The Social Climber

by Amanda Pellegrino

When you’re on top, you can get away with anything...

It’s the week before her wedding, and all of Eliza’s meticulous planning is about to pay off. She’s become the exact type of woman who would marry into the prominent, blue-blood Walker family – Ivy League credentials, a high-powered PR job, and a designer label wardrobe.

But as the big day approaches, secrets from Eliza’s past attending an Evangelical college start to throw her true motives into question. Who exactly is Eliza Bennett and what does she really want?

Written in a breakneck pace, capturing the glittering, privileged world of the one-percenters, THE SOCIAL CLIMBER is a gripping novel of one woman’s determination to seek justice at any cost.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Mystery, Book Club, Contemporary

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 3, 2023

About the author

Amanda Pellegrino is a TV writer and novelist living in New York City. Her writing has appeared in Betches, Refinery29, Bustle and others.

Her debut novel Smile and Look Pretty was published by HarperCollins / ParkRowBooks in March 2022. It received a starred review from Library Journal and was most anticipated by FORTUNE, The New York Post, The Associated Press, Medium, Publisher's Weekly, The Nerd Daily, Bookish, and others.

Her sophomore novel, The Social Climber was published by HarperCollins / ParkRowBooks in January 2023. It received a starred review from Booklist and was most anticipated by The New York Post, Library Journal, Booklist, Zibby Magazine, and others.

Amanda has worked on shows for CBS, TNT, Netflix, HULU, and most recently was a writer on Showtime's American Rust.

Reviews

[Melissa (Semi Hiatus Until After the Holidays) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow burn but it all comes together in a satisfactory way in the end.

This is told in dual timelines. The present day where Eliza Bennett is just a few days away from her wedding to the wealthy Graham Walker, and the past where Elizabeth Bennett is starting college at the ultra-conservative, ultra-religious Covenant College. We go back and forth between the two as the wedding draws closer and we learn that the past and the present both hold secrets.

I'm not always a fan of the slow burn, but this author does an excellent job of giving just the right amount of information to keep the reader invested and intrigued. I kept reading "one more chapter" compulsively until all of the pieces slotted into place. Eliza is hiding a lot, and even hiding some of that information from the reader, but it is totally worth it when the reveals occur.

I knocked off a star from my rating because there is way, way too much dwelling on Eliza's weight and disordered eating. It is definitely an integral part of her character, but after a while I honestly got bored with how often it's mentioned. Otherwise, it is such a deeply satisfying book and I turned the last page with a sigh of contentment.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

I will always pick up a novel about rich people behaving badly and the synopsis doesn’t even begin to cover what lies ahead. It’s still basically all you need to know though because this was a slow burn where you don’t even fully understand the characters motivations and intentions until the bitter end. Many times I’m not a fan of a slow burn, I tend to gravitate towards books with some action but I was never even close to bored here. The whole thing read as intoxicating to me and Eliza definitely had me under her wicked spell. You have a past and present alternating timeline and things don’t converge until almost the very end but when they do things were pretty explosive. Eliza as a character fascinated me, she got under my skin and there was something unsettling about her but I kind of liked that? Overall this had a sophisticated feel but a darkness as well, something cruel and complicated lurking. Definitely a fan!

[Kim ~ It’s All About the Thrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

! Oh this was a fun one! Eliza has set her sights on success and there is no holding this girl back!! 🙌 She knows what she wants…. and she is going to get it. 😉

Graham Walker… the name just sounds.. rich and powerful… 🤷‍♀️ … is about to be Eliza’s hubby 💍… she is one lucky girl… marrying into the Walker family is as prestigious as it comes. Except.. Eliza has a secret 🤫 past… and she will do anything to keep it that way.

I was so shocked at how Eliza has recreated herself.😳 This book was twisted and fun. Honestly I loved Eliza’s inner snarky dialogue 😂… You may dress 👗 her up in the fanciest clothes and on the arm of a very wealthy man… but inside… she is still the same girl…🤫

Okay this was a fun story of horrible rich people… entitled… entertaining.. revenge.. 😏oh and OF COURSE murder!! 😳 Now don’t get me wrong… it’s not all fun and games… there are some TW’s…. however I feel those could also be spoilers so I am leaving them off.

💍💍 This was my first book by @amandagpellegrino and now I need to read Smile and Look Pretty 💋

More of my reviews can be found @ https://www.instagram.com/itsallabout...

