All These Beautiful Strangers

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Klehfoth

Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly, Xe Sands, Greg Tremblay

Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

A young woman haunted by a family tragedy is caught up in a dangerous web of lies and deception involving a secret society in this highly charged, addictive psychological thriller that combines the dishy gamesmanship of Gossip Girl with the murky atmosphere of The Secret History.

One summer day, Grace Fairchild, the beautiful young wife of real estate mogul Alistair Calloway, vanished from the family’s lake house without a trace, leaving behind her seven-year old daughter, Charlie, and a slew of unanswered questions.

Years later, 17-year-old Charlie still struggles with the dark legacy of her family name and the mystery surrounding her mother. Determined to finally let go of the past, she throws herself into life at Knollwood, the prestigious New England school she attends. Charlie quickly becomes friends with Knollwood’s "it" crowd.

Charlie has also been tapped by the A’s - the school’s elite secret society well known for terrorizing the faculty, administration, and their enemies. To become a member of the A’s, Charlie must play The Game, a semester-long, diabolical high-stakes scavenger hunt that will jeopardize her friendships, her reputation, even her place at Knollwood.

As the dark events of past and present converge, Charlie begins to fear that she may not survive the terrible truth about her family, her school, and her own life.

©2018 Elizabeth Klehfoth (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"This is going to be big." (Entertainment Weekly)

“Juicy, clever, and beguiling." (Cecily von Ziegsar, author of the Gossip Girl novels)

Wow this book has layers!

there's so much going on, it always keeps you interested in asking a new question. it's realistic it's enticing I just love this book!

Interesting story

I love redemption stories, and this is a good one—excellent writing, stellar character development, an intriguing story, and a satisfying ending. I enjoyed the different points of view and how the author weaved the story together in different time periods. As other reviewers have pointed out, anyone who reads a lot will figure out pretty early on what happened, but it was still entertaining. I will admit that with all the ugliness going on politically in the US these days, I have little tolerance for stories of entitlement, arrogance, mega-wealth, and how some believe their position puts them above the law, and there’s a lot of that in this story (which got a bit sickening), but main character Charlie redeems herself in the end and for me that redeemed the story. I thought the narrators were exceptional. I would recommend this one with just a few reservations.

alright but not great

started off great but I feel as if the ending was a let down. just seems as if we built up to this high moment only to slide backwards.. the narrator for grace sounded bored and IMO not the right voice for her character. stories that are not only told from different perspectives but different times risk a slippery slope and unfortunately I think this one came up a bit short. A lot of things were left unanswered/unexplained. some good things though I love how we got to see the main characters development. her narrator was spot on and did a wonderful job distinguishing different voices.

A story better suited for a younger audience

if I was a late teen or maybe in my early twenties I think I would have been able to get into to this book, but I couldn't. Also, And major *SPOiLER ALERT* we are supposed to believe one woman drowned another woman in the lake, dragged her body out and into a car, and then buried her by herself? I don't mind a bit of stretching reality in book of fiction, but this was too far.

Grabbed me from the beginning

I didn’t want to stop listening to this book. I take a train to and from work, so I listen to a lot of books. This is the first one in a long time I didn’t want to stop listening to when I got into work or home. Great story line and the narration was done nicely. I wish more books would grab my attention and hold on like this one did!

Excellent

I really enjoyed the plot. Very well written and the audio performance is really good!

I really liked it!

Took me a bit to get into , but once I did I enjoyed this one a lot ... lots of characters and they all come together to tell a story that has lots of twist , turns and drama. Narrators we’re all excellent as well!

Good book

This was a good book about a junior in high school whose mother disappeared her father was a millionaire president of company and the mother was just an everyday ordinary middle-class woman.

Great Character Development and Exploration

Overall, this was an enjoyable book to listen to. The pacing was perfect, and Klehforth did a great job interweaving different perspectives and using non-linear storytelling to build suspension and intrigue. Klehforth also does an excellent job presenting the narrators/main characters - Charlie, Grace, and Astaire - as complex character that you care about without excusing their bad behavior or decisions. And the character development, especially with Charlie, was great.

My main critique is the epilogue; it felt a forced, like Klehfoth had to explain everything that happened after the story ended and couldn't leave anything to the reader's imagination. I personally prefer open-ended stories, so this is more personal preference and the epilogue is only five minutes, so it doesn't affect the story too much.

Quick Listen

Very engaging liked the story and narration- guessed the ending but still enjoyed. Would recommend.