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The Powerful Elites: A Broken Hero's Story
I was a weapon.
I was someone to be feared, not loved. I could bend the world to my liking. I was capable of mass destruction, without even knowing it. The Academy is reserved for only the most powerful. People with powers over the ordinary. The Elites.
The Academy has promised control, and the ability for these young teens to harness their powers and reach their fullest potential in a safe place. Though it quickly becomes clear to Donovan James that he is not the only one with abilities, and that a destructive masked boy will go to great lengths to ensure his death.
Donovan must decide how far he is willing to go, when he falls for his teammate Kaden Lee, and ultimately brings his life in danger too. He has an important choice to make, and fast. Save his love, or save the world from total mass destruction? Love, Powers, Betrayal. Who can Donovan James trust, when the survival of the world ends up being in his hands?
Is everything you are being told true, or simply a story Donovan is telling to his therapist?
Will this Queer Superhero Dystopian Novel become YOUR NEW Favorite??
Praise from Beta Readers!
- Im not even the same person after READING this. Honestly a life-changing read for me.
- The Powerful Elites > 90% of the books I have read.
- Well-written to the point I don't know what's happening till I keep reading, love it.
Also written by KASSANDRA KULSBJERG:
Realm Of Light.
An Angel x Devil Romance about saving heaven and hell from destruction.
I was someone to be feared, not loved. I could bend the world to my liking. I was capable of mass destruction, without even knowing it. The Academy is reserved for only the most powerful. People with powers over the ordinary. The Elites.
The Academy has promised control, and the ability for these young teens to harness their powers and reach their fullest potential in a safe place. Though it quickly becomes clear to Donovan James that he is not the only one with abilities, and that a destructive masked boy will go to great lengths to ensure his death.
Donovan must decide how far he is willing to go, when he falls for his teammate Kaden Lee, and ultimately brings his life in danger too. He has an important choice to make, and fast. Save his love, or save the world from total mass destruction? Love, Powers, Betrayal. Who can Donovan James trust, when the survival of the world ends up being in his hands?
Is everything you are being told true, or simply a story Donovan is telling to his therapist?
Will this Queer Superhero Dystopian Novel become YOUR NEW Favorite??
Praise from Beta Readers!
- Im not even the same person after READING this. Honestly a life-changing read for me.
- The Powerful Elites > 90% of the books I have read.
- Well-written to the point I don't know what's happening till I keep reading, love it.
Also written by KASSANDRA KULSBJERG:
Realm Of Light.
An Angel x Devil Romance about saving heaven and hell from destruction.
279 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2023
23 people are currently reading
660 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
September 3, 2023
I picked this book up because the concept sounded amazing! It seemed to be right up my ally. So much Queerness - it would have been perfect!
Well, would have. I ended up being madly disappointed.
The story was just... meh. There was no real world building and the world just seemed to change how the author needed it right now so it could fit with the story. The same with the characters… Generally, they were super bland and easy to mix up just because they all had no real personality traits. But as soon as the author needed to continue the story line somehow a character suddenly had some power they didn't have before. Suddenly, someone had visions just so they would know where to go. There seemed to be no story plotting behind all of this but it just needed to work out in that moment and no one ever cared to change it while re-reading and editing (in case that even happened because some passages suggest that it didn't).
The entire story was filled with plot holes and mistakes. For example, he took off his boxers just to put his hand in his boxers one page later without ever having them put on again.
The author also just didn't know how to focus on important things. Mostly, it was also just bad writing. Situations that could have been described within a minute or two were dragged over 15 pages. And not in a good way. The room went quiet in the same situation like 80 times while like two sentences were spoken.
And what in the heteronormative bullshit was that stuff with everyone always thinking he is into that girl just for him to have his overdramatic "I'm gay!"-moment for the hundredth time while the room had gone silent for the millionth time.
Why should he even have liked her? He didn't know her. He had barely spoken two sentences with her!
The story pacing was also completely off. There were no calm scenes. It was always like one "BAM, bet you didn't see that coming!" (everybody saw that coming…) after the other.
