Name: Revenge of the Sluts
Rating: 3.857142857142857 (14 reviews)
ISBN: 9781989365519

Natalie Walton

Revenge of the Sluts

Crystal L

Thank you to Edelweiss+, Macmillan, and Natalie Walton for an e-arc of the book in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 stars.

Revenge of the Sluts is an excellent portrayal of just some of the difficulties faced by young women around the world. Whether seeking to express sexuality or preferring a “modest” approach, women are judged constantly on what they wear, how they act, their makeup, their hair, who they interact with, who they date, and basically every bit of their lives. For teens, this can be even more difficult while trying to determine who you actually are as a person and growing into young adulthood. 

Walton tells the story of young women whose lives are forever changed by an email to the entire school. Signed only by Eros, the mischievous god of love and sex, the email includes seven photos of topless high school students. Immediately addressed is that each student is over 18, and therefore the law is limited by what can actually be done. I loved that Walton addressed the difficulties women often face with “revenge porn” or non-consensual sharing of intimate photos or videos. Without laws in place, both police and academic institutions face difficulty restoring victims' rights and holding the perpetrator accountable. 

Female empowerment is pervasive in this story. School journalist Eden is insightful, approachable, and compassionate, taking the reader along on her journey to discover who sent the email and why, and the impact it has had on the women involved. While attempting to discover the identity of Eros, the seven women from the photos band together and celebrate being a “slut” by reminding everyone that there is nothing wrong with a woman expressing her sexuality, sexual needs, or desires. This book could easily be recommended reading for all young adults.

Nikki van Zoom

Revenge of the Sluts - The first book getting published by author Natalie Walton, and boy does she know how to make a debut! Revenge of the Sluts is one of those stories that stays by you, one that you need a while to recover from because it makes such an impact. This story is incredibly relevant in today's climate. Seven female high school students who's nudes get leaked and a school paper editor who covers the story but becomes an alley and gives the girls a platform. 

I love how empowering this story is. I especially love Eden and Sloan. Two characters who don't seem to fully trust in their own potential, but become the advocates and support for so many more than just the Slut Squad. It's definitely a 5-star read for me! 

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an ARC copy.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Revenge of the Sluts

Author: Natalie Walton

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: The MC is at least half Korean, but unsure if accurate characterization

Recommended For...: ya readers, contemporary lovers, social justice

Publication Date: February 2, 2021

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 16+ (sexual exploitation, nudes leaked, sexual content, language, slight violence)

Publisher: Wattpad Books

Pages: 328

Synopsis: As a lead reporter for The Warrior Weekly, Eden has covered her fair share of stories at St. Joseph's High School. And when intimate pictures of seven female students are anonymously emailed to the entire school, Eden is determined to get to the bottom of it.

In tracking down leads, Eden is shocked to discover not everyone agrees the students are victims. Some people feel the girls "brought it on themselves." Even worse, the school’s administration seems more concerned about protecting its reputation than its students.

With the anonymous sender threatening more emails, Eden finds an unlikely ally: the seven young women themselves. Banding together to find the perpetrator, the tables are about to be turned. The Slut Squad is fighting back!

Review: For the most part I really liked this book. I thought that the concept was very modern for today's teens. the concept that your nudes can be leaked at any time and for your school to be sexist and not act accordingly is very very real to many teens and I don't think a lot of people realize that. I think that it is entirely up to them as adults to send their nudes around, it's an entirely different thing when their children as they could be charged with child pornography, but to not have a book that can talk about the consequences of it and the what-ifs about any situation doesn't really fully exist in young adult literature yet. I think that, while I have some issues with this book, that this is a good step in the right direction to help prepare modern teens for a more technologically scary world. I also thought that the characters were very well done and developed, and the plot immediately hooked me into the book and I managed to finish it and two hours.

However there are some things in the book that I didn't necessarily like. For example the main character is part Korean at least but I don't know how well she is described to tell if it's an accurate characterization or not. I also found some slight inconsistencies with pornography laws in the book versus what they are in reality. For the most part this book is very well researched. It is true that Massachusetts does not have any laws regarding revenge porn, and I believe that every state should have those laws in place because I believe that distribution of "not your adult porn" is illegal. But I do have a concern when regarding distribution of porn to a minor. in the book a mass email is sent out to the entire student population of these girls naked pictures. And while the book states that all the girls are 18 and I have reason to believe that the person who distributed the nude photos is 18, I don't think that the email only limited itself to just people over the age of 18 in that school. I can't find the exact statute, but I believe in many states that distribution of porn to a minor is illegal, so the police really should have been involved with the case from the get-go. But as we have all come to learn in 2020, there are some people who become cops because they like the power and don't like to work within the legal means of the system. But other than that small legal matter that I debated in my head throughout the book, the only other issue that I have with the book is that the boys didn't see any repercussions besides a talking to. And while that is the most realistic outcome for these situations, I would like it if I ever had a child for them to live in a world where boys get there proper punishments as they deserve instead of it being slit under the rug as a "boys will be boys"moment.