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

alexa play ‘mastermind’ (dark version) by taylor swift

[Chapters of Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Park Row Books, for the gifted copy of The Social Climber {partner}

Genre: Fiction
Format: 📖
Pages: 320
Pub Date: 1.3.2023
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆.5

"You're either kind, or you're not. You're born with it, or you die without it."

If you're seriously considering reading The Social Climbers (and you should), I suggest straying away from most reviews. I read this title a few weeks before publishing, and I went into it without reading any reviews or other details — I relied solely on the synopsis, and it paid off. But I know that a review might help you add this to your 2023 reading list.

Typically I'm not too fond of stories about the entitled 1%, but The Social Climber kept my attention, and although the main character had an unsettling personality, I strangely liked her. The author, Amanda Pellegrino, crafted this book so that I constantly found myself reading "just one more chapter" because I couldn't put it down.

Slow-burn stories aren't my typical cup of tea, but The Social Climber unfolded so carefully and intentionally that I never found myself bored. I was fascinated as I knew something about the story was not quite right...

The ending was full of so many "didn't see this coming" moments. And I loved it! It felt like the fog had lifted, and I was seeing everything clearly.

✌🏼 Alternating timelines
🙃 Unsettling but likable MC
📖 The whole book is a "one more chapter" vibe
🧐 Mysterious undertone
🤯 Those reveals

❌ Anorexia, bulimia, compulsive Exercise, and fat shaming are very present in this book. It goes along with the story, but I think it was a tad over the top (why I knocked 1/2 star off).

I recommend reading The Social Climber if you're looking for a compulsive read that will leave you guessing.

______

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebookend....
Follow my blog: https://thebookenddiner.com/
Follow me on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thebookendd...
Follow me on StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile...

[TracyGH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t let the 3 star rating fool you, I just had no idea how to rate this book. I had equal parts of love and hate.

Bad:

I know I am old (ish) 😂 but this book was very raunchy and crass. 🔥 At times, perhaps even a little cringey. It was overdone when it really didn’t need to be. Also heavy TW for eating disorders.

Good:

The good is that it adequately described New York. 🏙️ Great scenic pictures float by of the city.
And the ending was excellent. A slow burn that it was hot on the revenge scale. 😮👊🏻

So it is a 3 for me.

[MicheleReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eliza Bennet appears to be getting all she's been striving for. She's about to be married to Graham Walker, a handsome Yale graduate from a very wealthy Vermont family. The couple lives in a luxury Manhattan apartment, which is the complete opposite of her childhood home. When this dual timeline story shifts back to Eliza's past, we learn that she was raised on a farm in a very religious environment. Homeschooled wearing home-made clothes, she was sheltered from the outside world. Eliza managed to leave home by getting a scholarship to Covenant College, a very restrictive evangelical school. In the present day, she has completely reinvented herself. The Walkers, her work associates and those in the elite world she lives in have no idea who the real Eliza is. As her wedding day approaches, after all her manipulation and scheming, she fears that secrets from her past may be discovered and jeopardize her master plan. 

The Social Climber by Amanda Pellegrino is a slow burn mystery thriller that will keep you guessing as to what is truly going on with Eliza. The author created enough suspense to hold my interest as the story unfolded. It all came together very nicely with some surprising twists, making this more than your typical "rich people behaving badly" story. 

Review posted on MicheleReader.com.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rich people behaving badly is always a troupe that will intrigue me, and Amanda Pellegrino's THE SOCIAL CLIMBER is definitely a book readers should consider if that troupe works for you too. This slow burn domestic thriller focuses on Eliza Bennett and her eventual marriage to Graham Walker—a wealthy Yale graduate from a well-known family. However, as the wedding day approaches, Eliza's secrets from her college past have started to resurface and Eliza will do everything in her power to keep the secrets from exploding her present-day dreams.

This book was fun, but I struggled with its extreme slow burn. There are two timelines, both present and during Eliza's college days, so the mystery unfolds slowly and suspensefully. Eliza's character was great, and many will really enjoy reading about her past. I'm not sure my full feelings on this one, so I may come back to this review and add more to it. Make sure to read this book if you're looking for a slow burn suspense!

[K.J. Ramsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay… There’s some fun storytelling here, but why in the world did the author not do her homework?

