The Revenge Game

September 11, 2023
Jewish 16-year-old Alyson Benowitz adores romance novels, but her own love life is often derailed by her being a “giant failure in the flirting department.” When her all-girls boarding school combines with an all-boys counterpart to become Upstate New York’s Sullivan-Stewart Preparatory School, however, she begins dating charming new classmate Riggs. Alyson revels in her blossoming relationship, until she learns about the King’s Cup, a game the boys have concocted to determine who among them “has the most sexual prowess.” Eager to retaliate, a group of girls establish the Queen’s Cup, a competition in which they compete to embarrass the boys through public humiliation tactics. And as Alyson continues dating Riggs, she reasons away his questionable behavior, refusing to believe that he would betray her. But when a student goes missing, Alyson’s love life may be the least of her worries. Taylor (Don’t Breathe a Word) integrates in-world news articles, TV interviews, and emails between nonlinear chapters to strategically layer clues and set up sometimes predictable twists while employing Alyson’s agreeable first-person POV to render impactful demonstrations of toxic masculinity within the school. Most characters read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Danielle Burby, Mad Woman Literary.

September 15, 2023
Young women at a New York prep school fight back against a misogynist game--until a popular lacrosse player goes missing after prom night. Alyson Benowitz is a hopeless romantic who's just experienced a humiliating rejection from a summer co-worker. So the new school year at her recently turned co-ed prep school in the Adirondacks will be a great opportunity to start over in her search for love. Alyson gets paired with athletic, well-liked Brenton Riggs Jr. for a class project, and soon they start to date. However, Alyson, best friend Jess Quigley, and other girls at the school learn about the King's Cup, a secret contest where boys earn points for different sexual encounters with young women on campus. The girls unite to create a Queen's Cup, their effort to take back power by rejecting the boys in public as a form of revenge. As Alyson helps her friends with the Queen's Cup, she wonders if Riggs is also involved in the sexist scheme and whether he's been using her all along. The novel opens with a news article covering Riggs' disappearance before going back seven months to September to trace the unfolding story. Interspersed throughout are additional news articles, along with transcripts, press conferences, and social media posts. A predictable ending mars this otherwise engaging page-turner in which women go above and beyond to support one another. Major characters read white. An empowering and timely feminist mystery. (Mystery. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 9, 2024
Grades 9-12 How else to say it? Alyson is boy-crazy, and when Stewart, her all-girls boarding school merges with Sullivan, their neighboring boys prep school, she may finally have a chance at romance. Her past flirtations have resulted in awkward miscommunications, but that was before handsome, charming, lacrosse star Brenton Riggs Jr. was her English partner--and before he asked her out. But something's afoot with the Sullivan boys: the girls are hearing whispers about something called the King's Cup, which turns out to be a sexual competition. The girls waste no time in creating a revenge-driven Queen's Cup, and while Alyson leads the charge, she staunchly believes that Brenton could never be involved. It's hard to watch sweet, loyal Alyson barrel toward heartbreak--both her friends and the reader will be begging her to open her eyes to the truth. Flash-forwards to news coverage of the present day, where Brenton has gone missing, add weight and cultural context to this highly readable mystery about toxic masculinity and the friendships that exist within and in spite of it.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 16, 2024

Gr 9 Up-This novel tackles fragile masculinity, one private school student at a time. Junior Alyson attends an elite boarding school, and although she is successful academically, she longs for the romance she reads about. After a harsh rejection from a boy she was pining over, Aly is nervous to be the recipient of attention from popular lacrosse captain, Riggs. The two embark on an idyllic relationship, while her friends seem to be running into one bad egg after another. When Riggs's ex-girlfriend threatens Alyson, she is convinced that the ominous warning is unwarranted. As her group of friends uncover a secret game called "The King's Cup," where boys tally their sexual conquests, Alyson and the girls in her school set out to knock each "king" from their pedestal by very publicly humiliating them. Is Riggs a part of this sick competition, or is he telling the truth that he isn't? This fast-paced novel is full of female friendships, pop culture references, #MeToo topics, and a big mystery to be solved. Readers will empathize with na�ve Aly, who just wants to be in love, despite her friends' warnings. Most characters read white and Alyson is Jewish. VERDICT A fiercely feminist novel that will appeal to most teenagers, and a good purchase for most high school collections. Hand to fans of Karen M. McManus and Jessica Goodman.-Carol Youssif

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