ARC gratefully received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I finished this book several days ago and I've been thinking about it ever since. I don't know anything about the author. I don't know if this is a debut book or the latest of many. Either way it was fantastic. 

The best way I can think to describe this book in short is Made in Chelsea meets Riverdale.

S.T.A.G.S is an immersive, edge-of-your-seat type of read. I haven't read anything quite this for some time. I loved how the story was almost told in reverse. Our narrator Greer makes a bold statement in the opening pages. The rest of the book is then Greer telling us all about the weekend she was invited to go huntin' shootin' fishin'. 

I was completely invested in this book from the first page to the last. Everything was intense and vivid and realistic. It felt more than "just" a book. I felt like I was sat round the table at meal times with Greer and the others. I felt like I was quite literally huntin' shootin' fishin'. 

This is a dark, twisty and surprising novel. I had no idea what to expect and I was totally blown away. I requested a copy to review because I loved the cover. The tag line made me think this was a sporty story (a genre I love) which it was I guess and so much more. 

Read this book. If you are looking for a book that will make you question your loyalties over and over again. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

"Nine students. Three bloodsports. One deadly weekend." - based on this it should have been amazing. Unfortunately, S. T. A. G. S. didn't deliver. It wouldn't be fair to say that I didn't enjoy it at all because, to a certain degree, I did. Just not enough to call it a success. I saw what the author was trying to do when writing this book but it wasn't quite enough for me to love it.
It's is filled with pointlessly long descriptions which are given way too much attention at the expense of the gory/creepy bits that could have been done in a much better way - after all that's what we are expecting after reading the blurb. The main aspect that was lacking in S. T. A. G. S. was the suspense and that may be its fatal flaw. You see, in a book like S. T. A. G. S. a certain level of suspense is expected if not required at all times. I was not anxious to find out what happens next. Truth be told I didn't really care all that much. What more, it's quite predictable. Thrillers are not supposed to be predictable! The author tried way too hard to make this book something it wasn't and it just didn't work out.
Another thing that annoyed me about this book were the movie references - I'm not a movie person. I don't really watch anything except a few horror movies here and there and some shows my friends force me into watching. Therefore I didn't get half of the things Greer, our main character, was talking about. And now we come to the point when we talk about our precious Greer who, even though she's presented as an extremely intelligent individual, fits right into the horror movie kind of stupid protagonist. I'm sure you know the one - ignores-all-the-extremely-obvious-signs-that-something-is-wrong-until-she-ends-up-possessed-by-a-demon kind of gall. She annoyed me to the point of wanting to reach into the book and slap some sense into her.
I don't really care about the ending either even though it left a convenient walkway for the second book. Well, whatever, I'm not reading book two if it ever comes out. S. T. A. G. S. was underwhelming. It gets its deserved two stars. Nothing more.

STAGS is an intriguing read from the start and keeps the reader entertained the whole way through. On the whole I enjoyed the reading experience but had a minor problem with the book.

STAGS main character Greer is a strong character who is interesting to get to know and easy to relate to but if she thinks something like a boy is attractive she feels like a bad feminist. It related her liking a boy to not having feminist values, but this may have been something that she was discovering was OK. 

The other minor problem I had with the book is how much Greer forebodes the future of the book and that you know how it is going to end at the start. However it is interesting to try to work out how it will get there as you read on.

The story itself is interesting with the twist and turns and intrigue mixed with the traditional values of the school and some forklore. It definitely made for a good read. The fact that Greer fights with herself about what is really going on adds another layer to the story. 

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a thriller with younger protagonist with an upper class feel. 

*ARC received from publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I feel as if this is suited for a younger age range than my own. Ie. 12-16. It's just not what I look for in a thriller type book so I've skipped out on a proper review for this one. Although I think younger audiences will ideally enjoy.

