This May End Badly
Samantha Markum
Wednesday Books
Published April 12, 2022
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads
About This May End Badly
Pranking mastermind Doe and her motley band of Weston girls are determined to win the century-long war against Winfield Academy before the clock ticks down on their senior year. But when their headmistress announces that The Weston School will merge with its rival the following year, their longtime feud spirals into chaos.
To protect the school that has been her safe haven since her parents’ divorce, Doe puts together a plan to prove once and for all that Winfield boys and Weston girls just don’t mix, starting with a direct hit at Three, Winfield’s boy king and her nemesis. In a desperate move to win, Doe strikes a bargain with Three’s cousin, Wells: If he fake dates her to get under Three’s skin, she’ll help him get back his rightful family heirloom from Three.
As the pranks escalate, so do her feelings for her fake boyfriend, and Doe spins lie after lie to keep up her end of the deal. But when a teacher long suspected of inappropriate behavior messes with a younger Weston girl, Doe has to decide what’s more important: winning a rivalry, or joining forces to protect something far more critical than a prank war legacy.
THIS MAY END BADLY is a story about friendship, falling in love, and crossing pretty much every line presented to you—and how to atone when you do.
My Review
The cover copy on this book made me think of an older favorite: THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU by Lily Anderson. It’s also a boarding school story with an enemies to lovers arc and loads of banter and snark. I LOVED that book when I read it, so I as soon as I read about this book, I knew I wanted to read it.
And it totally delivered on all my hopes for it. I loved Doe’s character with her single-minded passion. I loved Wells with his mysterious sorrow peeking out beneath the “I don’t care” attitude he had going on. On top of that, I loved Doe’s friends, when they pushed her, made room for her, loved her despite her misguided or hurtful actions. I loved the way they operated as a team and protected one another.
I also loved the banter! The pranks. The teasing comments. The awkward, hilarious conversations. I laughed out loud more reading this book than I have in a long time. It was exactly the story I needed this week.
If you like fake dating, boarding school stories, or prank wars and banter, this book is one you won’t want to miss.
Content Notes for This May End Badly
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Representation
Major characters are white. Doe has a diverse friend group. Her dad is bisexual. Some discussion about how single gender schools exclude trans and nonbinary students.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex. In one scene, a boy and girl take their shirts off.
A teacher is rumored to be a sexual predator. The girls try to warn new students and look out for each other. One girl comes forward with details about inappropriate behavior on the teacher’s part. The scene is brief, but the girl is obviously (understandably) traumatized when she describes what happened.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
Two boys get into a fistfight.
Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a party and in other circumstances.
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