The Quick Cut: A high school girl who starts at a fancy prep school finds herself the unwanted interest of a boy who is forced to follow a secret contract. A Real Review: Thank you to Jordan Grant for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Most people at one point or another will be forced to deal with a bully in their lives. Do you capitulate to their jabs and hurtful reactions or do you choose to rise above it? What happens if you find that the bully is interested in you in ways you don't want? This is the case for Harlow Weathersby, the new student at Volcain Academy. Volcain is this highly impressive prep school with everything a rich family dreams for in their teen's education. So when Harlow's family finds themselves with more money than expected, they send her there for a better education and a possibly bright future. What she runs into is a bunch of rich kids with an unexpected social structure that she can't seem to comprehend. So when she chooses to be loyal in the unpopular kind of way and then ends up the interest of someone who should be an enemy, all she wants is to be invisible. Why is this high school bully obsessed with her and how can she get a life she recognizes back? Theoretically, this book should have worked for me. The storyline and the world that the author builds here might be totally unbelievable, but it's the type to make you wonder how the rich & powerful live among us. For me though, what's written and the surroundings that are created are just not dynamic enough for me to buy in as a reader. It feels too fabricated and the characters display personality traits that go unexplained. Rather than being fascinated by the dialogue and the interactions of Harlow & Ian, I ended up confused by their behavior (and not in the "I have to know more" way). Harlow feels a sense of loyalty that puzzles me and Ian is obsessed with her in a way that is not healthy. The amount of bullying and targeting that occurs is too unbelievable considering that any school with this amount of powerful children would not let this type of behavior go unchecked. A story that doesn't fully paint the picture of the world its written in. My rating: 1 out of 5
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