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Privilege #4

Sweet Deceit

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After Brigit’s mysterious death at the NoBash, Ariana will stop at nothing to make sure Kaitlynn gets what she deserves. With all the spots now open, getting into the Stone and Grave should be a breeze—but Ariana is not willing to share her new life with her worst enemy. Will Ariana be able to rid herself of her past without exposing where she came from?

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 8, 2010

20 people are currently reading
1690 people want to read

About the author

Kate Brian

86 books2,311 followers
Kate Brian is the author of the SHADOWLANDS TRILOGY (SHADOWLANDS, HEREAFTER & ENDLESS), as well as the New York Times bestselling PRIVATE and PRIVILEGE series, and the wildly popular MEGAN MEADE'S GUIDE TO THE MCGOWAN BOYS. She also writes teen fiction under the name Kieran Scott.

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5 stars
1,102 (43%)
4 stars
822 (32%)
3 stars
457 (18%)
2 stars
108 (4%)
1 star
35 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
Profile Image for Bren fall in love with the sea..
1,959 reviews475 followers
July 15, 2019
Sweet Deceit is part of the "Privilege" series about a young female teenage sociopath. I will admit to loving this series and this year have been doing a reread as I first read the whole series many years ago.

I'd recommend this series for YA Mystery readers. I think it has been compared to the show "Pretty Little liars" which I have never watched. It is both dark and fun to read. Huge cast of characters and perfect for a fun and dark little series about dark twisted sociopathic little teenagers.

Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Nancy.
473 reviews10 followers
September 7, 2010
Skip the Private series, because Brian's Privilege, the story of escape convict Ariana Osgood, is sure to dominate your shelves. I've praised the first few books generously, applauded Brian for tackling such a demented, yet strangely addictive, protagonist and storyline, and still, I cannot get enough of Ariana and her craziness. I swear, sometimes I'm not sure whether to curse Ariana for her murderous ways, or root for her because despite her craziness, she is one seriously smart and determined chick.

I finished Sweet Deceit in one setting, curled up on my couch after a long day at school, and didn't budge from that one position until I finished the last page. I can't believe the genius that is Kate Brian. Sometimes, I have a hard time remembering that I'm supposed to hate Ariana, that she's evil and justice must be served for all the bad things she's done, because just when I was starting to really like her again, Ariana blows me away with another ingenious revenge plan to get rid of Kaitlynn and her other obstacles once and for all. I was kept on the edge of my seat the entire time, and I can honestly say I didn't see anything coming. I had a complete blast trying to figure out how this would end, and I'm super excited for the next installment!
Profile Image for Natalie.
3,443 reviews122 followers
May 4, 2019
Omg every single one of these books has a crazy cliffhanger! The body count of this series is very high (Ariana has killed, what, six people now?) but they are just so readable. This one was especially dark. Poor Kiran!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jasmine Rose.
654 reviews66 followers
August 8, 2011
Yes, I'll admit, Kate Brian's Private and Privilege series' are my guilty pleasure reads. I'll be the first to admit they're not the best books out there, but I will continue to devour each and every one of them anyway.

Privilege is quite different from Private. To start, Ariana is a murderer. She's managed to escape prison but continues to be faced with all the problems that come along with assuming someone else's identity. While the problems continue to flow fairly well, I still found myself thinking "how in the world can this many bad things happen to one person?!?" Maybe that many bad things would happen to me if I was a killer, but things certainly never get that bad in my day-to-day life. On the other hand, Brian certainly brings about the conflicts in fantastic surprise twists.

And now for the characters. Somehow, Kate Brian gets you feeling sympathy for one killer and scorn for another. Ariana is such a unique character. It's obvious she still belongs in a mental institution yet I still found myself rooting for her at times. And I've gotta hand it to the girl, she's a top-notch evil schemer. While Sweet Deceit has plenty of fun and unique characters, it simply has to many characters for my taste. I was finding it difficult to keep track of them all let alone put faces to them. It's not fair when I have to ignore some of the characters simply so I can focus on the main story.

I love the premise for this book and the series overall. It's not every day you come across a story and see it through the eyes of a killer. Especially when the killer is a teenage girl.

As a side note complaint: what was with the gum? I can't get into it without ruining things, but I'll just say it seemed like a plot hole to me. Small, maybe, but it seemed glaring to me while I was reading through it.

Final thoughts: If you're up for a private school book with a bit of a twist, this is definitely a good choice. Be prepared for a little darkness, though.
39 reviews
August 31, 2010
I read this book in the beginning of the summer because i was so excited to read it. I read it in one day and at the end I got the feeling that a few pages were ripped out or like "that was the big shock" kind of feeling.Maybe it was because i had high expectations or because i was waiting to read the book for so long that i imagined what would happen, but whatever it was it was not what I expected. This book is a continuation to a series so maybe the author ran out of ideas or she wants the main character's solution to be murder. Anytime an obstacle comes in the what of Arianna her first instinct is to murder the person standing in her way. Even though this book is getting really boring and predictable I'm looking forward to reading the continuations because the antagonist is the main character and it gives the story a little twist. My favorite part was probably when she finally felt accepted into the group of friends and for that second she felt comfortable and relaxed. I liked this because for those few seconds I didn’t hate her and I pitied her because she did loose everything for love and it shows you that she does have a heart and she does regret everything she’s ever done. Arianna killed Briana Liegh Covington in order to take her place at a boarding school to escape her past after killing her ex boyfriend at her old boarding school. Overall this book was written nicely with a lot of detail and i do recommend it to anyone who wont get bored of a book with a slow beginning.
Profile Image for Paola A Sánchez.
973 reviews10 followers
February 21, 2017
MY WTF FACE IS STILL RIGHT HERE.

