🌟🌟🌟🌟.2
Yes, I must say *John Tucker Must Die*, with a dash of *One of Us Is Lying*, is definitely the vibe this story was going for, and the author, in my eyes, did a good job. I enjoyed this story and finished it in 1.5 days! It was somewhat predictable, but that's okay, because this is a young adult (YA) murder mystery with suspense.

When high school basketball star Nate Walker is found bloodied and unconscious in the boys' locker room after the big game, he lands in the ICU fighting for his life. Meghan and Nate's two ex-girlfriends become the prime suspects.

The audiobook narrator, Tamika Katon-Donegal, did a good job telling the story and bringing it to life. She was easy to listen to and understand. She gave the female characters depth in her voice acting. I listened at 2x speed.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬:
•Young Adult
•Black Females
•Murder Mystery
•Suspense

Thank you, NetGalley and RB Media, for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I didn't love or hate this book. It was a little too long and seemed like it was dragging on and on about the same stuff every chapter.
I was definitely interested in finding out who attacked Nate, but I think there was a lot of random things thrown in there as well.

Thank you Netgalley and Recorded Books for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟 🌟

After the most popular guy in school is found bloodied and unconscious in the locker room, his three exes become suspects. Then the assault investigation turns into a murder investigation.

I loved the mashup of John Tucker Must Die with One of Us is Lying with many other important topics included. It was an interesting and juicy hook and the narrator was great.

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a little too YA for me.
It was a good story and well executed just not quite my cup of tea.
I think YA readers who like thrillers would like this one. It was fast paced and kept you engaged!
Characters were very high school but well written

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

Overall a good read, although I guessed the ending pretty early on. I enjoyed listening to this one.

The Payback Girls tells the story of Meghan, who is in a relationship with Nate. She discovers that Bria and Robin are also involved with him. Things take a dark turn when Nate is found injured and unconscious in the locker room. Now, all three girls are under suspicion. They team up to prove their innocence, but as they dig deeper, they seem to look more guilty. Sadly, I didn't find this to be the best young adult thriller I've read. The story felt somewhat repetitive, and the narration was often too intense, accompanied by some childish dialogue that didn't feel realistic for high school students. At times, the plot seemed a bit unbelievable.

This was a great story. I found myself rooting for the main female characters. The three bad ass woman who despite the fact they should hate each other came together to prove they didn’t murder the cheating boyfriend.

2.75 ⭐️
I could not get into this book. The book was very drawn out. It felt very YA. Lots of teenage drama that just didn’t feel real. I could not relate to the FMC. She came off as naive and desperate for affection. The whodunnit was obvious from the start.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book.

As a fan of campy y2k teen movies, the premise of The Payback Girls was super enticing. However, the actual execution for me fell short of my expectations. In particular, I wanted more whodunnit tension, and I also found the narration a bit too on-the-nose. For example, instead of showing how the issues of class affect the narrator vs. her peers, she just straight up tells us, reminding us that Robin has a big house or that Meghan is a scholarship student what feels like a few times each chapter.

I feel it could be great with another round of edits with an eye towards adding subtlety to the narration and characters.

Even still, there’s a lot to like here, including Black girl representation (which I think we need more of, particularly in fun, lighthearted stories), themes of race and class, and of course an entertaining premise. If it ever gets adapted into a movie, I’d totally watch it!

Buckle in because there's a lot to unpack about this book: good and meh. I'll start with the good:

- Who doesn't want to murder a cheating jock?
- I appreciated that each of the women had their own personalities and that their stories felt solid.
- Chicks before... well... you know
- The author clearly cares about the characters and wanted to make sure none of them were "evil" except maybe the racist preppies and honestly screw them anyways... yes no motive strong enough to excuse racism.

Now the not- so-great

- Is fairly long for this type of book. Which would be fine but I felt like there was a good amount of repetition throughout. It could have been a bit more streamlined.
- There's A LOT going on and at times I had trouble keeping the side characters straight. I understand the need to present multiple suspects and introduce some red hearings, but at times it just felt messy.
- I guessed who the culprit was very early on which made enjoying the book difficult.

I'm definitely interested in what the author puts out next even if this one wasn't my absolute favorite!

I really loved the premise of this one and was highly intrigued. Unfortunately, the execution was very convoluted. It felt like some things just didn't make sense and just didn't have their place in the novel. It was also very predictable, just wasn't a standout for me.

Sharp. Fierce. And oh-so-satisfying. The Payback Girls is a revenge romp with bite, sass, and a whole lot of heart. Think: sisterhood meets scheming—with just enough chaos to keep you grinning while gripping the edge of your seat.

Alex Travis gives us a crew of girls you do not want to mess with. They're clever, gutsy, and gloriously imperfect—each with her own reasons to want payback, and each with a plan that'll make you want to high-five your past self for picking this book. The twists come at just the right pace, and the audiobook narration only amplifies the fun—adding voice, emotion, and edge to every scene.

