What Have They Done to Liza McLean? by Amy Doak

Title: What Have They Done to Liza McLean?

Author: Amy Doak

Genre: Mystery, Dark Academia, Young Adult

Publisher: Penguin Australia

Published: 28^th October 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 336

Price: $19.99

Synopsis: Dark academia meets The Stepford Wives in this new YA mystery thriller from the bestselling author of Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer.

Meg McLean is a scholarship student at the ultra-elite Douglas College. Meg’s younger sister, Liza, is along for the ride, and everything Liza has done since they arrived at the school seems to be putting their chances of success at risk.

Until one day, when Liza’s behaviour is so at odds with her usual temperament that Meg knows something is very, very wrong.

Benedict Hargreaves (the Fourth) is Douglas College’s wealthiest student and perhaps the only one who isn’t influenced by the school and its strict code of conduct. Is he brave enough to help Meg uncover what has happened to her sister? Or is he part of the elusive ‘they’ who seem to be controlling everything – and everyone?

And, when more than one murder takes place, can Meg really trust anyone?

~*~

Liza and Meg McLean are scholarship students at Douglas College, an elite boarding school for the uber rich, in a community where alumnus live nearby. Nearly every student has a familial connection to the school as well. Except for Meg and Liza, who had been enrolled there following a family tragedy that has changed their lives. The two sisters couldn’t be any different. Meg is studious, determined to make the most of her time at Douglas College, and eager to put her past behind her. Liza is the party girl, the one who doesn’t care about grades. Until…she goes to a party and the next day, she changes. She’s studious. Polite. Calls everyone by their full name.

And it’s weird. Meg and Clara, one of her only friends, can see it’s weird. They’re sure something odd is happening to some of the students, but finding out what is going on means talking to Benedict Hargreaves the fourth. Ugh, he’s the last person Meg wants to talk to because why would a legacy student like him ever talk to a scholarship student like her? But she has no choice if she wants to find out what is going on with Liza. Their investigation leads to hacking the school records and some unusual discoveries that go back generations. But when the bodies start appearing, a mysterious plant goes missing, and more people start acting weird. All just in time for the big garden party. What perfect timing! And as things get more complicated, Meg starts to realise that there are deeper connections to everything in her life. And the events that led to her arrival at Douglas Academy are bigger and closer to home than she thought. It’s when people start turning up dead that Meg realises something is really wrong at the school. But who can she trust? Who can help her find out what is going on, and is there more to her story than she knows?

Amy Doak’s venture into dark academia in her new young adult novel with, what I felt, is an Australian setting is clever. She’s taken the aged institution, in this case a boarding school, and placed the elements of death, mystery and how people interact with academia to create something new and fresh for the genre. It’s not as dark as some of the other dark academia I have read, and the gentle, lighter touch gives it a sense of mystery that the others didn’t have. It’s less magical, not as intense as some of the others, but it is a great execution, and I like that they are all different. I liked that this one felt Australian, but at the same time, could easily have been in the UK. The story unfolds slowly, dangling bits of the mystery in front of the reader from the start of the novel. In this instance, it worked well, because it kept me reading and wanting to find out what was going on, what Meg didn’t want people to know, why she was the way she was.

This helped create the flawed, but relatable characters who drove the story, the teens who made the story what it was. You never really knew who you could trust, apart from Meg, Clara and Benedict. Everyone had secrets and motivations that drove the novel, and there were characters like Ophelia who were more complex than they first appeared to be. And let’s face it – any good dark academia novel will have characters with names you might not come across every day. It seems very fitting to have an Ophelia and a Benedict in dark academia. The names suit the genre so well.  And, because it is told in alternating perspectives with Meg and Benedict, the mystery builds slowly and plants seeds of doubt in our minds as readers throughout the novel.

The mystery about what has been done to Liza drives the story, and everything ebbs and flows throughout, creating a sense of unease at times. Everyone is dubious at times, and there are things that hint at much more going on than Meg and Benedict can see on paper. Everyone finds different clues, and is able to bring different knowledge to the table. It shows how people can work together, but also the role that secrets of all kinds play in our lives, and how they affect our responses to what happens to us. The mystery takes the characters on a twisty journey as Meg tries to put everything together to find out what happened to her sister and why everyone seems to think the change is perfectly fine.

It’s got everything in this novel. A good mystery, characters you can trust, and those you can’t, or aren’t sure about, and a mysterious school that has a lot to answer for. It’s a great addition to the young adult crime books that are out there, and I think it is a great introduction to dark academia for those who haven’t already read any books in that genre. I have read some of Amy’s other books, and I enjoyed this one, and hope to read more from her soon.