3.5 stars
I was intrigued by this book at first. I liked the premise of the Red Court as this secret society that took requests from students (break this couple up, make this person prom queen etc) and made them reality. Ember's inclusion into this group was fast paced and interesting, but then the middle kind of fell flat. I was still interested enough for the audiobook to constantly keep my attention, but it just didn't seem as fast paced as the beginning. Probably around the 3/4 mark, it picked back up though. The ending also kind of fell a little flat. The first category this is under is thriller and I was just expecting it to be a little more thriller-y. I didn't dislike the ending, I actually thought the ending was pretty good, I was just expecting more of a thriller aspect.
The characters were done well, I liked Ember, and I really liked Haley. The relationship between Ember and April and the relationship between Ember and her best friend (whose name is escaping me now since I listened to the audio) were great. I loved the sibling dynamic between Ember and April and how Ember tells April everything.
I liked Ember's internal struggle throughout the book. It made it more believable. She initially wanted to join the Red Court because of her need for vengeance for her sister being hurt, but she ends up enjoying some of her assignments and doesn't know how to feel about that. And then some of the assignments go too far and push Ember to her breaking point.
Like I said before, the ending was a little bit anti-climactic but it set up nicely for a potential sequel, or just to keep you wondering what happened afterwards and making up your own ending.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

September Williams, known as "Ember", has always been a model student at her high school. Straight A's, captain of the debate team, and many other achievements line her transcript. All of this has been to catch the eye of The Red Court, a secret sisterhood at the school. The Red Court has been responsible for ruining many lives, including Ember's older sister April. After an accident caused by the Red Court leaves April paralyzed, Ember has sworn to take apart this group from the inside. Will she be able to complete her plan, or will she lose herself to the powerful allure of the Red Court?

This was a great quick read. It was a great take on a secret society from a high school level and it really worked for me. Ember definitely had to put in some hard work with the Red Court and while most of the twists were reasonably predictable, this is a quick read you won't want to miss. There is mystery, romance, action; something for every reader with characters and a plot to back it up.

I recommend this story for anyone 13+ who like a good mystery or even a descent plot of revenge. It took me back to the first time I watched the show Revenge and how Emily Thorne had to roll with the punches when her plans didn't always work out. 4 glowing stars for this stand-alone treat.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for giving me the chance to read and review this book in exchange for my honest review.

Now, I'm not one to head dive into a mystery style book but, the setting was in a high school and the stakes were pretty high for vengeance for the main characters sister.
Ember is bound and determined to do what she can to get back at the Red Court of Heller High for what they have done to her sister. Honestly, if it was me, I would be doing everything I could to get my revenge too. How can you be okay with making someone paralyzed?! That's 1000% NOT OKAY.

Ember's sister April seemed to have in a way helped guide her in and push her just a little bit on wanting her to get in on the Red Court but then always seems to pull back but, I get why.

The Red Court are insane and just...I can't really put my finger on it. I personally have enver been to a "normal" public high school so I don't know what it's like to be bullied or pushed into doing things that I don't want to do thankfully. Ember, every step of the way has her best "fabulous" friend Gideon just try to pull her away from it all before it's too late and she does something that she can't take back. He knows she is better than that.

She is constantly tested by Hailey who guides her in the way of being part of the Red Court and showing her how the "favors" work.

This book honestly just pulled me into a black hole that I couldn't get out of but, it was the good kind of black hole!!!!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

These vengeful hearts follows Ember through a high-school semester at Heller High. Only, Heller High has a rogue student body operating within their own, slightly skewed rules. The Red Court.

Ember has made herself a vengeful goal: take down the Red Court.

Ember navigates the unsteady hallways of high school while also trying to infiltrate the red court. She's made her high school career fit the red courts narrative; she's in track, straight A student, she's involved in the debate team, she's everything they could want. When she finally receives the playing card granting her access to the courts members.

As Ember becomes more involved in the courts proceedings, her moral compass becomes skewed as she gets deeper into the inner workings and closer to the Queen of Hearts. She needs to decide who is important, who is her friend, and who she needs to trust.

I thought this was an OK book. I gave it 4 stars but really, it felt like it maxed out at 3.5. There was nothing original about the storyline, and the high school dynamic just seems so ridiculous with a court that has surpassed the life time of what high school is for each student. The courts reign affects the teachers jobs, adults in businesses and people who are so very much done with the high school mentality. And literally paralyzed a student, without so much as a hint of repercussions, legal or otherwise!

