4.5 Stars

The Revenge List is a fast paced, well written, and fun book to read. I absolutely loved Frankie, the often-angry protagonist (which must be exhausting), and how the root of her anger is revealed a little at a time throughout the book. The causes behind her biting personality give us reasons to empathize and move ahead with her story.

The book is written in linear style-- beginning, middle, end-- in Frankie's single POV, which made it even more of a pleasure to sit back and enjoy. There are no multiple POVs or past/present timelines to sort through. For this reviewer, the straightforward construction proved refreshing. Readers will need to suspend disbelief throughout the tale, because some of the plot threads are tied a bit too neat, but The Revenge List is still an enjoyable read and highly recommended.

Hannah Mary McKinnon is an outstanding writer with flawless style. I'm officially a fan and will be looking forward to her next book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HTP books for providing an ARC to read and review. This review will appear on Bayside Book Reviews.com at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. Follow us! *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

2/5 stars! Umm...I'm not sure what to say. I think the premise of this book was really interesting and the idea of someone getting their hands on your revenge list and acting it out excited me. My issue was that despite it seeming intentional, Frankie was such an unlikable character who just kept making bad decision after bad decision. There didn't seem to be anything redeeming her. Additionally, sometimes a book doesn't need 15 twists and turns to be interesting. This book was just a miss for me overall.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

YES YES YES!!

Hannah Mary McKinnon books always, and I mean always deliver. Her characters, her plots are just so addictive and make it so hard to put the book down. I devoured. The Revenge List in less than 24 hours. I love a messed-up character who makes very bad decisions. And those decisions have snowball effect on not just herself, but all of those around her. An absolutely crazy ending that you won't believe, this book has so much to love.

Frankie is angry - no Frankie is super angry. After an altercation at work, her boss (who is also her father) persuades her to attend an anger management group. At her first meeting, the counsellor asks them to write a forgiveness list. Frankie's list is long. And then her notebook with the list goes missing. This is when the fun begins. People on this list start to have mysterious accidents. Surely, they can't be linked, can they? Should she be warning them? Or will people think she is crazy?

Frankie is very good at getting herself into trouble, serious trouble. She has her reasons for her anger, and we learn of these throughout her journey. She is a character that you cannot help but to like and want to succeed. Nothing is as straight forward as it might seem, and I love that in a thriller.

A big thanks to Hannah Mary McKinnon and the publisher for having as part of her early readers team. The Revenge List is published on May 23rd, so get those pre orders in now.

Oh, the premise of this book hooked me! It was an amazing read! I enjoyed it so much! I'd definitely recommend this as a twisty thriller and recommend it to all thriller lovers!

When she is fixated and angry about her past of course her father is going to demand she attend anger management meetings. While at the first meeting she’s assigned to write a forgiveness list except it becomes a revenge list. When getting into an Uber ride her notebook is stolen and the people listed in the notebook are injured one by one.
Frankie has been angry for years. It stems back to pivotal moments in her life.
Frankie goes through life one trigger away from exploding. Most conversations lead to her yelling. She’s got no problems being confrontational. In fact, she breeds anger. She’s unreliable because of her history which puts her in a precarious situation of having no one on her side.
Unfortunately, her boss, who’s also her father, has had it with her anger issues. He sent her to anger management class to help sort out her problems because they are affecting his business.
…
Frankie’s relationship with her father is skating on thin ice. He’s grown impatient with her behavior and tired of making excuses for her actions. Her behavior has caused problems with his clients.
…
Over the course of chapters readers gain valuable information about each person Frankie put on her list. The backstory of each of these characters aided in understanding how they made the list.
…
I don’t know if Hannah meant for this to be funny, but I find Frankie’s situation hysterical. She is her own worst nightmare. The way she barges into peoples lives demanding information. She doesn’t have a leg to stand on especially when the switch gets switched from polite to downright hostile.
…
The concept seemed promising. For some reason I wasn’t compelled into reading this one. I took several breaks and skimmed a few lines here and there. Frankie’s character seemed to go around in circles chasing her own tail, trying to piece together what was happening. For the most part it’s entertaining especially when Frankie gets herself in trouble , which is easy for her to do, considering she’s a hothead. Her history of having temper tantrums makes her unhinged which again is entertainment. I will say that this is a unique and original plot line. I’ve never read a story where a list of names becomes the target of attack. It’s an interesting way to create mystery by building off of a list made by a woman who looks guilty herself.

WOW! I could not put this book down and was up til 2am to finish it. This is the first book from Hannah Mary McKinnon I've read and it will not be the last.

The Revenge List is everything you want in a thriller book; suspense, twists/turns, characters you love, some you don't and some that you just go wait WHAT?! WHY?! Most of all an ending that you somewhat knew was coming but not in the way you thought and get mad because you want more!! Sequel Please!!! This book is also about life; complicated, messy, and how people can surprise you.

