Member Reviews
Pretty Revenge switches between two main characters, Kerrie and Jordan. The women met once before, for less than twenty-four hours almost 18 years ago. Jordan took something from Kerrie, something she could never get back. Kerrie is seeking revenge. However, when the two woman finally meet after 18 years, Jordan doesn’t recognize Kerrie. She doesn’t quite look the same, and her name isn’t Kerrie anymore. Will Kerrie be able to get her pretty, sweet revenge on Jordan or will her plan fall through?
I don’t know what genre to classify Pretty Revenge, it is a thriller with a more feminine side. There is no brutal murder as there is in most thrillers, it’s more of a psychological revenge that our main character seeks.
In my opinion, if Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin had an affair with The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda – this book would be the love child!
I absolutely loved this more feminine thriller. Liebert did a magnificent job of creating two main characters (who each had two personalities). This book was a page turner, and a marvelous beach read. While not too gory and scary like most thrillers I read, Pretty Revenge was a little more delicate but sharp. I’m giving this one a 4.5 out of 5 star rating!
I love a story about about revenge, seeing how far someone will go to get the vengeance they feel is deserved never ceases to intrigue me and with the word revenge in the title I knew this would be a perfect addition to my summer TBR! I was right, I can’t think of a better book to read poolside, this one was juicy and wickedly fun.
Right away to learn that Jordana has somehow wronged Kerrie in the past, you don’t find out until much later what the transgression was, and it really didn’t matter much in the end because the entire ride to to the truth is where the fun lies. You hear from both women in alternating chapters and watching Kerrie plot and scheme against an unknowing Jordana was all sorts of entertaining. Throw in some juicy interesting secrets from them both and you have the perfect recipe for a summer read. This is fun, Fast and dives into the obsessive side of female friendships in a really campy and dramatic manner.
Pretty Revenge in three words: Addictive, Delicious and Wicked
Actual Stars: 3.75
This was good, don't get me wrong, but it pretty predictable. I'm not sure I would classify this as psychological, or suspense, or thriller. It didn't really have those elements, but it was a good story. It kept me engaged, but I wouldn't say it was a thrilling page-turner.
What I liked: the premise and the story line were good and engaging, though predictable.
What I hated: there wasn't really any psychological thriller or mystery to this really.
Revenge can be all consuming, and once Kerrie saw Jordana on the news, she decided to move to New York and take back what Jordana took from her all those years ago.
Out of work and with some money from her grandmother, Kerrie, using her new name - Olivia, makes the move and lands an interview with Jordana who owns a wedding planner business that caters to the wealthy and important.
Kerrie - the new Olivia - gets the job in a quick and easy interview. Was it too easy? Did Jordana really not know who Kerrie was?
After Kerrie was successful at obtaining the job, the excitement wore off almost immediately, and she was worried she didn’t make the right decision.
We follow both women as they play their roles and we wonder what had happened between them that made Olivia want to ruin Jordana.
Learning about their pasts and their childhoods gave insight into what happened eighteen years ago and what made them who they were today.
I actually liked both Jordana and Olivia even though they both were pretending to be someone they were not.
I also liked the light story line and learning the ins and outs and stresses of a wedding-planning business for the rich and famous.
It took a chapter or two to get me hooked, but PRETTY REVENGE was an enjoyable read despite what I thought was a sinister-sounding title and sinister-looking cover. I didn’t think it was going to be as tame as it was.
This book actually was on the delightful side.
If you are a fashionista, love New York, wonder how friendships go wrong, believe that you can be happy, and find characters you can love and hate at the same time, you won’t want to miss PRETTY REVENGE. 5/5
This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this story!!!!!!! I wouldn't agree with the thriller categorization but i think it was an enjoyable entertaining read. This story is told from two different POV's. First is Kerrie, a young woman consumed with rage and intent on getting revenge on a woman who did her wrong in her past. We meet Jordana, the wrong doer,. She is a successful business owner who has revamped herself to suit her husbands lavis upscale lifestyle. Kerrie revamps herself so Jordana doesn't recognize her until Kerrie is ready for her to. Kerrie is a woman scorned by the worst way, by another woman, and she will get her revenge one way or the other . Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Threshold Publishing for my honest review.
I’ve been a fan of Emily Liebert’s writing since I picked up her touching debut novel, You Knew Me When, a few years ago. She has an amazing talent for crafting complex female characters and engaging plots.
