RITES OF SPRING (BREAK)

Author: Diana Peterfreund ISBN: 9780385341936 7/2008 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: DELTA

For Amy, a week of R&R on her secret society’s private island should be all fun in the sun—and an escape from an on-campus feud with a rival society that’s turned disturbingly personal. But along with her SPF 30 and a bikini, Amy is bringing a suitcase full of issues to remote Cavador Key. Graduation from Eli University looms, not to mention buckets of unfinished business with a former flame and—most pressing of all—the sudden, startling transformation of a mysterious Rose & Grave patriarch from sheerly evil to utterly…appealing? Just when Amy thinks Spring Break can’t get any less relaxing, a wacky “accident” puts everyone on edge. And that’s only the beginning, as Amy starts to suspect that someone has infiltrated the island. With some major Rose & Grave secrets to be exposed, and the potential fallout enough to take down one of America’s most loathsome figureheads, what she can’t know is that the party crasher is deadly serious about making sure “Bugaboo” doesn’t get back to Eli alive…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

RITES OF SPRING (BREAK) is Peterfreund's third book in her Secret Society series. This book doesn't follow the format of the previous two of engaging the reader in the suspense of the story right off the bat. Instead, Peterfreund decided to make us wait for the suspense this time, and as a result the first two-thirds of the book reads like a mediocre chick-lit.

Amy and the rest of the Diggers have stolen a prized possession from a rival society, and because the rivals were able to identify Amy as one of the perpetrators, they've taken to pulling pranks on her left and right. At the same time, her ex-boyfriend and ex-friend Brandon is "confused" about his feelings for Amy and his relationship with his girlfriend. The reader has to endure this back and forth between Amy and Brandon and Amy and the rival society, for the majority of the 'semester,' until it comes time for Spring Break. While on Spring Break strange things begin to happen, and Amy's life is ultimately in danger. Luckily, all's well that ends well, and Amy and the Diggers return to school to finish out their senior year.

It's not clear where Peterfreund is going with this series, or if it's over now that Amy and her brothers are graduating. Though the book ties up all loose ends, I wouldn't be surprised if there was another installment in the works. All in all, it's not that I didn't like this book—I did; it just wasn't what I had come to expect from Peterfreund. I had wanted a gripping page-turner that made me want to stay up late into the night to continue reading. Instead, what I got was a more relaxed, meandering tale, and unfortunately the suspenseful ending didn't make up for that. I'll probably still read Peterfreund's next tale, but I might wait for someone else to weigh in before I do.

Jilian Vallade