Now to the spice in this book…
Simply: Why? It made NO sense for them to fuck. There is a strict No-Sex Policy and he would never break a rule. And one moment they were all over each other like hungry animals and the next moment they screamed at each other for the heart break factor of the story. It didn't make sense and was just painful to read.
Also: What the fuck was the "His dick was Pressing against every inch of my leg." … How? And... ew.
And though I am still crying over the smut, let's get to the actual worst part for me:
I LOVED the fact we had a non-binary character. And I was so excited that the book didn't tell us if they were afab or amab. But why were they suddenly misgendered? There was no reason too! It was clearly stated they were non-binary and I loved this character so much! So why did the sudden he/him pronouns come up? There was literally no reason to!
So in the end: I wanted to love this. But I was just very disappointed. The 2 stars are really just for the non-binary character I loved so much. Not for the book itself.
Well, would have. I ended up being madly disappointed.
The story was just... meh. There was no real world building and the world just seemed to change how the author needed it right now so it could fit with the story. The same with the characters… Generally, they were super bland and easy to mix up just because they all had no real personality traits. But as soon as the author needed to continue the story line somehow a character suddenly had some power they didn't have before. Suddenly, someone had visions just so they would know where to go. There seemed to be no story plotting behind all of this but it just needed to work out in that moment and no one ever cared to change it while re-reading and editing (in case that even happened because some passages suggest that it didn't).
The entire story was filled with plot holes and mistakes. For example, he took off his boxers just to put his hand in his boxers one page later without ever having them put on again.
The author also just didn't know how to focus on important things. Mostly, it was also just bad writing. Situations that could have been described within a minute or two were dragged over 15 pages. And not in a good way. The room went quiet in the same situation like 80 times while like two sentences were spoken.
And what in the heteronormative bullshit was that stuff with everyone always thinking he is into that girl just for him to have his overdramatic "I'm gay!"-moment for the hundredth time while the room had gone silent for the millionth time.
Why should he even have liked her? He didn't know her. He had barely spoken two sentences with her!
The story pacing was also completely off. There were no calm scenes. It was always like one "BAM, bet you didn't see that coming!" (everybody saw that coming…) after the other.
Now to the spice in this book…
Simply: Why? It made NO sense for them to fuck. There is a strict No-Sex Policy and he would never break a rule. And one moment they were all over each other like hungry animals and the next moment they screamed at each other for the heart break factor of the story. It didn't make sense and was just painful to read.
Also: What the fuck was the "His dick was Pressing against every inch of my leg." … How? And... ew.
And though I am still crying over the smut, let's get to the actual worst part for me:
I LOVED the fact we had a non-binary character. And I was so excited that the book didn't tell us if they were afab or amab. But why were they suddenly misgendered? There was no reason too! It was clearly stated they were non-binary and I loved this character so much! So why did the sudden he/him pronouns come up? There was literally no reason to!
So in the end: I wanted to love this. But I was just very disappointed. The 2 stars are really just for the non-binary character I loved so much. Not for the book itself.
July 10, 2024
“That's the sad reality of it all, because no matter what you do—every single remaining person on this spinning globe of poison will all fall to the ground and not wake up again. The best thing we can do is go on with our lives, and pretend that we all don't know the terrifying reality, that is, every single person is going to die, someday.”
Me🤝reading books with good plot
Also me🤝the books with said good plot are written so poorly that I sometimes swear that there are time skips that are not mentioned
Okay.
So.
First of all. The plot of this book had so much fucking potential but I feel as if it was forced to be squished into a book with less than 350 pages. There were many time skips that I shouldn’t have been there in regards to Donovan and Kadens relationship. Like on page 91 Donovan says that he’s liked this guys for so long when it’s actually only been a day…like dude…you barely know him. This hurt my slow burn, mutual pining ass. I also feel that if if you want to feel bad for any character who may or may not have died we needed for of the friendships and the found families and such and such. As all of the time skips caused us to lose that time and not care much for the characters.