I have been wanting to read this book since I saw the synopsis months ago and thankfully it lived up to my expectations and more.
I have always loved books with rich powerful teens who exist in secret societies and have read many books with these types of characters but this was unlike anything I had ever read before. The huntin', shootin', fishin' was a really unique concept (if very hard to read about) and I was always on edge over what the Medievals would do to the Savages. At the school no internet, mobile phones and modern technology are really used and it just added to the overall creepy vibe although the main character Greer regularly threw in film references and things she had done when she lived at home before going to the school and I really liked seeing them. It made me realise how weird it must have been for a regular teen to be caught up in this twisted new world.
My only annoyance is that I didn't know a big part of this book is set at the Lakes District where I will be visiting in around 6 weeks and I wish I had kept it to read until then.
Oh and there is totally gonna be a sequel, right?

An intriguing story of privilege, friendship and murder. STAGS mixed the old and the new with it's archaic school and practices in a modern world.  I thought the ending, although left open, was really well done. It reminded me in some ways of the film A Young Sherlock Holmes, which I'm sure Greer would approve of!

An interesting take on the boarding school story, but instead of midnight feasts and tuck boxes we have huntin' shootin' fishin' and the Medievals, a group of students who would seem to have it all. The main character, Greer, admits to being a murderer in the prologue so the story is about finding out exactly who she is meant to have killed. 

A pretty decent YA novel, with a bow taken in the direction of Christie's And Then There Were None but ultimately nowhere near as satisfying. I enjoyed the story and was intrigued by the whole premise. At the end of the day though it wasn't quite thriller/suspense-y enough for me. I suspect 13-year-old me would have devoured it though!

Really nice concept but I did find myself working things out before the main characters..maybe this attests to my mistrusting nature. I did really enjoy it however and I'm looking forward to seeing if they will be a sequel. I think it could do well as either and individual novel or a series but again it might get a little predictable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A fresh  take on boarding school. I was unable to put it down

Firstly, thank you to Hot Key Books and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book in one day and found myself gripped from the very beginning; there is an unrelenting sense of foreboding that never leaves the narrative. I defy anyone not to be intrigued by the first line,”I think I might be a murderer“! Greer, our protagonist, clearly has some complex and disturbing experiences in her past and Bennett never allows us to feel comfortable in her world. Indeed, her position as an outsider at S.T.A.G.S is immediately established, her northern accent, edgy black hair do and searing insight into school politics show that she doesn’t really belong in the world of the Medievals, nor does she want to…or so we think.

Whilst Greer is a confident character, S.T.A.G.S is a formidable presence able to make anyone weak at the knees; it’s a Hogwarts for humans in the cold, misty north (sign me up please). From the sweeping black robes to the bright red stockings “the colour of arterial blood“, you can’t help but feel that this impressive, rather gorgeous institution is harboring something dark and delicious behind its glossy, traditional facade. If the walls could talk, the stag heads with their beady eyes would have A LOT to say!

Greer acknowledges her rather cloying school life in some cracking lines (I particularly like the naming of her roommate). Although, as obscenely traditional and stuffy as it seems, I found myself utterly charmed by the wonderful descriptions of the school and students. The differentiation between what was deemed Medieval and Savage was a nostalgic look back at the trends at school and the popular group who controlled them; I was very pleased to see that this group at S.T.A.G.S (the Medievals) had deemed reading to be cool “They went around ostentatiously reading books“. These six students are brilliantly described, calling upon every stereotypical ‘posh boy’ character trait to create a humorous parody of the rahs and toffs that, according to Bennett, are destined for Durham, Oxford or Cambridge. Although, they read as more than a parody, they seem to be the original torchbearers for this group, with their perfectly coiffed hair, fountain pens and Siren looks. It is easy to write these characters off as beautiful and boring, but, once again, a sense of foreboding pervades with Greer’s warning that “you underestimated them at your peril”. Bennett never allows us to rest on our laurels, but, despite these warnings, I was completely taken in by S.T.A.G.S and, later, Longcross.

