Thank you to Net Galley and R B media for the free ALC in exchange for an honest review.

While this title is unlikely to set the world alight, it is the perfect little Young Adult thriller/mystery and it translates perfectly to audiobook.

It is an easy listen and while the start was a little slow, this is a benefit to the listener who will soon be immersed in an' intense and twisty thriller.

Narrator does an excellent job also.
3.5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC in audiobook format.

Alex Travis’s The Payback Girls serves up revenge with a pulse—sleek, sharp-edged, and unapologetically ruthless. But this isn’t your typical vengeance-fueled narrative. It’s a study in female rage, reclaiming power in a world that gambles on women staying silent. And with Tamika Katon-Donegal narrating, the audiobook doesn’t just simmer—it sears.

The story is told through the cool fire of its lead, whose past is littered with betrayals and broken alliances. Travis layers plot like a game of chess: every move calculated, every twist deliberate. But underneath the clever mechanics is a raw heart that beats with urgency—a demand for justice not just personal, but cultural.

Katon-Donegal brings a compelling magnetism to the narration. Her cadence shifts with surgical precision—icy one moment, incendiary the next. Her performance doesn’t just inhabit the protagonist’s voice; it reclaims it, forcing listeners to reckon with the bitterness, hope, and determination pulsing just beneath the surface. She silences the weight of consequence and lines a blade’s edge of sarcasm or sorrow. There’s no coasting here—just driving intensity.

What sets The Payback Girls apart is its refusal to tame itself. It doesn’t ask for your comfort. It stares straight into the reader’s expectations and burns them down, one flashback, one sharp quip at a time. The audiobook amplifies this defiance. It becomes immersive, claustrophobic in the best way—like you’re holding your breath with the protagonist at every turn.

It’s part psychological thriller, part manifesto in leather boots. And by the time it ends, you’re left not with neat closure, but with a delicious sense of disturbance—proof that The Payback Girls doesn’t just tell a story. It dares you to live in its aftermath.

4⭐
This is definitely taking 'John Tucker Must Die' to a whole other level in this YA Thriller.

3 exes of cheating star basketball student decide to take revenge on him - however it's gone too far & he's ended up bloodied and unconscious. One of them is responsible...

Ate this UP!

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I could not get invested in this story. It was too slow to start and I didn’t finish. Just not my cup of tea.

If “John Tucker must die” was a thriller! This was so good! I loved the characters and the suspense. I’m convinced all the books with flames on the covers are just all bangers.

I really enjoyed this. There were so many twists and turns. The main characters actually felt like teenagers, and, as such, did things that were frustrating and foolhardy, in the way teenagers do. I appreciated the story centering around young Black women who were in an elite, predominantly white school.

I listened to the audio version of this and it was fabulous. The narrator is a huge reason why I gave this five stars. Highly recommended.

The Payback Girls is an engaging read for fans of YA thrillers, offering a fresh perspective with its diverse cast and timely themes. While it may not be perfect, it provides an entertaining and thought-provoking experience for its target audience.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun YA book, I really liked some of the characters. I wasn't sure how everything was going to be resolved at the end. Good book.

So suspensful and so much fun! I loveddddd The Payback Girls! I had the opportunity to see Alex Travis talk about this book at YallWest and had to read it immediately, and I am so glad I did!

The Pay Back Girls is a YA novel that is high on the drama while also showing a commentary on being a black girl minority in a white dominated school. We have a star athlete that was attacked and he was dating three girls, none knowing about the others. We have the infidelity, adding in some amnesia with one character on what happened to Nate on the night in question; we also see the girls deal with social media warfare/bullying galore, and some LGBTQ themes. Put all of this together and we have a book full of drama with some immature girls who can’t seem to make up their mind on if they want to be friends and work together or not on who hurt Nate.

I am far from the target audience but the book description intrigued me, so I wanted to listen to it. But this book was not for me. We have three very different girls who all look suspicious in that that they all could have hurt Nate. They go from not liking each other to becoming friends and working together to try find the culprit. And two of them realize that they actually like each other as more than friends. And despite Nate cheating on all three of them, they still realized that they had feelings for him. These teen girls are confusing!

We do find out who the culprit was and I was a little surprised with that. Other than the novel not being for me, I did like to see real-world issues being brought to the spotlight in a way for the teenage reader to experience.

The narrator Tamika Katon-Donegal, did a great job with her narration. She really brought on the teen girl feeling.