It’s the kind of story that makes you laugh one minute and cheer the next. Think karma, but with better outfits and sharper one-liners.

This book immediately drew me in. Curious as to where it was going. It kept me enthralled and wondering what next and how.

John Tucker Must Die is one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies, so having that comparison pulled me right in with intrigue over The Payback Girls. This book is a lot more than that movie comp, though--being more mystery and little comedy. The comparison did lead me to believe that Nate would be more hated by them than he was. I really enjoyed the characters of Meghan, Robin, and Bria and getting to see the struggles they experienced with being Black girls in a mostly white school. I enjoyed seeing their relationships flourish and all of them grow closer and work together despite their differences.

I am a little put-off by the fact that the description for this book (at least on NetGalley) tells us that Nate dies. By the time he woke up, I thought I was wrong. Then he actually did die in the last two or three chapters of the book, which made the climax/wrap up of the entire book go very, very quickly. With as much build up as there was, I feel like we could have had this moment last a little longer. And with the spoiler of him dying, I expected it to happen in the middle of the book. (I did go onto Goodreads and it isn't on that book description.)

I do have a bit of an issue as to who the killer was. I recently read another YA mystery that did almost the same thing, and I think choosing characters who are so close to the victim is strictly for the shock factor. There weren't enough clues as to who killed him and what their motives are, in my opinion. We get it all at the very end. The motive and lack of guilt wasn't convincing for me, so I'm a bit disappointed at the big reveal when there was little set up for it and so many other characters that it could have been.

Absolutely enthralling!

Even though I clocked the whole who dun it very early on Alex did have me doubting myself a couple of times. Sped through to get to the truth though and it did not disappoint! It was addictive.

The criticism on racism, sexism and classism among other things was very powerful (I was raging with Meghan during a lot of scenes). And our gal was a fantastic main character - she was equal parts strength & vulnerability and was just as baffled as the reader as to how she’d ended up in this kind of predicament again. Bad luck certainly followed her!

Did not understand the hype around Nate, felt sorry for him but he made some pretty stupid decisions. Meghan’s friendships that developed with Robin & Bria ended up pretty wholesome despite the less than ideal circumstances that brought them closer. And I loved how Meghan’s sisters (and eventually her mum) rallied for her.

Loved the John Tucker Must Die/Pretty Little Liars inspo and I want to read more from Alex now!

Narration from Tamika was 10/10, pacing was on point and she embodied multiple characters whilst sticking to Meghan main POV well.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to listen to this ARC.

I really wanted to like The Payback Girls. The description was so appealing, but it just never delivered for me. I just never got into the characters or their stories. The narration was good.

“The Payback Girls” by Alex Travis is a compelling and entertaining YA thriller that follows Meghan, Robin, and Bria, three high school seniors who discover they are all dating the same boy, Nate, a star basketball player. When Nate ends up in a coma after a violent attack, the girls become prime suspects and form an unlikely alliance to clear their names.

I enjoyed this novel; the characters felt authentic and relatable with conversations mirroring their ages. Travis skillfully develops their personalities and interactions, making it easy to become fully immersed in their world. The book also offers a captivating look into the American prep school system, shedding light on the social hierarchies, pressures, and challenges students face, especially those from diverse backgrounds.

The narrator, Tamika Katon-Donegal, did a great job of representing the different characters quite clearly. Her pacing and tone was immersive and made the flow easy to understand.

This book didn't quite do it for me. The premise intrigued me, but ultimately I found myself frustrated that these three seemingly accomplished girls were so hung up on a guy who was unfaithful. The fact that they teamed up felt like... girl power in reverse? The queer subplot felt forced as well. Overall, I kept listening because I wanted to find out what exactly happened, but this book felt too long and a bit all over the place with its values.

The narration was mostly good, though a little too tense at times, so the parts that were actually tense had nowhere to go.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for the opportunity to listen to this ALC and provide an unbiased review.

This was so so good it was like John tucker must die which I loved but more grown up series and dark I loved that it also focused on p.o.c that's amazing what wasn't amazing was the casual racism our main characters had to endure. And this book did not end the way I thought it would

3.25/3.5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed the premise of this book! I loved the creepy, almost confusing vibe of the book. It had a really interesting plot, but also a plot line that has been done before.

I enjoyed the characters as well and felt like they were definitely flawed but still enjoyable to read. I didn’t enjoy that they all felt super hung up on Nate after they found out he was a serial cheater BUT i think it’s easy to forget these girls are high schoolers and i think that at that age girls are quick to forgive their ‘dream guy’.

I had a good time. It was an enjoyable and fast read.

Narration on the audiobook were done well. It kept my attention from start to finish.