Frankie has anger issues (understatement) and her dad has asked her to go to an anger management group. The counselor asks them to make a forgiveness list of the people they need to forgive so they can move on and release their anger. Frankie does this and when her list goes missing she's in a panic to find it. She does end up getting it back but not after a couple of the people on her list were hurt. She thinks she knows who's behind it but is it really? As she tries to warn the people on her list, she puts herself in the area of when they get hurt.

You will not be disappointed by this book, just start it early in the day so you're not up all night finishing it.

#NetGalley #TheRevengeList #HarlequinTrade #MIRA #RecommendedRead

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Frankie works at her father's business and recently had a run in with a client. Her father signs her up for anger management, where she makes a list of people she needs to forgive. The notebook with the list mysteriously disappears and terrible things start happening to the people on the list, causing her to wonder who wound up with the list and why they are seeking revenge on her past enemies.

This was a pretty good book. Frankie definitely had anger management issues and was a fairly entertaining character. I was curious who could have been injuring all of her enemies, and there were several choices. I was satisfied with the ending. Another good one from this author.

Anger management was designed to help people build the tools needed to combat their anger outbursts. Everyone thought Frankie Morgan desperately needed these skills; Frankie, on the other hand, thought the people in her life needed a little help of their own. If she had anger issues, she wasn’t sure what these people in her life had. During a group session she is tasked with making a list of everyone in her life that has ever wronged her – a “forgiveness” list. Thinking this exercise is a waste of time she doesn’t put much thought into it until that list goes missing and the people on it start dying.

I have seen a couple of shows and movies with this same plot – self-help group where someone in the group enacts revenge for another member without their knowledge. I find these stories interesting enough, however this book isn’t that exactly. I thought the plot would have been centered on this anger management group and its members, but the group session felt more like a distance memory that slowly fades with time. A majority of the story centers on Frankie and her list of people, events in her life, while the anger management group sessions aren’t a part of the storyline for very long. Still, I found this book intriguing.

The pacing was a little too slow for my likes, I need action happening and happening everywhere – on the first page, the first chapter, and every chapter after. It didn’t feel like this was the case here; for a thriller, I didn’t find it very thrilling. The twists and turns are what save this book for me. It makes everything worthwhile and leaves your jaw dropped at the end. I would recommend reading this book – the writing is exceptional with descriptions so palpable you’d think they were actually happening in front of you. It takes a special talent in writing to have that effect. Hannah Mary McKinnon is truly gifted.

I received an ARC of this book and leave this review of my own accord. Thank you NetGalley and MIRA for the opportunity to read this.
#NetGalley #TheRevengeList

Did I read the same book as everyone else? Seriously. What am I missing? In my opinion, this thriller completely missed the mark. It’s amateur, predictable, and ridiculous. As part of an anger management class assignment, Frankie writes a list of people in her life who have wronged her and then, one by one, each person on the list is met with an unfortunate fate. While the premise was interesting (although hardly inventive or groundbreaking), McKinnon spent far too much time describing events and people of zero significance (ok, Evan is hot - we get it) in lieu of adding depth to her story or characters. One character is viewed as suspicious in the most obvious, repetitive, amateur way that even the most oblivious reader can see it as a red herring. As a protagonist, Frankie is one note although her history suggests that she had the potential to be a developed character with a more deft hand. She makes obnoxious mistake after obnoxious mistake yet pulls off sneaky detective work and lands a dream job for which she has zero experience. Her evolution as a character is so unrealistic and the story ties itself up in a perfect bow…but wait…there’s more! Oof. Cue the eye roll. This was was just a no for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for the advance copy. All opinions in this review are my own.

I thiiiiiink the synopsis is a little misleading--I thought this was going to be a book about 'the dark side of self help,' which is what the blurbs say.

The synopsis made it sound like we were going to get a nefarious anger management group who took revenge on each other's lists (or something), and the girl who accidentally finds herself in the middle of it all. But we only got one session at the beginning of the book that was very normal, and then the mc loses her 'forgiveness' list that she made as an exercise for it, and then people on the list start dying. The anger management part had very little to do with anything. She could've just made a list for herself of people she wanted to forgive, or even hated, and the same story would've happened.

With that misunderstanding aside, this was a decent read. I kept wanting it to circle back to the 'dark side of self-help' aspect I was promised, but it was still enjoyable, if very far-fetched. I had a hard time with the external plot all the way through (particularly the end), but I did love the mc's growth and internal plot.

So mixed feels!

Still I'm very grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

-A

Will give feedback and my review when the HCP union gets a fair contract. Thank you so much for the book and can't wait to leave a review in the future.

This is the one list one definitely doesn’t want to make! I loved everything about this story of murder and revenge and was extremely surprised by the twist! Absolutely recommend this one to all thriller and mystery lovers out there!

Ahhhh where to start with this story! Hannah Mary McKinnon is my top 5 author to have on my TBR list! This is more than a 5 star book! Frankie is all of us deep down with our anger issues lol. This story will have you on the edge having you second guessing if you really think you know who’s causing the problems. The story telling is top notch always. I’m always blow away every book by Hannah!