Then, we have the poor editing and misspellings which only happened a few times and didn’t bother me all that much because I knew that the author was going for but eh.
My last problem is with how I sometimes felt that the Donovan sometimes seemed to completely switch personalities?? Idek if that’s the correct why to put it but it sometimes seemed as if he were a completely different character.
Now, for why I gave this book 2.5/2 stars when in reality it should be more of a 1/1.5ish book.
I gave it this because I’m not going to deny that I was some what entertained. Did I want tk DNF on multiple occasions? Yes. Did I do it? No. Why? Because I wanted to know how it ended, which honestly applause to the author for that.
Sometimes this book could be my type of book where it’s poetic and nice.
And then, sometimes you’d get the cringy romcom type quotes.
This book is all over the place to be straight with you.
Will I read this book again? Hell no.
Will I read the next one that comes out? Yes.
Me🤝reading books with good plot
Also me🤝the books with said good plot are written so poorly that I sometimes swear that there are time skips that are not mentioned
Okay.
So.
First of all. The plot of this book had so much fucking potential but I feel as if it was forced to be squished into a book with less than 350 pages. There were many time skips that I shouldn’t have been there in regards to Donovan and Kadens relationship. Like on page 91 Donovan says that he’s liked this guys for so long when it’s actually only been a day…like dude…you barely know him. This hurt my slow burn, mutual pining ass. I also feel that if if you want to feel bad for any character who may or may not have died we needed for of the friendships and the found families and such and such. As all of the time skips caused us to lose that time and not care much for the characters.
Then, we have the poor editing and misspellings which only happened a few times and didn’t bother me all that much because I knew that the author was going for but eh.
My last problem is with how I sometimes felt that the Donovan sometimes seemed to completely switch personalities?? Idek if that’s the correct why to put it but it sometimes seemed as if he were a completely different character.
Now, for why I gave this book 2.5/2 stars when in reality it should be more of a 1/1.5ish book.
I gave it this because I’m not going to deny that I was some what entertained. Did I want tk DNF on multiple occasions? Yes. Did I do it? No. Why? Because I wanted to know how it ended, which honestly applause to the author for that.
Sometimes this book could be my type of book where it’s poetic and nice.
And then, sometimes you’d get the cringy romcom type quotes.
This book is all over the place to be straight with you.
Will I read this book again? Hell no.
Will I read the next one that comes out? Yes.
October 1, 2023
I couldn't continue, I'm sure that the story was good but the grammatical errors irritated me too much. Please proof read
September 24, 2023
I think the book has a really good idea in general, but I had a few problems with the book.
1. The characters have no personality. Obviously the protagonists have personality and you can see their attitudes and personality traits, but I feel like the side characters are barley shown and they don’t have a really strong personality, also because they are mention like 3 times in the while book.
2. The relationship happened too fast. Yes, they kiss until the half of the book, but since they have almost no conversations and their interactions are minimum in the first half it feels like they don’t even know each other and it doesn’t make sense that they slept together.
3. The trama was confusing. At first the plot was really fast and easy but while reading the book I couldn’t quite point out what was exactly the problem. I understood which were the “bad guys” but I never understood why they were bad, who they were and what exactly was their objective, they were just bad guys, and I think it was poorly explained.
Overall I enjoyed the book because it was super fast to read and entertaining, but if I could change things about the book they will be the things I just wrote. This just a little feedback and my opinion, not for any chance a offensive comment or something to make the author feel bad. If this series continues I look forward to see more of the characters as people and understand more the world.
1. The characters have no personality. Obviously the protagonists have personality and you can see their attitudes and personality traits, but I feel like the side characters are barley shown and they don’t have a really strong personality, also because they are mention like 3 times in the while book.
2. The relationship happened too fast. Yes, they kiss until the half of the book, but since they have almost no conversations and their interactions are minimum in the first half it feels like they don’t even know each other and it doesn’t make sense that they slept together.
