These Vengeful Hearts

July 1, 2020

Gr 7 Up-Sixteen-year-old Ember Williams is ready when she receives her invitation to join the Red Court. The Red Court rules over Heller High, doling out favors and exerting power over the student body and administrators. Two years ago, the secret society was responsible for the tragic accident that left Ember's sister April paralyzed, and Ember has been plotting her revenge ever since. What she didn't count on was feeling excited about her assignments from the Red Court. Even when she is tasked with bringing down her best friend, Gideon, thwarting the task and learning the reasons behind the request make her feel powerful. Soon, Ember loses sight of her original mission as she is pulled into the intrigue and power of the Red Court. There are many novels about secret societies in schools, though not all of them have the vicious bent this one does. The Red Court is willing to do just about anything-and hurt just about anyone. In first person, Ember draws readers into the drama of finding the members of the Red Court, including their leader, the Queen of Hearts, while trying not to lose her own identity. It takes a little bit to get into the story but after the first chapter, the narrative picks up. Ember is a well-drawn protagonist, and Gideon and April are more than just stock characters. VERDICT Recommend this to fans of E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and Daisy Whitney's The Mockingbirds.-Natalie Struecker, Cedar Rapids P.L., IA

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 15, 2020
A high school sophomore discovers revenge comes with a price. When Ember Williams entered Heller High, she had a particular goal in mind: to join the Red Court, a powerful secret organization with a track record for, among other things, influencing student elections, altering grades, and spreading slander. Carrying out these actions doesn't cost money but instead leaves the requester indebted, with a favor that can be called in at the Red Court's whim. Ember's invitation finally comes, setting in motion her four-step plan to take down the Queen of Hearts--the group's leader--and dismantle the organization as revenge for an accident the Court caused that left her sister, April, paralyzed. At first, her missions seem relatively mild--posing for a picture to incite a breakup or leaving notes to request favors from indebted students--and they even lead to a budding relationship with Chase Merriman, a know-it-all with whom Ember competes to be top of their class. However, the missions soon escalate, affecting those closest to her--like her best friend, Gideon--and as Ember learns more about her sister's accident, she begins to reevaluate both her intentions and her decision to stay in the Court. Laurin's novel tackles the destructive power of high school bullying through characters who are compelling in their complexity; their deceitfulness is often a means of survival. Most characters are White by default; Gideon is gay and biracial (White/Korean). Gripping, thrilling, Machiavellian. (Thriller. 14-18)

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August 3, 2020
Laurin’s ungainly but compelling debut blends a conventional romance with a less deadly version of high school thrillers in the style of Maureen Johnson and Kara Thomas. For years, a secret student cabal, the Red Court, has ruled Heller High School. Working in cells of two and led by the mysterious Red Queen, the all-female group uses a system of owed favors to rig homecoming elections, change exam results, expose dalliances, and more. Certain that the Red Court is behind an incident that paralyzed her older sister from the waist down, high achiever September Williams has positioned herself to enter the secret society with the goal of destroying the group from within. After Ember’s initiation—staging a photo to break up an established couple—kicks off a predictable romance with her academic nemesis, dishy Chase Merriman, her Red Court assignments take on an oddly personal turn and become increasingly destructive. While the baroque scheming moves things along, the novel’s real pleasure comes from watching tightly wound Ember leave some of her preconceptions behind—finding an unexpected friend in her Red Court mentor and coming to terms with just how much she relishes her newfound control. Ages 13–up. Agent: Tess Callero, Europa Content.

September 1, 2020
Grades 9-12 For years, the halls of Heller High have been ruled by the Red Court, a secret society of students who trade secrets and favors, ruining fellow students' lives in exchange for a collection of promises, i.e., debts. Those who want to see their classmates go down vow to pay the Court back someday. When Ember gets her invitation to join the Court, she knows all the work she's put into making herself the perfect candidate has been worth it, because after what they did to her sister, she doesn't want to rule the Court; she wants to end it. Laurin has crafted a well-plotted suspense novel that's all the more powerful because the reader can sense from the beginning how destructive and seductive the power can be, even as Ember remains sure she'll be able to rise above it. Perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars, this will keep readers rapt, not because of the lives of Court's victims they'll watch unfurl, but because those causing the destruction are unraveling twice as fast.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)