Holy fucking shit! Who could've seen that coming?! I was fine with Ariana killing Kaitlyn (I finally caugh her name, correctly) I mean the psycho bitch deserved to die in such a dramatic and twisted way, she loved mind tricks and she fell in one of the best, the fact she believed that Adriana would just stay by her side was ridiculous but she did so... Guess you weren't that smart! Anyhow, the moment Kiran appeared I knew something fucked up was gonna happen, and unfortunately it did. Damn Ariana, I was beginning to side with you, cray bitch!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jennifer Brown.
2,801 reviews96 followers
June 14, 2018
I forgot how much I love this author's work! She grabs you with her teenage drama and keeps ya wanting more! The twistedness of Ariana's mind continues in this one. She uses the phrase "...keep your enemies closer" as her motto throughout this one. I didn't realize there was going to be another murder (let alone two!!). Now I need to go back and read the Private series because I don't remember some of this!! Great YA book!
Profile Image for Dani.
164 reviews66 followers
January 12, 2016
This is why Kate Brian (Kieran Scott) is one of my top three series authors. Her books are always addicting and drama filled and this one is certainly no exception! Also, I think I'm starting to like PRIVILEGE books more than PRIVATE books, even tho I have a deep love for both:)
Profile Image for Caitlin.
163 reviews
June 10, 2010
Ah, Ariana. She has so many issues. I can't WAIT to see her crash and fall. At least, she had better!! More killing in this one. Also a death that is going to affect the Private series...yikes... Anyway, I didn't like this one as much. But it was still good!
Profile Image for Erica Alyson.
832 reviews67 followers
June 16, 2010
I loved this book! I can't wait until the next. It started off slow but the ending was amazing! Didn't see that one coming but I am glad it did!
Profile Image for Karissa.
65 reviews53 followers
June 29, 2010
Ariana strikes again in all the right places. My jaw has continunally been on the floor through this whole series. Can't wait for the next book!
Profile Image for Danie P..
784 reviews6 followers
September 8, 2010
Oh.My.God. I cannot believe Ariana/Briana/ she's so ruthless...just when I start to like her the crazy comes out and then I hate her all over again!
Profile Image for Cecilia.
486 reviews1 follower
June 28, 2013
My mind has been blown away!!! That was amazing! The ending was crazy!!!!!
Profile Image for Kristen Davis.
35 reviews
March 18, 2013
One of the best book series I've EVER read! Well written and full of suspense. Love how in depth the author created the characters.
Profile Image for ktheland.
111 reviews6 followers
September 8, 2017
The death toll, people.

Briana Leigh Covington
You didn't deserve any of this. R.I.P.

Kaitlynn
You deserved most of it, but it wasn't probably that nice being killed by a person you thought was your friend. And I actually started to like you, minus the psychopathic side of you.

Kiran Hayes
R.I.P. You weren't my favorite Billings girl (that was formerly Ariana), but you also didn't deserve this.

Pending:

Ariana Osgood

Notes:
Like all psychopaths, Ariana only cares about herself and nothing is going to stop her, not even her new "friends". She might even kill Lexa or even Palmer if he gets back together with Lexa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for ✨Jinglemarco✨ .
586 reviews52 followers
May 26, 2018
I keep rating these books four stars, but the best is the first one. The following are somehow blander and more like 3.5 stars. Privilege is devious and twisted and thrilling. The others are shorter and a bit watered down. But that doesn't mean they are sweet and cute. Ariana is Ariana and she has to keep her false identity going. Only, since book two the big shocking reveal places just at the end and it is a fast shocking event... every entry in this series is shorter and shorter. We'll see in the final installment, which has a few more pages.
Profile Image for Natenee Wallett.
64 reviews
August 31, 2023
Honestly, this little four book spin off is forever better than private for me

I just wanna know what is WRONG with Ariana.

She’s definitely a serial killer.

But has guilt?

Idk. I wanna know wtf Jackson was thinking. I would love his insight.

Her death was underwhelming.

I’m glad Reed finally got a gun, good gracious. It only took multiple attempts on her life.

Still would’ve liked a Reed and Upton endgame.
Profile Image for Caroline.
322 reviews8 followers
September 7, 2017
Thought this one was slower for the first half than the other books in the series but wow, what an ending. I really wish Kate Brian would write another long series about rich, preppy, dangerous girls.
Profile Image for Rhiannon Rabby | 31.
939 reviews23 followers
January 29, 2022
Ariana & Kaitlynn are still total psychopaths. The difference between the two: You root for Ariana and you want her to succeed, while you wish for Kaitlyn to trip up and fall flat on her fucking face.
Side note: Adam is a badass mother fucker.
Profile Image for Ashley Clark.
746 reviews18 followers
August 29, 2023
These just keep getting better with each book. The lengths Ariana will go to keep her spot at the school and in the secret society is crazy. Now her and Kaitlynn must survive hell week for their secret society.
Profile Image for Tonya.
151 reviews
December 25, 2017
Was very surprised in this book n the ending got me more invested in Arianas life. Lets c what's happens nxt to her.
Profile Image for Kelly.
486 reviews2 followers
June 10, 2020
This one felt kind of rushed, but otherwise I'm binge-reading this series. Arianna is soo much more interesting than Reed.
Profile Image for Pin.
195 reviews2 followers
January 2, 2021
I'm sure there will be more death after this. This gets crazier and crazier, the battle between 2 ex best friends, Ariana and Kaitlynn. Fierce and intense.
Profile Image for zoë o'brien.
341 reviews2 followers
October 26, 2023
this definitely felt like a quicker read than the rest of the series! it feels like ariana is becoming less and less self aware as she becomes more sinister.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews

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