3. The trama was confusing. At first the plot was really fast and easy but while reading the book I couldn’t quite point out what was exactly the problem. I understood which were the “bad guys” but I never understood why they were bad, who they were and what exactly was their objective, they were just bad guys, and I think it was poorly explained.
Overall I enjoyed the book because it was super fast to read and entertaining, but if I could change things about the book they will be the things I just wrote. This just a little feedback and my opinion, not for any chance a offensive comment or something to make the author feel bad. If this series continues I look forward to see more of the characters as people and understand more the world.
October 17, 2023
First let me start off and say this book was a solid 10/10. If you like dystopian fiction, LGBT books, or superhero books, then this is for you. I never wanted to put the book down and the only reason it took me three days to finish it was because I had to work. Kassandra did an amazing job telling this story!
July 4, 2023
Absolutely Loved It!
I loved the relationship between Donovan and Kaden. I also love the non-binary representation throughout the novel. I also was not expecting the twists that were there!
I loved the relationship between Donovan and Kaden. I also love the non-binary representation throughout the novel. I also was not expecting the twists that were there!
July 18, 2023
Really good plot line and enticing writing. A couple of spelling and grammar errors but if those are looked over it is a really good book
September 28, 2023
SO GOODDD
I loved it sm! Only problem was it felt as if a few things were missing in the beginning like something of a detail or too but I think that may have been intended
I loved it sm! Only problem was it felt as if a few things were missing in the beginning like something of a detail or too but I think that may have been intended
October 9, 2023
Amazing story I loved the setting the character development and emotion showed throughout it, it was just amazing 10/10.
March 24, 2024
I absolutely love it! It's very well written and has so much representation. I can't wait for the next part (don't know if that's what it's called) to come out<3
Read
January 30, 2024i’m not too sure where to start out with this, but the author encourages reviews so we’re rolling with it— hope it’s useful!💗
I see the idea, and i like it. This story has great potential. Where the issue arise, is the writing; because it lacks a bit. A lot of the characters fell flat and were very hard to visualise. The fact that they also kept popping in and out, played a great role in this factor.
Characters like Adria, Karter and Emery— even Reyes, were all very fleeting and dull. Emery was introduced solely for the purpose of a coming out, Karter to be killed. At first i thought Reyes was going to be the love interest, because i didn’t see anything between Kaden and Donovan.
In general what also was missing, was some writing finesse. Grammar, wording, not to repeat words(especially this one) The dialogue was also at times very difficult to get through, and i completely skipped the whole chapter dedicated to a sex scene.
Most of this is stuff that you learn through experience, and with the help of good editing though! (:
The format was a very nice touch, with the change between the current and past. The ending also positively surprised me, although it was quite confusing. Zero’s role and motivation didn’t stand too clear to me? but that makes me excited to meet him properly in another book.
Lastly, while i do love queer representation, having a character explain how being non binary and how pronouns works, felt a little stiff. In the end it felt a bit like the non binary characters only personality traits was being non binary (it was, im sorry) which just kind of ruins the whole purpose of good rep? In general, the romance was also quite rushed— i did not feel anything for or with Kaden and Donovan, considering they’d known each other for max three months and hadn’t talked properly for over half of that time.
So overall, i greatly encourage the author to keep on writing and to keep on practicing! It’s a good idea they have, but the execution just needs some work. <3
I see the idea, and i like it. This story has great potential. Where the issue arise, is the writing; because it lacks a bit. A lot of the characters fell flat and were very hard to visualise. The fact that they also kept popping in and out, played a great role in this factor.
Characters like Adria, Karter and Emery— even Reyes, were all very fleeting and dull. Emery was introduced solely for the purpose of a coming out, Karter to be killed. At first i thought Reyes was going to be the love interest, because i didn’t see anything between Kaden and Donovan.
In general what also was missing, was some writing finesse. Grammar, wording, not to repeat words(especially this one) The dialogue was also at times very difficult to get through, and i completely skipped the whole chapter dedicated to a sex scene.
