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A review by bibliophilicjester
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
(also posted on gr)
and i'd like to add to "did you find the characters lovable?" HELL no
2.5, and i actually used cawpile bc i had no idea what to rate this one.
pretty much every review i've seen says what i liked and disliked better than i can articulate right now. but basically, the drinking, smoking indoors, and freedom these teenagers have is just unbelievable. also a lot of the rep felt thrown in but not really...woven in, i guess? there are so many tw/cw for this book, but i will say the animal cruelty/death was brief and yet way worse than i expected it to be. some things are presented in the book, but not really countered or dealt with: alcoholism, underage drinking (of hard liquor...not even a few beers, but full on "let's drink bourbon bc we don't know how old we are"), eating disorders, a fuck ton of witchcraft misconceptions, grief, trauma, going on/off meds, a doctor/therapist who a character is supposed to check in with throughout the year who doesn't follow up when said character doesn't check in?!?!??!, some discussion of racism in academic institutions and an obnoxious comment that goes undisputed...idk. there's just so much. in addition to so so many incredibly toxic relationships (friendships, romantic relationships, even a weird sibling dynamic, shitty parents, etc). ugh. i know "dark" books do this stuff a lot, but i think it hits different when it's set in our world.
some spoilery stuff...
at one point, i was convinced ellis was actually alex (ellis haley, alex haywood or something...idk they felt similar). ellis has a scar on her forehead, which could've been what alex sustained during the cliff fall. i was honestly disappointed when it turned out felicity had found and buried the body. meh. did i ever doubt she purposely killed alex? no way - she's guilty as hell. but when she first tells ellis about the way alex died hiking with her in the snow, cutting the rope etc, and felicity remembers writing that as a story for an alternate ending for alex...i wanted more of that. more about the lies felicity tells herself and the false world she has constructed. there's also a point when felicity remembers her grandmother's house vividly, then a few chapters later says she never knew her grandparents. i also wanted it to be more clear when felicity was/wasn't taking her meds. it just seems weird to start and stop and see any results? idk. maybe i'm reading into it too much. and the one character had the same pills as felicity? i'm confused. if you want to make felicity "unhinged" (as everyone seems to love that word lately) why put her on medication at all? i don't believe DOCTOR ortega who was treating her over the summer would have missed that felicity was a fucking murderer. she's not that smart, doesn't plot what she says so meticulously, that it would be believable she can fool a doctor who is literally trained to diagnose and treat that exact sort of thing. UGH okay i'm getting mad...
also, the whole thing toward the end about ellis faking being left handed so felicity couldn't forge her handwriting...what?! so did she smoke and drink lefty too? did she retrain herself to reach for things lefty? bc as someone who has a bad right wrist (old injury)...it took me YEARS to train myself to reach for things lefty. again, i just don't believe it. and really...who cares?! it's such a tiny detail that was weirdly overemphasized.
the way ellis sort of lured felicity into her orbit was also deeply troubling to me. the way she just randomly started caressing her cheek or grabbing her wrists or ankle or whatever...so possessive. is that just how the character was supposed to be as a person? or did she just figure out how felicity needs someone in a disturbingly codependent way and used control to manipulate her? i'm also confused about why ellis gave felicity a new set of tarot cards while telling her she was going to prove magic/witchcraft wasn't real. was it just another way to make her dependent on ellis, the giver of indulgent gifts?
i feel like i've spent way too much time writing this.
in sort of non-spoilery conclusion... i did like the atmosphere of the school, the woods, and the dalloway five/history. but the ending felt rushed and relied too much on "shocking" the reader with things we might've already figured out.
although...if this author ever wants to publish the book ellis was writing throughout this...i think i'd read it haha
and i'd like to add to "did you find the characters lovable?" HELL no
2.5, and i actually used cawpile bc i had no idea what to rate this one.
pretty much every review i've seen says what i liked and disliked better than i can articulate right now. but basically, the drinking, smoking indoors, and freedom these teenagers have is just unbelievable. also a lot of the rep felt thrown in but not really...woven in, i guess? there are so many tw/cw for this book, but i will say the animal cruelty/death was brief and yet way worse than i expected it to be. some things are presented in the book, but not really countered or dealt with: alcoholism, underage drinking (of hard liquor...not even a few beers, but full on "let's drink bourbon bc we don't know how old we are"), eating disorders, a fuck ton of witchcraft misconceptions, grief, trauma, going on/off meds, a doctor/therapist who a character is supposed to check in with throughout the year who doesn't follow up when said character doesn't check in?!?!??!, some discussion of racism in academic institutions and an obnoxious comment that goes undisputed...idk. there's just so much. in addition to so so many incredibly toxic relationships (friendships, romantic relationships, even a weird sibling dynamic, shitty parents, etc). ugh. i know "dark" books do this stuff a lot, but i think it hits different when it's set in our world.
some spoilery stuff...
at one point, i was convinced ellis was actually alex (ellis haley, alex haywood or something...idk they felt similar). ellis has a scar on her forehead, which could've been what alex sustained during the cliff fall. i was honestly disappointed when it turned out felicity had found and buried the body. meh. did i ever doubt she purposely killed alex? no way - she's guilty as hell. but when she first tells ellis about the way alex died hiking with her in the snow, cutting the rope etc, and felicity remembers writing that as a story for an alternate ending for alex...i wanted more of that. more about the lies felicity tells herself and the false world she has constructed. there's also a point when felicity remembers her grandmother's house vividly, then a few chapters later says she never knew her grandparents. i also wanted it to be more clear when felicity was/wasn't taking her meds. it just seems weird to start and stop and see any results? idk. maybe i'm reading into it too much. and the one character had the same pills as felicity? i'm confused. if you want to make felicity "unhinged" (as everyone seems to love that word lately) why put her on medication at all? i don't believe DOCTOR ortega who was treating her over the summer would have missed that felicity was a fucking murderer. she's not that smart, doesn't plot what she says so meticulously, that it would be believable she can fool a doctor who is literally trained to diagnose and treat that exact sort of thing. UGH okay i'm getting mad...
also, the whole thing toward the end about ellis faking being left handed so felicity couldn't forge her handwriting...what?! so did she smoke and drink lefty too? did she retrain herself to reach for things lefty? bc as someone who has a bad right wrist (old injury)...it took me YEARS to train myself to reach for things lefty. again, i just don't believe it. and really...who cares?! it's such a tiny detail that was weirdly overemphasized.
the way ellis sort of lured felicity into her orbit was also deeply troubling to me. the way she just randomly started caressing her cheek or grabbing her wrists or ankle or whatever...so possessive. is that just how the character was supposed to be as a person? or did she just figure out how felicity needs someone in a disturbingly codependent way and used control to manipulate her? i'm also confused about why ellis gave felicity a new set of tarot cards while telling her she was going to prove magic/witchcraft wasn't real. was it just another way to make her dependent on ellis, the giver of indulgent gifts?
i feel like i've spent way too much time writing this.
in sort of non-spoilery conclusion... i did like the atmosphere of the school, the woods, and the dalloway five/history. but the ending felt rushed and relied too much on "shocking" the reader with things we might've already figured out.
although...if this author ever wants to publish the book ellis was writing throughout this...i think i'd read it haha