The Pop Culture Club? The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

clsimpson430
Oct 4, 2023
2 min read

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

"Mary Shelley's message was clear: Real monsters aren't the ones created by man. The real monster is man himself."

Endless horror movie references + random literary facts + an average whodunit trope = The Mary Shelley Club.

If your a horror buff who isn't easily annoyed by thousands of movie references, you will definitely appreciate this book.

This is your typical YA horror/thriller read: protagonist with past trauma, mysterious characters, dark and cool setting, fun scares, and a subplot romance...except mix in 10,000 different name drops of movie titles, tv show characters, and actors of all generations.

Writing a book about a movie-obsessed protagonist who references quotes, characters, and film tropes has become very popular recently in the YA genre. And even though this popular meta-style of writing can seem lazy at times, it is what saves The Mary Shelley Club.

Reading this book, you can feel the author's genuine appreciation of the horror genre and pop culture in general. There are references to the obvious hits like Friday the 13th and Halloween, but also some deeper cuts like Funny Games and Sleepaway Camp. There's a couple of nods to icons like V. C. Andrews, Nellie Bly, and Joshua Jackson (and his many, many 2000’s characters).

But these references don't play a huge role in the plot itself. Every reference is explicitly said, not subtly woven into the plot. Without the references, The Mary Shelley Club would be just an average thriller.

There's a lot to like about this book, but the one problem that docks one and a half stars off of my review is the length. The 460 pages start to drag on and there are lulls in the plot that don't create the intense, nerve racking feeling that makes you want to sit down and binge read to finally discover who the killer is. Even though I liked most of the characters, I didn't care very deeply about all of them...much less want to waste my time reading about the pranks they pull on their personal enemies.

But again…if you’re pop-culture-obsessed, you still can’t go wrong with this one. And the ending did have a fun twist that clearly leads to a sequel, but I’ll probably skip out on it.

In conclusion: The Mary Shelley Club is a fun read for fans of the meta genre who enjoy self aware references, but when stripped of its pop-culture references, I couldn’t recommend to someone looking for a genuine thriller.

Synopsis:

New girl Rachel Chavez is eager to make a fresh start at Manchester Prep. But as one of the few scholarship kids, Rachel struggles to fit in, and when she gets caught up in a prank gone awry, she ends up with more enemies than friends.

To her surprise, however, the prank attracts the attention of the Mary Shelley Club, a secret club of students with one objective: come up with the scariest prank to orchestrate real fear. But as the pranks escalate, the competition turns cutthroat and takes on a life of its own.

When the tables are turned and someone targets the club itself, Rachel must track down the real-life monster in their midst . . . even if it means finally confronting the dark secrets from her past.