Private by Kate Brian

Tradition, Honor, Excellence...and secrets so dark they're almost invisible

Fifteen-year-old Reed Brennan wins a scholarship to Easton Academy -- the golden ticket away from her pill-popping mother and run-of-the-mill suburban life. But when she arrives on the beautiful, tradition-steeped campus of Easton, everyone is just a bit more sophisticated, a bit more gorgeous, and a lot wealthier than she ever thought possible. Reed realizes that even though she has been accepted to Easton, Easton has not accepted her. She feels like she's on the outside, looking in.

Until she meets the Billings Girls.

They are the most beautiful, intelligent, and intensely confident girls on campus. And they know it. They hold all the power in a world where power is fleeting but means everything. Reed vows to do whatever it takes to be accepted into their inner circle.

Reed uses every part of herself -- the good, the bad, the beautiful -- to get closer to the Billings Girls. She quickly discovers that inside their secret parties and mountains of attitude, hanging in their designer clothing-packed closets the Billings Girls have skeletons. 

And they'll do anything to keep their secrets private.

I thought before I borrowed this book, that you know, it would have these "skeletons" in the 1st book. Yeah, nice lie. It DIDN'T. I borrowed this book mainly for the reason that it had dark secrets in it...and plus somebody recommended it to me. Oh well, now I'm gonna hafta borrow the other books to find out the secrets.

The Private series is like The Clique meets Pretty Little Liars. Perfect People, Dark Secrets.

The only really big flaw I found with it (additionally to the lack of skeletons) was the main character, Reed. What a spineless, unethical, shallow, vulnerable, weak, traitorous ( I can keep going on) wannabee. I mean seriously, what kind of person would be like that? I found it very hard to believe. I say she's spineless and unethical because she's doing whatever she can (including stealing a test, dumping a guy, ditching her friends) to become one of the Billings Girls. Its horrible really, how badly she wants to become part of that clique...kinda like Claire from The Clique.

I also found it really weird with the guy. I mean seriously, she's really weak minded to be with a guy like that (even though she does leave him for a while). And I mean, at this point it's like you don't know which side to pick: Ditch the guy to hang out with the Billings Girls, or Stay with the Guy and be bossed around. I seriously see no good in both options. It almost made me sick how much this girl wanted to be apart of something so...mean. 

The skeletons seem to be the only part of which enables me to go on with this series. That and where Reed's ex went off to. This series has an okay-ish standard in terms of Chick-Lit, but I would have expected the heroine to be more strong and free-minded. But oh well, Invitation Only, here I come...