She mentions an 8,000+ foot peak in a state where the highest elevation is less than half that. And then “Covenant University” supposedly is an evangelical Christian liberal arts school, but the students attend mass weekly. 😂 Ummm, evangelical Christians are typically super judgy about anything looking Catholic. A quick editorial read from anyone who has formerly been an evangelical would have helped make the school believable. (Shocker, there’s a real Covenant College that’s a liberal arts school in the South, with worlds fewer rules than the fake one in Vermont. It’s my alma mater. That weekly mass though? It was three times a week and it’s called “chapel.” And, no, I don’t miss it.) Instead, the fake Covenant is Bob Jones University meets conservative catholicism. (I heard about this book through someone I went to the real Covenant with, and I read it hoping for some actual realistic dirt to laugh about. Oh well!) The author also mentions the protagonist snooping in another character’s medicine cabinet and he’s taking four drugs for anxiety that are in the same class—hello, if someone was concurrently prescribing those four drugs they’d lose their license. 😂

I’ll stop. I enjoyed the decently interesting plot, and I never mind a take-down of high-control religion. Just wish the author would have done that angle justice!

[Ranjini Shankar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very slow burn with an ending you know is coming. And when the ending does come it happens SO fast as opposed to the 200+ slog of buildup that you don’t even really get to enjoy it. Add to that a major issue of time jumping without the headers and this one was a bit too much of a headache to be worth it.

The story follows Eliza who is about to marry the perfect man. Handsome, rich, and loving - Graham appears to be the perfect package. However as the big day approaches Eliza realizes she can’t hide from her past for much longer

I enjoy a good slow burn with layered reveals that take time to uncover but this wasn’t that. This was just a choppy lead up with a lot of focus on her eating disorder which didn’t really play much of a role. Maybe it was to underscore just how much she was willing to do? Who knows. It did keep me turning the pages so 2.5 stars for that.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the author's debut book, Smile and look pretty, so I was looking forward to this newest release but unfortunately it did nothing for me and I honestly wish I had DNF'd it and saved myself time wasted on a book that truly did excite me at all. Sadly this was a miss for me, I just didn't find much plot to get invested in and the characters fell flat.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa baby! I was attracted to The Social Climber by Amanda Pellegrino first by the cover but also because I have had Pellegrino's debut novel (Smile and Look Pretty) on my TBR for quite some time now. Clearly, I am going to have to stop putting that one off because her writing is ADDICTING. Once I started this, I knew I wasn't going to want to set it aside to do anything else, and even though I still had to adult, I spent a lot of time thinking about this if I wasn't reading it. The story is a fairly slow burn, but I loved the changes between past and present, and they really helped keep the pacing on track. I hadn't read the synopsis, so I actually had no idea what this was about, so when I found out what was going on it was a very pleasant surprise.

This is a thriller at heart, but more domestic thriller if that makes sense, and it is very character driven. I waited with anticipation to find out what secrets would unfold, and the end of the book was utterly fantastic for me. I did listen to the audiobook which I also highly recommend, as Kristen Sieh is apparently a freaking master. Her narration was on point, and I loved listening to her voice Eliza. The Social Climber also falls into the rich people behaving badly trope, but just wait until it's over because it will surprise you! Pellegrino has a fan for life in me now, and I can't wait to read her debut as well as whatever is to come.

[Rachel Rosenthal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I generally like books in the “women behaving badly” sub-genre of thrillers (although in this case I use the term “thriller” loosely), but the writing was really bumpy in this one. For one thing, beware (or enjoy?) the incorrectly-used words throughout the entire book (it’s “prospective students”, not “perspective students”; chickens live in a “coop”, not a “coup”; “collegial” means “friendly”, not “college-related”; to have one’s hair meticulously styled is “coiffed”, not “quaffed”; an involuntary movement is a “tic”, not a “tick”; I could go on). For another, there are adjectives/adverbs throughout that felt more like digs into a thesaurus than naturally-occurring descriptions (note the word “performative” appearing multiple times per chapter whether it actually belongs or makes sense in the sentence or not). Is there a vocabulary 911 staffed by English teachers somewhere? I need to place a call.

The college depicted in the story seems loosely based on Liberty University in Virginia only with Gwen Shamblin as the Dean of Students (especially since the school was called Covenant University, but she goofed and wrote that the RA was wearing a polo shirt that said “LU” on move-in day, like come on). But the descriptions of their religious practices were inconsistent. For example, Protestants in general, and evangelical denominations in particular, don’t call services “mass”; that’s a Catholic tradition.

