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Private #14
Vengeance
After the devastating events at Reed's birthday party, Noelle is determined to put the past to rest, but Reed is adament about rebuilding Billings. Coming up against endless roadblocks from the headmaster, not to mention Billings alumni, Reed will not let her legacy end with a pile of rubble.
As if that weren't enough, old ghosts come back to haunt to the Billings Girls. Reed has been through the ringer in her time at Easton and she starts to wonder if maybe she can even make it out of this place alive.
As if that weren't enough, old ghosts come back to haunt to the Billings Girls. Reed has been through the ringer in her time at Easton and she starts to wonder if maybe she can even make it out of this place alive.
224 pages, Paperback
First published August 30, 2011
30 people are currently reading
2340 people want to read
About the author
Kate Brian
87 books2,311 followersKate Brian is the author of the SHADOWLANDS TRILOGY (SHADOWLANDS, HEREAFTER & ENDLESS), as well as the New York Times bestselling PRIVATE and PRIVILEGE series, and the wildly popular MEGAN MEADE'S GUIDE TO THE MCGOWAN BOYS. She also writes teen fiction under the name Kieran Scott.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews
February 24, 2012
Where do I start?
I absolutely HATED this book, didn't offer any closure for the series. What if I don't want to read the Privilege series? Should I just be left hanging?
It's a quick read, I finished it in two hours, I thought it'd tie all the loose ends but it didn't. I should have stopped reading this series a LONG time ago but I like to finish what I started.
I feel that Kate milked the series and ended up ruining it. Everyone is out to get poor Reed, she is wanted dead in ALL 14 books?! It gets boring after the second book. In Ominous she discovered that the bIllings girls have magic then BOOM, what magic? LOL I just make it up as I go.
Whatever happened to Upton? Why is she with Josh? Where did she end up? What happened to her family? Where did the magic hocus pocus go? She ends up pondering outside the window, looking at the damned Billings building!! I agree with Noelle, Reed is a GLASS LICKER, weak character, paranoid, boring, one dimensional and she just doesn't have self respect, Come on, she used to wear their handy downs without even feeling a tiny bit of shame.
So many unanswered questions. I'd give this book a zero if I could. BOOO!!
I absolutely HATED this book, didn't offer any closure for the series. What if I don't want to read the Privilege series? Should I just be left hanging?
It's a quick read, I finished it in two hours, I thought it'd tie all the loose ends but it didn't. I should have stopped reading this series a LONG time ago but I like to finish what I started.
I feel that Kate milked the series and ended up ruining it. Everyone is out to get poor Reed, she is wanted dead in ALL 14 books?! It gets boring after the second book. In Ominous she discovered that the bIllings girls have magic then BOOM, what magic? LOL I just make it up as I go.
Whatever happened to Upton? Why is she with Josh? Where did she end up? What happened to her family? Where did the magic hocus pocus go? She ends up pondering outside the window, looking at the damned Billings building!! I agree with Noelle, Reed is a GLASS LICKER, weak character, paranoid, boring, one dimensional and she just doesn't have self respect, Come on, she used to wear their handy downs without even feeling a tiny bit of shame.
So many unanswered questions. I'd give this book a zero if I could. BOOO!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 1, 2011
First of all, I'd like to say that the only reason this book gets 2 stars is because I liked the rest of the series.
Going into the book, I had no idea what to expect. The first novel, Private, was great and so were the other 7 books, but after that everything went downhill. Still, I decided to give the final book a chance. I was expecting a huge twist, and that's what I got. The thing is, it wasn't a good twist.
Some of the grammar and punctuation in the book was incorrect. On top of that, the plot was exactly the same! Reed thinks someone's after her, nobody believes her, someone tries to kill her, she gets back with Josh, and the killer gets caught in the end while Reed survives AGAIN.
Then we have the killers. Daniel and Paige Ryan? Totally saw that one coming. Missy Thurber? I knew that too. But Graham Hathaway and Cheyenne Martin? Are you serious? LAME. First off, Graham doesn't seem like the type of guy to turn out to be a killer. I know the book says he was really sad about his twin sister's death but killing people? That's a tad too far. And Cheyenne? Are you kidding me? Her death and Sabine's betrayal was perfect! How the hell are you gonna come up with some crap like Cheyenne faked her own death and blackmailed Sabine into taking the fault? I sincerely despised that part with a passion.
Then we have Sawyer. Poor little Sawyer. I have no idea how Reed ended up picking Josh over Sawyer.
In the novel I was also hoping for a recap of Mr.Lange's death or some kind of funeral. But throughout the book, Noelle just seems to be in a bit of a funk and Reed acts like it doesn't really matter.
Like I said, I loved the first 8 books. I loved Billings, Thomas Pearson, the Glass Licker Reed, Noelle, and everyone else. But the ending felt really rushed and I felt lost. I can truly say the ending killed the entire series for me. I'm glad it ended.
Going into the book, I had no idea what to expect. The first novel, Private, was great and so were the other 7 books, but after that everything went downhill. Still, I decided to give the final book a chance. I was expecting a huge twist, and that's what I got. The thing is, it wasn't a good twist.
Some of the grammar and punctuation in the book was incorrect. On top of that, the plot was exactly the same! Reed thinks someone's after her, nobody believes her, someone tries to kill her, she gets back with Josh, and the killer gets caught in the end while Reed survives AGAIN.