These Vengeful Hearts by Katherine Laurin
Narrated by Laura Knight Keating
Publisher: RB Media Recorded Books
Genre: Teens & YA
Release Date: September 8, 2020

These Vengeful Hearts by Katherine Laurin is an enthralling story that will keep you on the edge of your seat! Wow!!!! This was incredible! I always wondered why high school was so horrific and now I just might know why.

The narration by Laura Knight Keating was beyond perfection and brought the story to life.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The characters were interesting and developed more over time. I found the character growth to be the best part. The story was great and moved at the right pace. There was enough suspense built in to keep you guessing what will happen next.

I really hope there will be a sequel!

I'm so grateful to Katherine Laurin, RB Media Recorded Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced listening!

The setting is Heller High. At Hell(er) High, the rules are a little different. Your secrets are traded for favors and used by The Red Court, a secret & elite group who makes dreams come true for some and nightmares for others. The Queen of Hearts, their ruler, knows the game, but does not expect someone to be playing for her downfall. Ember Williams is determined to bring down both The Queen of Hearts and The Red Court to extract her revenge for what they did to her sister. Little did she know that with the power of The Red Court, comes a high off power and great responsibility. Ember will need to make a choice to either go through her a plan she has worked on for years or to become the best, and maybe the most vicious, member of the Red Court has ever seen.

I absolutely loved this book. It kind of gave me Gossip Girl vibes mixed in with a sorority, mainly because sororities and fraternities are known for having secret societies and messing with the hierarchy for their own social climbs and Gossip Girl is all about taking down people with secrets. Ember's struggle with sticking to her plan to take down the Red Court while also enjoying the power is so something that would happen too.

The characters were relatable, the story line was believable (as much as a secret society within a high school can be) and I literally finished the book within 24 hours. And believe me when I say, that is a feat when I am rereading three of my favorite books at the same time (2020 is hard, okay? I need comfort reads too lol). There is a lite hate-to-love romance, the best kind of side-kick/best friend (the kind that has your back and has their own story going on as well) and there is sisterly bonds involved. All three are checks for me!

The audiobook is absolutley fantastic, and you should totally listen to this book when you pick it up! Also, have you ever seen a prettier cover? *drools*

These Vengeful Hearts has a lot of positives, at least on paper. YA's version of dark academia, with Gossip Girl-esque, over-the-top secret society shenanigans, rife with blackmail, revenge, and life-ruining pettiness from high school drama queens. At the heart of it all is Ember Williams, straight A student as well as track and debate star, looking to add one more line to her resume: the student who brought down the Red Court. This is her high school's elite secret club dedicated to doing - and calling on - favors, from rigging a homecoming queen election to outing cheating boyfriends. And Ember, who craves vengeance against the Red Court on behalf of her older sister, is determined to infilitrate them in order to destroy them.

All of which sounds totally fun and dramatic and darkly delicious, but the execution falls short of the promise. None of the pieces quite line up - it's clear quite early on that Ember's character trajectory will be a downfall into realizing how much she enjoys being a blackmailing Queen Bee, while losing sight of what's important along the way...but it's like she's just going through the motions of this inevitable arc. Similarly, the big, dramatic revelations - who the Queen of Hearts really is, the truth behind certain assumptions, how Ember will manage to extricate herself from the vengeful cycle she's stuck in - take the easy or obvious way out at every turn, always landing just short of the truly dramatic, truly over-the-top choice. Which is unfortunate after such an over-the-top set-up that requires, over and over again, a certain amount of suspension of disbelief (that this secret clique can really operate like this, that they've never been caught or stopped before, etc., etc., etc.). I suspended that disbelief happily enough - but the payoff was unsatisfying.

I had similar feelings about Laura Knight Keating's narration for the audiobook, unfortunately. She does good melodramatic teen voice, and I was optimistic from the outset, but as more characters entered the story, I realized she was alternating between only two, maybe two and half, different voices for the entire cast. I couldn't hear the difference between Ember's BFF Gideon and her rival/crush Chase, while all teen girls, apparently, speak in basically the same inflection and timbre. It wasn't terrible - the text is clear enough about who is speaking when, so that was never an issue - but it's just a little flat, a little less than it could be.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the advance review copy!