The Revenge List

3.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Hannah Mary McKinnon for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Summary:

“The people in Frankie Morgan’s life say she’s angry. Emotionally stunted. Combative. But really, who can blame her? It’s hard being nice when your clients are insufferable, your next-door neighbor is a miserable woman and the cowardly driver who killed your mother is still out living it up somewhere.

Somehow, though, she finds herself at her very first anger-management group session—drinking terrible coffee and learning all about how “forgiveness is a process.”

One that starts with a list.

Frankie is skeptical. A list of everyone who’s wronged her in some way over the years? More paper, please. Still, she makes the pointless list—with her own name in a prominent spot—and promptly forgets about it…until it goes missing. And one by one, the people she’s named start getting hurt in freak accidents, each deadlier than the last.

Could it be coincidence giving her the revenge she never dared to seek…or something more sinister?

If Frankie doesn’t find out who’s behind it all, she might be next.”

My Thoughts:

I was very intrigued by this book when I saw it on NetGalley. The one thing that pulled me in was the title, The Revenge List. When I was approved to read it I was so excited!

Overall, this book didn’t let me down! It was a good read, lots of twists that kept me guessing and the end was a total “wait, what just happened?!” moment!! The main character, Frankie, was very well developed and it was very easy to connect with her. I felt her anger, her sadness, her happiness, and her fear right along with her.

It was a little slow for me in the beginning and I wish it was a little faster paced. That is why I gave it 3.5 stars instead of 4. But like I said, the ending makes it all worth it!

Frankie has some anger issues and a lot of it stems from her past, but can she forgive those who hurt her ? Even the person who killed her mother ?

I will admit for some reason it took me a bit to get into this book. I felt like it was taking forever to get to the point of the story. However about 50% in it really grabbed my attention and I read the rest quickly because I just couldn’t stop. I had the twist figured out around that time as well, but there was an extra twist I didn’t catch. Which was really clever.

I just didn’t fall in love with the characters and I think that’s why it took so long to get into it, but I did enjoy the overall story. I would still read another book by this author and still recommend it to friends because I feel like it was still good and some may actually love it.

Thanks @netgalley for read number 10 of 2023. I didn’t know a lot about this book when I requested it, but I loved the last book that I read by this author and I was excited to read this one. It is fast-paced, but with kind of a strange plot line. More details about the revenge list are shared throughout the book. I anticipated one twist, but not all of them. I kind of loved the end. Personally, I think that there were some additional descriptions, details, and sub-plots that could have been eliminated. This was still a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read in my books.

Frankie has a lot of anger issues and oh boy does it ever come out in this book! She works for her dad and her dad has told her she has to go to anger management classes if she wants to stay employed. At her first class, they are each to start a list of people who they should forgive. All of a sudden things start happening to those on her list. Coincidence? This gripped me from the very first page and I could not put it down! Of course I love everything Hannah Mary McKinnon writes and I put this at the top of the heap! The twist at the end was great! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published on May 23, 2023. My birthday!!

“The Revenge List” is the seventh novel by Hannah Mary McKinnon. Frankie Morgan is angry. She is angry at almost everyone in her life, so much so that she decides to go to anger management classes. Her first assignment is to make a list of everyone in her life she is angry at, so she can work towards forgiveness. Only hours after making her list, it mysterious disappears. Who would take this list? Suddenly, everyone on Frankie’s list starts to find themselves in harm’s way…which becomes a problem when Frankie realizes she’s written her own name on the list. She has to figure out who is responsible for hurting everyone on her list before she’s next.

This novel is a quick read. All psychological and medical aspects mentioned in this book are accurate. I really enjoyed the fast pace in this novel, which kept me hooked. I do think the ending could have had more depth to it, and while I didn’t exactly predict what would happen, I was close. Ironically I got angry at Frankie’s anger and frustration, which I believe adds to the overall feeling of hostility throughout the novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA for the ARC of this ebook.

The story and characters were well written but it loses a star for making it too easy to spot the person inflicting harm on the people on her list.

Thanks to NetGalley for proving the book early to me in return for my honest review.

If We Don't Get A Sequel, We Riot! Or we at least start jokingly pestering McKinnon until she finally caves and gives us the sequel this story demands. And I in particular have a history with more than one author of eventually getting my way in these matters - through nothing more than constant begging. :D Read this book, and join my campaign!

Seriously though y'all, this book starts out a touch slow ish - Frankie is in anger management and meets a guy. But as things start to pick up, they *really* start to pick up. Then, it appears that McKinnon has shot her shot a touch early and we get into almost a Return of The King situation (where the ending begins to feel long and drawn out for no obvious reason)... except those last few pages. That is where you're going to join my campaign to demand a sequel from McKinnon, and we will eventually win this battle and get our sequel.

One of McKinnon's better books - which is saying quite a bit in and of itself, as McKinnon really is a masterful storyteller across all the books I've read from her - and I do believe the first I've ever demanded a sequel from. Yes, the story and particular its ending are that compelling. Very much recommended.