I was so excited when I saw that I was able to read this book on Netgalley. I've seen a couple of good review for this book and I have got to tell you: I haven't been addicted to a book like this in a while. I couldn't stop reading and I've read it waaaay past my bedtime!

Pros
Kept reading: I couldn't stop reading this book. I was so curious about what was to come next and I always felt so sad if I had to put the book away. I was a little bit in a reading slump since August, but I think I crawled out thanks to this book!
Languages: There's French in this book, but also DUTCH! It was so cool to see it in a book that's written in English. I'm so curious where the author picked it up and where she had it checked.
Wanted to know: I was SO CURIOUS what had happened, since Ava is confessing something in this book. The book really keeps you guessing 'till the end; you get to know more in the final chapter of the book. I was eager to know what was next to come and how the story would evolve. I've seen some reviews that say this book is all over the place, but I didn't feel like that at all. I liked the way it switched back and forth between the then and the now.
Mixed emotions: I had such mixed emotions while reading this book. I always feel awful when someone is being bullied. I felt sad, angry and ashamed about what people do to each other in this book. I would never do what Ava did, but in some way I could also understand how she felt. It's clear from the beginning of the book, that Ava is not afraid to do things that I would never do, so that heightened the tension for me.

Cons
None.

Overall
This is a book about bullying, about revenge, friendship and doing whatever it takes to be part of a group. The urge to get to know what happened was so high and that made me rush through the book. If you're a fan of a good psychological thriller, you should pick this up!

This book got off to a slow start, but it wasn't too long until I was dying to know what this group of mean girls had done to Ava that pushed her over the edge and filled her with the single minded purpose of revenge. By the time it was revealed, I couldn't wait to find out how Ava's plan to get even would play out. If you have ever had a revenge fantasy you will likely enjoy this guilty pleasure.

Everyone does bad things when no one is watching...

A revenge story that's told from Ava, who is the main character. It's also told through Ava’s point of view. Mel, Saanvi and Cass are the villains and they are just terrible, cruel girls that you just love to hate. This story goes from the past to the present, which can be a little confusing if you don't pay attention to the details. I thought this was a great read filled with suspense and gasping moments that slowly build up as you read on.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Harlequin for an advance copy of #TheSpiteGame.
Pub Date: 30 Oct 2018

If you were ever bullied in school, you would probably enjoy living vicariously with the main character, Ava, as she seeks revenge on those “mean girls” who wronged her. The book goes back in forth in time to give flashbacks of the high school events. Ava works so hard at her revenge schemes that she ceases really living her own life and starts to lose who she is. I found The Spite Game to be a quick, easy read and it made me glad that I have not become stuck in the past trying to get revenge on anyone. It didn’t hold together enough for a four or five star rating from me but it was ok if you are in the mood for a revenge story.
Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin-Mira, and Anna Snoekstra for an advanced electronic reading copy.

“That’s the thing about people. They don’t care if they hurt you. They’ll only notice if you hurt them back.”

If you were tormented by mean girls at school but never got (or even considered) revenge, this book is for you.
It’s great to live vicariously through Ava as she plots and carries out revenge on the three girls who ruined her high school years.

The story wouldn’t be complete if it were simply a tale of revenge without any justification to back it up. Ava’s flashbacks paint a clear picture of how awful her high school experience was thanks to her bullies and show us the depth of her psychological scars. Ava desperately wanted to fit in with and be accepted by Saanvi, Cass, and Mel and they let her in just enough so that they could humiliate her even further.

The feelings of shame and isolation Ava suffers due to the bullying and manipulation by those three girls are so realistic that it hit a little too close to home for me but that just intensified the satisfaction I felt when she finally got even.

I really enjoyed this book. The main character, Ava , was easy for me to relate to because she was bullied like I was. She becomes obsessed with getting revenge on the mean girls who ruined her lives, and it plays out in interesting ways. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for review. For Anyone who enjoyed Snoekstra’s book Only Daughter this novel is even better.

5/5 stars

Thank you Harper Collins Canada for my advanced copy of this psychological suspense YA read in exchange for an honest review. This book releases October 30.

Just in time for Halloween, this book has the perfect amount of creep and spook.

Ava just wants to fit in with the popular girls in high school (Mel, Cass and Saanvi) and every time she gets closer to achieving this goal, she’s thrown to the wolves by these vicious girls. Until one day she reaches her limit of being ridiculed and decides to plot her revenge against her vicious predators.

Ava becomes obsessed with getting back at the girls that have made her last year in high school a living hell, and she makes it her mission to have the last laugh, but will history repeat itself and will Ava be the one laughed at again!? You’ll have to pick this one up to find out.

Told from Ava’s POV, this story jumps from the past to the present frequently so tread carefully through this one so that you don’t miss a beat. This was the perfect YA read filled with suspense and gasping moments that slowly build up as you move through the story. It’s a slow to start build-up but the end result is well worth the wait. Revenge in this one is served icy cold!

A quick and engaging read with short chapters, this was my first Snoekstra book, and definitely won’t be my last. I’d compare her caliber of writing to that of B.A. Paris, but on a YA level, so do your TBR list a favor and add this quick and fun read, you won’t regret it.