But my favorite goof moment was when she goes to the guy’s apartment for the first time and snoops through his medicine cabinet, finding that he is taking (ahem) Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, AND Celexa! I am a therapist so this might be me being picky, but all four of these drugs are in the same class. No one would EVER be taking all of them at the same time unless their physician was really hoping to lose their license for killing a patient. Even two of these (SSRIs) would never be used together, because serotonin toxicity causes death. That would be like saying a person was taking Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium, Tums, Rolaids, and Pepcid for acid reflux all at once, only with lethal complications being highly likely. As prevalent as antidepressant use currently is, that information would have been readily available with some cursory fact-checking (not just googling “examples of antidepressants”, which is what I suspect she did). This one was comically silly to me. Anyway, while the story was okay (if very slow-moving and completely lacking in suspense—“psychological thriller” is a misnomer here), it would have benefited from a little more research and a lot more editing.

[Nicole Wuthering Vines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went in relatively blind to this one as I generally love me some good rich people drama and I was not disappointed! Although it’s a slow burn, I found it incredibly compulsive and captivating!

This was also largely my favourite trope of dark academia as we alternated timelines of current day and Eliza’s past college days. I relish in a good secret past and skeletons in the closet plot and found this one a highly entertaining balance of darkness and fun!

Eliza was the fascinating type of character that is somewhat unlikeable and often unbearable, but you also find yourself enjoying and rooting for? Very well done by Pellegrino!

Are you a fan of juicy revenge stories?
Cause this one serves it up perfectly!

[Danielle B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eliza is getting ready to marry Graham Walker. He is not only handsome but from a well known family. Everything is not as it seems, as the big day approaches. Told in past and present timelines we learn about Eliza's college days and her friendship with Ruthie. Eliza is out for revenge but what for exactly?

Wow, this one had me hooked from the beginning. I just loved this audiobook!! I really was not sure what Eliza had up her sleeve, but I was really surprised by the big reveal in the best way. Grab a copy if you enjoy a really good mystery!

4.5 rounded to 5

This review will be posted on my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.review) in the near future.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eliza Bennett is The Social Climber. She’s about to be married to Graham Walker of the well-known Walker family. The Walkers are old money, and Eliza has done her homework very carefully. Her secrets will remain hidden until the perfect time. As her wedding day approaches, she continues with her plans to make sure that everyone gets exactly what they deserve.
This was also largely my favourite trope in thrillers- dark academia- as we alternated timelines of current day and Eliza’s past college days. I relish in a good secret past and skeletons in the closet plot and found this one a highly entertaining balance of darkness and fun!
Eliza was the fascinating type of character that is somewhat unlikeable and often unbearable, but you also find yourself enjoying and rooting for? Very well done by Pellegrino!
Think growing up in a religious cult, finding your partner in crime in college, and then completely changing yourself with a goal in mind... That is The Social Climber.
The cover has absolutely nothing to do with the book! Go in blind and know this is a good one- a real good one.

[scthoughts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The slow burn was a real drag at times but once it started to reveal itself, it clicked. The last quarter was fun and actually worth it.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

My four stars rating is because I like this type of book, and I really enjoyed it while I was reading, but it doesn't really hold up to scrutiny or thinking about it afterward. I've been very immersed in the South Carolina Murdaugh case and this felt at least a little bit inspired, although rich and corrupt people aren't in short supply in the real world, are they?

There's something less polished, almost amatuerish about this, and I don't mean that as an insult. It can be refreshing to read something less slick sometimes. My review copy had a lot of misspellings and typos (that's review copies for you), so maybe that was effecting it.

I love stories of masquerading social class, rightful revenge, a plan coming together, and this book had all of that in a satisfying but not particularly complex way. Everything is hinted at appropriately, and you can figure it all out right before it slots into place, which I like, but at the end of it all I was like...."Ok sure" instead of feeling impressed.

The name stuff felt kind of added on? It came somewhat out of nowhere and didn't seem like it added anything. I didn't immediately guess that Bernadette was Ruthie, but I thought she was maybe another girl the brothers had done something similar to. When Molly and Jess were clearly helpers, I had forgotten the names of the girls from college and thought those were their names already. The main character's real name is told at the very end of the book and it's not a reveal or anything. It literally means nothing to us. And maybe this is me being Catholic, but making them go by saint names? Bernadette is very much a saint's name. I get the control aspect you're pointing out but Bernadette is a saint. I actually looked up if Ruth was a saint because that isn't in my mind as much as Bernadette is.