If S.T.A.G.S is Hogwarts then Longcross is Cedric Diggory’s house (or what I imagine it to be); refined; elegant and devastatingly charming. Henry de Warlencourt and his abode are tied to one another as they both typify impeccable style and irresistible grace. Henry is a character you are screaming out to dislike; he has everything you want in spades; looks, money, charm, intelligence and a certain je ne sais quoi which makes him seem almost godly. However, like Greer, I was slowly reeled in by his effortlessly powerful presence in the novel; his conversations with other characters, particularly Shafeen, sing and command our attention; he is brilliantly written. So too are Greer’s companions Chanel and Shafeen, all starkly different from one another and yet unified in fear, ignorance and, eventually, cunning and bravery. Longcross is full of warning signs; the almost mute Perfect, the lack of any adult supervision and the leering, wine stained grins of Cookson and Piers, everything seems secretive and sinister. And yet, I allowed myself to be lulled gently by the familiar scenes of “antlers bristling on every wall”, the highly civilised routines of the house and the ever present delight of Henry’s excellent hosting skills. Longcross’s secretive atmosphere transformed into something excitingly magical in my eyes, and evidently, in Greer’s too.

The huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ changed everything. I was whipped up in highly emotive scenes; the description of the deer hunt was stunning and I began to feel disturbed and unsure of my calculations of characters up to that point, particularly and most shockingly, Greer. The clinical and highly organised nature of these activities remove the cosy warmth of the house; Longcross felt untamed and dangerous. The characters, therefore, became wild and unpredictable and the tension built in this section of the novel. It was thrilling to read and Bennett has cleverly structured the novel to lure us into a false sense of security and empathise with the confusions and challenges Greer faces.

The only slight disappointment came towards the end of the book where an unexpected plot twist occurs. For the reader, it is difficult to fathom how Greer, the intelligent, eagle eyed heroine of the story doesn’t picked up on this plot point when it had (literally) been staring her in the face for a year and the ending lacked a little panache because of this.

However, this is a thrilling, well paced and very well written story about privilege and tradition and what happens when you go against the grain. I highly recommend it.

I noticed that two of the four school houses at S.T.A.G.S where also names of houses at my old school, and, whilst I didn’t wear red stockings, I did have to wear a brown beret…I think I had a lucky escape!

There are few books that can keep me up and reading late into the night these days. STAGS was the first one in a while, but it was just so good. I didn't want to stop reading, even when I knew there would be a while before the action got really good again. 

It was all just so ominous. Even when Greer was trusting Henry and putting the "accidents" that happened down to just bad luck, there was this background sense that they were being toyed with. I'm not sure how much that's because of what it says in the synopsis. If the synopsis left us questioning more over whether they are just genuinely accidents, would it have felt so ominous? It would be something I'd like to know. 

I really enjoyed the relationships between the characters.  The friendship that formed between the three victims and the way that they barely knew each other before, but being in the house drew them closer together. 

After the way it ended, I'm really hoping for a sequel.

Brutal and gory account of three teens deadly brush with the popular crowd. Set at St Aidan the Greats - an exclusive boarding school where future politicians and business leaders begin networking, Greer is getting used to the fact the Medievals - the richest, most beautiful students - will never know she exists. So when she's invited to a weekend of Huntin' Shootin' and Fishin' at Henry de Warlencourt - the king of the Medieval's - country pile, she's surprised, but excited. Only to find entertaining her, and her fellow classmates isn't the only thing the Medieval's have in mind. Not a perfect book - I would have loved to see more of the activities, and also more clues as to the eventual ending on the way. I wish the author had gone a little further with the gruesomeness, and also found the final activity anticlimactic compared to the other two. But it was thrilling enough to keep me awake until 2am, and have me scrambling for it again when I woke up.

I was excited for this book from the first moment I heard about it. The very premise was something that pricked my interest. I was able to get a copy of this book signed by M.A Bennett during YALC this July and I impatiently waited for The Reading Quest to start so that I could start this book. As you can tell, there was a lot of build up and a lot of anticipation for this release.

S.T.A.G.S reached all of my expectations.

From the very first line – “I think I might be a murderer” – I was engaged in this story.

