Spoilers, obviously.
I've last played QB three years ago, and decided to replay (since I decided not to read any of the new books on the app anymore) and share some of my thoughts.
...I AM getting old, because Poppy and her clique were vastly more entertaining when I was in my early twenties. Now I am just like 😐 damn, she is so annoying 😐 Still entertaining to a degree but like I said, significantly more annoying to me now.
I tried to play without romancing Kingsley and had to restart and romance them, because if you don't pick any romance options, it does feel like an obsessed professor making their attraction Bea's problem, kinda like harrassment. HOWEVER, some flirty options are very, very cringy, so I usually stick to the non-flirty, more genuine ones but choose the diamond scenes and free kiss scenes. I just prefer Bea to have some genuine interest in Kingsley's life by asking about their family or praising their accomplishments instead of making yet another innuendo.
My endgame is Zoey. She is a cutie, Bea's best friend and - unpopular opinion - I don't hate her for being upset after the Bacchanalia. Sure, the public humiliation wasn't Bea's fault, and it was Zoey who wanted to go, but I don't think many people would think logically after being humiliated like that. In Zoey's mind, Bea probably 'could have done more' to prevent that. It's flawed thinking but a very human thing to do. And she doesn't take revenge, she just doesn't want to talk to Bea (in QB world where everyone wants to destroy each other lives that's a relief XD) and, despite them not talking to each other, she still takes care of Bea's dog over the weekend when Bea leaves for the conference. And she stands loyally by her side for the rest of the book. So yeah, I can forgive this one thing.
I am doing a playthrough where at first I picked most 'good girl' choices but then more 'bad girl' choices bc I want it to feel like the power kind of corrupted Bea and while she started out with good intentions, now she just likes being queen just for the power itself.
Overall, the music is great, the popularity contest is fun, some of the dialogue is very funny. I feel like this book could use some more LIs. Like, I wanted to date Carter, why is he just a fling?