In The Revenge by Hannah Jayne, an acrimonious break up between two teenagers puts one of the pair in danger after a retribution prank goes wrong.

Not so popular Tony Gardner cared deeply for his now ex-girlfriend, popular Hope Jensen, but after growing weary of her mean streak, he ended their relationship. She quickly retaliates despite their seemingly amicable split by embarrassing him in front of their classmates. In an attempt to get even with her, Tony signs her up for free samples and on line dating sites. He also makes an ill-fated decision to include Hope's address which he quickly regrets after she is abducted. However, Hope is well-known for her need to one up everyone which makes Tony believe she faked her kidnapping in order to teach him a lesson. The police and the media take Hope's disappearance very seriously and Tony immediately falls under a cloud of suspicion.

Tony's decision to put Hope's personal information on line is just the first of many ill-advised choices he makes. Despite his conviction that Hope has been kidnapped, a tiny seed of doubt sends him rushing headlong into stupidity where he then makes one mistake after mistake. Tony thrusts himself in the middle of the investigation even though he is WELL aware of the fact the police suspect he is behind her kidnapping. His judgment is severely lacking as Tony continues to act impulsively without giving any thought to how his negatively his actions will appear to the police and the media.

Hope's parents host a local television morning show and she is mostly ignored by them until they need her to help boost their ratings. She is quite popular despite being a mean girl who is quick to enact revenge on anyone who dares to cross her. Despite her reputation for vindictive behavior, would Hope really go so far as to fake her own kidnapping to get even with Tony for his latest salvo in the revenge wars?

Despite the unlikable characters and the somewhat over the top escalation of events, The Revenge is initially quite suspenseful. However, it does not take long for the tension surrounding Hope's disappearance to dissipate and although Hannah Jayne does throw in a completely unexpected plot twist, an eyebrow raising revelation late in the story is a little too ridiculous to believe. While all of the loose ends about Hope's disappearance are completely wrapped up, the novel's abrupt conclusion is a somewhat unsatisfying. ( )

The Revenge is the story of Tony, a boy who just broke up with the most popular girl in school. Said girl, Hope, decides to get revenge for the breakup by humiliating him. Tony decides to get back by sending her personal information to all corners of the internet. However, one night he gets a call from Hope begging him to take down the information, only for it to get cut off. When Tony goes to her house, he finds nothing but her broken cellphone and the nagging suspicion that she's either getting her revenge or maybe, he caused something terrible to happen to her instead.

This is a quick, fast paced read. It's extremely suspenseful throughout and it never really slows down. Some twists you can see coming from a mile away, although the final twist is rather surprising and disturbing. There is a POV switch half way through the book which, to me, was frustrating at first. But makes more sense as the story progresses. We never really get a chance to learn much about these characters, which is disappointing. And the background characters dont even get any time to do anything but push the plot forward. However, Tony as our lead isn't a bad character. Hope, on the other hand, is a downright horrible character. Although, that's not to say you won't be hoping for her safe return by the end.

The biggest flaw about this book is the lack of an ending. There is no big showdown, no reuniting of characters, no explanations, no comeuppance for the bad guy... Nothing but the equivalence of the story hitting a brick wall. It ends with a very vague one page epilogue which feels wholeheartedly disappointing.

However, if you're looking for a really quick, fun read, this may be for you. I did enjoy the journey, I just wish the ending was better. ( )

While this was an enjoyable read, with plenty of twists and turns, as should be expected of a novel by this author, this one simply didn't work for me as well as the others. The twists were a bit too out there and I really couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters (with the exception of the younger sister of one of the two main characters -- she was fun!). Most of Hannah Jayne's stories are believable, at least with a bit of imagination stretching but this one just didn't ring true. Sorry, but I guess this mystery was just a bit too over-the-top for me. ( )