My Rating: 4/5

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

I had forgotten what this book is about and i just started reading it. I would not call this a psychological thriller. The protagonist's story was all over the place (time wise) without any warning or written timeline and i found that a tad frustrating.

it was an alright story. What happened to her was awful but not worth what she was doing to the her "friends". I feel like she was a girl that needs it to be all about her. She was a tad annoying. On another note, we all make mistakes and whatnot but (without giving anything away) what the "mistakes" that the other girls did were severe and odd that this specific group all made this morally unacceptable things. ah well...

ARC provided by the publisher, Harlequin - MIRA, via NetGalley in exchange for for an honest review.

3.5 stars for The Spite Game. Once again, my bad habit won out: I requested a book, forgot completely what it was about, and didn't re-read the synopsis before I read it. Essentially, I went in blind. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. Not to say I didn't like it - I did. But I was a little taken-aback. However, I read this at the beginning of October, which was PERFECT timing. It was a great way to kick off a month of spooky reading!

"I was like a shadow. Always watching, listening, but never quite part of anything."

This book is the ultimate revenge story. Our main character, Ava, was bullied terribly in high school by three girls she had watched and idolized for years. Now years later, she can't help but think they didn't quite get what they deserved - and she's ready to change that. The book flashes back and forth easily between present time and back to when everyone was in high school, slowly explaining the reasons behind Ava's rage. Ava also has a deep belief that there's something wrong with her. This stems from her time in high school, and she does exhibit some disturbing tendencies. She becomes obsessed with watching Saanvi, Cass, and Mel and with terrorizing their lives. She believes she's incapable of love and deep emotion, but she also shows flashes of exploring her sexuality, both with boys and girls. She lies compulsively and constantly to those around her. She loves concocting violent and terrible (and untrue) stories about her neighbors. She has no plans for herself after she extracts her revenge - it's all she can see, and all she cares about.

"That's the thing about people. They don't care if they hurt you. They'll only notice if you hurt them back."

This book was dark and addicting: you just couldn't look away. Think "Mean Girls" but more hardcore; then follow those same mean girls on to college and make it even darker. This storyline was so unique, I've never read anything like it before. It gripped me from page one and never once slowed down for breath. I flew through it so fast that my eyes blurred. I loved the writing and how it sucked you in. I also loved the glimpses we got into Ava's mind; it was like going down a very twisty rabbit hole. There are also some twists and turns that I definitely did not see coming, especially at the end. I actually had to re-read the last 30 or so pages, basically going, "holy crap did I just read that right?"

I honestly really struggled with Ava. She had some flashes of possible redemption: her love for her sister, taking care of her elderly neighbor, her friendship (maybe more?) with Evan. But she always seemed to turn down these chances. She abandoned them when needed and says terrible things when they get too close. She's selfish and horrible, but obviously in need of some professional help, which is never offered to her. In fact, her mental health situation and struggles are never once addressed in this book, either by herself or those around her. I felt bad for her, and wished she would get the help she so desperately needed, but I was not rooting for her one bit. I have a hard time loving books where I hate the main character - this was one of those times.

I had a couple other minor problems with the book. There's one relationship that just didn't feel cohesive to me, and combined with the whole father/son dynamic felt a little icky. I also felt like both the bullying in high school and the revenge schemes went a little far; enough is enough, girls! And while Ava did explore her sexuality and there was minor discussion of her not knowing whether she liked boys or girls, I felt like it was just thrown in there and glossed over by the author. Major trigger warnings for extreme bullying, body/fat shaming, stalking, violence, etc.

If you're looking for a unique thriller to read during Halloween season that's a much darker type of mean girls, this one's for you! I hope you enjoy it!

All quotes are taken from an ARC and are subject to change prior to publication.

Review will be posted on my blog, www.pinotandpages247.wordpress.com, the week of October 14, 2018.

Very good psychological suspense. It is not an easy read - lots of rather abrupt shifts in time and it took me several chapters to get my reading feet under me so I could follow ‘when’ in the story I was. Even once I got the hang, the quick shifts were unsettling. This is not a bad thing in a psychological suspense book, where an off-kilter feeling adds to the thrill. Highly recommended for fans of this genre.

****4-4.25 stars****

The Spite Game by Anna Snoekstra is darker, more vulgar version of Mean Girls and I couldn't put it down. I flew through this read and just flat out loved this book. These girls are literally "the worst" to Anna growing up in school but yet she wants to be friends with them and finds herself going to extremes to friend them. She also obsessed over what they did to her and could never forgive and move on in life. I wouldn't say there is a lot of mystery or unknowns in this read but the writing style and story line just work. Highly recommend, great read!

Special thanks to Netgalley and MIRA for allowing me an advance read copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I've read by Anna Snoekstra and it was kind of...meh. The synopsis intrigued me and I thought it would be a darker Mean Girls type book, which was definitely not the case.

This book is about Ana, who after becoming friends with the "popular" girls in school realizes they aren't really her friends and becomes the subject of bullying. Fast forward to her adult years Ana is determined to exact revenge on the girls who made her life hell in high school, in ways that go beyond what normal people would call revenge.

