I'm going to admit something that will make football players want to aim their throws directly at me. I'm not a big fan of football.
It might have something to do with the actual game (I do not want a concussion to be the highlight of my high school career), the players (some of the people who play the sport at my school are a bunch of jerks I'd rather not associate with), or a combination of other factors (picking up the morning after a college football game is a little disgusting, to be honest). To sum up my feelings, I find it boring, irritating, and it's just not in my field of interests.
Let me wait a second until all the pitchforks are gone. Are we good? Great. Let's continue.
When I saw that this book was about a group of girls getting revenge on their high school football team, I was immediately excited. I occasionally see a book every now and then about revenge, but against the football team? That's a whole new level of awesome.
But I was still a little nervous about starting this story. Rachael Allen's first novel, 17 First Kisses, had received polarizing reviews from Goodreads reviewers, and some had deemed the book the kind that put a romance with the "OMG HE'S SO CUTE" new guy over a previously established friendship (to be honest, that sounds like a bunch of other love triangle romance ridden contemporary novels). When the positive ratings came in for this book (most notably from a famous Goodreads reviewer by the name of Khanh, who has written some of the harshest reviews I've ever seen), I let out a sigh of relief. Because of those, I went into this book ready to like it.
How did The Revenge Playbook play out (no pun intended)? Was it shallow and focused more on romance or criticizing other girls' choices (this is also known as *gulp* slut-shaming)? Or was it an empowering novel that focused on a group of positive girls that wanted a difference to be made and their points about females proven?
In this book's case, it's definitely the latter, and I'm thankful for that. Much to my surprise, The Revenge Playbook is a fun, mostly lighthearted story that contains a diverse group of girls taking charge and showing the boys that they're just as important as they are. It's an empowering and entertaining read that keeps you on the edge of your toes, but also makes you laugh, sad, and happy all in one chapter.
In the small town of Ranburne, Nebraska, high school football is legendary. The Ranburne Panthers are a notorious gang of boys who are treated like gods by their school and the town. However, they treat their fellow female students and their girlfriends with about as much respect as a cranky student who didn't get enough sleep that's commuting on the noisy subway.
It might have something to do with the actual game (I do not want a concussion to be the highlight of my high school career), the players (some of the people who play the sport at my school are a bunch of jerks I'd rather not associate with), or a combination of other factors (picking up the morning after a college football game is a little disgusting, to be honest). To sum up my feelings, I find it boring, irritating, and it's just not in my field of interests.
Let me wait a second until all the pitchforks are gone. Are we good? Great. Let's continue.
When I saw that this book was about a group of girls getting revenge on their high school football team, I was immediately excited. I occasionally see a book every now and then about revenge, but against the football team? That's a whole new level of awesome.
But I was still a little nervous about starting this story. Rachael Allen's first novel, 17 First Kisses, had received polarizing reviews from Goodreads reviewers, and some had deemed the book the kind that put a romance with the "OMG HE'S SO CUTE" new guy over a previously established friendship (to be honest, that sounds like a bunch of other love triangle romance ridden contemporary novels). When the positive ratings came in for this book (most notably from a famous Goodreads reviewer by the name of Khanh, who has written some of the harshest reviews I've ever seen), I let out a sigh of relief. Because of those, I went into this book ready to like it.
How did The Revenge Playbook play out (no pun intended)? Was it shallow and focused more on romance or criticizing other girls' choices (this is also known as *gulp* slut-shaming)? Or was it an empowering novel that focused on a group of positive girls that wanted a difference to be made and their points about females proven?
In this book's case, it's definitely the latter, and I'm thankful for that. Much to my surprise, The Revenge Playbook is a fun, mostly lighthearted story that contains a diverse group of girls taking charge and showing the boys that they're just as important as they are. It's an empowering and entertaining read that keeps you on the edge of your toes, but also makes you laugh, sad, and happy all in one chapter.
In the small town of Ranburne, Nebraska, high school football is legendary. The Ranburne Panthers are a notorious gang of boys who are treated like gods by their school and the town. However, they treat their fellow female students and their girlfriends with about as much respect as a cranky student who didn't get enough sleep that's commuting on the noisy subway.
