What happened in Get Even by Gretchen McNeil - Recaptains

The basics

Title: Get Even

Author: Gretchen McNeil

Series: Don't Get Mad #1

- Get Even (2014)
- Get Dirty (2015)

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in Gretchen McNeil’s witty and suspenseful novel about four disparate girls who join forces to take revenge on high school bullies and create dangerous enemies for themselves in the process. Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers. When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose.

Read a full summary of Get Even by Gretchen McNeil below. If you can’t remember what happened in Get Even and you need a refresher, then you’re in the right place.

In short

Four girls come together to go against bullies with revenge pranks. Suddenly one of their targets, Ronny, gets murdered and everyone suspects their secret club Don’t Get Mad. The girls start getting envelopes with different contents from the killer and need to find out who it is. With the help of those and by going through Ronny’s files they find out that Christopher Beeman seems to be the killer but no one knows what he looks like, so they suspect quite a few guys at their school to be him. At a concert that almost everyone from school attends, the girls break up their club because they don’t trust each other anyore after receiving the envelopes with clues about their past. One of their teachers, Coach Creed, who was obsessed with finding out who is behind DGM is found dead behind the club. They already get back together soon after getting another message from the killer who wants them to turn themselves in. They don’t and Margot gets attacked during opening night of a school play. Bree turns herself in the next day and is arrested for murder.

What happened in Get Even?

• During a group project at school Margot, Bree, Kitty and Olivia form DGM (Don’t Get Mad) to take revenge against bullies
• As the result of DGM’s revenge pranks, the Maine Men are formed by the school, who are supposed to out DGM. John and Bree (best friends, soon madly in love) are their main suspects (especially Coach Creed is obsessed with John)
• Coach Creed constantly bullies his pupils so DRM takes revenge by showing his “America’s Next Fitness Model” video during an assembly
• Margot runs into Rex and a DVD ends up among her things. On it is the new guy at school Ronny making out with a completely drunk Mika (Kitty’s best friend). DRM decides to make him their next target
• Bree breakes into his house to check out the files on his computer and finds a list tacked to his door: “Theo, Creed, Rex”
• The next day in school an announcement is made that Ronny has been found dead in his home, a card with “DRM” has been left with him
• Theo confesses to the murder to get the police off DRM but is released again soon after because of an alibi
• The girls start getting envelopes with different contents/clues to their pasts:
  • a picture of Margot from a prank that made her want to kill herself
  • a list by John of possible meanings of “DRM”
  • a news article on a “grade fixing scandal” a few years ago that let to Barbara (former volleyball team captain) being expelled
  • a picture of Bree and Christopher Beeman
  • a picture of Amber and another girl, taking the picture of Margot
  • a copy of an email to John, telling him to look for a picture of DGM in the library
  • a picture of Kitty and Barbara
• Olivia overheard Amber who wants Jezebel to lie for her about where she has been the night of the murder as well as Amber and Rex, Amber saying “it better be worth it” and that Jonny had something on Rex
• Kitty starts dating Olivia’s ex-boyfriend Danté which leads to some drama when Olivia finds out because she was hoping to get back together with him.
• Christopher Beeman was Bree’s best friend in Junior High. She had a crush on him but after he rejected her, she joined in on the bullying of him. When he told his parents about being bisexual, he gets send to Archway Military Academy
• Margot goes through Ronny’s computer files and finds out that Ronny and Christopher got Coach Creed kicked out of Archway Military Academy. Chris was in love with Ronny but Ronny started avoiding him after a kiss. Two weeks later, Chris goes AWOL
• They suspect Chris to be the killer but no one knows what Chris looks like and they can’t find a picture anywhere because the pages with him on it are ripped out of all the yearbooks, even Bree’s at home (it seems like they were all ripped out by John)
• Margot starts dating Logan
• At school again, the Main Men want to bully John into confessing being member of DGM, but Bree intervenes by punching Rex in the face.
• Mika starts a protest against the Main Men which escalates and has to be broken up by the police but not before Coach screams at Danté “I’ll fucking kill you” and gets suspended.
• John joined a band which is playing a concert at the Coffee Clash which basically the whole school is visiting
• John finally makes it clear that he wants more from Bree. She takes a bit longer so they aren’t speaking to each other for a while after this
• Coach Creed shows up at the club to get John but they don’t let him in. Olivia later finds him dead behind the club.
• Olivia finds out that Kitty might have turned in Barbara, the former team captain of Kitty’s volleyball team, to become captain herself
• Margot found out that Olivia was the one who took the picture of her and confronts her
• The DGM members don’t trust each other anymore and break up
• They get another envelope saying “Turn yourself in or else. You have until opening night:”
• Bree and Margot decide to go against the person sending them the letters and involve Ed. They write an email to all pupils pretending they know who it is to stall for time
• Olivia and Kitty join them again after they see that email

How did it end?

It’s the big opening night of the school’s play that half of these guys are involved in. The girls are impatiently waiting for Ed, who was doing research in Arizona and should have long been back. When the play is almost over, they hear a scream. Margot was attack. She is brought to the hospital, her condition critical. The girls start crossing off suspects from their list: the three themselves, Logan and John. Still on their suspect list are Theo, Rex and Amber. Kitty decides it’s too risky to go on and wants to turn herself in.
The next day at school they have another assembly. Kitty as the vice president is about to make an announcement, but before she can turn herself in, Bree jumps up and shouts “I’m DRM”. While the police arrests her for murder, she finally tells John that she loves him.

This is a full plot summary of what happened in Get Even by Gretchen McNeil. Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!