Full review to come.
I deeply apologize, but life is a handful lately and I'm using all my free time to read, not review. I hope everybody understands.

So, like Snoekstra's other books, I really enjoyed the act of reading this one. The pages turned like crazy. Total mind candy. However, this was my least favorite of her three books. It's really hard to like Ava, though it's impossible not to find some sympathy for the things that made her the way she is. It's a very plot heavy book (which is the point), but it also relies on character development that is mostly present in the main character while the secondary characters could have used a bit more work. And really, I needed a bit more on Ava too, because her reactions just seem incredibly extreme and long term for the root cause. So I don't know. A fun read, but not if you think too hard about it.

This is a story of a girl, Ava, who gets revenge on a group of people who bullied and played tricks on to her in high school. It goes back and forth between past and present.

I have thought long and hard over what to write in this review. Upon reading the author’s notes, I learned that this was Anna Snoekstra’s white whale and since I have my very own white whale currently collecting dust on my bookshelf, I want to be very careful with my review because I know how special this title is to her. All that said, overall I enjoyed this book. I was eager to pick it up again and again and find out where the story was going and what was going to happen. The main character, also our narrator, felt extremely unreliable to me. The author casts her as a psychopath and after several years of intense study of Cluster B personality disordered individuals myself, I am not at all sure that she is one and while some of the author’s descriptions and character’s actions are spot on, others seem very off. At times during the main character’s narration I found myself very confused and unsure of what exactly was going on or being said. This seemed to happen most often when the story skipped back and forth through time and the breaks weren’t always clear enough so you found up feeling a but lost. The story was enjoyable overall and I always apprciate anyone attempting to introduce Cluster B personality disordered character’s into main stream society. People need to be aware of how dangerous these individuals are and that they are out in society everywhere, but it is also very important that these characters are portrayed correctly as society already greatly misunderstands them. This story did a great job of that in some ways, but was lacking a little in others. Overall, a very entertaining read and a minor glimpse into the mind of the people who truly have no emotional care for anyone and are essentially soul vampires.

I don’t think I was the right audience for this book.

I was bullied in school, too. I thought I would relate more to it, but I didn’t. Maybe it was the female perspective that separated me, or maybe I just wasn’t in the right head space for this.

The timeline jumped around a lot. In many cases this works as things are revealed from both the present and the past. But in this case I thought it should have been told in a more linear form. There was nothing to be gained from the continual back and forth except a little confusion.

There was something to this book that kept me turning pages, but in the end I didn’t find a satisfying tale of revenge and/or justice. I just found people being horrible to one another.

I was thrilled to death for the opportunity to read an ARC of his new book. I was drawn in from the first chapter and could hardly put it down! Highly recommend!

This was the first book I had read by Anna Snoekstra and unfortunately I did not finish it..

Thank you for providing me with a free advanced reader copy.

This book is your classic mean girls tale with a heavy plot emphasis on revenge. Ava was so traumatized by the bullying she was subjected to by 3 high school girls she idolized that years she still can't get past it. Hence the revenge plot. The narrative goes back and forth between Ava in a police station waiting to tell her story...what did she do?...and the past during her high school time. I just didn't feel much for Ava either way which lessened my motivation to care about what she did to end up in the police station. A huge positive was the author's ability to capture the meanness of high school girls. While this was a quickly readable book, I wasn't wowed by it

Three and a half star rating.
It all begins in high school where Ava is desperate to be accepted into a clique of three other girls, but finds that when she is allowed into the edges of the group that it’s not that great and the girls not that nice. Years later she is determined they won’t get away with what they did to her. Ava might have been the victim then, but proves she’s none too pleasant herself! Loved the idea of this book but it was confusing at times - a change of font would sort that out. It was annoying too to find both English and American spelling - centre 1 minute and the next center etc. A great story for people who like awful girls (+1 boy) but who are also hilarious at the same time.

Disappointing and unbelievable. Ava, having been bullied in school dreams of revenge for years afterwards. The whole book was disjointed and a mess. Ava needed to get a life and grow up.