Then we have the killers. Daniel and Paige Ryan? Totally saw that one coming. Missy Thurber? I knew that too. But Graham Hathaway and Cheyenne Martin? Are you serious? LAME. First off, Graham doesn't seem like the type of guy to turn out to be a killer. I know the book says he was really sad about his twin sister's death but killing people? That's a tad too far. And Cheyenne? Are you kidding me? Her death and Sabine's betrayal was perfect! How the hell are you gonna come up with some crap like Cheyenne faked her own death and blackmailed Sabine into taking the fault? I sincerely despised that part with a passion.
Then we have Sawyer. Poor little Sawyer. I have no idea how Reed ended up picking Josh over Sawyer.
In the novel I was also hoping for a recap of Mr.Lange's death or some kind of funeral. But throughout the book, Noelle just seems to be in a bit of a funk and Reed acts like it doesn't really matter.
Like I said, I loved the first 8 books. I loved Billings, Thomas Pearson, the Glass Licker Reed, Noelle, and everyone else. But the ending felt really rushed and I felt lost. I can truly say the ending killed the entire series for me. I'm glad it ended.
July 17, 2012
I was a bit disappointed with this book. I still rate it 5 stars since it was really good, but I must admit that I was disappointed. I expected a better ending! Or maybe even an epilogue! What made me sort of angry, though, are 3 main things.
I got angry how they made Noelle's scar worthless. I mean, they made such a big deal out of it in the 1st book, and then all of a sudden 13 books later after not mentioning it, she throws it in there with a sentence. That sort of makes me angry. I mean, it's like she just threw it in there with a sentence and it was over. Ergh. I had been looking forward to hearing the story behind Noelle's scar, expecting it to be something big, but was it? Nope, fell off a horse or whatever, the end.
Another thing was how they basically COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THE MAGIC. I mean, come on! The last book was over 200 pages talking ALL about it, and now all of a sudden it's just like "Oh yeah, Kiki practices it sometimes but that's really it. And Cheyenne still believes in the curse but that's all." Like really? That was a big deal in the last book, they can't just FORGET about it! Ugh. They turned the book into like a "magic world" type book and we all had to get accustomed to it, just for it to be forgotten in the next book, hardly ever mentioned and not used at all. It's a BIG DEAL, they can't just forget about it!
The last thing that really annoyed me was how, just like the magic, they forgot about the BLS. I mean, we don't even know who gave the book to Reed! We can have our suspicions, but they never stated it in the book! What the heck?! They just completely forgot about it all over again, just said oh we all forgave each other but Missy because of what happened in the last book so we all forgot about it. WHAT. THE. HECK.
Another thing that isn't big, is how Cheyenne is still alive. It's HIGHLY unlikely that anyone could do that, pay off tons of people for that. That was what another one of the books was ALL about, and Sabine and everything! So are they saying Sabine really isn't a crazy murderer, she was just paid to try and kill Reed and kill Cheyenne? How could they just THROW that in there randomly? I mean, I guess they sort of always said that there was a flash of blonde hair, but COME ON. They really had a lot more explaining to do.
Okay, so I lied, there is still one more huge thing that ticked me off. THEY COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT UPTON. Upton had told her he LOVED her and EVERYTHING, and she was basically falling in love for 2 books with him too, then all of a sudden she's back to Easton and it's Josh all over again. Don't get me wrong, I love Josh and they're meant to be, but she can't just FORGET about Upton. I was hoping he would show up and if he really loved Reed, he would try to win her back from Josh and maybe throw a fistfight in there or something, I mean they both "love" Reed! Instead, Reed is just like "Hey, I'm just gonna contact you when I need something okay?" 2 WHOLE BOOKS about Upton Giles, and he is completely forgotten in the last book. The LAST book! I was expecting him to be at Gage's party, or some huge surprise where they officially end their relationship at least if there wasn't a "who wants Reed more" fight, but he wasn't there! He wasn't even mentioned! Ughhhhh.
So, even though these things obviously made me mad, I still rate this book 5 stars. It was the last book of 14 books, well 16 if you include the Book of Spells and Last Christmas, and it wasn't bad at all. It kept me on my seat and everything. But honestly, I think that she should have added one more book, to have better closure. Maybe they could even put Josh and Reed engaged! And why would they end it her JUNIOR YEAR? She still has another year at Easton, we want to know if she gets into a good college and what happens between her and Noelle and everyone! Agh. As you can see, at lot of this book really made me mad, but I still have to rate it 5 stars. It feels wrong if I don't. I went through 13 books looking forward to this very last one, so it only sounds right if I rate it 5 stars.
All in all, it was an honor to read the Private series, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great, on-the-edge-of-your-seat read.
I got angry how they made Noelle's scar worthless. I mean, they made such a big deal out of it in the 1st book, and then all of a sudden 13 books later after not mentioning it, she throws it in there with a sentence. That sort of makes me angry. I mean, it's like she just threw it in there with a sentence and it was over. Ergh. I had been looking forward to hearing the story behind Noelle's scar, expecting it to be something big, but was it? Nope, fell off a horse or whatever, the end.
Another thing was how they basically COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THE MAGIC. I mean, come on! The last book was over 200 pages talking ALL about it, and now all of a sudden it's just like "Oh yeah, Kiki practices it sometimes but that's really it. And Cheyenne still believes in the curse but that's all." Like really? That was a big deal in the last book, they can't just FORGET about it! Ugh. They turned the book into like a "magic world" type book and we all had to get accustomed to it, just for it to be forgotten in the next book, hardly ever mentioned and not used at all. It's a BIG DEAL, they can't just forget about it!
The last thing that really annoyed me was how, just like the magic, they forgot about the BLS. I mean, we don't even know who gave the book to Reed! We can have our suspicions, but they never stated it in the book! What the heck?! They just completely forgot about it all over again, just said oh we all forgave each other but Missy because of what happened in the last book so we all forgot about it. WHAT. THE. HECK.
