I can always count on Kasie West for great characters, a good story, and a surprising theme. In this novel it was the sweet story that Finley’s grandmother tells about her first love, captured on Finley’s personal podcast. That story provided the heart, while Finley, Theo, and Jensen provided the conflict and resolution. While the story was pretty simple, I thought it was entertaining and provided the warm fuzzies I needed.

The high school story arc was pretty simple, young love, betrayal, and redemption but despite those themes the characters were pretty unique. Finley’s group of friends were diverse and eclectic, Theo was multi-layered, and Finley’s podcasting unique. It was truly only Jensen that fell into that stereotypical obtuse jock, but as he was set up as the villain I wasn’t really bothered by his simplicity. Finley’s future was on podcasting and Theo and those two had more depth and held my interest. The author did a great job of building the tension in the story so that the resolution felt impactful and satisfying. I really liked how this story played out!

Better Than Revenge by Kasie West is a super sweet young adult romance!
West never disappoints! I mean my goodness I adored this book!
Her contemporary novels are some of my favorites—full of well-developed characters, adventure and romance.
A fun, light, fast and easy read.
I was sucked in almost immediately and was so sad to see it end so soon.

Tbh, this book was cute. I liked the family dynamics that it contained, especially the relationship between Finely and her grandmother. I would say that for a YA romance novel, this was quite good. There was pretty good character depth as well in the novel, especially considering both the leads had lost one of the significant path to reach the future they envisaged.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s for this ARC!

Full of revenge, podcasts, and forgiveness, this YA read by Kasie West was nothing short of entertaining! I loved the subplot featuring Finley’s grandmother, especially since Finley’s experiences were paralleled by her grandmother’s! I was a bit disappointed with the character development, but the strong plot kept my attention. All around a quick YA read with a great premise!

Wow. I LOVED this book. The premise, the chemistry, the podcast and the football element (2 things I love).

West does such a good job of writing stories that a High School student could relate too, but an adult as well.

This book was SO well done and I am so glad I read it!

I really liked this! I thought it was officially my first 2025 book, but it was published 12/31/24. It also is only available for purchase in paperback, FYI. It was a cute love story with a lot of depth & life lessons without being hit over the head with them. I was invested in the grandma's side story just as much as I was invested in the actual love story. Will definitely purchase & would be good for next year's Battle list if it gets reprinted in hardcover form or library binding.

Loved this YA romance! I felt myself cheering for Finley and Theo, and I loved Grandma’s story line, too. I felt the Alzheimer’s aspect was done respectfully.

I had such an amazing time reading this book.

The romance between Finley and Theo was so enjoyable! Their chemistry was genuine and never felt forced. Their witty banter brought humor and lightness to the story. I particularly enjoyed watching Finley create her own podcast featuring her grandmother’s story; it was absolutely adorable.

A fast-paced, unputdownable read full of humor, heart, friendship, and the love between family.

Read if you like:

🏈 Highschool setting
🏈 Friends to lovers
🏈 Single POV
🏈 Revenge Plot
🏈 Rom-Com
🏈 YA Romance

Cute and fun YA romance! What better way to get back at your ex than to try and take his spot as the kicker on the football team! Who better to train her than his arch nemesis?!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I have read several of Kasie West's books and always find her work enjoyable. In this story we meet: Finley who is trying to be a podcaster. Her football player boyfriend, Jensen, (turned ex-boyfriend) steals her podcast idea for the school podcast team. Finley decides revenge is the best way to handle her disappointment. She decides to try out for the football team as the kicker (same position as Jensen). Even better is that she convinces Jensen's nemesis, Theo, to be her coach!
One of the plot lines I really enjoyed was the relationship between Finley and her grandmother. Her grandmother has dementia and Finley is trying to learn more about her early life by chatting with her grandmother on her podcast. They save these sessions for her grandmother's "good" days.
3.5 stars, so I'm rounding up.

This was a cute YA sporty book. No spice (thank God-they’re in high school). The story was cute, the FMC dealt with some realistic issues. Gave me To All the Boys Over Loved vibes. Easy read.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Kasie West and Random House for this ARC.

