The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant by Joanna Wiebe

3.5 stars...

"Why would Villicus want that?
Why would parents be so willing to do that?...
This must be the hundredth time I've asked myself that very question.  But it is the first time I've actually come up with an answer.  And the answer changes everything."

Anne Merchant is weird, okay she isn't supper odd, she just happens to be the daughter of a mortician.  It has been part of her identity for a long time.  Another part of Anne's life?  Her mother suffered from severe bipolar and died in a tragic and traumatic way, and Anne was the one that found her.  Now, every time Anne closes her eyes she sees the last time she saw her mother replay over and over again.  Anne has worried her father, enough for him to think a change of scenery is needed.  So starts Anne's new life at a rich, secretive, creepy prep school named Cania Christy. 

Cania Christy only caters to the uber-rich, every student looks like they stepped out of a fashion magazine, and they all are competing with each other to earn the spot of the Big V, class valedictorian.  As Anne begins to attend this school, not only is she questioning how her father managed to get her into this super secretive, members only school, she is also wondering how he is swinging the payments and pondering the bigger meaning behind the Big V competition.  In a place where no one is your friend, and rules are not meant to be broken, Anne must figure out what is happening and why she's at Cania Christy.

The writing really leaned to the creepy, dark and stormy aura going on through out the book, and had I kept that in mind I might have been able to determine the plot of the book; however, I was pleasantly surprised at the details that I would not have guessed at.  Basically, this book looks, smells and taste like foul play/creepy secret society/parental secrets; however, the depth of the deception and weaving of the foul play is much greater.  I am interested in seeing what happens to Anne next and what is really behind the character known as Teddy, and what really happened to her mother... does she some how have a hand in everything at Cania Christy with Villicus?

Thank You NetGalley
Publishing Date: 01/14/2014