Another thing that isn't big, is how Cheyenne is still alive. It's HIGHLY unlikely that anyone could do that, pay off tons of people for that. That was what another one of the books was ALL about, and Sabine and everything! So are they saying Sabine really isn't a crazy murderer, she was just paid to try and kill Reed and kill Cheyenne? How could they just THROW that in there randomly? I mean, I guess they sort of always said that there was a flash of blonde hair, but COME ON. They really had a lot more explaining to do.
Okay, so I lied, there is still one more huge thing that ticked me off. THEY COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT UPTON. Upton had told her he LOVED her and EVERYTHING, and she was basically falling in love for 2 books with him too, then all of a sudden she's back to Easton and it's Josh all over again. Don't get me wrong, I love Josh and they're meant to be, but she can't just FORGET about Upton. I was hoping he would show up and if he really loved Reed, he would try to win her back from Josh and maybe throw a fistfight in there or something, I mean they both "love" Reed! Instead, Reed is just like "Hey, I'm just gonna contact you when I need something okay?" 2 WHOLE BOOKS about Upton Giles, and he is completely forgotten in the last book. The LAST book! I was expecting him to be at Gage's party, or some huge surprise where they officially end their relationship at least if there wasn't a "who wants Reed more" fight, but he wasn't there! He wasn't even mentioned! Ughhhhh.
So, even though these things obviously made me mad, I still rate this book 5 stars. It was the last book of 14 books, well 16 if you include the Book of Spells and Last Christmas, and it wasn't bad at all. It kept me on my seat and everything. But honestly, I think that she should have added one more book, to have better closure. Maybe they could even put Josh and Reed engaged! And why would they end it her JUNIOR YEAR? She still has another year at Easton, we want to know if she gets into a good college and what happens between her and Noelle and everyone! Agh. As you can see, at lot of this book really made me mad, but I still have to rate it 5 stars. It feels wrong if I don't. I went through 13 books looking forward to this very last one, so it only sounds right if I rate it 5 stars.
All in all, it was an honor to read the Private series, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great, on-the-edge-of-your-seat read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
November 13, 2011SPOILERS IF YOU HAVENT READ CRUEL LOVE. So i've been looking forward to this book since I finished the last one, but not anymore. I feel like I know how Reeds story ends already. She graduates and goes to george town because thats where Arianna tracks her down to... I feel like the only thing this book is going to tell me is if they get Billings rebuilt or not.
September 13, 2011
SPOILER WARNING
I must agree with the general consensus on this one: Vengeance is an underwhelming, surprisingly inconclusive conclusion to the lengthy Private series. As Reed plans to rebuild Billings, she is once again stalked and yet another character returns from the dead. I happen to love characters who come back from the dead; that's not the problem here, and neither is the identity of said non-corpse (but why couldn't it be Thomas?). It's that the motives of Reed's antagonists are both meaningless and tied into well-worn issues already resolved in past books. Most problematic of all, the witchcraft plotline is dismissed with a nonchalant paragraph early on in the novel, after a tremendous amount of momentum was built up around the entire concept. So we were taken out of the "secular" world and into a world where supernatural phenomena were possible, just to be jerked back to semi-normalcy again - huh?
Moreover, we already know where Reed ends up in the future, thanks to the far superior Privilege finale Cruel Love (insanely fabulous - hey, that could have been a Privilege title!). Ariana is so much more threatening and fascinating than any of Reed's other foes that it feels anticlimactic to move from the Reed/Ariana showdown backwards to a middling Reed vs Crazy Alums (Again) affair.
I've never been a Josh fan, and there's too much time in Vengeance focused on his typical whining. I did highly enjoy the returns of Taylor and Kiran, and when the original quartet reunited it left me expecting a massive shocker climax and finale that never came; the stakes seemed raised by the "cast" assembled in this novel. I seriously anticipated an incredibly wacky, awesomely deranged denouement and all we get is a lukewarm face-off between enemies who were only ever half-worrying and the clearly quite capable Reed and her b.f.f.'s.
As an enthusiastically obsessed fan of the Private series, I always hold that any Private novel is better than no Private novel at all. So it was great that we got one more book, but a bit disappointing that such a crazy-sauce series ended with such uncharacteristic blandness.
By the way, what are we going to do with ourselves now that this series is over?! Here's hoping that Kate Brian/Kieran Scott has more series coming soon!
Check out my blog: http://virginiamaeblog.blogspot.com/
I must agree with the general consensus on this one: Vengeance is an underwhelming, surprisingly inconclusive conclusion to the lengthy Private series. As Reed plans to rebuild Billings, she is once again stalked and yet another character returns from the dead. I happen to love characters who come back from the dead; that's not the problem here, and neither is the identity of said non-corpse (but why couldn't it be Thomas?). It's that the motives of Reed's antagonists are both meaningless and tied into well-worn issues already resolved in past books. Most problematic of all, the witchcraft plotline is dismissed with a nonchalant paragraph early on in the novel, after a tremendous amount of momentum was built up around the entire concept. So we were taken out of the "secular" world and into a world where supernatural phenomena were possible, just to be jerked back to semi-normalcy again - huh?
Moreover, we already know where Reed ends up in the future, thanks to the far superior Privilege finale Cruel Love (insanely fabulous - hey, that could have been a Privilege title!). Ariana is so much more threatening and fascinating than any of Reed's other foes that it feels anticlimactic to move from the Reed/Ariana showdown backwards to a middling Reed vs Crazy Alums (Again) affair.
