#her perfect revenge

[prose-mortem]

Book Review: Her Perfect Revenge by Lesley Sanderson

Rating: 5/5 stars

Her Perfect Revenge is a murder-mystery/thriller that I struggled to put down, even while traveling to Scandinavia from the U.S. I loved it!

Felicity and Alex are due to be married, but on the night of their wedding after the ceremony, Alex drowns during a celebratory group swim. This is incredibly strange since Alex, Felicity, and all of their friends are accomplished swimmers who are part of the same swimming group. Felicity is a heartbroken widow after only being married for a few short hours. A few years before Alex's death, his fiancee, Beth, drowned in a similar fashion. Felicity, Alex's co-worker at the time, helped him work through his grief, which led to the start of their romantic relationship together. As the police investigation unfolds and authorities delve into the mystery of how a well-trained swimmer drowned on his wedding night, new information emerges about a mistress, a battered wife, and the woman who knows most of Alex's secrets.

Things I loved:

Her Perfect Revenge was paced perfectly. It was fast right from the start!

The cast of characters with perspectives shifting from past to present, with an anonymous character every now and then to ramp up the mystery was awesome.

Alex's character has that ominous aura that every woman has seen in a man at least once in her life. We know it because it is scary, and my heart was pounding through many of his scenes throughout the book.

All of the twists and turns near the end were chef's kiss!

I love it when a book isn't necessarily a police procedural, but we get to be part of the investigation through the lens of the authority figures conducting it.

The fact that technically this could all happen in real life really kept me engaged. I think the best thrillers are the ones that tap into realistic potentials.

I appreciated how Felicity's character kept me guessing right up until the very end.

The interrogation scenes were really good and helped me stay afloat in terms of what was going on. Sometimes thrillers can derail if twists aren't properly structured, but this was not an issue at all.

What I didn't like:

I didn't like the fact that this book made me angry whenever someone tried to interrupt me while I was reading it haha! I have no complaints. Her Perfect Revenge has everything I want to experience while reading a thriller!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bookouture for sending me an e-ARC to read. I really appreciate receiving this so close to the publishing date. Since this book had me on the edge of my seat, it was easy to get my review back in on time! In the future, I will be sure to request books by Lesley Sanderson, because I am addicted!

[littlefeltsparrow]

Schrödinger’s Feyre: Where Feyre is simultaneously a cunning and badass girlboss with a mind of steel and a fragile little lamb who doesn’t know any better. When they’re proud, she’s a skilled strategist and competent High Lady, but when it comes to facing the consequences of her actions and the implications of her power, suddenly she’s a little baby waddling through fairy land.

[akumahoshojo]

💗 protect her smile 💗

[storge]

That… That was not enough.

Perfect Marriage Revenge (2023)

[kateknowsdramas]

We're so similar.

[freakova]

World’s silliest girl

[sofiarostova]

home by now or just one long extended game of tag, you decide

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

Julian tells Miles he should give his wife a present and immediately suggests the exact same gift that he and Garak famously give each other, which could mean nothing

[anannoyanceofjackofsmiles]

"Historically, the [bloody mary] divination ritual would encouraged young women holding a candle and a hand mirror in a dark room. As they gazed into the mirror, they would supposedly catch a glimpse of their future husband. But, there was a chance instead they'd see a skull or ghastly visage, signifying they were going to die before marrying." -Bloody Mary Folklore

So, during a VC one day me and @thevioletscout were talking and joked that Poor Edward would function Very nicely as a type of Urban Legend, Bloody Mary-esque character. I mean look at his name.

And during that same call (or around that time frame), roughly at the same time we had the idea of what fankids of Poor Edward would look like from our respective PCs. So. Here's Helen Wolff! And why, you may ask, is she doing a divination ritual...?

Well.

Girl is getting hassled by suitors at 15-16 and is probably the Most aro-ace person in the entire Neath. So I joked for a long time she'd overheard rumors of a divination ritual to see her fate in marriage, and Celebrates when she thinks she sees a representation of death. Truly, the only time someone would actually be Happy seeing Poor Edward.

And no, she never learned about her mirror dad. Sawyer Wolff kind of ensured she'd never learn about him. But you can't avoid every mirror in London, now can you?

[bethanydelleman]

One of my favourite relationship dynamics is Person A is relatively normal, Person B has all the mannerisms of a terrified stray cat. B is in proximity to A and it becomes the only goal of Person A's life to pet that stray cat. A is going to make B feel safe, and warm, and pet-able (in a very respectful manner) if that is the last thing they do.