Verdict: It was a great book!

Simona Andrijauskiene

* I’ve got this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review*

What can I say, except that I was pleasantly surprised by this story. 
I was hooked by it from the first page and read this book way past my bedtime. It’s one of those stories where you tell yourself “just one more chapter”. 
I find it very important to talk about topics like slut-shaming, cyber bullying from the young days. And in my opinion these topics were covered in this story very well. It infuriates me, that there is still such a huge difference between how women and men are treated in similar situations. Somehow men always wins. 
Off course there were some parts that made me give this book 4 stars instead of 5. Firstly I think it could have been a little bit shorter and secondly the ending was a little bit rushed. 
So, do I recommend this book? YES, without a doubt.

Nikki Sojkowski

**An ARC of this book was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

The book really had so much potential, but I’m sorry to say that it didn’t live up to the execution. Without going into spoilers, I’ll be discussing specific topics of pros and cons below:

The Title. I think it’s supposed to be tongue-in-cheek and edgy, but at the end of the book it felt disingenuous. The “sluts” did not get “revenge,” so why call it that? I think I would have been less let-down by this book if it was more honest with itself and the title. My expectations were that all of the victims would team up and take down Eros together and (without getting into spoilers) that was not the plot of the book. I was happy with the way things ended, but definitely not prepared, given the title of the book. I’ll have to say that this was a con. 

Eden. Despite the main character being Korean-American, her culture and background is completely overlooked and unrepresented. The ‘diversity’ felt like an empty gesture since it was mentioned mentioned once, maybe twice, and didn't become incorporated into Eden's personhood. While this had me disappointed from the get-go, I still continued through the book optimistic about how it would all turn out. Despite the lack of diversity represented, the characters and their motivations felt very well developed. Eden's social circle, her ex boyfriend, and the people she interviews all felt so real and it was quite well done world-building wise. Eden and Ronnie were reporters on a mission, and the ‘who-dun-it?’ aspect of the plot was very engaging. Eden’s growth and her bonding moments with the victims as she tried to raise their voices were all very touching and definitely a pro.

Atticus. In a story about revenge porn and how horrible it is that male social currency depends on sex and nudes, we received a likable male character to balance that out. Our world isn’t black and white, and I think that Walton tried to express that with Atticus becoming a strong member of Eden’s team. That being said, even this “pro” has some caveats. It felt like Atticus was only helping because he liked Sloane, one of the victims, and not because it was simply the right thing to do. Additionally, I think Walton missed an opportunity to include more guys on the “good” side. Jeremy and Kolton were also important male side characters and while they were never part of the problem they also never denounced the scandal or supported the victims. By not doing more with these other male characters, it kind of made Atticus ‘the one exception to the norm.’ Atticus being an exception to the rule doesn’t sit right with me and I’m disappointed that something like this wasn’t caught and fixed by beta readers before publication. Again, Atticus was still a "pro" but I feel like the gender dynamics of the book could have been more nuanced.

The Prose. There were definitely hang-ups in the prose itself. At points it felt like I was reading a lecture on revenge porn and not a young adult fiction novel. In the art form of literature, especially literature for young adults, there’s an important balance between educating your readers and still creating a captivating arc for your characters. Instead of a balance, there was a lot of uncomfortable teeter-tottering between rambling about unnecessary details and diving into lectures. I don’t want to blame the book too hard on this point, as there were some special-gem scenes hidden in the rough too. I think the most important moment, outside of the Eros-reveal-climax, was Eden’s discussion with a counselor. She thinks she’s conducting an interview but it results in Eden confiding about her own confusion and hurt over the situation, even though she’s not one of the Nudegate victims. I thought this was such an important topic to touch on, as trust and betrayal are not exclusive to grand gestures like Nudegate. Eden is allowed to be just as emotional about her situation even if she wasn’t a victim of her nudes being emailed to her entire school, and those feelings are validated. So could the prose have been better? Yes, but centralizing the topic of revenge porn and addressing slut-shaming is absolutely a step in the right direction for young adult literature.

Revenge of the Sluts

Reviews

Highlights