Diana Peterfreund's "Secret Society Girl: An Ivy League Novel" centered around Amy Haskel, was tapped by the elite secret society, Rose & Grave, in the prestigious Eli University. Amy was perplexed as to why she was tapped as she was just the editor of the school's literary magazine. Adding to her confusion was that her relationship with best friend and roommate, Lydia, who belonged to another secrety society, was strained due to the secrecy of their societies. After the initiation, Amy realized she belong in a society that consisted of the governor's son, the rich, and of course, the powerful.

This was quite an enjoyable read as it was fast-paced, fun, and quite engaging. Initially, I was hesitant about the book as I was not sure if it would be too "teen" like but I was glad that it wasn't. Eventhough the main character Amy appeared indecisive and quick to judge, you can't but help root for her. I realized this was part of a series and I hope that the author would put more emphasis on the supporting/secondary characters so that the story would not be too one-dimensional. Highly recommended.

While the other reviewers all seemed to enjoy this author's story of underground secret societies at an Ivy League college, I was bored to tears.

First of all, let me begin by saying that the character Amy was tedious, mouthy, obnoxious, and annoyingly sarcastic. I found myself wishing continuously that she would stop being witty for five seconds and start being real. Her endless comebacks and inability to just be quiet and LISTEN every now and again really made her difficult to like.

Secret Society Girl is the prime example of why you should beware novice authors endowed with an Ivy League Education. Diana Peterfreund's writing is pedantic to the point of being ostentatious. I can use big words too, but I'm not writing a book to prove it. If this book is supposed to be targeted at college students, what's the point of using 50-cent words when a normal one would suffice. Like Amy's character, when you're already reading War and Peace who has time to look up literary allusions for the chick lit novel you're reading in your free time. I didn't. And I imagine most of the college population is of the same mind.

Finally, this book is so full of pop-culture references I think you'd be better off watching The Soup and saving yourself three-hundred pages of reading. Secret Society Girl spent so much time being hip and trendy it hindered its own readability. Any book that references Aristotle's Poetics, The Da Vinci Code, Lord of the Rings, and William S. Burroughs within the space of two pages is--in my opinion--trying too hard. And unnecessarily so. Secret Society Girl is well-written. Despite my dislike for Amy, it was a good story. But trying to wade through endless similes, a flawed patriarchal secret society, and a mouthy coed who was in over her head for a simple chick lit story that could have been told in a much simpler fashion was asking too much for this reader.

I heard about this book when it was being buzzed in the blog world and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Well it did not disappoint me at all and I can't wait til Ms. Peterfreund's next installment in this series comes out.

The characters are fun and even though I graduated from college almost 10 years ago, this was a great read. It took me back to how college felt. Amy, the main character I really felt personified a typical college student. Everyone has goals, but I'm not sure that there are a lot of them that are totally sure of themselves and can make decisions quickly (like a lot of books like to show characters as). Amy has her goals and she is very indecisive, she thinks through everything and acts on the spur of the moment too (and sometimes she regrets it). To me that is a real character.

I also loved the host of other characters from her best friends Lydia and Brandon, to the ones that Rose and Grave introduces her too. There is a host of great characters in there, some you like and some you don't, but that's just like any group that you are together with.

The plot moved along quickly and the book ended before I wanted it to. But one of the main things that tells me how much I liked this book was the fact that the characters have stuck with me after finishing the book. Frequently I forget names and forget most of the book in general, but this book still has me thinking about Amy and her friends and laughing when I remember a scene.

I really loved this book and I really didn't expect to. I just read it because it was recommended, but I didn't think it sounded very good. I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. I am now anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.

Diana Peterfreund is a really, really good author. She keeps the pages turning and the plot humming. She understands word choice, pacing and suspense.

To set a context, I did enjoy reading Pledged. But this book about college juniors is...well, sophomoric. I loved the first half. I kept hoping the author would reveal an interesting, unique secret of the fraternity, including the reason Amy was pledged at the last minute.

But after awhile the novel degenerated into typical fraternity pranks, high jinks and bed-hopping. As one character points out, this is just a college fraternity - not a national treasure.

I can imagine the alums (including very prominent alums) getting actively concerned about Rose & Graves (and the real Skull & Bones). But I'd like to see everyone get into an uproar over something bigger than whether women will be admitted to the society.

By comparison, read The Last Billablel Hour, when a surprise
hire turned out to have more creative and nefarious reasons.

I'll be eager to see Peterfreund's future efforts.