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lokeylez's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
acouet's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent
fnicholee's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
ronnieroe's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Loved this book and the men in this book, all 5 main characters were awesome to read, you will have favourites (I did) some dark themes mentioned but I have no triggers…the MFC hit a tad annoying at the beginning but that irons out by then end, I liked her but loved Hunter more and Ash 🖤
Definitely a must read
Definitely a must read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Sexual assault
This book mentions past sexual assault and a parent death, mainly focused around a women who was assaulted fall in love with her 4 bullies one being a stepbrother and her finding herself sexually, also mentions Bi sexual relationshipstorijanereads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Genre: Dark, Romance, Reverse harem
Pace: Medium
Format: Kindle
From: Kindle Unlimited
Pages: 242
Rating: 4*
Quote(s): "We used to be the Kings of Ravenwood. I guess I never realised until Briar Monroe showed up that we needed a Queen". “Hunter Ravenwood, Ash Greythorn, Ledger Huxley, and Samson Hall. The four Kings...”.
Briar Monroe is a young teenage girl who has just moved with her mum to love with her new stepfather (who is also the headteacher of her new school) and her stepbrother, Hunter. She has had a tough past and now she is being thrust into a world of wealth and privilege and having to attend Ravenwood Academy, where her stepbrother and his 3 best friends rule as 'kings'.
Briar is supposed to be seen as a girl who can stand up for herself and this is kind of true. I feel like she defended herself against them more than anyone else has in the history of their 'reign' but it wasn't really 'badass'. I felt her character could have done more to retaliate rather than just threatening things but actually following through on her word but still it stopped the guys in their tracks enough.
The premise of them showing her who rules the school also wasn't long enough. I feel like there wasn't a lot of time for their antics to really take effect before they were moving on to something else. I also feel like the turnaround from them being 'mean' to Briar to making her their queen was too quick. There just wasn't a lot of build-up for their feelings to be taken as seriously as it possibly should have been for what they plan later in the book.
This story has the usual different personalities within the guys friendship circle and so they compliment each other well. You have the ringleader, the one they all follow without question, the sweet and quiet one that lends them an edge of approachability. Then, you have the tortured bad boy, who will go to all lengths to protect and defend his friends and finally, the tatted/pierced one who enlightens the group with individuality.
I did like the storyline and the characters. Although, there were some timeline mistakes and some parts didn't feel completely thought through or finished and some parts that really didn't make sense. However, I don't think this distracted too much from the overall effect of the story. I'm hoping for more depth in book 2 and for the characters and storyline to really open up. I would recommend this book to others and I will absolutely be reading the next book in the series. I don't know if I would read this book again in the future but I will read more books by this author for sure.
Pace: Medium
Format: Kindle
From: Kindle Unlimited
Pages: 242
Rating: 4*
Quote(s): "We used to be the Kings of Ravenwood. I guess I never realised until Briar Monroe showed up that we needed a Queen". “Hunter Ravenwood, Ash Greythorn, Ledger Huxley, and Samson Hall. The four Kings...”.
Briar Monroe is a young teenage girl who has just moved with her mum to love with her new stepfather (who is also the headteacher of her new school) and her stepbrother, Hunter. She has had a tough past and now she is being thrust into a world of wealth and privilege and having to attend Ravenwood Academy, where her stepbrother and his 3 best friends rule as 'kings'.
Briar is supposed to be seen as a girl who can stand up for herself and this is kind of true. I feel like she defended herself against them more than anyone else has in the history of their 'reign' but it wasn't really 'badass'. I felt her character could have done more to retaliate rather than just threatening things but actually following through on her word but still it stopped the guys in their tracks enough.
The premise of them showing her who rules the school also wasn't long enough. I feel like there wasn't a lot of time for their antics to really take effect before they were moving on to something else. I also feel like the turnaround from them being 'mean' to Briar to making her their queen was too quick. There just wasn't a lot of build-up for their feelings to be taken as seriously as it possibly should have been for what they plan later in the book.
This story has the usual different personalities within the guys friendship circle and so they compliment each other well. You have the ringleader, the one they all follow without question, the sweet and quiet one that lends them an edge of approachability. Then, you have the tortured bad boy, who will go to all lengths to protect and defend his friends and finally, the tatted/pierced one who enlightens the group with individuality.