Most of this is stuff that you learn through experience, and with the help of good editing though! (:
The format was a very nice touch, with the change between the current and past. The ending also positively surprised me, although it was quite confusing. Zero’s role and motivation didn’t stand too clear to me? but that makes me excited to meet him properly in another book.
Lastly, while i do love queer representation, having a character explain how being non binary and how pronouns works, felt a little stiff. In the end it felt a bit like the non binary characters only personality traits was being non binary (it was, im sorry) which just kind of ruins the whole purpose of good rep? In general, the romance was also quite rushed— i did not feel anything for or with Kaden and Donovan, considering they’d known each other for max three months and hadn’t talked properly for over half of that time.
So overall, i greatly encourage the author to keep on writing and to keep on practicing! It’s a good idea they have, but the execution just needs some work. <3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2023
I liked this book. It was funny, chaotic and definitely kept you on your toes. I thought that the twists at the end were epic and I will definitely pick up the sequel. However, even good books have things to improve on.
I think the author has great potential and I strongly encourage her to keep writing. But something I think she should look at closer whilst writing the sequel is grammar. Unfortunately, there were quite a few misspellings, grammatical errors and sentences worded in ways that didn’t make sense. Another thing I noticed was that when describing the super suits, the author used very vague terms e.g. “the hot pink suit had purple spread throughout it” spread how??
For me personally, the romance felt rushed, because even though the events took place over a long period of time, there was a month time skip that took away a lot of development. We’ll never know how their relationship bloomed in that month because it was skipped.
I did really like the powers, I thought that how they were described was interesting, most especially how Donavan saw his powers from his pov. I thought the portrayal of Kaden’s mind control was also interesting, as well as I think it was Maeve’s invisiblity that extended to walking through walls.
The reason this book is 3 ⭐️ is because, I won’t lie, at times the book annoyed me a bit. It felt like a bit of a “where is this going?” book a lot of the time. Not to mention some of the characters’ random outbursts. The dialogue didn’t flow and it was overall a bit confusing. Sometimes confusing can be good. It didn’t work here unfortunately.
This is NOT to say this book is terrible. Quite the opposite in fact. There were obvious areas that need improvement but otherwise it was very funny, pretty chaotic and the twists very very entertaining!! It was nice to see such a variety in the cast of characters and I’m a sucker for a powerful mc. Very cool concept, could have been executed better, but it’s far from bad.
I think the author has great potential and I strongly encourage her to keep writing. But something I think she should look at closer whilst writing the sequel is grammar. Unfortunately, there were quite a few misspellings, grammatical errors and sentences worded in ways that didn’t make sense. Another thing I noticed was that when describing the super suits, the author used very vague terms e.g. “the hot pink suit had purple spread throughout it” spread how??
For me personally, the romance felt rushed, because even though the events took place over a long period of time, there was a month time skip that took away a lot of development. We’ll never know how their relationship bloomed in that month because it was skipped.
I did really like the powers, I thought that how they were described was interesting, most especially how Donavan saw his powers from his pov. I thought the portrayal of Kaden’s mind control was also interesting, as well as I think it was Maeve’s invisiblity that extended to walking through walls.
The reason this book is 3 ⭐️ is because, I won’t lie, at times the book annoyed me a bit. It felt like a bit of a “where is this going?” book a lot of the time. Not to mention some of the characters’ random outbursts. The dialogue didn’t flow and it was overall a bit confusing. Sometimes confusing can be good. It didn’t work here unfortunately.
This is NOT to say this book is terrible. Quite the opposite in fact. There were obvious areas that need improvement but otherwise it was very funny, pretty chaotic and the twists very very entertaining!! It was nice to see such a variety in the cast of characters and I’m a sucker for a powerful mc. Very cool concept, could have been executed better, but it’s far from bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2024
Very poorly written. The storyline itself is good and had so much potential. However, the detail wasn’t there. It focussed on dialogue and all the scene’s seemed really rushed. The spice didn’t make sense either. It never mentioned who the bad guys were and why, and Donovan just happily accepted his new life of being kidnapped and in a prison-like facility.. Way too much was left out and the ending? What on earth was even real? Despite all this, I’m definitely reading the second one because I need Donovan and Kaden back together (and I’m hoping it’ll answer my questions).