I really liked These Vengeful Hearts by Katherine Laurin! I loved the premise and I found the whole story that unraveled really interesting and it kept my attention to the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for the chance to listen and review the audiobook for "These Vengeful Hearts" by Katherine Laurin. I was probably not the intended audience for this YA secret society novel but I did like it.. When I first read a description of this book and saw the words the red court, I was truly getting an "Alice in Wonderland" vibe which I am totally here for. but it didn't really have much to do about that. The main character Ember is totally relatable to any teen girl In high school. Having crushes and being selfish and wanting to take revenge on someone is all part of the high school experience.. While the story didn't feel completely realistic, it did keep me guessing. I would recommend this audiobook to anyone who loves secret societies in a high school setting and YA. I also just have to say that I really enjoyed the narrator for this book and will likely be looking for more books narrated by Laura Knight Keating in the future.
Narrator: 5 out of 5 stars
Story: 3.5-4 out of 5 stars

These Vengeful Hearts is an addictive, high stakes revenge story that trades in secrets, lies, and deception. Determined to avenge her older sister who was seriously injured by the favor-granting illustrious Red Court, Ember Williams becomes the perfect recruit to take down the club from the inside. But as she becomes more involved and starts granting favors on her own, she realizes she may be in too deep.

Ember is a motivated character which made it very easy to follow in her journey of dismantling the Red Court. But i dont feel like the story did anything special as a revenge story. The plot was fairly easy to predict and many of the characters were not given the page time to have any depth. This was not a bad story at all, but i do think it was unfortunately a bit too average to become a new favorite.

4.5 stars

Audio arc provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Audio review first; This was a great audio book. It adapted well to an audio format and the narrator was engaging, capturing an intelligent teen voice without overselling it or ever devolving into cartoonesque. She was a pleasure listen to.


Cards on the table, I took a punt on this because it was in audiobook format. Generally I do not like contemporary YA - it just doesn't engage me. The flip side is that when I find a YA contemp that does grab me, I inevitably love it. And I loved <i>These Vengeful Hearts</i>.

The premise is simple enough. Ember Williams attends school over which a mysterious Red Court holds sway - girls with connections, organised like spy cells, who trade favours and exercise power. Desperate students turn to the Red Court for help - sliding grades, straying boyfriends, popularity contests - and the Red Court makes it happen. For a price. If you can't or won't pay, the Court dismantles your life. Ember has a different reason for wanting to connect with the Court. Years ago, they hurt her older sister in a way she won't ever recover from. Ember intends to take down the court.

And yet, when she's had a taste of power, of manipulating other people's lives, her focus and determination waver. Having control over others is intoxicating. Will Ember be able to let go long enough to complete her mission?

This was a very slickly plotted, engaging story. The characters were well rounded and few of them were either good or bad - they were merely teenagers experimenting with power at a time in their lives when such things are normal if never actually pleasant. It was just they were running it like a private Mafia! Some of the story beats were predictable and I spotted at least one big reveal a few chapters in (I'm a nasty, suspicious person at heart) however the fast pace and engaging style made those things not only fresh but necessary. I really enjoyed this compelling story which had the flavour of Mean Girls about it. A great book. Highly recommend.

2.5 stars

The narrator was 5 stars. She did a great job with this book and has a really soothing voice. I would listen to a book narrated by her again.

The story is 2.5 stars. It was very predictable and a little boring.

I enjoyed this book. It’s very much a mean girls high school book. The storyline was good and kept me wanting to listen. The narrator was enjoyable. I would suggest this for anyone who likes YA but especially dark YA.
Thank you to the publisher, the author and netgalley for an Audio Arc in exchange for my honest review.

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
This book grabbed me from the very second I started it. I loved the main character and her quirky self.

The wording of all of this can easily make you think you picked up a fantasy novel, but it is a simple high school thriller. The Red Court is a high school secret society, and you always owe them. Even after you've left high school. Ember's plan to seek revenge on them was realistic, and interesting. While her emotional turmoil never felt particularly in depth, I would say plotting a revenge scheme since middle school would probably change the way you deal with emotions.

The romance plot of this book seemed...unnecessary. There are many reasons girls seek revenge against one another, especially in high school. They don't always have to be romantic, and the fact that this was, felt short-sighted. Additionally, I don't think anyone would forgive Ember for her actions as easily as her romance did.

I think that the concept of the Red Court and the reason for Ember's revenge would have been a very good plot. However, we lose a lot of the thrilling potential in the high school drama, the unrealistic lack of consequences, and the romance sub plot. A lot of it made me want to roll my eyes, and, if this hadn't been an audiobook, I think I would have struggled to get through it.