Then for the big reveal, it's like... a powerpoint presentation. that has pictures of the party. How is this damning at all? Sarah the reporter says she got the confession, but his words could easily have been taken many other ways. And Tim says they found the body and she was strangled with a necklace (Eliza's necklace!) ok but this was how many years ago? Isn't she just bones now? How did random cops take one look at whatever level of desiccation and immediately have a cause of death? None of this makes sense and it was a good thing it was at the very end of the book because otherwise I would have stopped for a minute and been like...no that wouldn't happen. Then the girls just drive off into the sunset but I hope Eliza comes back for the trial cause like... girl what you doing. None of this will hold up in court, especially not a corrupt one. Maybe again this is because I have been following the Murdaugh case so closely, but sorry there is NO WAY Graham is getting convicted, or if he does it will be the world's lightest sentence. This is not ironclad, even a little bit.

Graham has a tradition of putting the dates he visits the mountain on the post EVERY TIME, religiously. Did I miss a bit where Eliza checks the date for the party and he was there so she has confirmation, or was that overlooked and we had to figure it out ourselves? Like, I dunno there is a lot here that was sloppy and didn't have to be, which annoys me now, but I was willing to go with the flow at the time.

Trigger warning for the book for eating disorders, like, MAJORLY.
So, the fact that I find reading a book at the time and thinking about a book later as two separate activities makes this an odd rating because it was 4 stars for reading but maybe a 2 or low 3 for thinking. I don't think I will reread this at any point, I don't see me craving it the way I have with other revenge stories or transforming into high class for nefarious purposes books.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5)

Eliza Bennet is preparing to wed the super wealthy Graham Walker. Graham comes from a privileged, upscale, New York family that are the stereotypical country club crowd. Eliza has very humble beginnings and has escaped a strict evangelical school called Covenant College and never looked back. Leaving the school also meant leaving everything in her past including her family. In Eliza’s opinion she deserves every right to be a part of the Walker family, afterall she has bigger plans than just presenting the biggest wedding on the social circuit. Eliza knows secrets of the Walker family and will not stop at anything until she has revenge.

This was a slow, very slow burn. It is told in a dual timeline from Eliza planning her wedding to her time when she was in college. It did not keep my attention fully until the halfway mark. Overall, not a bad read. Just took much longer than it should have before it became engrossing. The big reveal wasn’t very shocking but was nicely done.

[Melissa Nielsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this book down and that’s why I was so incredibly disappointed by the rushed and choppy ending. They were able to id a body that had been buried for 10 years in hours, when no one believed the person was actually missing? And the Graham, who has incredible self control, just makes a half-assed non-confession confession when confronted and there’s enough to arrest him on right there on the spot? No DA would blow a high profile case like that by being lazy. How come Ruthie’s family never followed up? The girl disappeared! And the Walkers, who have all of this influence, never thought to shut up the girl who is running her mouth everywhere she can about the barn party? And why didn’t Eliza look at the pictures before the wedding slide show? Considering this was her damning evidence, it seems odd to not even make sure there is actual evidence.

I thought I was going to love this book. The ending was a major disappointment and required some serious suspension of disbelief.

[Mayar Mahdy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just jumped from one thing to another. I felt confused and didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

[Kassidi. Under The Radar Books. · Rating 2 out of 5]

THE SOCIAL CLIMBER
Amanda Pellegrino

I thought there was something juicy in the details hiding behind the synopsis of Amanda Pellegrino’s latest book. I was wrong. Nothing is there.

Nothing.

I read for hours, and hours, almost to the end of Pellegrino’s book before anything happened. She set the stage for hundreds of pages, with nothingness.

A dash of a young girl with self-esteem issues, a little religiosity, a college setting, and rich people doing bad things. It sounds like a really good book to me if it is the stage and not the whole play.

I love a thriller that feels like I’m reading a tabloid magazine. It fills the hole in my heart left when I stopped watching Real Housewives and I know this book hits the target for you too.

I was first introduced to Pellegrino last year when I read her book about bad boys in the office and her feminist revenge stories are appealing in concept, but very thin in the product. There is nothing to hold onto.

While reading THE SOCIAL CLIMBER I kept waiting for something to happen, a character to do something, and a plot line to form that would provide interest. But nothing.

And then you get this horrible ending.

The conclusion after all this nothingness makes absolutely no sense. It was a sad gift to be given after sitting through the duration of the novel.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Park Row for the advanced copy!