April 13, 2025
This was my first self publishing book and I absolutely loved it!!!!
Like sure, there were little things that you could criticize but over all, the story was amazing in every way.
The plot points and the plot twists had me absolutely baffled.
If you like science fiction, dystopian stories with diverse characters, you will love this book
Like sure, there were little things that you could criticize but over all, the story was amazing in every way.
The plot points and the plot twists had me absolutely baffled.
If you like science fiction, dystopian stories with diverse characters, you will love this book
June 23, 2025
Idk I had fun and I'm confused enough to want to keep reading. Btw, the people whining about spelling errors clearly have never read fanfiction in their lives.
March 6, 2025
HOLY CRAP. The ending literally gave me chills. I have never said that about a book before, even my favourite book!! I experienced so many emotions at once, and I'm currently sitting in school wondering how you managed to write this MASTERPIECE. I wish I could give this more than 5 stars 💓💓💓
March 2, 2024
I heavily disliked almost every second of this book. Sorry to be blunt, but it's my personal opinion. Not only was the story lacking in many ways, but the characters made me hate it more. Our main character has no "character" at all, not until the end. There was no de development or buildup. There were times when Donovan (protagonist) had the chance to comfort other and/or rejoice with them, but simply did not. It would've been fine if he was selfish or had alternate motives, BUT HE SIMPLY DID NOT. The side characters felt static, flat, and extremely hard to picture, which took away from my enjoyment. It's a shame because I see the huge wasted potential this story had. Not only that, but grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes were all over the place.
I really loved the first chapter, though it was still a little too fast-paced for me, so I was really intrigued. Any ray of hope soon died as I opened the next couple chapters, and I really regretted my choice. I'm not saying this book had its moments. It did; especially with the plot twists in the end, albeit they could've flown into each other rather than stating them and being done with them. I just felt as though there are so many other options. I hate to say it, but for me, this was a waste of time.
I really loved the first chapter, though it was still a little too fast-paced for me, so I was really intrigued. Any ray of hope soon died as I opened the next couple chapters, and I really regretted my choice. I'm not saying this book had its moments. It did; especially with the plot twists in the end, albeit they could've flown into each other rather than stating them and being done with them. I just felt as though there are so many other options. I hate to say it, but for me, this was a waste of time.
July 9, 2023
I really liked this book!
The Powerful Elites was one of those books that never got boring while reading.
Not once did I catch myself skipping anything!
I loved the queer representation within the book, especially the nonbinary one, because you still do not get that often and I just love seeing it!
Especially because it was absolutely realistic, respectful and kind of giving me gender envy, haha!
The plot itself was giving me a bit of BNHA vibes first and I loved it and it didn't seem unoriginal at that at all!
There were several plot twists I didn't see coming.
The first chapter especially captured me because my curiosity told me I needed to know what the heck was going on and if like in those 'am I the asshole' stories that you read on reddit a lot these days.
I just needed to know.
I only gave 4 stars because I thought the book felt a bit short; it felt like it could be quite a bit longer with a few more details and a bit slower pacing, although it wasn't a big deal and I still really liked it!
The Powerful Elites was one of those books that never got boring while reading.
Not once did I catch myself skipping anything!
I loved the queer representation within the book, especially the nonbinary one, because you still do not get that often and I just love seeing it!
Especially because it was absolutely realistic, respectful and kind of giving me gender envy, haha!
The plot itself was giving me a bit of BNHA vibes first and I loved it and it didn't seem unoriginal at that at all!
There were several plot twists I didn't see coming.
The first chapter especially captured me because my curiosity told me I needed to know what the heck was going on and if like in those 'am I the asshole' stories that you read on reddit a lot these days.
I just needed to know.