Many thanks for the publisher for granting me a copy to listen to and review. I just wish I had enjoyed it more!

The Payback Girls by @alexltravis ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Remember the movie John Tucker Must Die from the early 2000’s? This book started with those vibes, but then veers into a totally different direction with an attempted murder and whodunit storyline. Meghan won’t settle for anything less than an amazing senior year. She’s crushing her classes and is dating Nate, the star of the basketball team. The only problem? Publicly finding out that Robin and Bria are dating him too at the school’s pep rally before the big game.

But when Nate is found bloodied and unconscious in the locker room later that night, the 3 girlfriends are all prime suspects. Naturally, an alliance between them may be the only way to clear their names. And one thing is for sure: the more clues they uncover, the more Meghan, Bria, and Robin each look responsible.

With high school drama and found relationships, this was cute! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator ( @tamikakatondonegal ) did a great job. The book is definitely YA, felt very Gen Z to me, has an LGBTQ theme, and reminded me why I am 0% interested in ever going back to high school. 🤣

Thank you to @netgalley + RBMedia for this advanced audio copy! 🎧💕

#netgalley #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreviewer #netgalleyreview #thepaybackgirls #booknerd #bookstagram

I heard the audiobook and end up enjoying it.
At first, the narrator sounded like a very annoying teenage girl, but she ends up being the opposite. There's still a lot of school drama but the mystery around the Nate situation remains as the main story.
I enjoyed the book and the narrator. I hope I can see them team up again.

This book was okay for me. I loved the idea of it and had high hopes but in the end I could just not really feel for the characters. They were just very unlikable for me. This book read an immature YA for me. I do appreciate that there was definite character growth for the three girls. I also really liked the representation and this is what made me hold on to the end of the book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

Listening to The Payback Girls by Alex Travis was an experience. The story had me hooked right from the start with its mix of drama, tension, and unexpected twists. I loved the strong sense of friendship and loyalty between the characters—it gave the book so much heart.

The narrator did a good job bringing the story to life. Their voice captured the personalities and emotions of the characters so well that I felt like I was right there with them, going through all the highs and lows. The pacing of the narration kept the suspense alive and made it hard to pause.

What I enjoyed most was how empowering the story felt. It was full of moments that made me root for the characters and cheer them on. It’s not just a tale of revenge; it’s also about finding strength and standing up for yourself.

I gave it a solid 4 stars because it was entertaining and emotional, but there were a few moments where I felt things could’ve been more detailed. Overall, I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a gripping audiobook that packs a punch.

It was okay... The ending was predictable and all of twists and turns made it difficult to keep up sometimes. With the story being set in a high school, there were too many characters to keep track of and who is doing what with who and gossiping about who, it's a lot. I felt like the author spent too much emphasis on being pc and not enough into the story. It did give John Tucker Must Die and One of Us is Lying vibes which i did enjoy. I just think I had too high of hopes and it kind of flopped.
I do appreciate Netgalley, Alex Travis, RBmedia and Recorded Books for this ARC to review.

Thank you Netgalley and Alex Travis for arc in exchange for honest review. I would rate this 3.5 stars.

Meghan is dating the star basketball player at her new school until chaos erupts when Nate's outed for cheating on her with not one, but two other girlfriends, Bria and Robin, whom he never actually broke up with! After the big game, Nate is found bloody and unconscious, and all three girls become prime suspects. As if things couldn’t get messier, a gossip account starts spreading rumors and sometimes the truth.

This was such a fun read! It gave serious John Tucker Must Die vibes with a Gossip Girl-style twist. The pacing kept me hooked, and I was anxious to see who was behind it all. I especially loved the chemistry and banter between the three girls and the fact that being among the few Black students at school didn’t stop them from taking up space and shining. I would’ve rated this higher, but the ending felt a bit predictable, and Nate’s fate didn’t have the impact I was hoping for. Still, I’d definitely recommend this and am excited to read more from Alex Travis!

If One of Us is Lying, Pretty Little Liars & What Lies in the Woods had a baby, it'd be this book!!

What it's about -
Meghan, Bria & Robin, the only Black girls in their senior year of high school find out that their boyfriend had been cheating on all three of them at the same time! And the very next day they walk away from him in anger, it's revealed that he's unconscious in the hospital & the three of them are the suspects. If they want their names to be cleared, they need to go against their wishes & join hands to find out what really happened to Nathan & who's responsible for his condition.