I've never been a Josh fan, and there's too much time in Vengeance focused on his typical whining. I did highly enjoy the returns of Taylor and Kiran, and when the original quartet reunited it left me expecting a massive shocker climax and finale that never came; the stakes seemed raised by the "cast" assembled in this novel. I seriously anticipated an incredibly wacky, awesomely deranged denouement and all we get is a lukewarm face-off between enemies who were only ever half-worrying and the clearly quite capable Reed and her b.f.f.'s.
As an enthusiastically obsessed fan of the Private series, I always hold that any Private novel is better than no Private novel at all. So it was great that we got one more book, but a bit disappointing that such a crazy-sauce series ended with such uncharacteristic blandness.
By the way, what are we going to do with ourselves now that this series is over?! Here's hoping that Kate Brian/Kieran Scott has more series coming soon!
Check out my blog: http://virginiamaeblog.blogspot.com/
August 23, 2016
***Spoiler Free Summary By Emerald BookWorm***
I didn't know a thing about this series going into it. My boyfriend (now husband) would always go to the library to pick up books for me and he stumbled across this series and brought me the first book, thinking I would enjoy it. /// Well he was right lol. /// I was instantly hooked and reserving the next book within 24 hours. /// This series is definitely not realistic and is pretty dramatic lol , but it's lots of fun and it was the first time I'd ever read anything like this before. /// It went places I would of never thought. /// I know it looks super cheesy, and maybe it is to an extent lol, but the story is pretty good actually and kept me interested. /// There are a lot of books in this series but it's so easy to read through and very enjoyable. /// I recommend! Check this series out!
Until Next Time,
Emerald BookWorm
I didn't know a thing about this series going into it. My boyfriend (now husband) would always go to the library to pick up books for me and he stumbled across this series and brought me the first book, thinking I would enjoy it. /// Well he was right lol. /// I was instantly hooked and reserving the next book within 24 hours. /// This series is definitely not realistic and is pretty dramatic lol , but it's lots of fun and it was the first time I'd ever read anything like this before. /// It went places I would of never thought. /// I know it looks super cheesy, and maybe it is to an extent lol, but the story is pretty good actually and kept me interested. /// There are a lot of books in this series but it's so easy to read through and very enjoyable. /// I recommend! Check this series out!
Until Next Time,
Emerald BookWorm
December 13, 2018
I don't even want to write a review for this book. It wasn't as crap as the 13th book, but it was still horrible! Another stalker (surprise surprise), more relationship drama, more horrible secrets and near-death experiences. And no mention at all of what the last book revealed! Why even include that book in the series then if nothing comes up about it in this book. Maybe Brian realised what a stupid idea it was to introduce into the series, so she decided to act like she never had... But honestly, I'm just so relieved to have finished this series once and for all. Years in the coming! And now it's all closed up.
April 9, 2019
Okay, I didn’t remember this one at all, so it was great to feel like I was reading it for the first time.
I love Noelle. She’s snarky and smart and funny and great. I also love Ivy. Neither of them take any crap.
I was a bit disappointed that Reed stayed with Josh. They don’t have a very good relationship in my opinion - they are constantly keeping stuff from each other and not being honest. I would have preferred her to choose Sawyer.
Like all the others in the series, this one was a real page-turner. The loose ends were tied up, though, and we finally learn the secret of Noelle’s scar!
I really enjoyed my reread of this series, and now I’m sad it’s done. Next up: Privilege!
I love Noelle. She’s snarky and smart and funny and great. I also love Ivy. Neither of them take any crap.
I was a bit disappointed that Reed stayed with Josh. They don’t have a very good relationship in my opinion - they are constantly keeping stuff from each other and not being honest. I would have preferred her to choose Sawyer.
Like all the others in the series, this one was a real page-turner. The loose ends were tied up, though, and we finally learn the secret of Noelle’s scar!
I really enjoyed my reread of this series, and now I’m sad it’s done. Next up: Privilege!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2025
it wouldn’t be a private novel if the plot didn’t make absolutely no sense. 10/10 love the fact that they discovered that they are witches but then never used or discovered their powers. last book of 2024 was equally as ridiculous as the year.
January 8, 2020
Termineeee ah no lo puedo creer ... me pusieron la trama de las brujas al re pedo jaja 😂 para que ? Igual estoy feliz porque termine la serie más larga que leí hasta la fecha. 14 libros y dos precuelas (solo leí una de las dos)
October 2, 2011
I don't care anymore. I really don't.
Read
July 14, 2023I DID IT WOOOOOO
November 10, 2018
I didn't like this book very much. I didn't like the mystery part of the writing. It was too easy to figure out, and alos kind of boring. I didn't like how long it took me to get into the book either. I honestly expected it to be great. The plot was also exactly the same as the first books. I rate this 2 stars.
March 9, 2013
*takes a deep breath*
This book was surprisingly good, after the fiasco previous 4 books had been, this one turned out be a surprise. I am so relieved that Kate Brian managed to return to her usual form and deliver a good end to this series. There were many, MANY holes in the story but the suspense and drama made me nearly forget all of that.
SPOILERS AHEAD
First thing, the story of witchcraft and wizardry saw no closure. None at all. Ominous was all about Billings being a coven, those 11 girls being turned into witches, Reed being a psychic, Kiki even managed to do a few tricks...but all of that was thoroughly ignored in this book as it never happened, as if the 13th book was never even written.
I was anxious to know about things like who gave Reed the Book of Spells, and if they hadn't turned into witches who made the things around them happen as if they were. How did Reed's dream come true and Ivy's visions right. I assumed there'd be some kind of explanation that Reed's room was bugged or something like that, but no. Nothing was unveiled and that was a HUGE setback..or else this would have been a 4-stars book.
