Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Bitter Sweet Revenge
AUTHOR: Donna Jay
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 215 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 20, 2019
BLURB:
Palmerston North, New Zealand
It’s summer 1985, the school year is almost over, and Katie is deeply in the closet. The last thing she wants is to become a target for bullies.
When a group of popular girls invite her to hang out, she finally has a chance to be part of the in-crowd. Her excitement quickly turns to fear, and she barely escapes their trap. It’s the last time she’ll ever be so naive.
Haunted by that day, Katie shuts herself away, dreaming of payback. When fantastical thoughts turn to reality, vengeance is bitter sweet.
Convinced she’s not a good person, Katie resigns herself to a life alone. But fate has other plans.
When she crosses paths with an outgoing redhead, she’s forced to re-examine the walls she’s built around her heart.
REVIEW:
The 80’s were a very different time, especially for the lesbian community. Issues we have today with coming out, being accepted by society, and navigating same-sex dynamics are still complicated, so I can’t imagine untangling them in a more restrictive time. Donna Jay sets this story in 1985 working-class New Zealand and follows Katie through the last day of school, in which she is cruelly assaulted by three girls who she only wanted to befriend. This book starts as a crime drama, turns into a revenge thriller, then simmers into a warm, safe romance. I can’t say I enjoyed the total arc of Katie’s story, but this book has some good, raw moments of anger, vengeance, and finding peace.
Katie is closeted at the start of the story, and all she wants to do is fit in and fly under the radar. When the three most popular girls—Anita, Cherie, and Tracy—in her typing class ask Katie to hang out at the river with them, she jumps at the opportunity. But they trick her and attempt to rape her with a sex toy in an incredibly jarring scene of teenage cruelty and homophobia. Katie escapes with the help of one of the girls, but she’s deeply traumatized, self-medicating by isolating herself and overeating. She eventually tells her brother, Simon, what happened, finds a good job at a furniture store, and meets Gillian, a beautiful, flirty redhead who actually seems interested in her. But she still sees her attackers around town, and the need for revenge still blossoms along with her feelings for Gillian and her need to come out to her family.
The first half of this book had me totally hooked. Katie’s depression and PTSD after the attack feels so real and heartbreaking, and her changing relationships with her family definitely echo what it feels like to be young, gay, and confused. I was cheering for her as she started making positive changes in her life, but even more so, I was cheering her on as she enacted revenge. Her decisions are morally grey, but they’re also incredibly cathartic. It feels like a good choice in Jay’s part. Katie could’ve taken solely the high road, but she’s a complex character with real emotions, so having her deal with her trauma as she sees fit makes so much sense.
Though her relationship with Gillian seems sweet and natural, the slow burn of their innocent romance is where I started drifting while reading. Gillian is an interesting character with her own personality, but she feels so tangential to Katie’s own arc. It feels so much like Katie’s own story that a solid romance plot feels forced. I would’ve rather read a pure revenge story with a romantic subplot, but instead, the romance takes center stage for the last half of the book.
The only other Donna Jay book I’ve read is last year’s Mistaken Identity, which I enjoyed but also had some issues with. I’d definitely revisit my descriptor of “tonal whiplash” with Bitter Sweet Revenge. This book feels like two distinct reads—one a sweet romance, and the other a revenge thriller. And I was more invested in Katie’s revenge than in her relationship with Gillian. It didn’t help that Gillian wasn’t introduced into nearly halfway into the story, making her feel like an afterthought rather than a romantic heroine.
For a bit, I thought Jay was going to take the risky move of making Tracy, one of Katie’s attackers, the love interest. While this would’ve been hard to pull off, it would’ve neatened up the story and tied all the plots together. As is, this book is a decent read with a strong main character, but it is ultimately a little messy and underwhelming.
RATING: 
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