WICKED IDOL by Becker Gray
Release Date: November 17th
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Blurb:
The new girl doesn’t belong here.
So why can’t I stop thinking about her?
The daughter of the headmaster wants to ruin my school year before it’s even begun.
Iris Briggs gets under my skin. With her demure skirts and braided hair, she flits around
the periphery until she runs right into me, hot coffee soaking me as she looks up with
wide, innocent eyes.
We start off scalding.
In the library, we reach lava levels.
And then in the city? She burns me to the ground.
I’m Keaton Constantine. My duty is to my family. At least, it was until I started
unbraiding the good girl and realizing there’s more to life than duty.
REVIEW:
"What else do you want?" I only had one answer, and it was the same one from yesterday. "Everything." -Keaton and IrisSoooo, I am torn how to rate and feel about this book. You see, there were times I DID enjoy it and was able to get immersed in the story and characters, but I always got the sense that I've read something like it before. While reading, I COULD understand where the author was going with the storyline and the generally direction she wanted everything to go. Again, that deja vu feeling. I got the connection she wanted me to feel between these two characters. Because there was a connection deep down. They had relatively similar situations in life and were able to find hope, love, and understanding in each other, immediately. They were ultimately reflections of each others circumstances and hopes. Both seeking love and validation from SOMEONE (because they weren't getting it elsewhere) and they were able to find those things in each other. They were able to look deeper than the personas that they themselves showed the public and were able to SEE each other for who they were/who they ultimately wanted to be. They were able to be themselves with each other. Like I said, I GOT that. I understood the objective of the storyline, but at the end of the day, I didn't FEEL it. I didn't feel that organic chemistry that Becker Gray was trying to convey. It was all just so abrupt...their immediate connection. There was very little lead up to that COMBUSTION between them. And I NEEDED that. I. NEEDED. THAT. to love this book. That's one thing that enemy to lover type storylines can excel at, is the build up factor and ultimately the explosive moment when they come together for the first time and times thereafter. But again, that was not given to me in this book (although there was TONS of sex in this book. Like almost too much for two 18 year olds in high school). I was anticipating, due to the blurb and early reviews, that I was gonna get tons of sexual chemistry, tons of push and pull moments where they try to resist the undeniable pull to each other (even though they "hate" each other) and also an alpha male who is a slight a**hole to top it all off, but again, I didn't really get any of those things. Keaton is actually really very sweet (I adored him) and I don't understand how ANY reader could think he's an a**hole, besides that ONE time in the book towards the end. Honestly, I don't even understand why IRIS hates him at first. That hate was genuine or understandable. The insta-hate never really made sense to me while I was reading and it still doesn't. The only one that made sense to have an insta-hate was Keaton and even that was a bit forced. In the end, it was all too insta-hate, insta-lust, insta-love for me. There's no obvious reason for any of those feelings. The feelings just developed out of thin air, like magic *poof*
Then the fact that the story sorta read like a cliff notes version. Like the author wrote each chapter individually on a index card and then threw them together without checking to make sure they flowed well together. The chapters seemed to move a rapid pace as I was reading and gave it a rushed feel. And then the plot, it was as if the author wanted to give us little tidbits of the backstory without giving too much information. To set up intrigue, maybe? I wasn't intrigued though and those mentioned things were just forgotten in my mind and/or overlooked. For example: the boys were a part of a group called the "Hellfire Club". I can not tell you what, where, when or who the group is. I can't tell you ANYTHING about the group other than the name and they are a part of it and Keaton didn't like the name. Is it a secret society type thing? Is it a fraternity? Is it a family secret group thing? No idea. Couldn't tell you. And the one big intrigue in the background, we have this mystery about his father potentially being murdered by some other family (Morellis), whom are mentioned like 3 times and only in regards to them being an obvious enemy of Keaton's family, but again, I know nothing else. It just all seemed like the author had a bunch of ideas for the plot and peppered them into the story without elaborating on them. Even in the end, those things all just seemed to be forgotten when Iris and Keaton are living HEA (at 18). What happened to his father being murdered? What about the Hellfire Club?
Honestly, the entire time I was reading this book, it felt like I've already read something like it before. Nothing felt new or unique about it. Good girl + Bad Boy = Love....been there, read that. There was very little angst. Very little character or plot development. And very like intrigue layered within the background of the story. Surface writing. This was strictly a quick and sexy high schoolish romance about two lonely characters that found love and got their HEA. If the author would've built up the back story a little more and added to the plot to increase the intrigue, this novel could've been really good. It all just fell together too seamlessly and wrapped up too easily. I needed more than insta everything. I needed the characters to actually have to work for something, but instead it all just fell into place for them quite easily. Insta-hate, insta-lust, insta-love, insta-HEA.
I wish this book could've lived up to that cover design because DAMN, that is a F.I.N.E. Keaton. And I do wish I could say that I loved this book and was intrigued about the next books, but I can't. I didn't get enough with this book to set me up for the next characters stories and most likely won't continue this series.
2 stars
xoxo, Vivianđź’‹
About the Author:
Becker Gray is the brainchild of two best friends who love rich boys in peacoats. The
Hellfire Club is their first series together.
You can contact Becker at beckergray@beckergray.com.
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