THE SOCIAL CLIMBER…⭐️⭐️

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, author Amanda Pellegrino, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was not a bad read, but it was nothing special for me. I felt like this was a story I had read before, and I found that the twists were a bit predictable. The extremely vivid descriptions of a severe eating disorder made me like this book less because I personally have people close to me that have almost died from eating disorders, so while I understand what the purpose of including it was to the story, I felt like the book could have achieved what it was trying to without such repetitive mentioning. The book felt repetitive overall, and the few twists there were didn't happen until the last 10% of the book, making it a bit hard for me to get through otherwise. I do think that this book has an audience that will enjoy it, but unfortunately, that wasn't me.

[Shannon (The Book Club Mom) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you a fan of juicy revenge stories? If yes, then The Social Climber by Amanda Pellegrino is just the book for you. My gosh, this book will keep you on your toes! From page one, I knew that Eliza Bennett had something up her sleeve. You just know that she’s planning something good, but you don’t know the full extent until the very end. Somebody burned this woman in the past, and they must’ve burned her well and good because she’s out for blood! The suspense will drive you absolutely crazy, and you’ll be second guessing every single character in the book! Popcorn, chocolate, and wine are highly recommended while reading this novel. It’s a fun one!

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:
- Slow and suspenseful burns.
- Character studies.
- Dual timelines.
- College campus settings.
- New York City settings.
- Rich people behaving badly.
- Teenage shenanigans.
- Coming-of-age stories.
- Gritty and unsettling reads.
- Twists, turns, and big reveals.

This novel truly surprised me. I barely skimmed the synopsis, and just took a chance on it after seeing some great reviews on goodreads. I’m so glad that I did because it entertained me from start to finish. The Social Climber releases on January 3rd, and it gets 4/5 juicy stars from me!

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Fun to live in the main character’s head. It was like a dark, suspenseful Devil Wears Prada.

[Cassie’s Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow now this was a slow burn revenge thriller!
Eliza Bennet has made her way up the social ladder, and now she’s part of the elite with her engagement to Graham Walker, his family is extremely wealthy and he’s Yale graduate.
Eliza didn’t have an easy childhood her family was extremely religious and she attended evangelical college. We soon realize that on the outside Eliza tries to appear perfect but underneath she’s hiding a ton of secrets along with a severe eating disorder and a dark past. We get flashbacks of Eliza’s past at her college and one event that shaped her in during a dual timeline of past and present.
As the wedding day nears we follow Eliza as she prepares to marry Graham and we soon begin to wonder what is going in Eliza’s head. She has Graham wrapped around her finger, she mocks this prestigious family in her head at each turn, so why is she so intent on placing herself right in the middle of them? Who is Eliza and what is she after? I cannot give to much away but let me just say this.. the plot twist shook me!!

[Stacy40pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Social Climber by Amanda Pellegrino. Thanks to @parkrowbooks @htpbooks and @netgalley for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Eliza Bennet has become one of the elite after her religious upbringing and experiences at an evangelical college. She’s about to marry Graham Walker, wealthy Yale graduate. As the wedding approaches, we wonder who is Eliza and what exactly is she after?

I enjoyed this book because you have no idea what the intentions of the main character are, but you have a feeling they aren’t good. It reminded me a little bit of Luckiest Girl Alive with the lifestyle and flashbacks. The parts about the evangelical school were mind boggling, but interesting. The ending unraveled all at once and it was a pleasure to watch unfold.

The Social Climber comes out 1/3.

“If you put a group of professional tanned and blown-out women in Alice + Olivia pencil skirts and four-inch Celine heels in a room together; it’s not a means to a feminist evolution, but a way to ensure you never want to work with women again.”

[Marie Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was so much potential here! Rich boys behaving badly, revenge, mysterious missing girl, etc. As a Christian college grad, the cult escape turned victim blaming was beyond realistic, but the serious lack of agony, debate, and internal development over leaving the strict evangelical fundamentalist church was like…the least realistic thing I’ve ever read. I’ve seen plenty of people deconstruct to various adult exvangelical professions of faith, and so have I, and it is a HARD process. I couldn’t get over the fact that this happened in like 5 minutes flat off the page. Plus, there’s enough insanity in Christian college student life without the heavy handed public weigh-ins that don’t really happen anywhere, either.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and I don’t regret reading it — but as a former fundie, I cannot express how confused I was at the book being marketed as taking place at an “Evangelical” college when all signs point to Catholic (mass, veils, saints’ names). Jerry Falwell’s rolling in his grave right now …

[Lindsey Richey · Rating 1 out of 5]

So much buildup for a very shallow ending. It’s like she just got tired of writing.