I only gave 4 stars because I thought the book felt a bit short; it felt like it could be quite a bit longer with a few more details and a bit slower pacing, although it wasn't a big deal and I still really liked it!
January 23, 2024
DNF at 30%. Shit writing. It was like there was no editing whatsoever.The smut was a fucking chore🚮. This book is the reason why I will never ever read a romantic fantasy book ever again. Maybe there are good ones out there but nahh they're not for me. I need to stop getting recommendations from booktok💀💀💀💀💀
October 27, 2024
Oh my, oh my... I really wanted to like this book but it turned out to be impossible. The idea sounded great but then we got basically no explanations, only questions, no world building, main character running around not knowing what was going on and having no personality (just like every other character in the book). I'm no native speaker, but even I was hurt by the amount of mistakes in the book. Writing "where" instead of "were" and "pronounce" instead of "pronouns" like 5 times on one page is nuts. The amount of plot holes is astonishing as well. Why is it said they were raised in the academy and didn't know their family just for Adria to say she'd introduce MC to her gay cousin is only one of those.
Dialogs are unnatural and after saying 4 words Donovan tells us that "words were spilling out". What words. He barely said anything.
And don't even get me started on pacing of the book and this weird obsession with Donovan having a crush on a random girl he barely talked to? Also, who tf asks anyone "why don't you have a crush on me/her"???? It was incredibly weird.
One of the things I also "loved" was the smut portion of the book. If you can't write it, just don't. it was completely unnecessary because why would he tell the doctor exactly what they were doing and I feel like the boxers that are taken off stay taken off until you put them on again.
In conclusion, had I not been on a 6 hour train ride with nothing else to do, it would've been a DNF. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I tried finding something positive to write but didn't accomplish that. 1/5, would be 0/5 if it was possible.
Dialogs are unnatural and after saying 4 words Donovan tells us that "words were spilling out". What words. He barely said anything.
And don't even get me started on pacing of the book and this weird obsession with Donovan having a crush on a random girl he barely talked to? Also, who tf asks anyone "why don't you have a crush on me/her"???? It was incredibly weird.
One of the things I also "loved" was the smut portion of the book. If you can't write it, just don't. it was completely unnecessary because why would he tell the doctor exactly what they were doing and I feel like the boxers that are taken off stay taken off until you put them on again.
In conclusion, had I not been on a 6 hour train ride with nothing else to do, it would've been a DNF. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I tried finding something positive to write but didn't accomplish that. 1/5, would be 0/5 if it was possible.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2023
The Cover was appealing and suitable. I noticed the cool layout of the chapters right from the start. Also the chapter's names were creative, sometimes funny and made me wanna continue reading. The book was from the first page to the last page exciting. If I had not so much to do in private, I would have read it in just two days. The dialoges we're great and suited Donovan perfectly, who was quick likeable. Your way of expressing yourself was just amazing. I loved your detailed descriptions even if they took out the tension in some places. You could literally feel the rapprochement and the relationship between the two. Your ideas have not been used before and it was all the more interesting to read. However, I have partly seen too many "I" sentences, especially in the beginning. The relationship of Donovan and the other heroes was missing a bit. Unless it was intentional, that he wasn't really interested in it or that it would be developed further in the second part. The headline above each page with the book name and your name, I personally found unnecessary.The end was very emotional and sad. It was also shocking and most of all unexpected. I will certainly read the book again soon and am already looking forward to the second volume. I can really only recommend the book to anyone who likes young people's literature with queer characters. Because I can only repeat myself, I absolutely loved it. Rarely has a book swept me away like this one.
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March 25, 2024I think this book has a lot of potential and some great ideas in here, and I honestly thinks it’s super impressive to publish books at such a young age too, so props to the author! However, this story does need a lot of work, but most of it is easily fixable.
The grammar issues stuck out to me the most, but given that it’s a self-published novel, I was willing to be more lenient and look past it for the most part. I liked the structure of switching back and forth from the future to the past, and there’s an overarching mystery that did keep me engaged throughout. Unfortunately, I think it really fell flat by the end due to a particular twist, and I found the plot to be both lackluster and a little hard to follow in general.