It’s written like almost like a memoir, everything told in retrospect which I think adds to the tension and thriller aspects of the story. You know something happened, you know someone died, you know who is responsible – you just don’t know what it is.

Bennett is really good at keeping the tension up throughout the story. The events of the deadly weekend are paralleled against the posh blood sports that take place each day – day 1, huntin’; day 2, shootin’; day 3, fishin’. Details about each bloody hobby are described and then seen acted out by the perpetrators. It’s a great way of adding foreshadowing – and therefore tension – to each arc of the story.

I really liked Greer’s voice. I enjoyed the moments of uncertainty that she felt, I liked all the movie references because that was something that was distinctly her and gives her a fantastic voice that you can follow with ease.

All the characters really were charismatic and entertaining in their own way. From the ‘Medievals’, blond and beautiful, to Shafeen, who wants to find out the secrets and save those he cares about, to Nel, who just wants to fit in. Each of them have you questioning intentions or feeling empathy deep in your chest for these feelings of inadequacy.

There’s a lot of focus on the modern world vs the old, and the social commentary that comes with that is incredibly interesting to read. Positives and negatives are both raised, the romanticisation of the past repeatedly challenged. In the end, this questioning is something that sets the characters and the world that S.T.A.G.S inhabited apart from everything else.

And as for the plot twist, well, let’s say – M.A. Bennett, is there going to be a sequel?

Rating - 3 / 5

This wasn't awful, but I can't say it was one that I enjoyed. It just couldn't fully gain my interest unfortunately, so I spent a lot of the book feeling quite bored. I was pretty glad to see the end. 

Overall, Not awful, but not one for me.

This was such a fun book to read. It tells the story of Greer, the new girl at a prestigious school and the weekend away from hell. What I liked the most here, was the tone. The narrative is told from Greer's perspective and she has a really sassy voice that works so well. The story is interesting and the plot construction keeps your attention, despite always having a fair idea of what is going to happen next. The characters are well drawn and the dialogue is smart and feels authentic. There are parallels with any school clique story and the underdogs banding together, but the author has managed to use these tropes in novel ways with a strength of prose that is undeniable. I like all the film references and overall, really enjoyed this book.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

WOW! I am still reeling from this book even though I finished it hours ago, and if I didn't have a serious need to get through some books on my reading list before school starts, I would delve right back into S.T.A.G.S again from the beginning to see how many more little details I missed. I've already tweeted and told friends that this book is like Hogwarts meets How to Get Away With Murder, but there is honestly so much in this book to get excited about, and I hope I can control my excitement enough to write a coherent review.

S.T.A.G.S stands for St Aidan the Great School. It is the prestigious boarding school that Greer, the protagonist, has won a scholarship to attend for sixth form. Intimidated and lonely, surrounded by children who are wealthier than her and know all the rules better than she does, she is intrigued and excited when she receives The Invitation. She has been invited to spend a weekend 'huntin, shootin, fishin,' at Longcross, the manor house belonging to the school's golden boy, Henry de Warlencourt, along with his gang, called the Medievals, and two other misfits. However, Greer's belief that she might have finally been welcomed into S.T.A.G.S begins to waver. As each of the bloodsports ends in a well-timed 'accident', the three guests begin to wonder whether they are the predators, or the prey.

This novel has a mystery feel to it from the beginning. I loved how Bennett uses foreboding so well, instantly telling us from the start that a 'murder' takes place, and that there is something ominous going on in S.T.A.G.S, and yet, like Greer herself, we can't quite figure out what it is. Just as she does, we're suspicious of characters, and then we see them in a slightly more flattering light and we wonder whether they're really the bad guys at all, or whether they're just misunderstood. I liked how she alternated tense scenes, like the hunting scenes, with Downton Abbey-esque dinners, more romantic scenes, or slightly friendlier chats with the Medievals. It meant that your idea of the characters was never set in stone, and they changed with every scene. Until the very last page, you can't quite put your finger down on the problem, you can't figure out who the real bad guy is, where the 'bad guys' end and the 'good guys' begin, and how Greer and her friends will ever be able to escape.

