Better Than Revenge

A Novel

by Bea Fitzgerald

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Pub Date Aug 18 2026 | Archive Date Not set

SOURCEBOOKS Landmark | Sourcebooks Landmark

General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction

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Description

Beneath the harsh glare of Hollywood, a legendary feud ties two A-list actresses together. But with a body bag between them, they must decide just how far their feud will go. Thelma and Louise meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in this salacious slow-burn suspense.

Their feud made them iconic. One decision made them infamous.

After all, where's the fun in rivalry if there's no bloodshed?

Nadine Heywood and Harper Moore have been rivals since their first days at drama school, a feud that has consumed them. A feud more passionate, more clawing than the gossip magazines ever note. Hollywood's It-Girl versus the acclaimed starlet, caught in an obsession that can only lead to one thing: someone's downfall.

After beating out Harper in every category for best actress, Nadine believes she has finally done it. She's won – completely and irrefutably. So why are thoughts of Harper still tormenting her? Why doesn't victory taste at all sweet?

When a knock at her door reveals Harper covered in blood, Nadine realizes this could be the ultimate opportunity to bring her opponent down. Or change them both forever.

With flashbacks to Harper and Nadine's infamous in-fighting building toward a murder that makes them iconic, and excerpts of an interview with Nadine for Harper's upcoming true crime documentary, this is a salacious tale of scandal, ego, and infamy about two frenemies who may be more to each other than they would ever like to admit.

Available Editions

EDITION	Paperback
ISBN	9781728278780
PRICE	$17.99 (USD)
PAGES	432

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Additional Information

Average rating from 69 members

Featured Reviews

leah s, Reviewer

📚 review 📚
better than revenge - bea fitzgerald

hollywood rivalry
sapphic rivals to lovers
evelyn hugo vibes
heated all the time, rival occasionally

now this is how you write rivals to lovers! everyone needs to take notes - also everyone needs to get on this, it’s bea fitzgerald’s best book to date.

not going to lie, i am loving this influx of hollywood themed books - it is a trend i approve of, with emily henry’s latest, this one and the new john green coming in september, i am excited for even more celebrity drama!

this follows harper and nadine as they compete for parts in drama school and then continue to use each other’s names to further their careers, but obsession can only ever really lead to blood shed. told through headlines, documentary transcripts and nadine’s memory of events, better than revenge proves that hollywood and everything associated with it is a fiction, that we are all actors in this drama and life is essentially a choose your own adventure book.

this is easily a contender for my favourite read of 2026 - thank you @netgalley for the early copy, better than revenge is out in july.

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Jasmien V, Reviewer

All hail queen Bea Fitzgerald for another killer book!

Wow, I screamed when I got this arc and as we know, Bea does not disappoint.
I .COULD. NOT. PUT. THIS.ONE.DOWN

The delightful petty rivalry, nothing being what it seems , and of course : who is the body and what's to be done with it ?

All this and more gets revealed in this book.

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Reviewer 1843473

Great pacing, excellent tension. A well written absolutely fun ride. Thelma and Louise on steroids with a perfect mix of cat and mouse obsession. One critique on the back cover blurb, it exposes too much of the narrative structure, I started the book going in almost blind(not reading the back cover) and had such a great time discovering how the interview played into the overall narrative, right now it feels as though the back cover exposes almost too much of it.

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Reviewer 1649225

I am blownnnnnn away. Wow. I’ve said it 20 times and I will continue to say it, books like these are my absolute favorite. I love alternating chapters between story/plot and interviews with the characters. Better Than Revenge follows a feud spanning from adolescence to adulthood between Nadine and Harper. Just when you think they can’t stoop lower or get worse, THEY DO. But at the end of the day I never could bring myself to hate either one of them fully. I knew the last half of the book was coming, I KNEW it had to end like that but that never stopped my interest and surprise on how everything concluded. If you love messy Hollywood drama, this is the book for you!