A review by maggiesummerkate
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

2.0

2.5 rounded down

i wanted to like it. i did. i really really wanted to like this book, but i couldn't. not in the ways i wanted to.

i'll start with the good. the atmosphere. i loved the feeling of the world because i felt like it could be real, like i was there. that was something that i found solace in. at every turn, the world felt pretty real.

now, for everything else... where do i start? first, i would say that most of all, i'm upset at the ending and the twist. it was cheap. it was what i predicted 7 chapters before, and it was quite literally just like scream 1. it's like billy's little monologue about maternal abandonment and how it "certainly fucked you up, didn't it? made you have sex with a psychopath." that was quite literally exactly what this was. and yes, i LOVE scream. but that's already been done. several times. i want something NEW. i know the horror/thriller genre is formulaic but you could've tried a little harder.

as for the characters, they were mediocre. i felt like they could've been developed better. i'm not sure what i needed more of, but i needed MORE. it wasn't enough. i wanted to know these characters. i also wanted to see more of their daily lives. of classes and things, because school is NOT like this.

all in all, the cover was pretty, the world was nice, but the plot left a lot to be desired.