Every now and then, all books get put aside so that a reader can indulge in the pure pleasure of a revenge story. The Spite Game pushes all the buttons. Ava is viciously bullied by the mean girls at her high school. Saanvi, Cass and Mel exceed the limits of cruelty and make Ava's life pure hell. After graduation, everyone pursues different careers and gets on with their lives, with the exception of Ava, who cannot get over the abuse she suffered at the hands of the mean girls. She systematically gets her revenge starting with Saanvi, then Cass. Mel discovers what Ava is up to and therein lies the outcome of this novel. This is a satisfying read because we cheer for the abused getting the upper hand. I had a good time reading The Spite Game by Anna Snoekstra. The author effectively shows us the lifetime damage done by bullies. Thank you to Mira and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loooved Anna Snoekstra's last book Little Secrets (one of my favourite reads last year), and it breaks my heart to say that this one just didn't work for me. I think one of the reasons is that it never fully set the scene for me. Whilst Little Secrets relied heavily on setting to add a sense of claustrophobia and suspense, the half-finished housing estate that features in this one had a lot of potential to be creepy but just wasn't. All characters were thoroughly unlikable (which I usually struggle with), and perhaps I am just too old and cynical to get immersed in teenage angst any more? Whilst I really felt for Ava as she is being bullied mercilessly, I never found her a particularly engaging protagonist. Whilst some other books that focus on revenge worked for me through clever plotting (like Lily in Peter Swanson's the Kind Worth Killing), Ava was neither clever nor likable enough to pull this off for me. I ended up DNFing it around the halfway mark. I concede that whilst the plot may work really well for other readers, it just wasn't the right book for me at this time. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review it.

Thank you to netgalley I received this as an ARC. I enjoyed it very much was good solid read. Solid 4 Stars for me!

Revenge novels are fun in some cases, especially ones involving catty mean girl bullies. However, I felt this was a little too much and I struggled with it. Despite being bullied in high school and envisioning some revenge scenarios...it was a little all over the place. Might give it another shot one day though....

Favorite Quotes:

As far as the social strata went, we were barely in the equation. We were cooler than the kids with chronic acne who played cards in the back of the library, but not by much… I felt ready. I wanted to see the true potential of my life, to have fun and get drunk and kiss boys and skip school. I wanted to see what I was capable of. I was just waiting for my in.

There had been always been an ache in my chest. I hadn’t known it was there until now, when it was gone. I knew all I had to do was relax, not say or do the wrong thing, and every moment would be entirely perfect… As long as I didn’t muck it up, things would stay golden… I wanted to pause this moment, because I knew, inevitably, I’d somehow do something to ruin it.

I don’t think I’m the right person to ask about being normal, but I’ve always thought the best way to live is to embrace your crazy. I’ll tell you now it’s always a hell of a lot more fun.

I had worried so much about being a “psycho,” but maybe I shouldn’t have. I’d be happier if I was one, that was for sure. If I was a psycho, I’d do something to Mel. I’d get even. I’d been worrying so much that there was something terribly wrong with me. But maybe the thing that was wrong with me was the only thing that was right.

My Review:

As someone who was bullied in high school, I can honestly attest to the brilliance and keenly observant insights tucked into this author’s well-crafted tale. High school was over forty years ago for me, but the painful sting of personal humiliation remains ever so sharp, regardless of the massive amount of years and tons of dust in between. I was absorbed by this emotive and cunningly written tale. The cleverly constructed narrative was laced with captivating and compelling characters and active with engaging, dynamic, and heart-squeezing scenarios. I required considerable motivation and enticement to put my Kindle down for those pesky chores like eating, sleeping, and adulting. I know it may not the politically correct or altruistic thing to confess, but I reveled in the ending with a glorious fist pump.

I'm a sucker for a red cover. Always. Every time. Slap that cover on a book where you don't even really need to think and just sit back to enjoy the ride - color me happily entertained. Exactly what I needed after a busy moving weekend.

The synopsis pretty much tell it all. Ava gets bullied and now is exacting revenge. BOOM. Good enough for me! This has a bit of a Heathers feel with Ava as Veronica, ya get me? Not quite as dark but definitely dark enough.... like a dark YA novel though I know this isn't considered a YA book. But with my love for YA and for psychological thrillers, this combo worked for me. Narrated by Ava, we glimpse her telling her story to someone as we flashback to the various things that happened to her in the past and how she translates that to her future. They want to call her a psycho? Fine, she'll look up the definition and then become the very thing they say.