"All [Charlotte Fisher] did...is break up with her football player boyfriend and start dating a guy in the next town over. But since that guy played for a rival football team, this was a sin of an unpardonable degree. One Friday, Big Tom, her ex, cornered her after class and started to rip her a new one. ...I had never in my life heard someone yell at another person like that. A crowd of people started gathering, and I know there were a couple of teachers because when Big Tom slammed her into that locker, one of them walked away. ...I do know that Charlotte doesn't live in our county anymore. And that nothing ever happened to Big Tom."
Four girls at the school formulate a plan to take revenge on the football team when they all coincidentally (but in books, we know it's no coincidence) show up at an ice cream shop (one of the girls actually works there). They all have their own reasons for wanting the guys to get a taste of their own medicine, but their goal unites them in a group effort.
Peyton is the shy and awkward girl of the group who has never really felt comfortable in her own skin. She loves to dance, and aspires to join the dance team at her school. However, her ex-boyfriend didn't really help her out in that department.
"They dance like how strippers dance. I can't believe that's even something you would want. I'm just trying to protect you. Women who do stuff like that are one step above whores. I don't want people thinking about you that way. You're so shy-do you really think they'd pick you anyway?"
Peyton doesn't really have a direct vendetta against the football players (until her geometry class rolls around), but she agrees with the others that what they're doing isn't fair. Throughout the novel, Peyton becomes more confident in herself, and she realizes that the other girls she's working with do have a point about the special treatment the football players get.
Liv is the exact opposite of Peyton. She's energetic, outgoing, and loves throwing herself into things (like hugs) with no second thoughts. Her boyfriend, Trevor, is part of the football team, and he's being threatened to break up with her because of her so-called "reputation".
"Yeah. Girls who aren't skanks." Somebody laughs. "That's cold." "What? You've seen her. She's a straight-up slut." "I bet she puts out after one date." "I bet she puts out after no date." "She's probably banged at least twelve guys." "Dude, that's a Tuesday for her."
Liv knows that just because she might wear things that are revealing and that she does impulsive things, it doesn't mean she is what people label her as. She not only wants to stand up for herself, but she also wants Trevor and her to be happy together without the football team trying to mess it up (because, you know, they're a bunch of controlling jerk-holes).
Melanie Jane is pageant material (part of me is tempted to put Kacey Musgraves in this review), one of the most popular girls in school and a strong believer in Christian values. She's also a victim of the football team forcing her boyfriend to dump her, but she didn't really like him that much anyway. That doesn't mean she's not gonna let him get away with trying to have sex so they can stay together.
"You just said you want to be dating a girl who has sex with you." "You could be that girl." "No. I couldn't. You know that." He gives her a look like he's the one being dumped. "I want you to be." "Don't you make that face at me. You are breaking up with me because I won't have sex with you. You don't get to make that face."
Melanie Jane knows that something's up, and when she hears Liz's story, she realizes that it's time to give everyone over at the Ranburne Panthers a taste of her spitfire.
Ana is definitely the most cynical one out of the group. Think of an Emma Stone persona (more of "My apologies to Mark Twain" than "We're gonna bang"), and that's Ana in a nutshell. She and Melanie Jane used to be close friends, but an incident at a party when they were freshmen has torn them apart and made Ana the school outcast. It all has to do with the football team's star player, Chad MacAllistair. Ana hasn't told anyone what happened that night, because she doesn't really remember anything herself. All she knows is that she wants to make him pay.
"I know it's kind of dumb. An inflated piece of pigskin isn't going to counterbalance what happened to me.... The scars I'm hiding are bigger than the ones you get from being called a slut or getting dumped by your loser boyfriend. A silly little revenge plot isn't going to erase them. But the idea of being united instead of facing the great heaving darkness alone? That feels like it could change everything."
Having four main characters (all with POV's) would be a struggle for some, but Rachael Allen handles it extremely well. The girls all have different voices and can be told apart from each other, and they rarely blend together to sound the same.
It also helps that the book is told in an interesting fashion. The book opens with the girls going on a scavenger hunt that the rookie football players go on to show their worth. The prize at the end is the Football of '76, which was used when the Ranburne Panthers won the state championships for the very first time. Right after a section like this, the book cuts to the weeks leading up to the event before going back to the hunt, with a chapter featuring all four (sometimes only three) of the girls. This gives each girl a section of the story to run with, and it leaves their individuality to shine through. It also allows for them to develop as characters.
The only exception for this is Ana. She didn't really have any sections devoted to herself, and the ones that she did have were focused solely on the incident with Chad. These weren't bad (I did like finding out what exactly happened from both Melanie Jane and Ana's points of view), but I felt that Rachael Allen was using the event to characterize Ana instead of focusing on other aspects of her life.
