I was hoping that this book would be good. The cover is amazing and the idea of a secret society doing people's bidding sounded like a really intriguing plot. I'm glad that it was because I was needing something to help take my mind off the mediocre books I had been reading.

Ember Williams has one goal: take down the Red Court. There isn't a lot of information given in the beginning about why she is doing what she did besides the fact that her sister's accident was caused by the infamous group. There is a lot of sacrifice for revenge and sometimes it becomes too much for her to take on. I'm glad that even with what was going on she still had a conscious about it. There are definitely times that she gets swept into it and we get to see how unhealthy revenge can be.

I would say that this book is definitely more plot driven but there is a great cast of characters. Ember's best friend Gideon is basically her angel on her shoulder. There is also all the people in the secret society and we do get introduced to most of them. Honestly, I thought I knew who the Queen of Hearts was but I was wrong and super surprised at the end!

The whole plot was quite entertaining and I liked seeing all of the tasks unfolding, whether good or bad. The ending felt a bit rushed but it seems that there could be a second book? The ending was kind of left open.

Overall, it was a great read that helped me kick the reading slump blues.

I feel like this book had a lot of potential but instead fell back on what I can only imagine is the source material making what could have been a great story it’s own tragic queen of spades.

“These Vengeful Hearts” follows Ember as she finally joins the elusive Red Court, an organization of young women at school who trade favors for jobs giving you anything from the title of homecoming queen or breaking up the new it couple so you have a chance at your crush, in order to bring down the Queen but her plans go sideways when she finds that the hierarchy is a bit more tricky than she imagined especially when she finds that she enjoys the power that comes with the title.

This is literally a book version of mean girls.

I feel like the orchestration of this secret society is wasted on a plot that is so similar to the film that it was spoiled before I even turned the first page to the point that I can’t understand why one would go through the trouble of orchestrating a dynamic that could have been a high school version of Ocean’s 8 but instead of making that its own piece it decided to superimpose it onto Regina George and the plastics.

This one actually stings a little bit because I feel like it could have been such a fun read if it tried to be it’s own thing but instead the entire house of cards fell apart and nothing of substance or at least entertainment was left in its wake.

This was a huge disappointment.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

I enjoyed this book, the premise was interesting and I thought it was quite clever. I think the female secret society could accomplish a lot.

I liked that the author focused onthe realities of what happens when you let revenge consume you and the unhealthiness of it.

I will be recommending this book to customers.

This book was received as an ARC from Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I did not know what to expect from this novel. Just by judgement of the cover, I thought it was going to be another adaptation of Alice in Wonderland and another scheme by the Queen of Hearts but, this book took a whole new turn. Here comes a secret society called the Red Court that their identities are to remain anonymous and the only one that knows their true identities is the Queen of Hearts. All set in Heller High School, the red court is thew source of all the gossip and the consequences they entail. Ember Williams was once a victim of the Red Court but finds a way inside as a member and is out for revenge. A brilliant plan comes with huge risk and Ember will stop at nothing to revenge the Red Court from the harm they caused her, even if it means risking it all. This book reminded me of any high school drama inspired YA novel. They all have the same concept and they all have the same result. As I read though the novel, I could not help but be bored because everything was so predictable. I was waiting for the huge twist but to what I thought just happened to connect to the original plot getting my hopes up.

For that reason, their may be a few YA enthusiasts interested in the novel but in this case, we have to give this book 3 stars.

The premise of this sounded amazing but the execution was a train wreck. You're immediately dropped into a confusing situation before being shuffled along to an awkward conversation between best friend and main character. There's no background at all to the plot or the characters. They're talking about a situation that you know nothing about and they're arguing based on the morals of a character that you've never met before or established a relationship with.

I wish I could give this book a good review but it was an immensely frustrating experience.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Inkyard Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*