Even though this is an uncorrected proof, I found a plethora of typos that started to grate on me throughout the read. The ending wasn't a surprise but I don't think it really was mean to be either. I had one tiny issue with the ending but at the same time, I couldn't really argue with either character. **shrug**

Basically, the lesson here is DON'T BULLY and if you do and want to play some kind of game, then prepare for the consequences - because those actions you want to play off as a condition of being young... well, they fester and you never know when karma will be your bitch.

I was intrigued by this book in the beginning & it had a strong beginning, however; I had a hard time continuing the story & wanting to know more about the characters. While, this book might not have been what I was hoping; I will suggest it to others.

This was fabulous It only loses some points from me because of the slightly confused and jumpy timeline: this I found took slightly some getting used to but when I did The Spite Game for me was ever such a satisfying read.
A psychological thriller that cleverly conveys the story of Ava and her obsession with her former classmate's actions towards her and showing us that there's a fine line separating such strong feelings of acceptance versus Revenge and Adoration versus Hate.
That even after time, the repercussions echo on affecting our psyche and individual mindset.
And I bet if we all think back we have been or known an Ava and I for one found myself rallying mainly for the protagonist here: I wanted Ava to get her retaliation and her pound of flesh.
So yeh a truly enjoyable read that I read straight through without a break.
This one gets a thumbs up.
I voluntary reviewed an Arc of The Spite Game.
All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Ava has a confession to make, she knows something about the disappearance of high school classmate, Mel. As she waits to be interviewed by the detective, Ava recounts the choices that led to her sitting in the police station. In high school Ava wanted nothing more than to be friends with Mel, Saanvi and Cass. However, when Ava proves her worth to ringleader Mel, she begins to see the truth of the girls and their friendship. Still, Ava does what she needs to do to stay within their good graces, even when Mel makes life more and more difficult for Ava. After high school is over, Ava can't shake the feeling that she was wronged by the girls; she stalks them on social media and then in real life, watching for when they will make a mistake, something she can use to destroy their life, like they did to her. Some of the players are easy to destroy, but Mel proves more difficult. As Ava carries out the game she has created, she wonders if she has turned into the psycho that they called her in high school.

The Spite Game is a psychological thriller that is all about revenge. There really isn't much mystery here as the book begins with Ava going to the police to confess, the suspense is built as we find out exactly what happened to Ava and what she did. I was glued to the pages as Ava's story unfolded and her retribution is brought to fruition. It did take me a chapter or two to realize that the book is set in Australia and to grasp language and setting differences. The timeline also skips back and forth through Ava's memories as she attempts to piece all of the important events together in her head, which is slightly discombobulating. This style of writing did keep me turning pages, though, as Ava slowly revealed the terrible things that happened to her and how she managed to right them, at least in her mind. As events unfolded, I thought a lot about the psychology of what the girls did in high school along with what Ava did as an adult. It was really interesting to read a book where none of the main character were likable and to see how everything turned out for Ava at the end.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Thank you Mira Books (Harper Collins) for gifting me a copy of this book, in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I rate this book a 3.5 out of 5 Stars. 

This is one of those books that walks a very fine line between Young Adult, and Adult Thrillers. Half the book is when Ava was a teenager, and written as such, the other half is when Ava is an adult, and written as such. But sometimes the lines blurred, and I had to remind myself that I was reading about the present Ava, not the high-School Ava. I also want to say, (In my own opinion) that the reason Ava seeks "revenge" is very petty. To carry on years and years of anger and to destroy the lives of the three women was a bit much. Yes it was an a$$hole thing they did, but for me, it just wasn't enough.

That being said, I still really enjoyed the book. It was a fast paced read, there was something about Snoekstra's writing that I just really appreciated. Her plot wasn't convoluted, wasn't a slow burn, from the very first chapter, I was totally addicted, I wanted to know more, and it wasn't necessarily wanting to know more about Ava and the girls, I wanted to know more about Ava. If you have read the book, there is an incident that occurs when Ava is 17. That is what I wanted to know more about. I was left wanting to know more about it too, even after finishing the book. I finished 75% of this book that first day I picked it up, and then wasn't able to read very much for the next few days, but I was dying to know how it all panned out. Did I like the ending, yes. Did I feel the punishment was appropriate? Hmmm, maybe not so much. But I definitely do recommend this book, and I especially really enjoyed the way this book was narrated.