Kasie West does not miss when it comes to sweet and swoony young adult romances, and this one absolutely fit the bill. Finley’s boyfriend was a total jerk, and I loved the revenge basis that drove her right into the arms of Theo. I thought their chemistry was great, I loved the podcast angle (as a podcaster myself), and overall this was a cute and quick read!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. YA books are fun to read, because I'm so far past that she, it's almost nostalgic. This book was set on the Central Coast of California, which is where I spent my formative years growing up. That added a little something extra for me, that others might not appreciate as much.

I thought both Finley and Theo were fun characters to get to know. And Jensen, oh, Jensen. He was fun to hate. I would recommend this book.

I do love a good young adult story. Better than Revenge hit the Mark. Finley is a junior in high school, she has a goal and has worked hard to achieve that goal. But when it is snatched out from under her nose, all she can see is revenge. I thought this book had some great learning and growing messages. The story held my attention throughout. The drama was just right. The romance was sweet and the family connections were charming. I loved Finley’s grandmother, and I thought her quote summed up the story perfectly. “We all make mistakes. It’s how we deal with our mistakes that really define our character.” I would totally let my teenage children, or in my case grandchildren, read this book. It is a clean and wholesome story with no foul language. I think it’s very relatable and offers a good picture of how our actions reflect on others. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I enjoyed reading Better Than Revenge by Kasie West. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

This book is hilarious and so sweet. I found myself laughing out loud several times. It starts with heartbreak and the author slowly mends your heart and by the end you just feel so warm and fuzzy. THOROUGHLY enjoyed!

This wasn’t my favorite Kasie West book, but I did enjoy it. Finley has been preparing for years to audition for the school’s podcast, which only seniors can do. Her audition goes well, but to her surprise, her boyfriend says, I think I’ll just try out too. He steals her spot, then adds insult to injury by insulting her on air.

Finley decides that he needs to lose what is most important to him too. The kicker position he’s wanted on the high school football team. Luckily, she has some soccer skills already, and the current kicker offers to train her.

I understood Finley’s disappointment and anger, but I was glad that the message of the book did not turn out to be “revenge is the answer.” I liked seeing Finley’s growth, and especially her relationship with her grandmother.

One of the things I like best about Kasie’s books are that they are appropriate for younger teens and adults. This book pushed that line a bit more than her previous books. This book had more making out, instead of just kissing. Two of her best friends were homosexual (it was covered lightly). The book still had her trademark humor, and real issues with family, friendships, and dating.

I was looking forward to this book being a fan of the author, and the premise of the story seemed adorable as well. But this book really had some flaws for me, the writing was choppy, the story did not flow well, and the characters were just ok. Usually any book by this author just sweeps me up and the characters are all charming and the story just flows but this book was not the case. The story was fine enough, but the characters were not great, and it really was a rough read for me. The premise was fine, the young adult genre was good, but the flow of the book and the story really was just ok. The characters and their interactions just felt forced. There were moments few and far between that were sweet and fun, otherwise the story was difficult to get through. Not a favorite book, and not one I would recommend. Will read this author in the future, but this was not for me,

Thanks to NetGallet for the ARC!

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House Children’s for the ARC of this novel.

I really enjoy Kasie West books and this one was no exception. It was a quick, sweet YA romance read.

I enjoyed Finley and found her very likeable. She felt a little young but because it was a YA novel it worked for me.

I also enjoyed the podcast element of the book. I find they seem to be everywhere in books lately but they was the first time I read it in a YA novel so it felt a little different.

I think this book will work well for a pre-teen or teenage audience.

4/5 stars

Better Than Revenge by Kasie West
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@netgalley graciously sent me this ARC to read, and I finished it with perfect timing on publication day.

This was a cute young adult novel about a high school student named Finley who is betrayed by her boyfriend and decides to get revenge by taking away something that he loves- his starting position as kicker on the football team.

What starts as revenge ends up bringing Finley closer to realizing what's really important to her and fighting for it. This was a cute story and a super quick read. No spice (always a bummer) but that means my 12 year old can also read it and she REALLY needs a new book after cruising through all the books she got for Christmas- that apple really didn't fall far from this tree.