The other characters in this book were a nice supporting cast to the girls. Peyton's geometry teacher showed how favoritism affects students who actually need the help, Chad MacAllistair and the men of the football team showed the darker side of the sport, Ana's friend Grayson provided an unfortunate view of how the football team can affect other people, most of the parents aren't really memorable and serve as faraway figures with the exception of Melanie Jane's parents (it does provide for more bonding with Liv and Peyton), and the love interests provide some nice romance that made Melanie Jane open up and Peyton realize that there is good in a bad situation or group.
Another aspect of the book that I would like to praise are its themes of female empowerment, feminism, and double standards. In other words...
One important topic touched upon by Melanie Jane is how appearances can lead to people misjudging someone's character. For example, if a girl has sex with a bunch of boys (or has had a lot of boyfriends) yet behaves in a refined way, they won't be judged for it. The opposite is also true. Melanie Jane phrases it like this:
The other characters in this book were a nice supporting cast to the girls. Peyton's geometry teacher showed how favoritism affects students who actually need the help, Chad MacAllistair and the men of the football team showed the darker side of the sport, Ana's friend Grayson provided an unfortunate view of how the football team can affect other people, most of the parents aren't really memorable and serve as faraway figures with the exception of Melanie Jane's parents (it does provide for more bonding with Liv and Peyton), and the love interests provide some nice romance that made Melanie Jane open up and Peyton realize that there is good in a bad situation or group.
Another aspect of the book that I would like to praise are its themes of female empowerment, feminism, and double standards. In other words...
"The Cyrus-Swift Phenomenon. Taylor Swift has had, like, eighteen boyfriends, but everyone still thinks she's really classy because she's so poised and sweet and appropriate-looking. Meanwhile, Miley Cyrus was with the same guy for practically forever, and people are always calling her a slut. And I'm not saying we should be calling T. Swift a slut instead-even if you do date a lot of guys, you don't deserve that."
Liv also understands this:
"Nice girls aren't supposed to wear short skirts or dare everyone to jump in the lake naked because the water is exactly the perfect temperature. And they aren't supposed to kiss their boyfriends the way I do. I'm energetic. And impulsive. And passionate. But just because I'm all those things doesn't mean I give my body away like free samples at the perfume counter. I wish I could make people understand that."
The inequality for women is also touched upon in the book. Both Liv and Peyton's parents have divorced, and Liv notices just how unfair life is for her mom while her dad was able to separate and get away scot-free.
"...my dad wouldn't have been able to break all the rules and have a perfect life while my mom who did everything right can barely keep it together. And still, she's the one facing all this judgement, like if she'd only had sex with her husband more or been sweeter or cooked better, it all would have been okay. I remember Mama getting advice from one of the ladies from church.... The woman was telling her to spice things up, as if buying lingerie or making French cuisine can patch a sinking submarine, as if "spice" or relationship-fixing when your husband is straying is entirely the responsibility of the woman."
This also applies to the football team as well. Most of the players treat their girlfriends as if they're interchangeable, and besides judging a girl's attractiveness, they try and control who the other guys can date. If the girls are too fat, too promiscuous, or just not pretty enough, they can't be dated. This is extremely unfair not only to the boys, but to the girls as well. They shouldn't have to deal with this behavior and be left grasping straws when their boyfriends suddenly dump them. Men, you can brag about being better at sports or just being more buff all you want (I'm pretty sure some people still believe that), but girls can kick butt and prove that they're equal.
There were other problems with this book that kept it from being a perfect read. I wish Ana's relationship with one of her friends, Toby, had been reestablished in the end along with some other loose ends (I wanted both of them to apologize to each other, and OMG, Peyton and Rey!), I think the parents should have played more of a role in the story (the subplot with Liz's father and his new wife's baby didn't really get touched upon again), and sometimes the writing style just got a little clunky (some more contractions wouldn't have hurt, but no way is it on After's level of needing them more). I'm probably being a little picky on the last one, but oh well.
Overall, I recommend picking up this title. It's fun, enjoyable, and super empowering. And, since college football's in the fall, what better time is there to read this book? The Revenge Playbook is available from HarperCollins under their HarperTeen branch in paperback and in e-book and Kindle formats.
I'm gonna go add 17 First Kisses to my TBR. Until next time!
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