The plot moves forward constantly, and even where the pace of the story is slower, there is always tension bubbling away beneath the surface. Every conversation that the characters have, every room that we enter, every little detail means something, and you are kept on your toes throughout. I loved the way that the three guests at Longcross, Greer, Nel, and Shafeen, come together to try and figure out what is really going on at Longcross, and discover that the seemingly harmless traditions of not using technology hide something far darker underneath. I never felt that Bennett's writing dragged the story down, even though she often described things like buildings and dresses, because she did so in a way that felt natural to Greer's voice and fit in with the story, and always picked up details that she had mentioned and made them important later in the story. She has an excellent skill at weaving details and storylines together in a way that you suspect they will add up to something more significant, but can't quite figure it out. In fact, right up until the last page, she is pulling tricks out of her sleeve and shocking you.

Underneath all of this excitement, mystery, and suspense, there are deeper themes of class, race, and tradition. Even if the setting of S.T.A.G.S and Longcross is as establishment as it comes, and as alien to you as it was to Greer and me, this book is not Downton Abbey or Hogwarts-esque. It isn't even, as Greer jokes, Mean Girls-esque. It is dark, thrilling, and thought-provoking. It makes you question establishment and traditions, and also wonder what deep, dark secrets could be lurking in plain sight.

I've said this in a few reviews recently, but this is definitely one of my books of the year, and even after writing this review, I'm still reeling. I just know that I'll read anything that M.A. Bennett writes after this.

This idea was cool, but...disappointing? I was expecting more full-blown horror over having nightly dinners with drunk antagonists.

This book is told from a reflective Geer in first person, this mean once in a while we get a reminder than bad stuff is gonna go down. It hypes up to nothing in my opinion. Yeah, something happens, but its kinda small (in terms of books). 

The bad guys are bad, the main characters do stupid stuff for no reason. The ending doesn't work well for me. I have specific reasons, but we don't do spoilers here. They feels like this book had another ending at one point, because something that happens would have made more sense if the characters had done the more obvious thing. I really hope that things weren't changed to force a sequel because this book doesn't need one and the ending would have been stronger. Like I feel like its been set up for one, but I don't think there's enough interesting stuff going on for another book. There's nothing wrong with being self-contained.

We have another pointless romance. Why ROMANCE? This is weakly use to give character motivation, that's not needed, nor is it done well. It's stated. This is more a general YA complaint, I'm just going to complain until someone gives me friendship and and developed characters. I actually would have liked the relationships, the thing is this book just has a lot small scenes that overbalance it into the negative for me and with only 300 pages they have a big impact in my memory when trying to review this book.

Geer is all about the film references, since she named after film star. I usually enjoy this sort of thing; but it soon becomes apparent that this a crutch to cling to other people's imagery and emotion than your own ability. Also the youngest film she references is Twilight. 

I live in the country, I basically always have. Deer and pheasant are roadkill. If you're city folk, you might be horrified by shooting a deer, but pheasant are pigeons. Deer are counted as vermin due to how many they are. They like to jump in front of cars in pairs, like sheep. Pheasants choose to wander roads to be ran down and cause damage to cars. There a point where Geer (a name that never flows) picks up a dead pheasant, I thought it was alive, never questioned it until she started crying in her head. Pheasants are stupid, a pheasant would let you pick it up as it stares at its dead comrades. If I wanted I could catch a pheasant, I could. Literally, no reason to do so. Hunting Pheasants is the same as fishing in fish farm. I don't approve hunting without reason, eat what you catch and don't agree with some of the practices but as a country girl I have kill pheasants and I will probably kill again (Stop jumping in front of my car).

Geer becomes dislikable when she doesn't care about fish...The one thing that there is not an over-abundance of (though, they probably farmed anyway).  Though, if your a city girl like Geer, you won't know this stuff so really this is just my pet problem. I often have those.

