This review is so overdue as this couple, Rhys in particular, is one of my very favorites from this author.
This is actually a reread of this book for me. I felt all the same emotions, the highs, the lows, I cried AGAIN rereading this even knowing what was going to come along.
I am so in love with the people and characters in Savage Academy. I don't know how this author manages to come up with such unique, depthful, and true to life characters book over book yet she does. I never feel like I'm rereading a character from another of Ms. Wolf's books when I dive into any of her books. I know she writes across many of the romance sub genres and tropes so her ability to create such wonderful layered, complex characters that are new to her books with each one she writes is truly a remarkable gift.
Rhys in particular just utterly touches my heart. His character portrays ADHD in a way that is visceral and real to me on so many levels and for so many reasons. I'm not sure if this is due to research, excellent sensitivity readers, personal life experiences that the author has had or a combination of all of the above. All I know is that Rhys could be a person walking around in my life.
Delilah is another very familiar character in the scheme of life. A young girl who is utterly confident in who she is, what she wants out of life, what she deserves from life, yet she has people in her head telling her that her worth is based solely on the way she looks and that how she appears physically is lacking.
As with the first book in the Savage Academy series, or in any of the Savage series that Ms. Wolf has written these story lines are filled with moments that will rip your heart open and slowly piece them back together again. Emphasis on slowly.
Both Delilah and Rhys were introduced to us in the first book of the Savage Academy series. We know that Rhys is a bit odd. He's facetious. He likes things a certain way. He lacks filters and social graces. There isn't anything that he will hold back from you if it's in his head. Yet as with real life, it's these people who seem to be telling you their entire story and thoughts who are actually holding the most back from you and the world. As we had learned in Beckett's book, there is a side to Rhys that was very emotional and soft, particularly right after his father died. Then something seemed to have hardened around that soft hurt child who needed to cling to the things he and his Dad had shared. We find out in Rhys book what caused that shell to appear and harden the more Rhys has grown. Or whom caused that shell to grown, harden and thicken I should say.
With Delilah we've known that she and Ev are twins and Delilah is mother lioness protective of her twin sister. We find out in this book what demons Delilah is fighting for both her and Ev.
This book tackles a lot of parental issues with abandonment and abuse. I would caution that readers go in with kindness to themselves and if needed, put this book down.
The repercussions of actions that Rhys takes against Delilah and his dawning then full realization of how excruciatingly deeply they cut her. Of the harm and hurt they did without him even thinking or having an idea they could was so beautifully written and handled. It was this dilema in the plot the sticking point that had me in tears over and over again. As although Rhys had recognized and owned his own actions, had properly apologized and recognized what it was he had done and what was so wrong about them. He had taken great care and steps to rectify the outward impacts of actions he had taken against Delilah, it was the dawning realization and horror that he had set off an internal war within Delilah herself that he couldn't reach, touch, or fight that truly, completely and utterly ripped my soul from me and makes this my favorite book.
Reading about this poor, broken desperate boy. A boy whose mind can process so much at such speeds and who struggles to connect to other humans as he just takes in so so so much. Watching him come off the page and desperately want to fight this battle that he caused for this girl he loved all while knowing there was literally utterly nothing he could do for her as her war was internal only and he can't crawl into her skin and fight her for her was the utter epitome of tragic love story.
The way that the author was able to craft a loving, tender, "I SEE you" grovel for this. The way this boy chose to fight for his girl out in the open in a way that said "I SEE YOU. I UNDERSTAND." was equally as touching and just perfect. As he wasn't going to her and trying to fill her empty lonely spaces. Instead he offered her his empty lonely hurt spaces in return.
This is where they were able to finally meet as equals. As he was able to offer her something that was as precious, as breakable, as open, and as broken as what he had exposed her to. And he was exposing all of this things in himself - but for their world to see. So she could see that it wasn't just her, and he would set himself on fire if it meant she would quiet her mind, and think about forgiving him for the rest.
I am just so so so in love with this book.
All the stars!
OR
$5.99 with 65 percent savings
Print List Price: $16.99 
The Print List Price is the lowest suggested retail price provided by a publisher for a print book format of this title, available on Amazon (e.g. hardcover, paperback, mass market paperback).
Learn more
Learn more
These promotions will be applied to this item:
Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.
Sold by Amazon.com Services LLC.
Audiobook Price: $29.66
Save: $22.17 (75%)
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Shop this series
See full series- Kindle Price:$17.97By placing your order, you're purchasing a license to the content and you agree to the Kindle Store Terms of Use.
Shop this series
There are 3 books in this series.
Kindle Price:
$17.97
By placing your order, you're purchasing a license to the content and you agree to the Kindle Store Terms of Use.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Just fantastic!
Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Trope: forced proximity Angst: 😱😱😱1/2 Smexy: 🔥🔥🔥 Was so super excited to head back to Savage Academy and Jula Wolf did NOT let me down! This book was seriously so different from any other book I've read. I have never had a book start out with the heroine and the hero having hookup smex and it was THE WORST SHE'S EVER HAD, lol. Ha! I mean, I guess it can only go up from there... but why try? Well, Julia Wolf has a story for that and it's going to have you glued from beginning to end. Just so many fab things! The storyline is super original. The characters were really just as unique as the storyline. Rhys is definitely one of those characters that grows on you, but you'll be completely in love by the end. I laughed, I cried and now I'm waiting with bated breath for what's to come!
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024
- Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2023
- Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2023
Top reviews from other countries
- LORRAINE CLEALLReviewed in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2024
How wrong you can be
-
