Review: Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook

Tags: YA, revenge, popularity, retelling

Rating: 4 out of 5


Summary

At the end of eighth grade, Lauren Wood humiliated Helen Worthington so completely that Helen’s social life would have been obliterated had her family not moved away. Helen spends all of high school hating her ex-best friend and tracking her every move. When given the opportunity to move back to town with a new name and look, Helen realizes this is the perfect time to enact her revenge on Lauren Wood. Helen’s revenge will be so utterly thorough that Lauren will be ruined forever, and Helen relishes the thought.

As Helen slowly realizes, however, some parts of revenge are remarkably easy, while others are much more complicated. Helen’s hatred of Lauren has driven her for the past three years; does Helen even know who she herself is anymore? What happens if getting revenge on Lauren Wood doesn’t turn out to be all that Helen has longed for?

Review

GETTING REVENGE ON LAUREN WOOD is a surprisingly engaging read, the classic tale of revenge translated perfectly into the modern high school setting of popularity and backstabbing. With swift, smart writing and a plot that’s never boring, this book is perfect for anyone who loves the movie Mean Girls and/or was floored by the way that Alexandre Dumas set up the intricate and unbeatable revenge plan in The Count of Monte Cristo.

I love when authors successfully write “mean girls” who are realistically a pain in the butt and/or whose actions are justified. Helen’s perfection (and hilariously accurate analysis) of popularity hits all the right notes, from the stinging one-liners to carefully sown seeds of destruction. We all know the character of Lauren Wood, that nasty bee-yotch who deserves to be brought low by the hands of an avenging destroyer. Helen is scarily perfect for that job, the everygirl who’s resourceful and determined to the death, and yet I loved that she also learns a few things about herself along the way.

If your preconceptions about this book are that it is a fluffy chick lit read or a typical addictive-like-candy mean-girl story, well, I hate to break it to you, but you’re wrong. GETTING REVENGE ON LAUREN WOOD is a bitingly entertaining novel with bold characters and an even bolder plot. Indeed, if you love smart teen silver-screen classics such as 10 Things I Hate About You and Mean Girls, you will get a kick out of reading this book. Vive le revenge!

Similar Authors/Works
Kate Brian
Mean Girls
Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo)

Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5


Cover discussion: 3.5 out of 5 - How utterly cool is this? I'm not too crazy about the font, but I just love the image of the Barbie being stabbed. lol. We've all dreamed of mutilating those seemingly perfect girls, right? (Or is that just me and my sadistic, masochistic side coming out?)

Simon Pulse / Jan. 5, 2010 / Hardcover / 272pp. / $15.99

Review copy sent unsolicited by publisher.