A haunting story of feminism and revenge
Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond Tours and Jordyn Taylor for allowing me to be part of this experience and also providing me with a complimentary book and media kit!
Book Information
Publishing Date: November 7, 2023
A wickedly comic feminist mystery about the dark side of a hopeless romantic’s seemingly perfect love story—for readers of Jessica Goodman and Kara Thomas.
Alyson is a romantic, and sometimes it gets her into trouble. Like last summer, she thought her co-worker was into her, when in reality he found her flirting pathetic.
Then she meets Brenton Riggs Jr., and right away she knows that their connection isn’t just in her head. When he swoops in to save her one night from a less than savory party encounter, she falls head-over-heels. Finally, someone Alyson likes who likes her back!
But when she finds out about the King’s Cup—a competition the guy’s at their boarding school started to see who has the most sexual prowress—she’s put on edge. Does Brenton really want to be with her, or is he just trying to win? Then Alyson and the other girls at the school start a competition of their own: The Queen’s Cup. It’s all about reclaiming their power. But as the compeition heats up, Alyson’s relationship begins to fall apart—and it isn’t long before the cracks in her perfect love story start to show through.
Book Links
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58700318
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Game-Jordyn-Taylor/dp/0593563646/
- Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-revenge-game-jordyn-taylor/1143044417 IndieBound: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-revenge-game-jordyn-taylor/19729904
About the Author
Jordyn Taylor is the deputy digital editor at Men’s Health magazine and the award-winning author of the young adult novels The Paper Girl of Paris and Don’t Breathe a Word. She is also an adjunct professor of journalism at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Jordyn was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, and now lives in New York.
Author Links:
- Website: https://www.jordynhtaylor.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordynhtaylor
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordynhtaylor/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18937461
Review (no spoilers)
If you’d like to follow along with the rest of the tour, you can find the tour schedule here.
The Revenge Game is a YA thriller that has very strong themes of feminism, justice, and revenge. The plot follows a young romantic high school girl named Alyson who suddenly finds herself in a budding romance with the school’s most popular jock, Brenton. Her carefree and fun new relationship soon turns sour when she and her friends learn of a misogynistic game that the boys on campus play called the “King’s Cup”, where boys get points every time they have a sexual encounter with a girl at the school. In an act of defiance, the girls begin their own little game of “Queen’s Cup” to seek justice and revenge. The problem is, Alyson doesn’t know if Brenton’s feelings are real or if she’s just another pawn in the boy’s twisted games.
I’ve read a lot of YA thriller novels, and this one fits really well with the rest of the popular books in this genre. The fact that there are very strong themes of feminism is one of the things that I think sets it apart from some of the others. That being said, there were several points while reading this book that I felt like I had read it before. While the writing is clearly set up to lead the reader on a thrilling path of questions and answers, I found that my thoughts on what was going to happen were almost completely aligned with the actual plot that followed. There was no “twist” that I didn’t see coming from miles away.
I do, however, think that people who aren’t as familiar with YA thrillers/mysteries will enjoy reading this book a lot. The writing style switches between first person narration and things like newspaper articles and press releases, which is a style that I personally think works really well with these types of stories. There is a dual timeline as well (something very standard in YA thriller/mystery novels) so you’ll jump back and forth between present and past events as the story unfolds.
If you’re looking for a YA thriller to pick up next, definitely give this one a try. Just be prepared for it to feel familiar if you’ve read a lot of them.
Jenjenreviews 
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