Pretty Revenge follows two women in alternating first person narratives. We first meet Kerrie O’Malley, a twenty something woman who has just lost her job and is living with a boyfriend she finds more than faintly repulsive. When she turns on the TV and sees Jordana Pierson, an acquaintance from childhood who did Kerrie wrong in some way, Kerrie is shocked. Now a Manhattan wedding planner to the rich and famous, Jordana announces that she is looking for an assistant and Kerrie’s life changes in an instant. After moving to New York and undergoing an extensive makeover to change her appearance, Kerrie applies for the job under the name Olivia Lewis. The two women develop an efficient working relationship which soon deepens to a trusted friendship. Once that trust is established, Olivia is free to exact revenge on the women who ruined her life so many years ago.
“Jordana took everything from me, and now I’m going to take everything from her.”
Meanwhile, Liebert expertly doles out information from both of their pasts in small delicious parcels. The interweaving of the present and past narratives is seamless and enviable and that’s no easy feat! The reader gets just the right amount of information at the right time to keep the pages flying all the way up to the perfect conclusion. Both Olivia and Jordana are real women—complex and flawed, and I completely understand and believe both of their motivations.
One of the most compelling characters, Olivia’s Nana, full of sage advice and clever quips, never even appears on the page. Nana’s favorite saying, “Senseless revenge will whip its neck and snap you on the bottom,” runs through Olivia’s head several times, but she always dismisses it. She knows without a doubt that her revenge is justified and makes complete sense. Is her revenge pretty? You’ll have to read this delicious novel to decide for yourself. This is a perfect one day beach read—put it in your beach bag and thank me later
⭐️⭐️⭐️— Pretty Revenge by Emily Liebert (Out July 2)
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Thank you to Gallery and Netgalley for a free copy of this book!
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Kerri, now Olivia, wants revenge of Jordan, now Jordana. After the terrible wreckage jordana left behind years ago, Olivia decides to infiltrate her life. She quickly gets herself hired as Jordana’s assistant at her wedding planning company. From there, Olivia slowly starts to sabotage Jordana.
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What I loved: I loved the wedding planning business aspect. Seeing that and the positive interactions our two characters were having was fun to read. The writing style was my type of writing and I enjoyed the plot of the book.
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What I didn’t: Olivia’s determination seemed high, but her actions were weak. She didn’t really pull too many punches and the ones she causes little to no disruption. Even the “big” one was not really big for Jordana. The ending was a bit nice.
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There are few things I love more than suspense novels that have strong characters and stories. The ones that don’t rely on suspense to steer the plot.
Olivia/Kerrie and Jordan/Jordana were robust, strong and deeply flawed characters. The revelations of their history was perfectly tied together and laid out.
I didn’t know who I was rooting for more. I wanted them both to “win” and come out on top.
As with most suspense novels, the ending came fast and furious and I wanted more. All the best books leave me wanting more because I’ve connected with the characters.
Thank you to Gallery books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I read Pretty Revenge really fast. It caught me right from the first page and I could not put it down. The idea of getting revenge on someone who has done you wrong in the past is always a delicious thought, it is just not usually acted upon. Olivia/Kerrie decides to get revenge on the woman who killed her grandmother when she was a child after seeing her on television. She sets a plan in motion to insert herself into Jordana's life as her assistant. The plan works, but Olivia begins to feel sorry for Jordana after seeing how bad her life truly has become. She also falls in love with one of the grooms she is supposed to be helping. I really enjoyed this book, however, I felt that as it got towards the end, there was no real BANG moment. It is touted as being a psychological thriller, but came across more as chick lit.
I love this genre, but I had a hard time with this book. I thought the blurb sounded pretty interesting, but I found the book, itself, to be somewhat boring. It was hard to stay engaged. The characters were developed, but nothing about them pulled me in as much as I'd hoped. I was expecting more of a dark thriller, but that's not what this is. The twists and turns typically found in this genre were largely absent.
This wasn't my favorite read. I enjoyed the first part of the book. The writing was very good and I was engaged. Somewhere in the middle, I just got bored and didn't really care about it. Maybe it just wasn't the book for me.
Usually a story of revenge is a dark tale, but this one is not. Kerrie plans her revenge on Jordan and finds herself enjoying the time she spends working with her and discovering that she's good at the wedding concierge business. I enjoyed reading about all the over-the-top things the elite of NYC want at their weddings. I thought the characters were well-developed. I enjoyed the plot, also. This was a fun read.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Pretty Revenge is the first book I have read by Emily Liebert. I thought this book was well written but found the first half of the book more engaging than the back half. I expected more twists and turns based on the comparisons in the blurb. I found the book to be pretty straightforward.
