Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 384
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Edie Kramer has a score to settle with the beautiful people at Blackbriar Academy. Their cruelty drove her to the brink of despair, and four months ago, she couldn't imagine being strong enough to face her senior year. But thanks to a Faustian compact with the enigmatic Kian, she has the power to make the bullies pay. She's not supposed to think about Kian once the deal is done, but devastating pain burns behind his unearthly beauty, and he's impossible to forget.
In one short summer, her entire life changes, and she sweeps through Blackbriar, prepped to take the beautiful people down from the inside. A whisper here, a look there, and suddenly... bad things are happening. It's a heady rush, seeing her tormentors get what they deserve, but things that seem too good to be true usually are, and soon, the pranks and payback turns from delicious to deadly. Edie is alone in a world teeming with secrets and fiends lurking in the shadows. In this murky morass of devil's bargains, she isn't sure who—or what--she can trust. Not even her own mind...
Really more of a 3.5 star book, but I'm willing to round up on this one. I read Aguirre's Razorland trilogy and didn't love it. I picked this one up from the library on a whim and only decided to read it once I had nothing left to live for (or nothing left in the house to read, more accurately.)
Whoa, am I glad I read this baby! It starts off with a bang. Edie Kramer is brilliant, but constant bullying at her nasty prep school has made her miserable. She has decided to end her life by quietly jumping off a bridge and she means business, too. But as she prepares to let go, a mysterious and super hot stranger interrupts her and offers her a deal: she can have 3 wishes in exchange for 3 favors to his "employers." DUN DUN DUN.
Of course she takes the deal. She can't go back to regular life, and she'd rather get revenge than die, so...
BUT THERE IS A TWIST (because there is always a twist.) And that is all I will say about that.
I loved the atmosphere of this book. It is perfectly creepy and dark. A great read for this time of the year (October/November) when things are also creepy and dark outside.
The story moves along at a good clip. There's always something going on, some mystery stirring behind the scenes. My only complaint with the story is the hot guy. I am so sick of hot mysterious guys. This one isn't necessarily what he seems, but it's still annoying that Edie ends up revolving her life around this dude. Sigh.
I'm over it.
Yeah. Basically, this book is like Gossip Girl meets Faust. But then the end happens and you spit out your Diet Coke because WHAT JUST HAPPENED OH MY GOSH NOOOOO and then you claw your eyes out because the next book won't be out for some time. Stupid serieses.
I definitely recommend this book, but be aware that it has very mature themes: suicide, extreme bullying, alcohol, mention of rape and sex, violent death, etc. That said, there are almost no swear words (that I noticed, anyway), and 16+ could handle this one. Probably. And it's only on serious reflection and searching that I even remember the dark stuff, because mostly the story is just so good that it overshadows the bummer-ness.
One of my favorite things about the novel is the way Aguirre works different folk tales/legends into the story. Apollo is in here, as is Odin, and hellhounds appear, and the Oracle says hi, and stuff like that. Definitely love cameos by mythological characters.
So yes. Do recommend. Read it on a dark and stormy night and remember not to make any deals with the devil because they always come back to bite you in the butt.
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