Upton was totally sidelined too. Reed never revealed true nature of her relationship with him to Josh. She was falling in love with him and they were about to have sex on New Year's eve! but she never told Josh about it...which seemed kind of unfair to me.
Then I wish there was an epilogue which told us which college Reed gets into and her relationship status with Josh (whom I absolutely adore <3) but the book ended with Reed going back to her home and her boyfriend didn't even come to say goodbye! :\
Despite all these flaws, this installment was very gripping and that BIG SECRET was just mindblowing!
I may or may not read it's spin-off Privilege , I'm not sure as I am not Arianna's biggest fan. I actually liked her in first 3 books but she turned out to be a total psycho bitch by Confessions which is not my thing.
April 10, 2016
When I first started reading this series in early April, I never expected it to end like this.
At first I thought it was just about a bunch of rich snobs who love to party. All they cared about was shoes and boyfriends, just like any other chick-lit YA novel.
Nooooo, I was so wrong. This was about everything from taking Vaca's in New York to murder. By the first word of Private, I was hooked. That's my story about the Private series and it pains me to see it go.
The Review
JOSHJOSHJOSH<3 I've loved him since we first saw him with Thomas Pearson. Who knew they would end up together?(:
The Actual Review
This book was everything I hoped it would be. We finally found out after 14 books how Noelle got her scar! We got to see Reed and Josh<3 get their happy ending. We got closure to this whole thing and it couldn't have been better.
Final Review of the Characters
They were practically the same as always. We got to see some of our, well, not really missed characters. Having them back was, umm, bad? Is anyone else totally in love with Sawyer<3? He's just so sweet!
The Story in a Run-On Sentence
It's been a while since I read so forgive me if I get something wrong or leave it out.
Goodbye, Private. Time for Privilege! (:
At first I thought it was just about a bunch of rich snobs who love to party. All they cared about was shoes and boyfriends, just like any other chick-lit YA novel.
Nooooo, I was so wrong. This was about everything from taking Vaca's in New York to murder. By the first word of Private, I was hooked. That's my story about the Private series and it pains me to see it go.
The Review
JOSHJOSHJOSH<3 I've loved him since we first saw him with Thomas Pearson. Who knew they would end up together?(:
The Actual Review
This book was everything I hoped it would be. We finally found out after 14 books how Noelle got her scar! We got to see Reed and Josh<3 get their happy ending. We got closure to this whole thing and it couldn't have been better.
Final Review of the Characters
They were practically the same as always. We got to see some of our, well, not really missed characters. Having them back was, umm, bad? Is anyone else totally in love with Sawyer<3? He's just so sweet!
The Story in a Run-On Sentence
It's been a while since I read so forgive me if I get something wrong or leave it out.
Goodbye, Private. Time for Privilege! (:
September 24, 2017
Thankfully, I am finally done with this series. It has been a chore.
This book really didn't wrap up very much but just seemed like Kate Brian decided that it finally had to come to an end. The whole witchcraft thing from before was almost completely ignored here, she brought back dead and gone characters in the most unbelievable of ways, and just basically included as many kissing scenes as could fit. I don't think I will be reading any more Kate Brian novels. I don't think I can take it anymore.
This book really didn't wrap up very much but just seemed like Kate Brian decided that it finally had to come to an end. The whole witchcraft thing from before was almost completely ignored here, she brought back dead and gone characters in the most unbelievable of ways, and just basically included as many kissing scenes as could fit. I don't think I will be reading any more Kate Brian novels. I don't think I can take it anymore.
September 17, 2011
I finished Vengeance the day it came out. Over all, I was very shocked. It was nothing like I expected. I was REALLY hoping for an epilogue, but Kate Didn't give us that. I don't see why though. Maybe she plans on doing a spinoff with Noelle of Josh? Hope so. I was hoping for more, but I liked it. Private will always be my favorite series. :)
November 13, 2011
I did think it was weird to have the witchcraft thrown in in previous books and then have it disappear. Not sure if this was really all that exciting of a conclusion to the series, but I enjoyed the series as a whole so I gave thus 4 stars anyway.
Next up: reading the privilege series.
Next up: reading the privilege series.
September 19, 2011
Reed never really got any smarter but I am sad to see this guilty pleasure of a series end :(
August 29, 2013
I think this was a very good ending for the Private series. I loved these books from the beginning. Although I have to say, Reed is the dumbest character I've ever read.
July 28, 2016
After reading this story for so long, it feels a bit incomplete to just end it. It just doesn't seem right...
September 5, 2011
Absolutely LOVED this book/series !!!!!
December 8, 2011
Oh man, I can't believe it's all over. Unless Kate Brian continues to release prequels about these characters, I'll never be reading about Reed Brennan or crazy Ariana Osgood or any of the Easton crew again. I felt a sense of despair when I finished the Privilege series, but consoled myself with the fact that I had one more Private book left. Now I've finished that and I feel like there's a void inside me.
I know that sounds pathetic, but I've read over 20 books featuring these characters and had got quite attached to them. I started reading the Private series in January 2011, eventually branched into the Privilege series, and have concluded both series in December 2011. I've spent a year of my life immersed in this fictional world, so it feels like the end of an era. I may not have liked every minute of these series, but that doesn't make me feel any less like something is missing.
I suppose I should review this book as a standalone, before I get any more emo over the series coming to an end.
