Better Than Revenge is an addictive drama centred around a deeply toxic relationship that compels you to keep looking, even as things get darker and bloodier.
Bea Fitzgerald is a real force to be reckoned with. Her YA Greek mythology retellings are empowering and interesting reads that delve into intense topics with a deft hand, deliver brilliant characterisation and dynamics that make your heart sing. Her adult work maintains that level of characterisation and compelling storytelling but really digs into the darkness buried within people. So far, they have fixated on the idea of fame and the careful construction of public personas which may crumble easily when placed under immense pressure.
This story centres on Harper and Nadine who are two deeply flawed, complex and toxic people. They are messed up and I enjoy the texture Fitzgerald gives them as we see them meet, their stars rise and their infamous feud play out. You can clearly imagine these people and they feel three-dimensional. While they may be deeply unlikeable, you do understand their motivations and feel the reverberations of their decisions throughout the book. This is a book deeply concerned with consequences, actions and reactions. It feels like a claustrophobic, intense game of cat and mouse in this starry setting that actually forces people to carry so much weight and have grit beneath their nails. The industry becomes this gilded cage and Fitzgerald explores the rot behind the gorgeous wallpaper.
Acting rewards duplicity and losing yourself into a character. The industry around it is still one that feels tight-knit and focused on who you know, rather than your talents. Harper and Nadine embody different aspects of this and are very much playing the game. They deal the cards they were dealt with relish but also steal a whole new hand and ultimately rig the game. Everything is a move in this deeply charged game. The way their dynamic fluctuates is nothing short of delicious. It is messy, vicious and deeply toxic but also delivers moments that will not leave your brain. There are several scenes that just ooze sexuality and epitomise the lengths to which these two people will go to in order to keep their stardom.
I really enjoyed the narrative structure of this book and how it weaves in these opinions through the true-crime documentary interviews. It is a clever way of underscoring how publicly these women live their lives with a constant level of scrutiny and backstabbing. Gossip is a deadly currency and one that is held in high esteem by the industry. Everything lives and dies by your image. This means every move is being watched by the eyes of the world and you do not want them to look way, lest you fade into nothingness. To be watched is to be relevant. That constant sense of being perceived links in with the way image is constructed and revealed, allowing for plenty of reveals along the way as you peel away the facades. This structure also adds more detail to the wider picture and reminds you that you cannot trust everything that is being presented to you. It is a book that thrives in unreliable narration, which is a device I absolutely love. On a meta level, it continues that theme of trust and manipulation that the story is so concerned with.
Better Than Revenge was the type of book you will need to talk to everyone you know about. It is a scathing indictment of the film industry, a complicated portrait of a deeply toxic relationship and a damn good time to boot.
Better Than Revenge is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Waterstones, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