What to expect -
📌YA mystery
📌Rich kids and their drama
📌Temporary amnesia
📌Fighting over a guy to uniting against him
📌LGBTQ rep
📌Commentary on racism & being a Black girl in a white dominant society

Meghan happens to be the new scholarship student & the only Black girl with no rich parents and ever since she fell in love with the star of the basketball team, Nathan, she has been facing a lot of bullying & harassment. Even though she was treated worse by everyone else, she loved him a lot & cared about him. But she doesn't have any memory of the day after Nathan revealed he has been cheating on her, so could she be the culprit?!!

Robin, the queen bee of the school & the captain of the field hockey team has everything she wanted - rich parents, doting teachers & a boyfriend who adores her (or so she thought until it was revealed he was cheating on her with Bria & Meghan). Could the girl with a short temper & the hockey stick finally lose it & take it out on her boyfriend?

Bria, the firecracker & the class president wants to be a lawyer & has everything about law memorized already. She doesn't hesitate to voice her opinions against bigotry & racism or call people out for treating her and others worse. But everything is politics for her, so could she have orchestrated such a reveal to garner her more sympathy & spotlight?!!

All three of them look suspicious, so it was interesting to see things from their perspective & find out later who the perpetrator was. And it was even more intriguing to see them all team up to find out the truth cuz they all have different opinions & are equally headstrong & independent. What bothered me a bit was how easily they fought with one another & immediately went to being friends cuz trust me these girls didn't even bother to talk before this incident happened, so how could they just easily turn friendly?!! (but if we think this from the teenagers pov, it is understandable that you'd team up when needed & break things off when your needs are met, so it isn't that unbelievable but still it bothered me a bit)

Also their boyfriend cheated on them but they still care about him & even cry over him, like wth girls?!!!(I don't think I'll ever understand teenage girls🤭🙈) I'm only giving it 3⭐ cuz the later part definitely lost me a bit & there were too many characters to keep in mind😭😭

Apart from these points, I really loved this book for its commentary on racism & its stand on how important it is to treat everyone equally no matter their color or status. And the author's writing was approachable but still packed a lot of punch, so I'm quite excited to read more of her works. And the narrator for the audiobook (Tamika Katon- Donegal) was just as amazing, and she made this listening experience much better!!!

Overall, if you're looking for a quick YA read that also addresses some real-world problems & has interesting characters, you have to check this one out!

Thanks a lot to Recordedbooks for the ALC through NetGalley!!!🙏🏻💜

The story?
After popular basketball star Nate Walker is found unconscious and bloodied in the locker room, his three ex-girlfriends—Meghan, Bria, and Robin—become the prime suspects. With Nate in a coma and tensions rising, the girls must set aside their differences and work together to prove their innocence. To make it worse: Meghan can't remember the night of Nate’s assault.

My thoughts:
The narration in the audiobook was excellent and really helped pull me into the story at first. The premise was fun and fast-paced, and I appreciated how the main character stood up for herself in moments that touched on discrimination and identity.

However, as the story progressed, I found myself enjoying it less. The pacing changed, and while the novel promised a close alliance between the girls, the female camaraderie never quite materialised. It felt like they spent most of the book working against each other rather than joining forces.

Another thing that didn't work for me was the obsession with Nate. Given how poorly he treated them, it was hard to understand why the girls stillloved him. Honestly, I couldn't understand why they were in love with him to begin with.

I also felt that the whole “social-media warfare” took to much of the book.

The plot also felt overly convoluted at times, particularly with the addition of a traumatic subplot from Meghan’s past

(maybe a minor spoiler ahead)
The romance subplot didn’t work for me either. It felt like instant attraction and was jarring, especially since the FMC was still clearly hung up on her ex. Regardless of who the love interest was, the timing and execution felt off.

Ultimately, while The Payback Girls has an intriguing premise and solid narration, it didn’t quite come together for me. That said, I’m sure it will still resonate with fans of twisty high school thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Current soft DNF. I’ve been trying for a couple of weeks to get into this audio book, and it just wasn’t for me at the moment #moodreaderproblems
I’m going to try to get into it again at a later time.

The story follows the story of 3 young girls who find out they have been cheated on by star football player … After he ends up in a coma the three rivals become suspects and the talk of the school. The pace was perfect in the mystery of who attacked the football star. The girls must prove themselves innocent in turn new relationships form.

The pace of the book was great easy to follow, the characters are very likable.

Check out this review on Fable
https://fable.co/review/43ffdfe4-bdec-4875-a3af-3a8db4f463b5/share