Title: Revenge of the Sluts
Author: Natalie Walton
Publication: February 2, 2021
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Genre: YA Fiction
Pages: 328
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
Double standards are about to get singled out.
In this stunning debut, author Natalie Walton tackles privacy and relationships in the digital age.
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:
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
I love debut novels from authors. It is a great way to see their initial vision for their art form. Natalie Walton’s debut novel Revenge of the Sluts sounded interesting and the cover art really caught my attention. She absolutely did not disappoint me.
Revenge of the Sluts follows a group of girls after nude pictures of them are sent out in a mass email to their entire private school, students and teachers alike. The main character wasn’t actually involved in the nudity, but and editor for the school paper looking to write about it in their weekly edition. Unfortunately for her, there is quickly a take down of that “free press” she so wishes for from the school administration.
Eden’s character was me in high school. I wasn’t unpopular and I wasn’t super popular. I fell somewhere in between. I had my group of people I hung out with and I was able to talk to the rest based on random affiliations from knowing everyone since elementary school days due to the small town location. Eden’s life was like glancing back into my own high school days, which I love. I love being able to relate to characters. I think it makes the story that much more interesting and even if you weren’t Eden exactly in school, I bet you find something you definitely relate to her on. Eden had many layers, just like a lot of the “slut squad” (self-titled). It was interesting to peal back the layers of these different girls from all walks of life and see the different aspects of high school personalities. The super popular party girl. The nerdy band girl. The sports star. We also got to witness the other side of things. High school boys. While this scenario is obviously not a regular in a lot of high school lives, I think the reactions of different people and how they were raised and their level of privilege really showed in Walton’s writing of the reactions from the email recipients. Walton wrote real personalities and reactions. I love real.
The only thing that I didn’t love about this story was the title of the group. I get that they self-named, but as a slight older adult, I feel that titling yourself “Slut Squad” gives others a type of permission to call you sluts. I think that is a bad lesson to teach our young generation. Even though I didn’t love this aspect, I didn’t let it affect my scoring of the book because I’m old compared to these 18 year olds and maybe it’s a perspective I just don’t get.
With that said, this story was phenomenal. I love when a great YA Fiction story has an interesting and twisty mystery intertwined in it, and Walton nailed it. A great YA Fiction really draws you in, no matter your age, and just leaves a fantastic story in the end. Revenge of the Sluts was a great YA Fiction novel. And if you love Mystery, it has that too. I hope to read more about Eden in the future, maybe once she makes her way off to college and joins that newspaper too? Either way, Natalie Walton has a fan in me. Great work.
STAR RATING: 5/5
Pick up your copy of Revenge of the Sluts by Natalie Walton on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and check your local bookstores. Also make sure to add it to your To Reads list on Goodreads and leave feedback for the author when you are finished. Stay tuned from more from this debut author.
