*Spoiler free*

I don't even know how to start this introduction. I knew this was a book about revenge. I knew it was about angry girls. I knew it was Shakespeare retelling of sorts. I knew it was going to be really different from what I normally read, but I really wanted to give it a shot. There is are a lot of themes and instances in this book that can be really trigging. The author has a detailed list on her website, which I will link here.

I wasn't expecting to fall so absolutely in love with this book. It's unforgiving. It doesn't let up at all. This is the kind of book that leaves you speechless. It's so absolutely beautifully written. I feel like I couldn't say anything about it that would do it justice. It's the kind of good that takes your breath away.

The writing. Wow. It's so incredibly amazing. It's fast and it flows at a breakneck pace. It's almost like poetry. There's so much imagery, it's almost like a story on its own. But it meshes with the reality so seamlessly that it creates such mindbending effect. It draws you in and allows you to experience the emotions on a new, more intense level. I haven't read this Shakespeare play, but I feel like I sort of felt Shakespeare vibes in the writing? I dunno, but it was cool!

I can't say too too much about the plot without spoiling. But I was so beautifully done. It's filled with anger and revenge and girls taking what they deserve. It's haunting and heartbreaking and it will stick with you. It's filled with blood and violence and carefully crafted plots of vengeance. I was surprised at how fast this book gets to the violence. It doesn't wait. It forges ahead with everything it has. It's like it's clamoring to get there, but it does it in such a meticulous and thought out way.

It was just really great to see female characters take no punches. They aren't ashamed. They own everything they're doing and everything will do. The aren't afraid to be angry. They aren't afraid to take what they want. Jade has so much emotion and she channels it into her plot.

This book isn't afraid to be exactly what it is. It's bloody and it was revenge. It's unapologetic. It doesn't even think of apologizing. It's written with such conviction and such bravery. It's such so very good. It's hard to find the words to explain how good it is and how it made me feel. Please, please, if you feel like you can handle it, read this book. It's so worth it.

***Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of FOUL IS FAIR by Hannah Capin in exchange for my honest review. ***

4.5 DELICIOUSLY DEVIOUS STARS

When wealthy boys gang rape Elle, she and her (metaphoric) coven of best friends devise a plan to make them pay. With their lives. Going by her middle name Jade she enrolls in their exclusive school with plans to taken them down literally by way of a boy she manipulates to do the killing.

FOUL IS FAIR is to literature what the movie HEATHERS was to cinema, campy, over-the-top dark fun. Revenge porn against rich boys who think toxic masculinity is their birth right.

FOUL IS FAIR works because Hannah Capin writes with such a strong voice that doesn’t quite take itself as seriously as it pretends. Capin knows her readers are smart enough to be in on the joke, that we’ve seen to many white athlete rapists given light sentences because they seem like good boys with promising futures and the girls, well, they shouldn’t have put themselves in a position to have made the boys rape them. FOUL IS FAIR is the anecdote to that culture.

My only reason for not giving 5 complete stars is that Jade’s parents are from India and aside from giving her an Indian sounding last name, Capin, who appears to be white, did nothing other than giving her brown skin to write her any different than a blue blooded pilgrim who came over on the Mayflower. When I white writer pens a POC main character, I think more needs to be done other than a name to check the diversity box. I’m not saying writers can’t pen other cultures just that I think they owe readers more than a name.

FOUL IS FAIR is listed as Book #1 and in already excited for Book #2.

I loved this dark book with strong girls who take control of their lives. TW: When Elle is assaulted at a prep school party, she doesn’t run and hide. She gets her girls together to plan revenge. What a roller coaster of emotions I had while reading this. I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader. Be sure to add this one to your pre-order list.