This is a 3.5/5 star rating for me, because I still feel like I wanted more out of it.
Full review: 9/25/2020

**I received this audiobook from netgalley in exchange for a review**

This book started out pretty strongly, but unfortunately the momentum wasn't enough to keep my interest piqued throughout. It has Pretty-Little-Liars-meets-Revenge vibes, which drew me in but didn't hold me. For starters, Ember, the main character is pretty unlikeable. She doesn't seem to actually care about anyone or anything beyond her revenge scheme. She's pretty alienating to all those around her, and I'm not actually sure why her "friends" want anything to doo with her by the end. She's also a massive hypocrite and seems to realize this, but not actually care? Honestly, the whole premise of this weird teenage girl gossip/rumor mafia is a bit far fetched... Yes, its fiction, but I kept getting distracted by my own thoughts. WHERE ARE THE ADULTS? How has this been going for years? I will say that even though the plot of this novel ended up not being my cup of tea, it was well written. I would definitely pick up Laurin's work in the future.

I really liked the narrator as well. 4/5 stars.

Well this was a bit of fun! A high school teen drama that reminded me a bit of Cruel Intentions.

This was my first Audiobook as an adult, so it took me a little while to get used to the narrator's voice and the way it made me picture the main character. I actually think I would have enjoyed it more as an actual book as that kind of distracted me from the start.

That being said, it definitely kept me interested and I looked forward to going for drives and walks so that I could listen, and my daughters all enjoyed being in the car when it was on. It did feel a little long winded at times - just such a huge focus on Ember's thoughts and feelings - I would have loved a bit more of Gideon and Chase - and even some of the others in the Red Court.

I think this one is a Young Adult fiction that is actually for teens (funny that!), particularly high school girls. My 15 year old daughter is keen to read it now and I think she will really like it. It is great for younger teens too, as there is no sex or drugs and very limited drinking. It's quite tame in that area.

Overall - I enjoyed it. It would make a great Netflix movie too!

I was so pumped.when I was approved for These Vengeful Hearts!
I've recently gotten into YA thrillers.
I.got this on audio, which I loved the narrator.... Easy to follow along with.
So I really enjoyed the story. But it was lacking in some parts.
I thought we would get more info about thus secret society group called the Red Court.
Which we didn't.
The premise of this story was great.
I just didn't like how it was told.

Overall: Good Book

Thank You NetGalley Publisher and author for this e-book!

So I’ve been dying for this book to be released. I read a month ago that These Vengeful Hearts was going to be included in the September Beacan Book Subscription box, and I ordered it ASAP to have a chance to read the book as soon as possible. I was legit OVERJOYED when I was approved for an e - arc of the audiobook. So I set to listening that first afternoon while preparing dinner for my daughters. Needless to say, this was a nonstop listen. I finished it within two days, my kids were infuriated because they couldn’t listen to music in the car I force them to listen to this audiobook, because I could not get enough. I had to know who the red queen was. I had to know if Amber Needless to say, this was a nonstop listen. I finished it within two days, my kids were infuriated because they couldn’t listen to music in the car I force them to listen to this audiobook, because I could not get enough. I had to know who the red queen was. I had to know if Ember really didn’t get to take down the red court!!. Let me just say, this one did not disappoint. Highly recommend.

High school secret societies are my new favorite thing, especially ones that come with a cost. Ember Williams is the newest recruit in the Red Court, the society that rules Heller High. Most people would be thrilled to be a member of the most secretive club in school, but not Ember. She’s only in it for revenge. The Red Court are the ones responsible for her sister’s paralyzing accident, and Ember is bound and determined to find the infamous Queen of Hearts and end the Red Court. ⁣
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There was so much to like about this book, and I’ve seen some comparing it to Mean Girls. And I suppose in a way it is similar, though the similarities pretty much stop at popular and pretty girls in a clique. I liked how this particular secret society was run and how secretive it was being that there’s probably a dozen or so members, yet each one only knows of one or two. My favorite aspect though was the morally grey area that Ember finds herself in and how she tells herself she won’t cross a certain line, yet with every task she finds herself inching closer and closer to crossing that line. ⁣
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The pacing was rather slow at times, and I did find myself wishing for something to happen in order to speed up the plot a little. That’s a minor complaint though, since the action eventually gets the pace moving a bit more, though it does take a while. I also really enjoyed the narrator, Laura Knight Keating, who did a fantastic job bringing Ember to life.⁣
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All in all, THESE VENGEFUL HEARTS was an enjoyable and fun secret society tale that kept me guessing until the end. There’s a little romance thrown in for good measure and plenty of morally grey characters, and that always makes for some good reading. 3.5 stars.

*Many thanks to Recorded Books and NetGalley for the ALC.