Review: The Revenge Plan by Linda Kage
Note: An advanced reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via Enticing Journey Book Promotions.
It's been a couple or so years since I last read something from Linda Kage, and knowing that the re-introduction of her writing comes by way of an anticipated spin-off of her Forbidden Men series, reading The Revenge Plan was certainly a no-brainer on my end. We meet Haven Gamble--daughter of Brandt and Sarah Gamble, whose story is told in the eighth Forbidden Men novel entitled Priceless--who is still reeling after the betrayal of her now-ex-boyfriend, but she's trying to play nice. Her ex's unsavory stabs at retaliation for their break-up, however, have Haven seething with anger. She's done with standing idly by and allowing her former boyfriend to treat her so horrifically and shabbily. The gloves are now off, and with some prodding from her closest friends, the time's come for her to hand her ex his comeuppance. She can't do it alone, however, which is why she's got her sights set on Wickham Webster, former quarterback for the school's football team and Sarah's ex's number one enemy. But things become complicated when it's clear that Wick would rather heal her heart than engage in Sarah's plan for revenge. Sarah's heart was used and abused by her ex, and Wick's merely a means to an end--nothing more. Right?
I'm feeling somewhat torn about this book. I appreciated the author's desire to be more creative with her approach to the story, and to a degree, the avenue she chose worked rather nicely. The thing is, though, there were aspects of the story that left me wary, especially when everything is revealed and we see exactly what it is Wick knew about Sarah and her ex-boyfriend. He's a truly nice guy and all, but he seriously could have handled things way better than he did. And maybe that was the thing--he was nice...TOO nice, to the point that his being a pacifist created this domino effect that hurt Sarah and Wick himself. Sigh. Then there's Sarah, who isn't exactly an innocent party either, what with her decision to use Wick in order to hurt her ex as much he had hurt her. Argh! So yeah, my frustration did get the better of me at certain points, BUT again, both Sarah and Wick aren't bad people. They were simply two young individuals who should have taken different, more effective paths in order to manage the situations they were in throughout. The whole matter regarding dear Henry--who was both hapless AND helpless--wasn't really a surprise, but the effort was, again, appreciated. The Revenge Plan was a 3.5-starred read. ♥
I'm feeling somewhat torn about this book. I appreciated the author's desire to be more creative with her approach to the story, and to a degree, the avenue she chose worked rather nicely. The thing is, though, there were aspects of the story that left me wary, especially when everything is revealed and we see exactly what it is Wick knew about Sarah and her ex-boyfriend. He's a truly nice guy and all, but he seriously could have handled things way better than he did. And maybe that was the thing--he was nice...TOO nice, to the point that his being a pacifist created this domino effect that hurt Sarah and Wick himself. Sigh. Then there's Sarah, who isn't exactly an innocent party either, what with her decision to use Wick in order to hurt her ex as much he had hurt her. Argh! So yeah, my frustration did get the better of me at certain points, BUT again, both Sarah and Wick aren't bad people. They were simply two young individuals who should have taken different, more effective paths in order to manage the situations they were in throughout. The whole matter regarding dear Henry--who was both hapless AND helpless--wasn't really a surprise, but the effort was, again, appreciated. The Revenge Plan was a 3.5-starred read. ♥
Date Read: 09 May 2019
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