Review: Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold

Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold
Author: Katie Finn
Published: May 5th, 2015
Hardcover, 400 pages
4 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

The war rages on between Gemma and Hallie in the second installment of the Broken Hearts and Revenge series.

After the humiliating events on the 4th of July, Gemma's trying to handle the fact that Hallie knew who she was all along, and she was the one who stole Teddy from her. Gemma vows revenge, but things get more complicated than she planned. Ford, Gemma's long time crush, has arrived in the Hamptons cuter than ever. Josh is refusing to speak to her after she lied to him, and Teddy is playing champion to his beloved Marsh Warbler (in Gemma's backyard, no less).

Gemma and Hallie find themselves in an escalating revenge cycle. Just when Gemma thinks she has the upper hand, the biggest bombshell of all is dropped. And it's one that threatens to change her life forever. This exciting sequel to Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend will eave you begging for the third installment.

If I thought Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend was full of girl drama, revenge, and misunderstandings everything has just one upped itself in this sequel. The events at the end of the first book threw everything into a tailspin and even though I predicted how it would have ended, it was still a shock when everything fell into place. Hallie is one tough cookie to break and Gemma is determined to get her back for everything she put her through over the beginning of the summer. Gemma is ready to seek her own revenge but Hallie isn't done with her yet. Juicy things are bound to happen as these two girls go head-to-head. Throw in some boys - Teddy, Gemma's ex-boyfriend who is now dating Hallie, Josh, Hallie brother who Gemma lied to all summer and who finally knows who she really is, and Ford, Gemma's long time crush who's here for the summer and ready to help Gemma in any way she needs. Trust me, this one's a dousy.

Every character in this book has aspects of deceit. It's human nature, but Finn has taken in and turned into one huge revenge scheme and it fantastic. The book was filled with crazy tactics and times where I thought it couldn't get any worse and it did. The ending was fantastic and made me crave the last book in the series. It seems everything goes wrong and it was a lot of fun to read as these two girls got over their pain by trying to destroy the other. Okay, I guess "fun" might not be the right word, as they did some pretty deplorable things to each other, but I'm really hoping they find a way at the end of all this to become friends again. Things get bad, some things happen that I would find unforgivable, but I feel like that ending opens things up for them to potentially get through all this in one piece. I say this book is fun because I sped through it and I loved trying to guess what plot schemes they'd come up with next and trying to figure out how everything would play out. These girls are intense and it made for good reading.

Gemma has done some terrible things, but so has Hallie, and now that they both know what the other has done, it's time for them to set things right. There were some cute moments with Josh, even cuter moments with Ford, and even though I am not ever a fan of love triangles, this one was different and actually worked for me. I understand why Josh reacted the way he did, he feels like he doesn't know Gemma at all, and Ford is just too cute. Nerdy with surfer good looks? Sign me up!

I don't want to get specific as I feel like the revenge plots are what makes this story so great. I love that Gemma works at an ice cream shop and that Teddy handcuffs himself to a tree in her backyard for the endangered birds he's trying to save. There are such great moments in this book and I enjoyed every second of it. So, seriously, when can I have the last one?

Review: Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend

Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend
Author: Katie Finn
Published: May 5th, 2015
Paperback, 368 pages
4 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Gemma had her summer all planned out, but it takes a sharp turn when she gets dumped and finds herself back in the Hamptons after a five-year absence. Being there puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friend (that is, before Gemma ruined her life). But people don't hold grudges forever. Do they?

Gemma intends to make amends, but a small case of mistaken identity causes the people she knew years ago - including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh - to believe she's someone else. As though the summer wasn't complicated enough already.

Can Gemma keep up the charade? Or will she be found out by the very people she's been hiding from?

A good revenge story is always fun to read and this one was a good time from beginning to end. Gemma used to spend her summers in the Hamptons and met her best friend the summer they were 12. She and Hallie had a great summer until Gemma did something unforgivable and ruined the whole thing. Gemma stops going there until a summer five years later gives her no choice. She's not sure if she's ready to face the wrath of Hallie and a case of mistaken identity gives her a way out. Hallie's brother Josh doesn't remember her and now thinks she's Sophie, Gemma's best friend, due to the name on her Starbucks cup. But Gemma doesn't think Hallie will forget her but when they finally meet again, Hallie is nice and makes me move to remember her. Gemma thinks she'll have the summer to makes things right with Hallie, but when things start going wrong it almost seems like she's being sabotaged. But Hallie doesn't remember her, so it must just be in Gemma's head, right?

Drama in the Hamptons isn't unusual and this book is no different. The things that happen to Gemma are brutal and heinous and I'd never want them to happen to me. The more things heat up with Josh, the less Gemma wants to tell the truth. It's a tough line for her to walk and it's hard to decide if what she did was in anyway the right way to go about it, but I can't imagine being able to admit my mistakes either. As we found out more about the summer when they were 12 and why Gemma did what she did, I'm sure she's not the only one who has thought or done something like that. Reminded me a lot of The Parent Trap, but yes things like that have consequences and Finn certainly let Gemma feel them all.

The writing was fun and I found it super easy to read and couldn't put it down. At some points it got predictable, but I was okay with that as it was still a lot of fun to read. I guessed where the whole thing was going but it didn't make it any easier to read what happens to Gemma and Hallie. The ending made me eager to pick up the second book in the series, which thankfully is already out, so I could read more of the story. Gemma loses things she loves for a mistake she made years ago, but it's finally time for her to apologize to Hallie and make things right. It may too late, but I'm hoping they'll be able to get past everything that's happened and go back to how they used to be. Revenge is a sad thing, but it makes for great reading. This book is fun for anyone who likes a quick summer read and heinous characters that kind of get what they deserve.

"It seems that thinking 'things can't get any worse' is an invitation for things to get much, much worse."