They Wish They Were Us
Jessica Goodman's They Wish They Were Us, published in 2020, is a sleek, addictive YA mystery that pairs the tropes of Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars with the moral architecture of Donna Tartt's The Secret History. Jill Newman is a senior at the Gold Coast Preparatory School, an elite institution on Long Island where the very wealthy children of doctors, financiers, and senators are groomed for admission to Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. She is also a Player, a member of an underground secret society of eight juniors and eight seniors who run the school's social hierarchy and reward one another with answer keys, internships, and the assurance that whatever happens, the family network will protect them. Four years ago the Players lost one of their own. Shaila Arnold was Jill's best friend, and her boyfriend confessed to her murder. Now, in their final year at Gold Coast, Jill begins receiving anonymous messages suggesting the official story was a lie. As she pulls at the threads of what really happened that night, Goodman builds a propulsive, twisty mystery about privilege, performative friendship, and the way teenagers can be groomed to protect institutions instead of one another. Sharp and instantly cinematic, the novel was optioned for HBO Max.
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What you might want to know about They Wish They Were Us
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Jill Newman is a senior at the elite Gold Coast Prep on Long Island and a Player, the school's secret society. Three years ago her best friend Shaila Arnold was killed at the beach by Shaila's boyfriend Graham, who confessed.
They Wish They Were Us was written by Jessica Goodman and published in 2020. Goodman is also the author of They'll Never Catch Us and The Counselors.
Yes. HBO Max ordered a TV adaptation of They Wish They Were Us with Sydney Sweeney attached to star and produce. As of 2025, the project remains in development.
They Wish They Were Us is 203 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, They Wish They Were Us takes most readers 3 to 4 hours to finish.
They Wish They Were Us is a standalone novel by Jessica Goodman, not part of a series.
They Wish They Were Us is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.