This one was not for me. Although an easy read, the basis of the book being that of revenge seemed very weak. I did not find myself really connecting nor enjoying the main characters. I also thought the story as a whole just seemed so far fetched, to the point where it wasn't believable. Also I found the story very predictable and not memoriable. The main plot twists, I thought, were oddly placed and the ending was boring and left holes in the plot.
Thank you netgalley for an arc in exchange for my honest review.
The synopsis of this novel sounded intriguing and had some elements of mystery, so I was definitely excited to check it out. What was inside kept me turning the pages, as I just had to find out what would happen.
I will admit that I was expecting this novel to be a psychological thriller, but it really wasn't. It was really just a straight-up revenge story. I liked seeing the dual perspectives, as both stories were compelling. Knowing the truth behind the past events made me feel bad for Jordana, however. Even so, I just had to know if Kerrie would pull off her revenge plan. All the wedding drama from demanding people was amusing and gave the story a Devil Wears Prada feel. There was even a romantic subplot.
My only minor issue is that the ending seemed to happen really quickly after all the buildup.
Pretty Revenge is a fast-paced story that I breezed through, as I couldn't put it down. I look forward to seeing what Emily Liebert comes up with next and am reminded that I need to go back and pick up the novels of hers that I missed.
Movie casting suggestions:
Kerrie: Teresa Palmer
Jordana: Rebecca Ferguson
William: Max Minghella
Sara: Aubrey Plaza
John: John Slattery
Ethel: Bebe Neuwirth
"Pretty Revenge" is a well-told, twisty tale of revenge that fans of The Last Mrs. Parrish and A Simple Favor will enjoy. There was an element of reading this book that required suspension of disbelief, but certainly enough drama to maintain interest. The writing flowed quite well and the characters were mutlifaceted and complex. All in all, an enjoyable, quick read.
“The name of the game is revenge—no matter the cost” - The first line of the synopsis of Emily Liebert’s Pretty Revenge - and it certainly sets the stage! The best way to describe Pretty Revenge is delicious campy fun! And Liebert hits it out of the ballpark in this respect!
Early on, we learn that Jordan stole something invaluable from Kerrie at a young age and this event shaped the future for Kerrie tremendously. Fast forward 18 years, Jordan is now Jordana, a wealthy & glamorous wedding planner who appears to have it all. Kerrie is living in a small drab apartment in Connecticut with her loser boyfriend when she discovers Jordana needs an assistant - hence Kerrie reinventing herself as Olivia and applying for the job, determined to get justice for what happened all those years prior.
With each of the women, Liebert creates a distinct voice, both of which are smart, sharp and enjoyable to read. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to follow Olivia’s revenge unfold and wonder if Jordana would catch her first. In this fun game of cat & mouse, filled with extravagant weddings, horrible husbands, and even more horrible mothers of the bride, Pretty Revenge is entertaining and enjoyable from start to finish. Throw this one in your beach bag this summer and thank me later!
Thank you to Gallery Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed this book - I didn't expect the twist and thought the writing was fun to read! I definitely recommend it :)
DNF at 35%. The writing wasn't very inspired, the characters were hard to like, and the soap operatic teases of "what happened" had me interested to a point...But then it became full to the point of eye rolling. I do ally sought out spoilers to see "what happened" and...If I had read this entire book to get to that reveal, I would have been angry.
How have I not heard of this lovely author before??? Now I am going to gobble up every book she has written! This novel literally sucked me in from the beginning as I love women/friendship/frenemies plot lines and this one has it all! As a twelve-year-old, Kerrie admired Jordan as she appeared to have it all--a nice house and adoring parents. So when the opportunity arose to help Jordan, she was there to be a friend...but something went horribly wrong. Fast-forward eighteen years later as Kerrie sees Jordan (now Jordana) on television as the famous Wedding Concierge sought out by celebrity couples, and she is determined to seek revenge on the woman she believes ruined her life. What's not to like about this plot? Of course both women are flawed, both frauds in their own ways, but somehow they are both lovable as their childhood/adolescent stories are slowly revealed and we see their concealed pain and their attempts to rise above their upbringing. Enough said. Just read this book and you won't be disappointed! Many surprises, no simple "happy endings" tied up in a neat little bow; it's just a heartwarming/heartbreaking novel that I loved!