One of the main reasons I didn't really care for this book was because to me it seemed like Ana was stuck in high school days. Most people that get bullied in high school would look for revenge right away, not wait for years afterward and hold a grudge for that long. Overall just not a great book and I didn't really enjoy it.

Thank you to Harlequin for providing me a copy of this book for my honest review.

Ava is our narrator and is a very flawed character. Ava desperately wants revenge on the three girls who bullied her while she was at school.
This is all she can think about it has become an obsession, this is her goal in life and needs to make them pay for what they did to her.
Now she spends every waking hour learning their routines and deciding how she will ruin each of them.
The main characters were far from likeable and some parts of the story did not seem believable.
In places the book was confusing and jumped about a lot a psychological thriller with bite. Almost five stars.
I would like to thank the author Anna Snoekstra, Harlequin- MIRA and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

A mixture of a book, written in both the past and present (it goes back and forth) the main character has been bullied at school and is taking her revenge. I liked the premise but unfortunately, didn't really enjoy the book.

Ava is an irritating character who can't move on from issues in her past and, although I had some sympathy, it soon went and the characters were a tad one dimensional. However, as a YA read, this might hold more readers? Just not for me as I found it too confusing a read (it jumps about a lot) and with no real depth of storyline.

Thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview.

A big applause to Mira Books and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read The Spite Game before it’s released to the general public. Ava, the narrator, is very flawed. Years after high school, she can’t forgive the three girls who bullied her there. Her entire life’s ambition is to extract her revenge or spite and make them pay for what they did to her. She watches Saanvi and learns about her life before she decides on the best way to ruin her. The way that Ava could hear everything people were saying from far away kind of blew my mind and decreased the believability of the plot. Ava has big plans to shame Cass, but at the last minute, Evan, who she wants to be with, stops her.

That leaves Mel, the ring leader of the three bullies. I’ll let you read this for yourself and decide if she got what was coming to her. It was difficult to find anything to like about the main females in this novel, which is why I gave it four stars, and also because the spying was difficult to believe. Still, it’s a good read and I didn’t figure out the ending.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this early in exchange for an honest review. I really liked this book. The telling of the story took a little bit to get used to going back and forth past and present trying to decipher between what was going on but once I got past that I really enjoyed it.I like the fact that Evan and her got to know each other and in the end he helped save her from doing something she shouldn't have done and I like the fact that Bea knew what was going on but she never said anything in the end especially the cop telling her what she did. She gave her absolucion and told her not to worry about it basically it was kind of like mean girls coming to an end they all deserved everything they got in the end it was just a game to them except for Ava she took it to heart. Read this book!

4 Thriller Stars
Review by Lisa
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night With Books Blog

If you’re looking for a psychological thriller with a edge to it, then The Spite Game by Ann Snoekstra is for you. This is not your average thriller/mystery, it is one that will take you on a journey from the beginning to the end and everything it encompasses in between. The slow build up and the way the story unfolds makes this story absolutely gripping. As the intensity of the story unfolds, you find yourself gripping your book/ereader. It is just that good!

The layout of the story from past to present is perfectly done and it’s what makes the writing so good.

Mean girls, everyone experiences them in life, but for some, the mean girls can take it to a whole new level. Ava is at the focal point of three mean girls, Saanvi, Cass and Mel. These girls are ruthless, popular and out of control.

Ava can't move on until justice is served, cold. After years of "watching" the mean girls, she starts her plotting and downfall of Saanvi, Cass and Mel. But sometimes plans don't go as planned and the games begin.

I liked the pace of this book, it moved steadily along and it didn't dig into the "situations" deeply. The author kept it more to the "spite" situation rather than the emotional aspect.

**ARC provided for an honest review **

The Spite Game is the first time I’ve read a book by Anna Snoekstra. This book follows Ava who tries to befriend a trio of popular girls in high school, but soon realizes they aren’t her friends and that they bullied her. As she grows up, she decides to take revenge on each of them. Overall, this thriller reminded me of a sad want-to-be twisted and messed up version of “Mean Girls”. I couldn’t get into it. All the characters were way too weird and unlikable to me. I think that the transitions from past to present could be smoother. The current ARC makes it confusing where you need to reread the previous paragraph to get an idea of the timing. There were also egregious spelling and grammar mistakes which I hope they fix when they release book. I would recommend skipping this book as there are other great thrillers to read. The book releases on Tue 10/30.

Disclaimer: I received a free advanced digital copy of this book from Harlequin in exchange for my honest opinion. This has no effect on my opinion, review or rating.

Very disturbing and a little twisted. A girl bullied in high school, trying desperately to fit in, Ava just wants a bit of revenge.while this story flip flops from past to parent and back again, I found it very easy to follow. I did have trouble getting into it at first but I sure am glad I kept on reading.

The spite game by author Anna Snoekstra is a book about a woman who goes for revenge of the girls that ruined her own life years and years before. One by one she brings down the other, until she gets to Mel who knows she’s being watched. Mel knows how to play the game too.
The story was good, characters were flawed and made the book. Overall it was a great quick read.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of the spite game in exchange for an honest review.