The following is a book review by The Ameri Brit Mom. This is book #2 from The Ameri Brit Mom 24 Book Challenge in 2016. This post expresses the genuine opinion and experiences of The Ameri Brit Mom and is in no way endorsed by authors, publishers, or outside influences.
Title: Schooled in Revenge
Author: Jesse Lasky
Publisher: Hyperion
Copyright Date: 2013
This Christmas I received this book in my stocking. My husband and I have spent many hours binge watching the ABC show Revenge on Netflix so he decided to gift me a book based on the television series. If you are unfamiliar with the show you can still read this book. Within its pages there are cameo appearances from a couple of the characters from the show, however, this novel is based on an entirely separate cast.
Ava Winters was once the wealthy heiress to a famous and successful vineyard in Napa Valley, California. When a plot unfolds which steals away anything and everyone that Ava has ever known she finds herself headed down a path of extracting revenge. Much like Emily Thorne (Amanda Clarke) in the television series Ava finds herself in Japan enrolled in the training program instructed by a sensai named Takeda.
Along her road to revenge Ava meets others who bear their own grudges. Each one with a story and list of secrets of how they wound up on Rebun Island. Until one day the students come across folders with each of their names filled with a plan to bring revenge to those who cost them everything. As a group, they begin to see the connections between their stories and take it upon themselves to leave the island to bring karma to their enemies.
During their individual quests for revenge each of the students uncover secrets about their lives and those they were once close to. With their training incomplete they are met with challenges back in California and some of those challenges prove to be deadly.
I really like how Jesse Lasky took a familiar plot, but implanted new characters with different motives. Like the television series, there is a dual timeline which keeps the suspense paramount throughout the book. As the reader you don’t learn about events of the character’s pasts until it becomes absolutely necessary. Not knowing the chain of events keeps you interested as the reader and gives motive to each turn of the page. Lasky rarely dabbles in descriptive language in his writing (which I disagree with as an author), but overall the book kept me involved with the drama and suspense and I began to forget about the lack of details.
I would recommend this book to fans of dramatic literature or anyone who finds themselves hooked on shows like ABC’s Revenge. It took me a while to finish this book so now I’m off to make up for lost time. On to book #3…a book written the year I was born (1990!!!!)
The Ameri Brit Mom 