Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Spite Game
    Unavailable
    The Spite Game
    Unavailable
    The Spite Game
    Ebook337 pages4 hours

    The Spite Game

    By Anna Snoekstra

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead

    About this ebook

    Everyone does bad things when no one is watching

    Mercilessly bullied in high school, Ava knows she needs to put the past behind her and move on, but she can’t—not until she’s exacted precise, catastrophic revenge on the people who hurt her the most.

    First, she watches Saanvi. Flawlessly chic and working hard at a top architectural firm, Saanvi has it all together on the surface. But everyone does bad things when they think no one is watching and Ava only wants what’s fair—to destroy Saanvi’s life the way her own was destroyed.

    Next, she watches Cass. She’s there as Cass tries on wedding dresses, she’s there when Cass picks out a cake, she’s there when Cass betrays her fiancé. She’s the reason Cass’s entire future comes crashing down.

    Finally, Ava watches Mel. Mel was always the ringleader and if anyone has to pay, it’s her. But one tiny slipup and Ava realizes the truth: Mel knows she’s being watched, and she’s ready to play Ava’s games to the bitter end.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarlequin MIRA
    Release dateOct 30, 2018
    ISBN9781488082146
    Author

    Anna Snoekstra

    Anna Snoekstra is the author of Only Daughter, Little Secrets and The Spite Game. Her novels have been published in over twenty countries and sixteen languages. She has written for The Guardian, Meanjin, Griffith Review, Lindsay,LitHub and The Saturday Paper. Her first audio drama, This Isn't Happening, is out with Audible in late 2022. Photo by Samantha Iliov

    Read more from Anna Snoekstra

    Related to The Spite Game

    Related ebooks

    Thrillers For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Space Between Us

      Oct 9, 2019

      The Space Between Us
      8 min read

    • Article

      All Of Us Here

      Jun 4, 2020

      All Of Us Here
      6 min read

    • Article

      Estella’s Fate

      May 17, 2023

      Estella’s Fate
      7 min read

    • Article

      Estella’s Fate

      May 17, 2023

      Estella’s Fate
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Family Plot

      May 7, 2020

      The Family Plot
      10 min read

    • Article

      Wilding

      Nov 3, 2022

      Wilding
      8 min read

    • Article

      What The Magpie Says

      Oct 16, 2022

      What The Magpie Says
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Freshening

      Sep 15, 2018

      My cashier’s black hair was beautiful. Though not unlike mine, it was shinier and thicker, and hung glamorously down to her waist. It looked strong, too, like Christopher Reeve’s in the Superman movies. A strand of Superman’s silvery hair could hold

      21 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      Mar 1, 2022

      When making an axe handlethe pattern is not far off. —Gary Snyder My mother was either horizontal on the couch,or vertical, a plumb line from her spineto the top of her head to the ceiling that spinswhen she drinks, alcohol and an air bubbletrapped,

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Silence of Witches

      Dec 10, 2019

      The Silence of Witches
      6 min read

    • Article

      How Postcards From My Mother Helped Me Survive Childhood

      Mar 3, 2017

      For years, my mother wrote to me every day. I’d been sent away to boarding school and for the first weeks was forbidden to call home­. I was eleven. This was just before mobile phones came beeping and clicking into the lives of everyday people. I di