***TL;DR SPOILERY PLOT OVERVIEW*** Someone is sabotaging the rebuilding of Billings and Graham Hathaway, Paige Ryan and Missy Thurber seem to show up everywhere just to glare at Reed. Reed starts receiving mystery texts warning her about the Billings sabotage, which end up just putting her in near-death situations instead. The mystery texter sends Reed, Taylor, Ivy, Kiran and Noelle to Cheyenne Martin's old house, where they're confronted by a gun-wielding Graham Hathaway and a risen-from-the-dead Cheyenne Martin.
Yep, Cheyenne Martin. Turns out she wasn't really murdered by Sabine, it was just a setup that lasted 9 books. Cheyenne wanted to get away from Easton and away from Reed's curse, and she knew Sabine wanted to kill Reed. So she got a weird voodoo potion from Sabine's mother (yes, I'm being serious) and ingested it to appear dead. Cheyenne's mother paid off the dorm mother to lie and hired some fake CSIs/coroners to cart her away, where she made a full recovery and stayed in her home for months.
Cheyenne roped Graham into the plan because she knew he was still hurting over his sister's suicide, which he still believes to be the result of Josh Hollis breaking her heart. The cops arrive before he can kill Reed, and it turns out Sawyer Hathaway was the mystery texter and hadn't wanted to implicate his brother in the Billings sabotage. Paige Ryan and Missy Thurber also end up in jail for their part in the mess. The story ends with the senior class graduating, leaving Reed to rule Easton and Billings.
***END SPOILERY PLOT OVERVIEW***
I can't say I particularly enjoyed this book as a standalone, though I will look back on the series fondly. The Private books got more and more ridiculous as the series progressed, and this undead Cheyenne shit is just the icing on the cake. I was excited by the Billings sabotage and the mystery texter, and how they knew bad things were about to happen to Reed and why they didn't try to intervene. I expected a (somewhat) logical standoff between Reed and Graham, Missy and Paige, where they'd bring up the curse and fight about how Billings should not be rebuilt.
It took everything in my power not to snort and roll my eyes at the book while reading it on a crowded commuter train, because the Cheyenne storyline was just that ridiculous. With the introduction of magic in the last couple of books I thought Cheyenne would've mirrored ****SPOILER**** Catherine White's death in The Book of Spells, where the girl is brought back from the dead but comes back evil. ****END SPOILER**** Nope, Sabine's mother just happened to be a voodoo practitioner and helped Cheyenne fake her own death while allowing her daughter to try to kill Reed. Really, Kate Brian? Is that all you could come up with?!
Kate Brian throws in a lot of red herrings that would be great avenues to explore, but then she decides 'fuck it, I'll go with the most ludicrous explanation ever'. Yet again she brought up the Josh-Hollis-is-possibly-off-his-meds-and-his-ex-roommate-and-girlfriend-both-killed-themselves-omg-is-he-a-murderer? storyline, and yet again she just shrugged it off as coincidence/mundane explanation. She didn't even bring up the magic again, even though she went to all the effort of throwing it in so randomly 2 books ago.
Overall: I wouldn't recommend this book or the Private series as a whole to a new reader, but I enjoyed my time with these characters nonetheless. Nobody can say that the books don't take you on a wild ride, though theydon't always never make sense. As much as I hated Reed, I know I'll be sad to see her go. I've spent a year immersed in the Private and Privilege universes, and part of me is thinking 'okay, what do I do now?'
I might have bitched about Kate Brian's writing ability in every single review, but the fact is that even though the books got progressively weirder as the series went on, she did something that kept me reading. I hate the protagonist, yet for some reason I couldn't stop reading to see what would happen to her. Kate Brian did do some things right, and I've praised her for them too in my reviews. Check out my reviews of the series below:
Prequels:
0.5 The Book of Spells
0.6 Last Christmas
Private
01 Private
02 Invitation Only
03 Untouchable
04 Confessions
05 Inner Circle
06 Legacy
07 Ambition
08 Revelation
09 Paradise Lost
10 Suspicion
11 Scandal
12 Vanished
13 Ominous
And of course you don't need a link for Vengeance!
Privilege Spinoff:
01 Privilege
02 Beautiful Disaster
03 Perfect Mistake
04 Sweet Deceit
05 Pure Sin
06 Cruel Love
I know that sounds pathetic, but I've read over 20 books featuring these characters and had got quite attached to them. I started reading the Private series in January 2011, eventually branched into the Privilege series, and have concluded both series in December 2011. I've spent a year of my life immersed in this fictional world, so it feels like the end of an era. I may not have liked every minute of these series, but that doesn't make me feel any less like something is missing.
I suppose I should review this book as a standalone, before I get any more emo over the series coming to an end.
***TL;DR SPOILERY PLOT OVERVIEW*** Someone is sabotaging the rebuilding of Billings and Graham Hathaway, Paige Ryan and Missy Thurber seem to show up everywhere just to glare at Reed. Reed starts receiving mystery texts warning her about the Billings sabotage, which end up just putting her in near-death situations instead. The mystery texter sends Reed, Taylor, Ivy, Kiran and Noelle to Cheyenne Martin's old house, where they're confronted by a gun-wielding Graham Hathaway and a risen-from-the-dead Cheyenne Martin.
Yep, Cheyenne Martin. Turns out she wasn't really murdered by Sabine, it was just a setup that lasted 9 books. Cheyenne wanted to get away from Easton and away from Reed's curse, and she knew Sabine wanted to kill Reed. So she got a weird voodoo potion from Sabine's mother (yes, I'm being serious) and ingested it to appear dead. Cheyenne's mother paid off the dorm mother to lie and hired some fake CSIs/coroners to cart her away, where she made a full recovery and stayed in her home for months.
