The Other Girl

The Other Girl by Sarah Miller (NY: St. Martin's Griffin, 2011).

Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn introduces Midvale Academy, a ritzy East Coast prep school where Gideon has just started. Unbeknownst to him, a girl on campus can hear all his thoughts, from the moment he enters the grounds. This girl turns out to be scholarship student Molly McGarry, who has come to love Gideon after spending so much time in his head. Gideon and Molly are a couple now--and Molly's still inside Gideon's head. This is not a totally bad thing. She can give him just what he wants, and he thinks she's amazing. But then Gideon happens to focus Pilar Benitez-Jones, the most beautiful girl on campus, at a tender moment with Molly, and she abruptly dumps him. But what to do about their mind connection? Problem solved when Gideon actually kisses Pilar, until Molly discovers she's now inside Pilar's mind. And it's pretty weird. Molly realizes fairly quickly that she's made a mistake in dumping Gideon, and the whole mind connection thing has seriously messed up other parts of her life, too.

The Other Girl lacks the intense mystery of the first Midvale Academy novel--not knowing who was inside Gideon's mind really propelled the plot, though just the premise of a girl finding out firsthand about what guys really think made for an engrossing tale. This novel develops Molly's character nicely and has its own plot twists and turns, but nearly gets dragged down in some of the standard aspects of prep school novels--sex, drugs, pranks. Molly, however, is a wonderful, buoyant girl whose liveliness and tenacity make this story well worth reading. Recommended for ages 14 & up. Sex, alcohol, drugs, language.