I Am Her Revenge by Meredith Moore Review

I Am Her Revenge, by Meredith Moore
Publication: April 7, 2015, by Razorbill
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 

She can be anyone you want her to be. Vivian was raised with one purpose in life: to exact revenge on behalf of her mother. Manipulative and cruel, Mother has deprived Vivian not only of a childhood, but of an original identity. With an endless arsenal of enticing personalities at her disposal, Vivian is a veritable weapon of deception. And she can destroy anyone. When it’s time to strike, she enrolls in a boarding school on the English moors, where she will zero in on her target: sweet and innocent Ben, the son of the man who broke Mother’s heart twenty years ago. Anyone…except for the woman who created her.With every secret she uncovers, Vivian comes one step closer to learning who she really is. But the more she learns about herself, the more dangerous this cat and mouse game becomes. Because Mother will stop at nothing to make sure the truth dies with her.

My Thoughts:

For having Vivian, our main kick-ass lead, actually talk about Romeo and Juliet, I now can comprehend that this was the author's point—a retelling in which readers will craze, rave and relate to 100%, even if we're not chosen to get revenge for our own mothers. *_* It's about Vivian's actuality and how she can be copied as an ordinary teenage girl who is stuck in the wrong situation at the wrong moment and time. 

After reading, my mind is possibly blown away. No, scratch that possibility, it's a real thing, and I can tell you that this only happens to me in certain situations and times. THIS IS NOT A DRILL, Meredith Moore has written this book for me, as it feels like. Everything about it was enduring, stunning, and I just didn't want to let go of the plot, suspense and characters. I know who I'll be dreaming about tonight! *whispers Ben and Vivian's name*

"I am irresistible. And everyone notices it. As I pass the eyes over the crowd, a slow smirk on my lips, the buzzing starts. Kids turn to each other and ask who I am." (Hardcover, page 4)

That's my "kind" of character, I tell you. I'll get into a more drastic informed, truly SPECIFIC note later, but that quote just made me giggle and feel like I'm a four year old all over again since this RARELY happens in modern society. No one's aware of anyone unless they're the pure, perfect definition of hot. Vivian surely wasn't perfect, and her character unquestionably notes that to readers. *winks* Again, let me continue with the summary before I actually begin a rant on the stupidity of modern society and technology. ANYWAYS...!

Revenge is the key concept and subject in this novel, as you can already tell. Look at the title, the Goodreads synopsis, it's a big thing. And had vengeance not played such a huge role in the plot, the story would've been corrupted. This vengeance is what Vivian has been trained to do for her entire life. Her mother raised her to not love, to not make friends, nada. And now, as she gains the chance, it's time for her to do her thing. Her mother sends her to an English boarding school where her target is, and she needs him to fall in love with her, pronto. It's Ben, and he's the son of a mega-millionaire, also known as the man who broke Vivian's mother's heart. BUT TIME IS TICKING, AND OF COURSE... SECRETS WILL BE DISCOVERED.

Where do we go from here? Revenge, friendship, trust, drugs... there's so many topics that Moore focused on throughout the novel, and it's the true mixture of being a teen. Of course, not every teen (perhaps only the rare few) have to literally go with the flow in this kind of situation and worry about people watching you from afar, but it's like a guide to what things can become when you don't know your history. Vivian's mother hadn't even told Viv her name, and kept switching things around as they moved through towns, struggling to keep the mission planned the way it's supposed to be planned. Time was a huge factor into "Mother's" dream plan, and it seemed like literal nonsense, but manipulation can go a far way.

"If I learned how to manipulate those desires, I could make any boy my slave. And I must never become a victim of love. Love dismantles you. I'll never let it break me apart. Not again, at least." (Hardcover, page 51)

Readers are most definitely able to witness the struggles of Vivian trying to be herself, and find herself at least, as she was always a slave for the largest period of her life. This caused her to be clueless, and it made her feel superior at first, but after things got discovered, she shattered into pieces. Thankfully, there are characters there for her who patched her back up, like Arthur, Ben and Claire. (I'll get to them later, I promise!)

It basically took me a day to read this book, and because of my demand to study, IT TOOK ME TWO DEVOURING SITTINGS. I honestly could've went straight with this for the longest period of time and I wouldn't get a headache or get bored because IT WAS AMAZING. Honestly, there are only rare situations where I feel like I'm able to fly, panic and fangirl to the maximum without splurging my brains out of weirdness. Okay, I'm already weird, so scratch that last part out. But, all I can say is that Moore is a phenomenal author—she writes like she's Vivian, and this is her story. It had just a bit of everything, and she honestly knows what she's doing here. And especially to readers.

Where else can I go with this? I'm still speechless, since I have a million things to say and then you'd all get bored of my insightful rambling for ages. But next off, to the characters, this is the part that you've been waiting for from this whole review. Everything is a 6/5 stars, but the characters were an aspect that we really need to go in depth with, since they're a cast fit for a movie. PERFECT PEOPLE WITH IMPERFECT ATTRIBUTES. THAT'S WHAT I LOVE.

And I also love myself a bad boy and girl. Playing hard to get? That's my kind of thing, and it's truly adorable to read that playing back and forth with Viv and Ben. They both were so similar in many ways, but the fact that it was all an act (at least, it seemed to be) killed me. To be honest, I saw a love triangle evolving, and Arthur the gardener was part of it. WOOPS, I MEAN "BOY." I didn't like him so much compared to dreamy BEN, but he was that kind of guy best friend that every chick needs in order to survive high school and beyond. Get what I'm saying?

Then we have: Vivian. Like I mentioned before, she's kick-ass. She's not the type of chick who just has that luck to get by things and not get caught. As her stupid-butt mother told her, she has to work for what she gets, and then she'll eventually get it. That's like the basic motto of this whole book, and eventually she realized it, but in the wrong ways that her mother actually meant in the beginning. She was superbly intelligent and didn't even need drugs to get in her way of her plan. It actually turned out waaay better than what we all planned it to be.

I'm almost done, I swear. THAT ENDING KILLED ME, THOUGH. Did I see that coming? Absolutelyfuckingdooplynot. Do I like what happened? Absoluetlyfuckingdooplyyes. YES. It was a perfect standalone ending, with suspense into wondering what happened later, but our questions were answered and there was a tweak of romance and emphasis after everything. I guess that the title and cover make SO MUCH MORE SENSE after thinking about it afterwards.

Think about a perfect novel—simply one of the best you've ever read. If this one comes to mind, then you're actually on the right track, my wonderful friends! I Am Her Revenge was unlike anything else I've read in a LONG time, and it's the pure definition of a me-read. Thrills, mystery, suspense, friendship and a tweak of romance equals all of this, plus a million other fantastic aspects that you'll have to see for yourself once you DEVOUR this!

What's your favourite suspense read?