Cheyenne roped Graham into the plan because she knew he was still hurting over his sister's suicide, which he still believes to be the result of Josh Hollis breaking her heart. The cops arrive before he can kill Reed, and it turns out Sawyer Hathaway was the mystery texter and hadn't wanted to implicate his brother in the Billings sabotage. Paige Ryan and Missy Thurber also end up in jail for their part in the mess. The story ends with the senior class graduating, leaving Reed to rule Easton and Billings.
***END SPOILERY PLOT OVERVIEW***
I can't say I particularly enjoyed this book as a standalone, though I will look back on the series fondly. The Private books got more and more ridiculous as the series progressed, and this undead Cheyenne shit is just the icing on the cake. I was excited by the Billings sabotage and the mystery texter, and how they knew bad things were about to happen to Reed and why they didn't try to intervene. I expected a (somewhat) logical standoff between Reed and Graham, Missy and Paige, where they'd bring up the curse and fight about how Billings should not be rebuilt.
It took everything in my power not to snort and roll my eyes at the book while reading it on a crowded commuter train, because the Cheyenne storyline was just that ridiculous. With the introduction of magic in the last couple of books I thought Cheyenne would've mirrored ****SPOILER**** Catherine White's death in The Book of Spells, where the girl is brought back from the dead but comes back evil. ****END SPOILER**** Nope, Sabine's mother just happened to be a voodoo practitioner and helped Cheyenne fake her own death while allowing her daughter to try to kill Reed. Really, Kate Brian? Is that all you could come up with?!
Kate Brian throws in a lot of red herrings that would be great avenues to explore, but then she decides 'fuck it, I'll go with the most ludicrous explanation ever'. Yet again she brought up the Josh-Hollis-is-possibly-off-his-meds-and-his-ex-roommate-and-girlfriend-both-killed-themselves-omg-is-he-a-murderer? storyline, and yet again she just shrugged it off as coincidence/mundane explanation. She didn't even bring up the magic again, even though she went to all the effort of throwing it in so randomly 2 books ago.
Overall: I wouldn't recommend this book or the Private series as a whole to a new reader, but I enjoyed my time with these characters nonetheless. Nobody can say that the books don't take you on a wild ride, though they
I might have bitched about Kate Brian's writing ability in every single review, but the fact is that even though the books got progressively weirder as the series went on, she did something that kept me reading. I hate the protagonist, yet for some reason I couldn't stop reading to see what would happen to her. Kate Brian did do some things right, and I've praised her for them too in my reviews. Check out my reviews of the series below:
Prequels:
0.5 The Book of Spells
0.6 Last Christmas
Private
01 Private
02 Invitation Only
03 Untouchable
04 Confessions
05 Inner Circle
06 Legacy
07 Ambition
08 Revelation
09 Paradise Lost
10 Suspicion
11 Scandal
12 Vanished
13 Ominous
And of course you don't need a link for Vengeance!
Privilege Spinoff:
01 Privilege
02 Beautiful Disaster
03 Perfect Mistake
04 Sweet Deceit
05 Pure Sin
06 Cruel Love
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2021
I agree with those who feel the series would have better if it was half as long. The first two arcs are dramatic (if shallow, unrealistic) fun.
9/10 feel interminable because they're so boring. 11 is all about making a secret society because of Billings being torn down due to its bad reputation, but then...two books later the administration decides they want to rebuild it after having money thrown at them. Even though that was happening all along with Billings so why wasn't the money enough before the term starts, aside from plot contrivance? Plus the secret society angle is mostly dropped, and seems to be basically a tie-in to the Book of Spells 'prequel' because Brian felt like writing about magic and the easiest well to sell copies was including it as part of her hit series.
12 is about Noelle's OMGKidnapping with dares that a retread of earlier books, but at the end it turns out it isn't kidnapping; her family just wants to mess with boring Reed to see if she's worthy of being told who her real dad is. Okay then. I mean, the end says no it's to see if she's worthy of the book of spells, but that plotline is dropped too so.
13 has a new stalking/murder plot with minimal buildup so we don't really care. Plus it's full of out-of-nowhere magic. Which is forgotten in the next book anyway.
14 has a new stalking/murder plot with minimal buildup that destroys the second arc a little bit. And kinda makes it seem that the only reason Reed is a Secret Lange is to plot contrivance her way to being rich just in time for the series to end.
So there really aren't arcs for the last 4 books; they're connected but largely standalone plots with a cliffhanger tacked on. Reminds me of how PLL after the first two seasons was all over the place with the Stalker/Murderer Reveals random and disappointing.
But I'll still move onto Privilege because Ariana is 100x more interesting than Reed.
9/10 feel interminable because they're so boring. 11 is all about making a secret society because of Billings being torn down due to its bad reputation, but then...two books later the administration decides they want to rebuild it after having money thrown at them. Even though that was happening all along with Billings so why wasn't the money enough before the term starts, aside from plot contrivance? Plus the secret society angle is mostly dropped, and seems to be basically a tie-in to the Book of Spells 'prequel' because Brian felt like writing about magic and the easiest well to sell copies was including it as part of her hit series.
12 is about Noelle's OMGKidnapping with dares that a retread of earlier books, but at the end it turns out it isn't kidnapping; her family just wants to mess with boring Reed to see if she's worthy of being told who her real dad is. Okay then. I mean, the end says no it's to see if she's worthy of the book of spells, but that plotline is dropped too so.
13 has a new stalking/murder plot with minimal buildup so we don't really care. Plus it's full of out-of-nowhere magic. Which is forgotten in the next book anyway.
14 has a new stalking/murder plot with minimal buildup that destroys the second arc a little bit. And kinda makes it seem that the only reason Reed is a Secret Lange is to plot contrivance her way to being rich just in time for the series to end.
