⚠ This review contains some teasers. Read at own risk!
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— BLURB —
The new girl doesn’t belong here. So why can’t I stop thinking about her?
Iris Briggs a goodie two-shoes with a headmaster father who aims to ruin my school year before it’s even begun. She gets under my skin. With her demure skirts and braided hair, Iris flits around the periphery until she runs right into me, hot coffee soaking me as she looks up at me with wide, innocent eyes. We start off scalding.
In the library, we reach lava levels.
And then in the city? We go nuclear.
She’s a good girl, but I’m a 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.
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— MY REVIEW —
“Follow me into the woods said the Big Bad Wolf to Red Riding Hood.”
Hehehehe… I am just a little bit in lust with this book! 😍😍😍
Just when I think I’m free and clear off books set in high school, I’m dragged back in with a fantastic read!
- Preppy students. ✔
- Snob-induced cliques that’ll eat you alive. ✔
- Jocks = Jerks. ✔
- The innocent, pretty, yet sassy heroine. ✔
- The arrogant, stubborn king of the school hero. ✔
- Drama. Angst. Intrigue. ✔
This is a high school romance full of juicy chemistry, sexual tension, enemies to lovers, and banter all rolled into one. This is Gossip Girls meets Cruel Intentions with a smidge of Gilmore Girls in my books! 🤗
(But FYI: In regards to the content, this is definitely more New Adult than Young Adult in audience rating. It’s raunchy and detailed. Suitable for 18+ readers).
It was such vivid storytelling. I was swept up in the world of Pembroke Academy and the silver-spooned students right from the first chapter. Keaton Constantine might just be my favourite Constantine sibling so far, and Becker Gray (pen name) may just be the new (to me) authors to look out for! Wicked Idol is the first book in their Hellfire Club series and it kicked off with a bang!
I can only imagine the next books to come and which stories are next to be told. I’m giddy with anticipation and excitement just thinking about how this series and it’s world will expand. Eeep.
There’s just something special about this book that has me reading it over and over again (especially some parts more than others). I think it’s their entire dialogue… yeah I think that’s it! Right from the beginning you already get that sense of electricity in the air between Keaton and Iris. Their first impressions of each other may not have been ideal especially when teen social standing and public awareness is concerned… but sheesh was it crackling?! 🔥
“We’ve been real with each other from the start. We’re not going to stop now.”
Witty repartee is an all time favourite element of mine in romance reads and seeing Keaton and Iris battle it out had me in absolute hoots and giggles. I love that despite Iris’ earlier misstep with Keaton and the Hellfire Club, she bounced back like a brand, spanking new tennis ball and is hitting aces towards Keaton! 👊
Keaton is first introduced as the guy who seems to be Mr. Popularity. The King of the school, leader of his clique, and has all the young ladies swooning about. He has the arrogance of a guy who has the power and backing of his well known family (and rightly so), yet as you progress throughout the book and specifically from his POVs, you start seeing a different side to him.
I love the gradual character development of our hero/ heroine. They have a nice balance between them whenever they’re together that it displays the effects they have on one another. It’s a stereotypical love story of the popular, jerky jock and the pretty, but quiet nerd but told in a modern, Gen-Z, glam-ridden way. There’s an air of coolness and poise in the student population that even the geeks and nerds in this school are above average.
“Would it be so terrible? To fall in love with him? It would if he didn’t love me back. Because that—it would break me.”
Amazing continuation to the Constantine clan. I’m loving the author collaboration for the storytelling of this family. As for Wicked Idol, it was an attention grabbing start to the Hellfire Club series. Would I recommend this book? Uhh… hells yes!
A well-paced and wonderfully executed storytelling told from both Iris and Keaton’s POVs. My only critique is that I would’ve loved more of a introduction to Pembroke Academy and the different cliques prior to Iris and Keaton’s official meeting. It just seemed like Keaton already had an impression of her beforehand. But this is my own personal opinion. The world-building is amazing, and I feel like there so much possibility of expansion the further the series progresses.
There’s some very relatable subject matter touched on this storyline. Other than navigating through their feelings for one another, there’s also the typical relatable matter plenty of students deal with on the daily, such as workload, graduation, balancing school and personal life, and on top of things the stress from family expectations.
This may sound very Disney but this story is also about taking risks and following your dreams. To never settle.
An intense atmosphere is evident from the start. There’s an obvious divide in the students depending on their social, family, and popularity standing. I found the secondary characters were just as enigmatic and full of personality as our protagonists. Besides the interactions between Keaton and Iris, the friends are definitely something else to look out for! This book was just full of layers from the blossoming relationship, to the quirky friendships, to the complex family dynamics.
It’s gripping from start to finish.
Even if you’re like me, who thought you had outgrew YA/ high school romance books… this will suck you back in! Just the right balance of high school drama, lighthearted banter, and young love in all its intensity. A roller coaster ride you’ll want to go on again and again… (at least until the sequel comes!) 😜
RATING: ♥♥♥♥/5
🔔 Interested in reading Wicked Idol? Grab your copy here: Amazon US | Amazon Universal Link | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play
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Read my review for the next book in the Hellfire Club!
📘 Book Two: Callous Prince by Becker Gray
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Happy days, my friends! Stay safe. Catch you in my next one! Xo
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