The Spite Game

May 15, 2018

Bullied in high school, Ava now wants revenge, bringing down chic Saanvi and then Cass, whose betrayal of her fiancé makes things easy. But ringleader Mel knows what's happening, and she and Ava play a tense cat-and-mouse game to the end. Snoekstra's Only Daughter, short-listed for an Australian CWA Ned Kelly Award, is being developed for film.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 30, 2018
One night in 2008, high school senior Ava, the narrator of this entertaining if flawed thriller from Australian author Snoekstra (Little Secrets), wakes up in her bedroom in a Melbourne suburb to find a man standing over her bed with a baseball bat. The intruder leaves without harming her, but the police fail to apprehend him. The incident fundamentally changes Ava: “Something wrong had happened, and no one even seemed to even expect for it to be put right except me.” In the aftermath, whenever Ava witnesses an injustice, she believes if she doesn’t make things right, no one will. When Ava sees a teacher make a pass at Melissa Moore, one of her classmates, she exposes him. She and Mel become instant friends, or so it seems. But soon Mel and her spiteful group of friends violate Ava’s trust and bully her maliciously. In the years that follow, desperate to feel a sense of peace again, Ava stalks each of them, obsessed with enacting her own form of justice. Some unbelievable moments won’t stop readers from turning the pages. Agent: MacKenzie Fraser-Bub, Fraser-Bub Literary.

September 1, 2018
In high school, Ava was bullied by a clique of girls who pretended to be her friends, then betrayed and humiliated her. Since that time, the focus of her life is systematic revenge. She begins by transforming herself both physically and emotionally, becoming beautiful, glamorous, and cold, which grants her entry into the elite world her enemies inhabit. The destruction of the first three is easy?she observes, infiltrates, finds the weakness, and pounces, destroying their careers and relationships. Ava's final act of revenge on the clique's ringleader proves more difficult, as control of the situation bounces back and forth between two women trying to out-manipulate each other. Snoekstra's (Little Secrets, 2017) latest is another fast-paced, exciting read, featuring a protagonist who chooses to stoop to the level of her tormentors. The result is a sinister revenge fantasy laced with jaw-droppingly creepy moments, both in the harassment Ava endures and the punishment she doles out in return. The Spite Game is ideal for readers looking for a fresh take on the twisty psychological thriller featuring unpredictable (and unreliable) female leads.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)