 The plot while interesting, makes very little sense. Modern society is bad, there clearly think its bad in several ways, but ends up being all about the internet. The arguments for and against the internet are hella weak. It involves the media's wrong definition of what an online troll is. Trolls don't specifically harse someone and bully. Troll is someone who intentionally annoying and idiotic, yes often offensive, but not towards individual people. The art of the troll is annoy large groups of people. If someone sends you a death threat or personalised insult they are not a troll. Sadly some people are just as dumb as trolls prend to be. Though, it probably getting to the point that media is dumb enough that keep repeating, the definition might have changed for younger people, but living with a 13 year old, I can tell you they don't call their antagonists trolls. It kinda felt like it was written by someone who doesn't use the internet (with research I can tell that this non-debut novelist has to be a like ten years older than me and therefore did not grow up with the sites that can be argued to have shaped the modern internet and might be like my sister who knows nothing about internet despite using it daily). The arguments are dumb because hate mail has existent since the start of anonymous mailing systems have and bullying has been a problem for like always. Geer nor any of the characters challenges this argument meaning it doesn't do much. Argument have to be challenged to stand at all. By the way, I would have took Vine out of this book, as vine has been dead for a year, there is no way it couldn't be took out. It just quickly dates this book. I wonder if Vine had a bigger part until it died or no one noticed it died (I got an arc but it doesn't have the Proof disclaimer at the front so...I'm going with its the finished novel).

There's an obsession with rich YouTubers...yeah some of them are trash, but YouTube is never defended as being more than a place for rich boys doing nothing and hosting viral cat videos. Its hosts several community involving intelligent discussion and artists as well. Also there are tons of daily vloggers that puts tons of work into their videos. I've been on YouTube for ten years and the target market will include people who remember YouTube always having been a thing for them. If this is gonna be such a thing in the novel, then at least give me a character that watches YouTube. Geer loves films, there are tons of films on YouTube and there is the more legal practice of reviewing and discussing films. There are groups of young filmmakers that make short films on YouTube. There are production value on YouTube. It would have better if anyone had challenge them.

Overall, I give this 3/5 stars for This is M.A. Bennett's first YA novel. This an okay, quick read that tries to place class snobby within the internet age. Secret murder societies are bordering schools are over done and the internet aspect just wasn't done well enough to be interesting. I think a big problem is this book wasn't as cool as the summary made it sound and therefore I am disappointed. There were things I should have liked and enjoyed about this book, but sadly it was very whatever. It's an okay read, if certain things had been different it could have been brilliant.

BTW, I read this on my phone. I read books on my phone the majority of the time, phones are carry of media. Another argument that could have been used in their favour.

5 Words: Privilege, power, huntin', shootin', fishin'.

Holy wow. I misjudged this book a lot.

I knew from those first gripping pages that there had been a death, that someone thought they had murdered someone else, but I loved how unreliable it felt.

I'm not entirely sure what it was about the cover or the blurb (yes, I read it for once!) that made me think that this was set in the US, but it's not. And that came as a very pleasant and welcome surprise. 

I found myself quickly sucked deep into the world of the Medievals and Savages and the intrigue of school politics, and that was enough to keep me feverishly turning pages even before the main story kicked in.  And once that main story kicked in I was hooked by the ominous cloud hanging over everything, the portent of what I thought I knew was to come (I was wrong).

I loved Greer. I loved how she had this film connection with her father and how it was such a large part of her life that slipped into Greer's narrative. 

I feel like this would translate amazingly into film or TV - and the setting would be all the more breathtaking. Think Skins set in Downton Abbey with a dash of Mean Girls.

The ending of STAGS was left open, ready for a sequel. But I actually hope it is left on its own, as that would make the story (and the ending) even more powerful. Also, I can carry on the fanfic in my head.

Perfect for readers of YA mystery or psychological thrillers. Right from the start we know there are murderers and a murder. We are just waiting to learn the how and why of it. The entirety of this book is so fun, fast-paced, and entirely original. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep readers on the edge of their seats. Bennett's writing is excellent truly building up tension and suspense. This is one unputdownable read. Highly recommended to readers of YA thrillers. We've got a hit here! Be sure to check out today!