Review: I Am Her Revenge by Meredith Moore

Release date: April 7, 2015
Author info: Website | Twitter
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
Source: Gifted
Buy the book: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository

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.

I was so excited to read I Am Her Revenge. It sounds awesome, right? And yet, the actual reading experience for me was...lackluster, to say the least.

I don't know exactly what it was that didn't catch me with this book, but it didn't. There are some interesting elements, certainly, but I never got involved in the story or with the characters. Because of what Vivian has been raised to be, it's hard to get a grasp on who she really is. There are glimpses here and there, and how she changes as she follows Mother's plan and learns more about this revenge she is enacting is an interesting character arc.

But Vivian is the only character you know more than bits and pieces about, the only character who I felt was remotely fleshed out. It feels like every other character is relegated to the background, even as they're huge parts of the action.

For the most part, my complaints lie in that I really didn't care about what was happening or the characters it was happening to. I've said it time and time again, but I want to be swept up in a story. I want to grin like an idiot when two characters I love interact. I want to cry when tragedy strikes. I want to feel both happy and sad when I finish the book, happy for the experience and sad for the end of the story. Nothing came close with I Am Her Revenge. Mostly, I was overjoyed that I was done, because I could put the book down and move on to something else. Definitely not what I was hoping for.

About the author:

Meredith Moore graduated from Harvard University with a degree in History, focusing on early modern England and France. She lives in Houston, Texas, where she loves pumpkin spice lattes, 19th century British literature, and road trips. I Am Her Revenge is her debut novel.