The Rivals (The Mockingbirds #2)
Daisy Whitney
Published February 6, 2012
Little, Brown Books
Review Copy
Reviewed by Rachael
When Alex Patrick was assaulted by another student last year, her elite boarding school wouldn’t do anything about it. This year Alex is head of the Mockingbirds, a secret society of students who police and protect the student body. While she desperately wants to live up to the legacy that’s been given to her, she’s now dealing with a case unlike any the Mockingbirds have seen before.
It isn’t rape. It isn’t bullying. It isn’t hate speech. A far-reaching prescription drug ring has sprung up, and students are using the drugs to cheat. But how do you try a case with no obvious victim? Especially when the facts don’t add up, and each new clue drives a wedge between Alex and the people she loves most: her friends, her boyfriend, and her fellow Mockingbirds.
As Alex unravels the layers of deceit within the school, the administration, and even the student body the Mockingbirds protect, her struggle to navigate the murky waters of vigilante justice may reveal more about herself than she ever expected. –Goodreads
I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book after finishing The Mockingbirds and boy, I was not disappointed in the least! I can’t believe I will have to wait so long for the third book (please tell me there will be a third book…I shall live under this assumption because when I was finished, my first thought was, “I cannot believe I can’t run out and buy the next book ASAP!”)
Alex and her friends are back in action and this year they stakes are high as The Mockingbirds uncover a prescription drug ring operating in the school with a huge twist. I loved where the book picked up and the way the obvious love-triangle was handled (while in general we’re not teenage love-triangle lovers here at Hooked to Books, the way Daisy (who I shall now call Daisy as surely we would be BFFs in real life) is dealing with Martin and Jones is excellent, at least in my book!) Alex is definitely a mature high schooler worthy of leading The Mockingbirds. Sure, vigilante justice has its problems (which is explored in this book a bit) but the voice of the people must be heard and I love Mockingbirds Series so much that I find myself in a Megan-state of wordlessness 😉
Go; read The Mockingbirds and The Rivals, they are refreshing (just like your upcoming Spring Break!) and may just make you take a stand.