So there really aren't arcs for the last 4 books; they're connected but largely standalone plots with a cliffhanger tacked on. Reminds me of how PLL after the first two seasons was all over the place with the Stalker/Murderer Reveals random and disappointing.
But I'll still move onto Privilege because Ariana is 100x more interesting than Reed.
February 22, 2018
This is the last book of the series. All along I have been rooting for Reed Breenan. I am particularly excited for her in this book. Billings has been bulldozed and in this book she tries to build a new one. Thankfully with the money she inherited from her biological father (Noelle Lange's dad) she was able to head up a team to build a new Billings. She was able to over throw the head master and the board of directors. Josh, Reed's Boyfriend, was very supportive with everything she goes through with the building of the new Billings. On the other hand, another good mystery, there is someone out there who is not happy with the new Billings being built. There is also someone who sends Reed warning texts anonymously. Throughout the book there is someone else who is trying to kill Reed. This someone is still not happy that Reed is still alive and this person still believes Reed is a cursed child and is going to continue to bring bad luck to Billings. In the end, finding out who this person is a real head turner. After all this time, everyone is made to believe that Cheyanne is dead. However in the end, Cheyanne is working along with Paige Ryan to put an end to Reed Breenan. They get Graham Hathaway to help in trying to kill Reed. Sawyer turns out to be the one who tries to warn Reed anonymously without implicating his brother. I wish this series was continued. I did not like the way it had ended. I felt Kate could of added another book or two to the series. She could of probably ended it with Reed's graduation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2025
Ok so this review is for the whole series which I have been reading over the Christmas break. The last time I read these I was in high school and in my memory this was one of my favourite series, full of drama and intrigue. Honestly, I don't even think the series needs a review (the cover art tells you exactly what kind of book it is) but I'm writing one anyway!
This is not quality literature. Every character is super one dimensional and the plot is absolutely ridiculous. Why are there (at least) five seperate murder attempts on Reed? Why are the girls all witches for two books and then this plot point becomes completely irrelevant? Why do they all alternate between being best friends and mortal enemies? It's so unrealistic - and I know the POINT is not that these books are realistic. But it makes me so annoyed. Also every book is a variation on the same theme. Reed is being stalked! All the hot boys are in love with her! Noelle and Reed have a big falling out! Also now they can do magic spells! And everyone is obscenely rich!
All that being said, I still like this series. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's captivating, but it definitely keeps you intrigued (even if you can remember some of the key plot points). It's a great summer read. You don't need to use your brain for these books. It's fun and easy. 3/5 stars (not based on quality but rather my enjoyment of the reading experience). Will almost certainly read this again within the next 5 years.
This is not quality literature. Every character is super one dimensional and the plot is absolutely ridiculous. Why are there (at least) five seperate murder attempts on Reed? Why are the girls all witches for two books and then this plot point becomes completely irrelevant? Why do they all alternate between being best friends and mortal enemies? It's so unrealistic - and I know the POINT is not that these books are realistic. But it makes me so annoyed. Also every book is a variation on the same theme. Reed is being stalked! All the hot boys are in love with her! Noelle and Reed have a big falling out! Also now they can do magic spells! And everyone is obscenely rich!
All that being said, I still like this series. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's captivating, but it definitely keeps you intrigued (even if you can remember some of the key plot points). It's a great summer read. You don't need to use your brain for these books. It's fun and easy. 3/5 stars (not based on quality but rather my enjoyment of the reading experience). Will almost certainly read this again within the next 5 years.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2022
3 stars for this being the end. I’m not mad at the ending and so glad the story didn’t extend to Reed’s senior year. Although this series has very clear faults I’m grateful to have followed queen of condescension Noelle Lange and naive yet sometimes bareable Reed Brennan through 14 books. Mansions, murder, galas, drama and romance this series checks all the boxes for the 2000s era of books. I’m grateful I discovered this series at the Christmas Tree Shop in the $1.99 bin LOL.
I’m also glad I no longer have to witness Kate Brian use n word adjacent words instead of appropriate synonyms.
niggardly
nigling
niggled
MAM BFFR - Was any of this necessary?!? it wasn’t therefore I will never read another one of your books.
April 13, 2020
I'm so glad I finally finished this series. A couple issues I had:
1. Even though every single girl was self centered, by the middle of this series you would think they would take Reed seriously when she was being "paranoid".
2. Why did the author make such a big deal about the witchiness, even going so far as to write a prequel FOCUSED ON IT just to basically completely ignore it after ONE BOOK??
Either way it was fun to reread a series I loved so much in high school.
1. Even though every single girl was self centered, by the middle of this series you would think they would take Reed seriously when she was being "paranoid".
2. Why did the author make such a big deal about the witchiness, even going so far as to write a prequel FOCUSED ON IT just to basically completely ignore it after ONE BOOK??
Either way it was fun to reread a series I loved so much in high school.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2021
This series could have been so good. It started out with a trope I love: rich kid drama. Not to mention the crime aspects. I love this things so much I was willing to overlook some silly or bad things (ex. Changing character appearances between books). This series was in my sweet spot. With the witchcraft stuff & this terrible wrap on the series sealed it for me. I can’t recommend the series to anyone & put them through the same disappointment.
January 16, 2022
Although this was an often times ridiculous and far-fetched series, that sometimes felt repetitive - it was so fun and easy going! It did take an unexpected turn with the witchcraft stuff though, and I felt like that element was not really developed. It was kinda overlooked and briefly mentioned. Overall, this was super light hearted, and I had a good time going through some of the twists and turns with Reed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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