Review: Wicked Darlings

Wicked Darlings

by Jordyn Taylor

Delacorte Press (imprint of Random House Children's Books), 2025

Category: Young Adult

Reviewer: Sarah Blattner

 

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Wicked Darlings opens with the main character, Noa Falk, relishing her newfound opportunity to bask in the spotlight, now that her older sister Leah no longer casts Noa in her shadow. Feeling like a monster for a sense of freedom, rather than the grief for her sister’s tragic death, Noa plans an epic party while her parents are away at a cousin’s bat mitzvah. 

Throughout the novel, Noa carries guilt for not responding to Leah’s text message, an urgent cry for help with her journalism internship with the Gotham Sentinel, where Leah covered the lives of Manhattan’s socially elite. But journalism was always Noa’s thing, not Leah’s passion, and it’s just one more situation where Leah blocks Noa’s light. When Noa’s curiosity and sadness lead her to the family safe, she retrieves her sister’s cell phone and evidence that her parents had hidden. The day before Leah’s death, she was in trouble, and her death was probably not a suicide. At that moment, Noa’s investigative journalism instincts kick in, leading her to crash at her friends’ apartment in the city, allowing her to go undercover as an aspiring journalist and get close to Leah’s inner circle.

As Noa hobnobs with the wealthy and powerful Avalon family, she begins to unravel the tangled web of lies, which also places Noa in similar danger as Leah. At first, Noa is dazzled by the extravagant display of wealth; however, Noa soon sees through the smoke and mirrors and how maintaining appearances is everything to the Avalons, no matter the moral cost or human casualties. This Gatsbyesque motif is woven throughout the novel, exposing the underbelly of the socially elite.

At first glance, Noa’s character appears selfish and hollow because of her jealousy toward her sister. However, once Noa begins her quest to unravel the mystery of Leah’s death, the plot picks up speed, and the reader roots for Noa, who shows her sisterly love and unwavering loyalty. In addition, a sapphic love interest adds a layer of self-discovery and vulnerability to Noa’s character.

Wicked Darlings is a fun read full of mystery and suspense with a romantic twist, set against Manhattan’s cutthroat high society. However, the only evidence of a Jewish connection are the Jewish names "Noa" and "Leah," and the mention of a cousin's bat mitzvah, categorizing this book as casual Jewish representation.

 

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Reviewer Sarah Blattner is a high school language arts teacher in Portland, Oregon, and she has been in and around the middle and high school classrooms for over 25 years, both in Jewish Day Schools and public schools. She is also an aspiring young adult author, drawing inspiration from her joyful summers at Jewish sleepaway camp, leadership experiences in the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, her artistic rollerskating childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and her clever students.