I did like the storyline and the characters. Although, there were some timeline mistakes and some parts didn't feel completely thought through or finished and some parts that really didn't make sense. However, I don't think this distracted too much from the overall effect of the story. I'm hoping for more depth in book 2 and for the characters and storyline to really open up. I would recommend this book to others and I will absolutely be reading the next book in the series. I don't know if I would read this book again in the future but I will read more books by this author for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Minor: Bullying
things100's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I liked this book especially the FMC how she was such a baddie but I couldn’t give it more then a 3.75 because I just couldn’t get around the whole thing that she was in a relationship with her new step brother. Other then that loved the spice in this RH and also the mystery of the FMCs backstory as well as the guys backstory, I really loved how she was such a baddie and stabbed her rapist, like you go girl if only he had died ughhh but no of course now he’s escaped prison and probably coming after her . Other then the fact that I found the whole step sister step brother thing hard to get behind especially since they’re parents are expecting a baby soon so they’ll have a half sibling together ahhh 🥴 . But I did love how Briar is such a baddie even in the very beginning and refuses to take any of the guys bullshit even with everything she’s been thru. The author really created an amazingly strong and confident queen who fits perfectly with her kings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Alcohol
Minor: Pedophilia and Kidnapping
cait's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
I feel my chest constrict at the thought—at how they started as my worst nightmare but will ultimately be my saving grace. My worst enemies will become my biggest support system.
I honestly don't even know how to react to this book. It's the first in a reverse harem bully romance duology following 18-year-old Briar as she moves from California to the East Coast to live with her new step-father. She is still dealing with the aftermath of a sexual assault that has her traumatized, so when her new step-brother and his three best friends turn out to be the biggest bullies in school, she decides she has no choice but to stand up to them and fight back. But there's something about the darkness in their hearts that calls out to the darkness in hers and she soon wonders if what she feels for them is hate or lust.
This novel was kind of a mess, but the kind you can't seem to look away from. We have cringey dialogue, inner monologues that make no sense, and realizations that forget to fact check themselves. Briar realizes, at one point, that the boys are not bullies and she has never seen them mistreat anyone ... except they did bully her ... and something happened between them and a student named Micah that resulted in his suicide ... and Jack had his own story he didn't feel comfortable sharing the details of ... and Scarlett had reason to fear that Ash would get her parents' cafe shut down if she crossed him.
Ultimately, I found the relationships underdeveloped, the steamy scenes rather anticlimactic, and the whole situation more strange than sexy. (And I really enjoyed Credence by Penelope Douglas, so that's saying something.) With the abrupt ending and the total lack of understandable motivations for any of the characters - especially the big bad introduced at the end of the story - I do not plan to continue on with the sequel.
There is better smut out there and I would rather read that.
I honestly don't even know how to react to this book. It's the first in a reverse harem bully romance duology following 18-year-old Briar as she moves from California to the East Coast to live with her new step-father. She is still dealing with the aftermath of a sexual assault that has her traumatized, so when her new step-brother and his three best friends turn out to be the biggest bullies in school, she decides she has no choice but to stand up to them and fight back. But there's something about the darkness in their hearts that calls out to the darkness in hers and she soon wonders if what she feels for them is hate or lust.
This novel was kind of a mess, but the kind you can't seem to look away from. We have cringey dialogue, inner monologues that make no sense, and realizations that forget to fact check themselves. Briar realizes, at one point, that the boys are not bullies and she has never seen them mistreat anyone ... except they did bully her ... and something happened between them and a student named Micah that resulted in his suicide ... and Jack had his own story he didn't feel comfortable sharing the details of ... and Scarlett had reason to fear that Ash would get her parents' cafe shut down if she crossed him.
Ultimately, I found the relationships underdeveloped, the steamy scenes rather anticlimactic, and the whole situation more strange than sexy. (And I really enjoyed Credence by Penelope Douglas, so that's saying something.) With the abrupt ending and the total lack of understandable motivations for any of the characters - especially the big bad introduced at the end of the story - I do not plan to continue on with the sequel.
There is better smut out there and I would rather read that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent
nose_in_a_book's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault