Review: The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door by Karen Finneyfrock

The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door

By: Karen Finneyfrock

Pub. Date: February 21, 2013

Publisher: Viking Children's

Pages: 272

Source: Netgalley

That’s the day the trouble started.  The trouble that nearly ruined my life.  The trouble that turned me Dark.  The trouble that begs me for revenge.

Celia Door enters her freshman year of high school with giant boots, dark eyeliner, and a thirst for revenge against Sandy Firestone, the girl who did something unspeakable to Celia last year.

But then Celia meets Drake, the cool new kid from New York City who entrusts her with his deepest, darkest secret. When Celia’s quest for justice threatens her relationship with Drake, she’s forced to decide which is sweeter: revenge or friendship.

This debut novel from Karen Finneyfrock establishes her as a bright, bold, razor-sharp new voice for teens.

Celia Door is a 14 year old girl with no friends and her parents have recently separated. When girls at her school created "The Book" (think the burn book in Mean Girls), Celia became dark. She wears dark clothes, writes dark poetry, and basically acts dark. Around the same time the book surfaced, she lost her best friend, and now kids at her school were basically bullying her. It's hard not to feel for Celia and what she was going through. I think every person and can identify with her on some level. All Celia wants to do is get revenge on the girls that started the book. Then the new kid in school Drake wants to be Celia's friend, and everything begins to change.

The story was predictable and I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing, especially when Celia notified us that she wrote a poem, then shared it with us. I think the poems would have meant more if she didn't write one for every single aspect of her day! While I liked Celia, I didn't really enjoy Drake's character. I felt no connection to him, and I thought he was so dramatic. Granted, I had to keep reminding myself that he was only 14, but still.

I loved that the story was set in Hershey, PA, one of my favorite places on earth! I thought it added a lot to the story.

I know this review might sound like I didn't like the book, but I did! In all honestly, I did think about giving it up around page 60 or so, but I am glad I stuck with it. It ended up being a really cute story with a great message. I definitely believe that this story would be much more enjoyable for young teens, maybe 13-16.