[A]n engrossing story of evil, upscale Long Island teens.

Cosmopolitan ran an exclusive excerpt Read more...

Jess was featured on Penguin Teen's #BookConline Get Your Thrill On panel! Read more...

A whip-smart mystery with a pitch-perfect voice.

UK: Scholastic UK ; Dutch: De Fontein ; French: Pocket Jeunesse ; Polish: Rodzina ; Portuguese: Alta Books ; Russian: Eksmo ; Spanish: PRH Spain; Turkish: Artemis

A pristine infusion of Gossip Girl and Netflix's Elite, this prep-school thriller has it all: plaid skirts, secret societies, and a gripping murder mystery, but paired with an adept critique of the powers and privileges that goeth before the fall. Read more...

US- film rights sold!: Euphoria's Sydney Sweeney has launched her own production company, Fifty-Fifty Films, and has set her first project as a starring vehicle. Sweeney has teamed with Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Ross' Crazyrose and Endeavor Content on The Players Table, a TV series adaptation of Jessica Goodman's forthcoming debut novel They Wish They Were Us. Annabelle Attanasio (Mickey and the Bear) is attached to write, direct and executive produce. Read more...

Jessica Goodman's thrilling debut is a modern-day Gossip Girl - but darker. Read more...

This debut murder mystery is filled with twists and turns that will keep its pages turning.

A searing novel about power, privilege, and the dangerous pursuit of perfection.

A juicy, fast-paced, addictive tale that's more than a mystery - it's a timely exploration of ambition, loyalty, and how far we'll go to belong. I couldn't put it down.

Jessica Goodman's debut mystery is a true page-turner, but it's her exploration of Gold Coast's high-achieving, socioeconomically stratified culture that sets They Wish They Were Us apart on the shelf. Read more...

Fast-paced and completely consuming - I was swept into this riveting mystery from beginning to end. They Wish They Were Us smartly explores the complexities of friendship, the secrets and lies buried under the picturesque façade, and the ultimate cost of perfection.

Gossip Girl but make it a juicy murder mystery. Read more...