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jpdubs 's review for:
A Lesson in Vengeance
by Victoria Lee
This book... just wow, and not in a good way.
Nice things about the book:
-the actual writing was well done and very lyrical
-there was a great spooky atmosphere throughout the book that kept you as unsettled as the main character
-Very intriguing concepts
-The last 2 chapters were thrilling and suspenseful. A real cat and mouse situation. If only the whole book felt that way.
Not great things about this book:
-Felicity, the main character, was very self-centered and not very memorable. She was easily manipulated and did not think through her actions. Pretty unredeemable and unlikeable who did not see any red flags.
-Ellis, the main love interest, was even worse as a character and person. She was manipulative, horrible, and everything pretentious you can think of. I actually yelled at the audiobook as I listened when she did awful things.
-There were hits of magic and witches throughout the book that were never fulfilled. Don't go into this book looking for fantasy
-I kept on thinking there was no point in these characters being teenagers. They felt like college-age women. They constantly drank, smoked, and even rented a car (even with a fake id, a 17-year-old would not look like a 25-year-old, which is how old you need to be to rent a car). I do not think any of these girls had a time when they were not drinking booze or at least some coffee. This book would have felt better if the author gave up the pretense of this being YA and just made it adult.
-Did not handle mental health issues well at all.
-70% of the book was just atmosphere and no plot. Then the book's tone shifted from magical mystery dark academia to suspense.
Tldr: Good in theory book with decent writing but with horrible characters, bad pacing, but an interesting ending.
Nice things about the book:
-the actual writing was well done and very lyrical
-there was a great spooky atmosphere throughout the book that kept you as unsettled as the main character
-Very intriguing concepts
-The last 2 chapters were thrilling and suspenseful. A real cat and mouse situation. If only the whole book felt that way.
Not great things about this book:
-Felicity, the main character, was very self-centered and not very memorable. She was easily manipulated and did not think through her actions. Pretty unredeemable and unlikeable who did not see any red flags.
-Ellis, the main love interest, was even worse as a character and person. She was manipulative, horrible, and everything pretentious you can think of. I actually yelled at the audiobook as I listened when she did awful things.
-There were hits of magic and witches throughout the book that were never fulfilled. Don't go into this book looking for fantasy
-I kept on thinking there was no point in these characters being teenagers. They felt like college-age women. They constantly drank, smoked, and even rented a car (even with a fake id, a 17-year-old would not look like a 25-year-old, which is how old you need to be to rent a car). I do not think any of these girls had a time when they were not drinking booze or at least some coffee. This book would have felt better if the author gave up the pretense of this being YA and just made it adult.
-Did not handle mental health issues well at all.
-70% of the book was just atmosphere and no plot. Then the book's tone shifted from magical mystery dark academia to suspense.
Tldr: Good in theory book with decent writing but with horrible characters, bad pacing, but an interesting ending.