Review: Circle of Silence by Carol M. Tanzman

                                        E-book: Circle of Silence by Carol M. Tanzman
                                        Pages: 288
                                        Genre: Young Adult
                                        Source: NetGalley

THE BIGGEST STORY OF MY LIFE COULD BE HOW IT ENDS

It's my turn to run a Campus News crew, and I've put together a team that can break stories wide open. And Washington Irving High has a truly great one to cover, if only we can find a lead.
A secret society has formed in our school. It announced its presence with pranks: underwear on the flagpole, a toilet in the hallway, cryptic notes. A circle of silence keeps the society a mystery. No one knows its members, agenda or initiation secrets-until a student lands in the hospital under strange circumstances.
I will blow this story wide open and stop others from being hurt...or worse. And while my ex, Jagger, might want to help, I don't trust him yet. (And, no, not because of our past together. That is not important to this story.)
But whether you find me, Valerie Gaines, reporting in front of the camera, or a victim in the top story of the newscast...be sure to watch Campus News at 9:00 a.m. this Friday.
--From Amazon

My Thoughts:

I originally picked this book up because I really liked the summary. I actually have a degree in journalism, and felt that I could relate to it. I was excited to get into this book, because I love reading about mysteries when it is done right. 

But about 148 pages into the novel, I had to call it quits. I tried three times to get into this novel, but nothing really seemed to grab hold of my attention. First was the constant reporting on the same subject. Even though I understand that, that is protocol for dealing with that type of situation, but as a reader, it felt kind of redundant and boring. 

I liked that MP was mysterious, but it was about almost half way into the novel, and we as a reader still had no clue, who he/they were, and why they were doing what they were doing, only that they wanted power. 

Also, a thing that really irked me was the initiations for new recruits into the "circle." Why were the new recruits the only one that needed to do dangerous stunts to get in? Did the other members prove themselves already? It just seemed really unfair that others had to do dangerous stunts to get in when the original members didn't.

Another thing that really bugged me was Val's sister. It seemed like she was disappearing all the time, and to me, it kind of felt shady, like she was an actual MP member. It also wasn't clearly stated why Val and her sister were not on speaking terms. Overall, I originally loved the plot, but it just felt redundant, and there was no real clue as to who the members of the mysterious group actually were, and nothing held my attention.

Would I recommend this book: No

Rating: I give this book a DNF.