The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door
Author: Karen Finneyfrock
Genre: YA Contemporary
Release Date: February 21, 2013
Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Description:

That’s the day the trouble started.
The trouble that nearly ruined my life.
The trouble that turned me Dark.
The trouble that begs me for revenge.

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.

This debut novel from Karen Finneyfrock establishes her as a bright, bold, razor-sharp new voice for teens.  

The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door is a delightful surprise of a novel. After reading the description, I though that this would be a fun read about a high school girl exacting revenge against a couple mean girls in her class for something they had done to her. I couldn't have been further from the truth about this book - and that is putting it mildly. There is so much more to this novel than meets the eye at first glance. I'm glad that the description caught my interest because I would have missed out on a real gem otherwise. 

This book does focus a bit on a teenage girl wanting - needing - to exact revenge on two "mean girls" who did an awful thing to her in school the previous year. But the plot isn't really even focused on that aspect. It really focused on Celia - the main character - and her best friend and new kid to town - Drake - and their struggles. Celia is a great main character because she's very raw and realistic. She's an outcast at her school because of The Book incident - which is the reason behind her need for revenge. She's deeply flawed due to this incident as well as the separation of her parents that happened around the same time. Instead of letting herself get hurt even more, Celia has built up thick walls around herself and has become what she describes as Dark. Drake is another wonderful character in the novel. He's a handsome new guy at Celia's school and the only friend she has. He also reveals his deepest secret to her alone - he's gay. He's dealing with feelings for his best friend back home in New York and also with the stress of coming out to his friends and family. Celia and Drake must both learn to love and accept themselves for who they truly are and not care about what others think about them. That is one of the main themes of this book. Another deals with the very real topic of bullying in our schools and the emotional damage it inflicts on the recipients. I liked that bullying is discussed in depth and not just dealt with easily. It showed the affect it had on both Celia and Drake - and also shows us the damage it causes on people in everyday life. I have to admit that I really connected with Celia in the novel due to being bullied in a very similar fashion during my own high school years. I was able to emotionally connect and sympathize with her thoughts and feelings - especially after reading about what happened with The Book and its affects on her. The writing was well done and had some of Celia's poetry mixed in, which I think gives it originality. Overall, this is a book that may seem fun and edgy on the surface, but holds so much more depth and levity between its pages. Definitely recommended for readers of all ages and for fans of YA contemporary fiction!!

Karen Finneyfrock is a poet, novelist and teaching artist in Seattle, WA. Her young adult novel, The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door, is due from Viking Children’s Books on February 21, 2013.Her second book of poems, Ceremony for the Choking Ghost, was released on Write Bloody press in 2010. She is a former Writer-in-Residence at Richard Hugo House in Seattle and teaches for Seattle Arts and Lectures’ Writers-in-the-Schools program. 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.

Links: 
Website: http://www.karenfinneyfrock.com 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karen.finneyfrock 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/finneyfrock 
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2736035.Karen_Finneyfrock

 

    

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