      4 min read

    • Article

      That Particular Sunday

      Jul 6, 2023

      That Particular Sunday
      26 min read

    • Article

      Carrot Legs

      Sep 12, 2019

      Carrot Legs
      20 min read

    • Article

      We Are Here

      Apr 29, 2019

      We Are Here
      16 min read

    Reviews for The Spite Game

    3.5/5

    26 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      I liked this book but I also thought it would have been better. Ava was in her right to get even with Saanvi, Cass, and Mel. They were the "mean girls" in school. Ava just wanted to be accepted. However, it was kind of hard to feel bad for Ava when she did come off as a bit desperate in school. No matter how many times she found herself the "butt" of the girls' joke, she still wanted to hang out with them. My feelings did change from desperate to Ava turned into a "mean girl" herself. Mel is the ring leader of the group. Therefore, it would only be appropriate that she and Ava have a final showdown. You could say that there were no feelings of love lost from what punishment Ava dealt out to Saanvi and Cass. The pacing for this book was slow. It was like a candle flickering. You are memorized by the flames but it seems like forever before you burn all of the wax. That is how I felt reading this book. It seemed to take a while before I got to the "meat" of the story but at the same time I could not stop reading. Although, this book did not knock me off my feet, I did like it enough to read another book by this author.
    • 3/5
      Who doesn’t like a juicy little story of revenge? Normally yes. But I didn’t love this one. It was only ok for me and while the premise was good, it just didn’t follow through for me. Ava had some friends. But when something happened to bring her into the light of the cool girls, her old friends were left in the dust. But her journey with the mean girls was pretty short lived and then she found herself their target. A decade after, Ava is still thirsty for revenge and plots their demise one by one. I found the story to be weak. And the constant popping around from different parts of the past and present was distracting and interrupted the flow. Some books can carry this off well but in my opinion this one didn’t. We were sent from present to various different past times with little clue when it was and I just found that irritating and it affected the storytelling. The actual revenge plots weren’t even well carried out. If a book is based on revenge, weak attempts just don’t cut it. I liked “only daughter” so much better.
    • 5/5
      Every now and then, all books get put aside so that a reader can indulge in the pure pleasure of a revenge story. The Spite Game pushes all the buttons. Ava is viciously bullied by the mean girls at her high school. Saanvi, Cass and Mel exceed the limits of cruelty and make Ava's life pure hell. After graduation, everyone pursues different careers and gets on with their lives, with the exception of Ava, who cannot get over the abuse she suffered at the hands of the mean girls. She systematically gets her revenge starting with Saanvi, then Cass. Mel discovers what Ava is up to and therein lies the outcome of this novel. This is a satisfying read because we cheer for the abused getting the upper hand. I had a good time reading The Spite Game by Anna Snoekstra. The author effectively shows us the lifetime damage done by bullies. Thank you to Mira and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      Ava has a confession to make, she knows something about the disappearance of high school classmate, Mel. As she waits to be interviewed by the detective, Ava recounts the choices that led to her sitting in the police station. In high school Ava wanted nothing more than to be friends with Mel, Saanvi and Cass. However, when Ava proves her worth to ringleader Mel, she begins to see the truth of the girls and their friendship. Still, Ava does what she needs to do to stay within their good graces, even when Mel makes life more and more difficult for Ava. After high school is over, Ava can't shake the feeling that she was wronged by the girls; she stalks them on social media and then in real life, watching for when they will make a mistake, something she can use to destroy their life, like they did to her. Some of the players are easy to destroy, but Mel proves more difficult. As Ava carries out the game she has created, she wonders if she has turned into the psycho that they called her in high school.The Spite Game is a psychological thriller that is all about revenge. There really isn't much mystery here as the book begins with Ava going to the police to confess, the suspense is built as we find out exactly what happened to Ava and what she did. I was glued to the pages as Ava's story unfolded and her retribution is brought to fruition. It did take me a chapter or two to realize that the book is set in Australia and to grasp language and setting differences. The timeline also skips back and forth through Ava's memories as she attempts to piece all of the important events together in her head, which is slightly discombobulating. This style of writing did keep me turning pages, though, as Ava slowly revealed the terrible things that happened to her and how she managed to right them, at least in her mind. As events unfolded, I thought a lot about the psychology of what the girls did in high school along with what Ava did as an adult. It was really interesting to read a book where none of the main character were likable and to see how everything turned out for Ava at the end.This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      Overall, I like the story. It starts slow but grows into something that keeps you in your sit. Anna's writing style is also a bit...different. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but it's different, lol.
    • 4/5
      This book got off to a slow start, but it wasn't too long until I was dying to know what this group of mean girls had done to Ava that pushed her over the edge and filled her with the single minded purpose of revenge. By the time it was revealed, I couldn't wait to find out how Ava's plan to get even would play out. If you have ever had a revenge fantasy you will likely enjoy this guilty pleasure.


      I received an advance copy for review.
    • 4/5
      The Spite Game by Anna Snoekstra is a compelling and suspenseful mystery that is somewhat dark and just a bit twisted.

      A decade after finishing high school, Ava cannot forgive or forget the bullying she experienced at the hands of mean girls Saanvi, Cass and Mel.  Over the years, she has stalked, harassed and tried to ruin the women along with one young man who also pulled a vicious prank on her. Ava will go through periods of time where she resists her obsession, but she finds it impossible to let the past go.  As she waits to speak to a detective about one of the women who is currently missing, Ava cannot help but reflect back on the horrendous last year of school and how she has exacted her revenge on the girls who tortured her.  What will Ava reveal to the police about the disappearance of the woman whose bullying left deep emotional scars on Ava?

      Following a deeply traumatic event, Ava, her mum and older sister Beatrice move to a more rural area yet Ava refuses to change schools. She is inching closer to becoming part of Saanvi, Cass and Mel's clique and she is delighted when they finally add her to their close-knit group. Mel is their undisputed leader and the girls follow along with whatever plan she devises. However, Ava's friendship with the girls is uneasy and she is often an unwitting victim to their pranks. She falls victim to a final humiliation that ends their relationship and sets the stage for Ava's obsession with making them pay for their actions.

      The chapters alternate between Ava waiting to speak to detectives and flashbacks of her school years and her revenge on the girls. She is rather unrepentant as she  looks back on how she has attempted to destroy Saanvi, Cass and Mel's lives. The tension builds to a fever pitch as the narrative slowly wends its way to finding out what happened to the missing woman.

      The Spite Game is riveting mystery that is quite intriguing. The characters are not at all appealing yet it is impossible not to understand Ava's quest for vengeance. The plot is well-developed and  the suspense keeps the pages turning at a blistering pace. Anna Snoekstra  brings the novel to a conclusion that is completely unexpected yet quite satisfying. A very clever mystery I greatly enjoyed and recommend to fans of the genre.