Bonus points if A destroys (in whatever fashion) all the people that dared make B that way...

[kdramastuff]

[fangirlforeversthings]

Luna and obi wan

Having to raise, train and parent an (ok just sometimes) irresponsible, reckless, unreasonable and mentally unstable teen that just wants to have a normal life but has to be a brave skilled warrior and save the World*

A thrilling saga

[storge]

😂😂😂😂

Perfect Marriage Revenge (2023)

[blueberry-cheese-pizza]

thoughts on 墨雨云间 / 嫡嫁千金

Halfway through ep 18, I couldn't resist anymore and ended up reading the book that the drama was adapted from. I know it's a really 🔥drama atm, but I still find certain parts upsetting. Even though the cast matched the book well, especially the MC, I wish in the drama they didn't jump into the romance so quickly. (Also sometimes the drama makes me feel like the guy is just there for her to use whereas in the book it wasn't like that...) The book was excellent; only a few parts were slow-paced, but everything else was chef's kiss. It reminded me of The Cruel Prince, where the romance was subplot, this was more revenge-focused, and it was epitome of a slow-burn romance. So subtle, yet so brilliant.

Also, I wish the drama had inserted some sort of background info from the book on why Ji Heng (the drama called him Xiao萧 Heng when the book was Ji 姬 instead🤷🏻‍♀) always wears red, and why he noticed Xue Fangfei along the streets (it was not love at first sight lol, in fact *spoilers* he found her pretty, quote '美人', but lacking in spirit).

In the drama, there were many loopholes, but I guess I can understand the reincarnation / inhabiting the body of Jiang Li was censored, so no choice... but aaaaaaaaaahhhhh why change so many storylines in the novel itself.

[dollypopup]

y'all can all cancel me (again) for this, but if there's even a SHRED of 'who should I pick?' from Penelope in season 3, I am tuning out SO fast because like. . .sorry not sorry, there IS no choice. Debling is some crusty OC suitor she barely even knows and Colin is a man who she has been so supposedly in love with to the point where she'd ruin her entire family's reputation to have a potential love story with him. Penelope and Colin have background, years of knowing each other, intimacy that few people in the Ton can boast of having (letters, conversations about purpose, fights and arguments and makeups) and her and Debling have. . .a dance or two at a ball because he's a rebound for Penelope's broken heart. he means nothing. he has no nuance, he has no weight to the story, he is such an afterthought to me. either I wanna see Penelope going 'you know what? I don't even LIKE this dude. he's. . .fine, but I don't care about him even a shred as much as I care about Colin' or the INSTANT Colin's like 'you know what? we should get married' if it's not an immediate 'say less, you're already my husband, try returning me without the receipt, Debling whomst?' then I don't want it!

like. . .it's just so frustrating to see all the 'I hope Debling sweeps her off her feet and she rejects Colin's proposal and she makes him work for it and and and-' nonsense from the fandom and it's always tagged and no matter how many times I block it, it just keeps popping up. I go into the Polin tag for POLIN. I don't give a SHIT about a male love interest other than Colin. Not one. Not a shred. Not an iota.

and also. . .Debling has the 'benefit' of not having depth, or character traits, or HISTORY, so peeps can project onto him however they want, but I'm calling it now, there is NOTHING he could do or be that would make me like him more than Colin. Colin will always hit different, and I will always love him more. and if Pen's not on that same page? lol bye

you want me to believe Penelope and Colin are soulmates and it's romance for her to hem and haw about how difficult a decision it is for her to marry a stranger who knows barely anything about her. . .

when Marina was out here dropping banger lines like 'You were the only man with which I could see myself being happy' and 'I do not care about any of these men, where is Colin?'? like hello??? and she wasn't even fully in love with him!!!! but we'll demonize her until the cows come home in our fandom and make her the villain in Polin's love story for DARING to get in between Polin, yet Debling, a white man, is a darling dear perfect prince for getting in between Polin? existing in our fandom solely so Penelope can be like 'lol, Colin ain't shit, let me entertain any and everyone else'?

if that's the direction it goes then, ten toes down and on my mama, she doesn't deserve Colin and she can move because I'm on my way to court him my damn self

and that's that on that

[esteemed-excellency]

guys i really really liked this month's ES! I chose the midnighter's ending but please let me know if anyone has the echoes of the other choices 👀

(ending spoilers under the cut)