Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Rimma Onoseta (The Revenge Playbook)!
Meet the Author: Rimma Onoseta
Rimma Onoseta is a Nigerian writer whose work explores identity, familial bonds, and the colonial corruption of African spirituality. She holds a degree in finance from Northeastern University and an MBA from Suffolk University. Onoseta grew up reading late into the night, under her covers, with a flashlight and snacks. She writes stories she wanted to read when she was younger, stories about young Nigerian girls who are chaotic and fierce and who question what they’re taught. When she’s not writing, Onoseta enjoys traveling and watching documentaries.
About the Book: The Revenge Playbook
In this deliciously twisty YA novel, two girls (read: enemies) at a boarding school must team up to take down the boy who hurt them—perfect for fans of Ace of Spades and Do Revenge.
Uyai and Fiyin may be roommates at Blue Waters Secondary School, but they are not friends. Uyai is popular and fierce—she dominates every room she walks into. Fiyin is nerdy and quiet—she’s easy to miss. Anyone who knows them (assuming they know who Fiyin is at all) would argue that, besides that shared dorm room, the two girls have absolutely nothing in common.
But they do.
Because both girls have been hurt. Humiliated. Taken advantage of. And both girls have just one boy to blame for it.
Fiyin thinks Uyai is an irresponsible mean girl. Uyai thinks Fiyin is an uptight loser. They both think the boy that hurt them deserves to suffer. But taking down one of the most popular guys in school isn’t a one-woman task. If they want to get their revenge before graduation, Uyai and Fiyin will need each other’s help—regardless of how they feel about each other.
After all, you don’t need to be friends to be teammates.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration for this book?
As a teen, I devoured the Gossip Girl and Clique series because it showed teenagers being real and messy and just figuring out life. But as much as I loved these books, they didn’t reflect my reality. At the time, most books in Nigeria aimed at teens were religious cautionary tales. I wanted stories that were fun but also filled with the tension and drama we were wading through. I told myself that one day I would write a book that centered around students whose day-to-day life looked like mine did, a book that Nigerian teens could relate to. It has been many years since that time in my life, and I hope I captured the experience authentically.
YABC: What research did you do to write this book?
I spoke to a lot of family and friends about their experience. I might have dredged up memories that hadn’t been recalled in years – for good reason. The consensus was boarding school was both the worst and the best time of their lives. It was a bubble where lifelong friendships were forged and lifelong resentments were formed, and everyone had at least one crazy story to tell. I also spoke with my younger cousins currently in boarding school and I was unsurprised to learn that some things don’t change.
YABC: What came first, the concept, the landscape, characters, or something else?
The setting and the concept both came first. My siblings and I all attended different boarding schools. I took bits and pieced of all our schools and created Blue Waters Secondary School. I wanted it to be a true reflection of the Nigerian boarding school experience. I wanted to explore how the power structures and hierarchies inherent in these systems shape us and continue to haunt us years after.
YABC: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
This is an impossible question. I can’t stick to one genre. I read widely; science fiction, fantasy, thriller, romance, historical fiction, literary fiction. Anything interesting that I can get my hands on, I’m reading. Because I read everything, I want to write everything. At any giving moment, I have at least three different book ideas in different genres fighting for dominance in my head.
YABC: What can readers expect to find in your book?
In my books you can always find deep seated conflicts that cannot be solved by a simple conversation. I love stories about incompatible people. Siblings, friends, enemies, whatever they are to each other, I love putting opposites in close contact and seeing what comes out of it. How do you find a middle-ground? What are you willing to give up in the pursuit of peace? It is easy to point to the hill you are willing to die on, but what happens when you are actually forced up that hill?
YABC: What was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
There are moments when the two main characters feel betrayed by their parents and the emotional fallout of that was difficult to write. It hurts when the people who are supposed to keep you safe are the ones harming you whether intentionally or unintentionally. When I write emotionally tense scenes, I put myself in the characters shoes and I often feel drained after.
YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?
Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi. It is such a beautiful story of sisterhood, motherhood, loyalty, love and spirituality. I have been recommending it to everyone I meet. I felt every single word of that novel. The prose was so rich and immersive, and I still think about it months after reading. It is my favorite kind of story, the kind that stays with you.
YABC: What is your favorite writing space or routine.
I used to love writing in libraries. Most of my debut was written at the Tempe Public Library. Now I just write whenever and wherever I can, which is typically on the couch while my baby naps.
Title: The Revenge Playbook
Author: Rimma Onoseta
Release Date: 7/21/2026
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Age Range: 14+
