Wednesday, November 26, 2014

REVIEW: THE SWEET REVENGE OF CELIA DOOR by Karen Finneyfrock




Title: The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door
Author: Karen Finneyfrock
Publisher: Viking Children’s
Publication Date: February 21, 2013
Genre: Young Adult
Reviewed by: Angie Edwards
My rating: 3/5

SUMMARY

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.




REVIEW

If I had read this book a few years ago, I probably would’ve given it a five-star rating. As it is, I’ve read too many similar books in the past couple of years to still be impressed or affected by this type of story. I expected revenge, but that’s not what I got.

I appreciate the positive messages hidden in this story and how it focuses on more than just a girl being bullied at school. What also makes it slightly different from other such books is that it shows how revenge can sometimes backfire and that it might not always be the best solution. Still, I wanted Celia to get even with Sandy and Mandy (original names for two bullies, right?), because I felt they deserved it. Yet, it seemed that The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door should’ve more aptly been titled, The Angst-ridden Coming-Out of Celia’s Gay Best Friend and His Obsession with a Certain Self-help Book.

Oh, alright, that might be a little harsh, but honestly guys, I’m rather disappointed that the title is somewhat misleading.

Speaking of gay besties coming out…I was not impressed by all the drama surrounding Drake falling in love with Japhy. (Japhy???? Who names a character… Never mind). It was just too much. Drake was constantly fretting about Japhy not coming out the same time he did, and whether Japhy has the same feelings for him, and, and, and… It was all he could talk about THE. ENTIRE. TIME! He carried on worse than a hormonal love-struck girl!  So, that’s all I have to say about that.

Apart from love-sick Drake, the rest of the story was okay. I like how things got resolved at the end between Celia and her mother, and that everything wasn’t too much of a happy ending. I don’t care for poetry at all, but I did enjoy Celia’s poetry entries into her journal. It gives the reader a deeper insight into her thoughts and feelings. Many times I felt sorry for her; especially when it came to light about “the book” that nearly destroyed her life. But like they say: all’s well that ends well.

My final thoughts are that it’s a good book if you haven’t read many such books before. Otherwise, it doesn’t really offer anything new, and I was glad when it was over and I could move on to a different book that would hopefully be more engaging.




  


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ABOUT the AUTHOR


Karen Finneyfrock is a poet, novelist and teaching artist in Seattle, WA. Her second book of poems, Ceremony for the Choking Ghost, was released on Write Bloody press in 2010. Her young adult novel, The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door, is due from Viking Children's Books, a division of Penguin Group USA in February, 2013. In 2010, Karen traveled to Nepal as a Cultural Envoy through the US Department of State to perform and teach poetry and in 2011, she did a reading tour in Germany sponsored by the US Embassy.

  
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1 comment:

The Cover Contessa said...

I read this last year. I was on the blog tour. I thought it was cute, but it wasn't fantastic.

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