Character-wise, I also think there’s a lot of potential. There’s a sort of fallen hero story at play that could be interesting if it were given more time to develop, and if the characterization was a little better. Most of the characters felt rather hollow to me, and the romance was pretty rushed as well, but I did appreciate the queer representation that was present. I also did think some of the language surrounding the characters of color came off a little weird, but that might also just stem from the grammar issues.
While I do have a few criticisms for this book, I still think it’s really great that the author shared this story, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more!
The grammar issues stuck out to me the most, but given that it’s a self-published novel, I was willing to be more lenient and look past it for the most part. I liked the structure of switching back and forth from the future to the past, and there’s an overarching mystery that did keep me engaged throughout. Unfortunately, I think it really fell flat by the end due to a particular twist, and I found the plot to be both lackluster and a little hard to follow in general.
Character-wise, I also think there’s a lot of potential. There’s a sort of fallen hero story at play that could be interesting if it were given more time to develop, and if the characterization was a little better. Most of the characters felt rather hollow to me, and the romance was pretty rushed as well, but I did appreciate the queer representation that was present. I also did think some of the language surrounding the characters of color came off a little weird, but that might also just stem from the grammar issues.
While I do have a few criticisms for this book, I still think it’s really great that the author shared this story, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more!
February 8, 2025
I don’t even know if I should give it two stars… the book had potential, it started off good then it felt too much was happening with no explanation and the plot twist were so predictable.
I liked Donovan and kadens friendship I wish we got to see more of it and probably would’ve made the sex and break up plot make more sense.
The world building was terrible very hard to understand at times, like at times it felt like the villain literally lived next to the academy and they showed up when ever they want.
Now the ending confused the hell out of me, is the team dead or not? Donovan opened his eyes so was it all a dream? And now he’s a villain? And the whole “they called you a monster, prove them right” is literally from black clover……
I liked Donovan and kadens friendship I wish we got to see more of it and probably would’ve made the sex and break up plot make more sense.
The world building was terrible very hard to understand at times, like at times it felt like the villain literally lived next to the academy and they showed up when ever they want.
Now the ending confused the hell out of me, is the team dead or not? Donovan opened his eyes so was it all a dream? And now he’s a villain? And the whole “they called you a monster, prove them right” is literally from black clover……
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2025
i wish we could give 0 star ratings, hate read it online and it was not even worth the time i spent on it. The fact that someone published this wattpad yaoi idiocy at least gives me some hope, you really can do anything in this world, even publishing terrible books.
Currently reading
April 26, 2025This book sounded right up my alley, but I couldn’t make it past the first twenty pages because there were so many mistakes (grammar mistakes, I’m spelled as Im, and a massive overuse of adjectives). It’s clear the book either wasn’t edited, or the editor didn’t do a very good job.
July 4, 2023
You better read this, or I shall find you 💅
January 23, 2024
Fantastic read. It was right up my alley and couldn't not love it. Reminded me slightly of something the song of achillies
February 23, 2025
I really enjoyed the story:). It has a great plot idea. There are a couple things that don't add up but not too much. Oh and it has a spotify playlist, chapter names and character art!! If you are looking for a quick easy read I really recommend.
April 1, 2025
this is sloppy wattpad yaoi, none has a personality they are all just yaoi bland and did i mention wattpad terrible yaoi. cheers
January 20, 2024
I really really wanted to love this. The premise, the synopsis, the potential twists and turns, and even the queer factor of this book sounded so exciting that I bought it the moment I could.
I was so excited, as I especially loved the first chapter, albeit it was a little too fast-paced for me, but I was in love nonetheless. Fast pace doesn't necessarily mean bad, I love a good, fast-paced story at times.
However, despite my attempts to finish and immerse myself into this seemingly wonderful piece of fiction... I just could not.
All the characters had no personalities, whatsoever and I never got a chance to know anything about them. Donovan doesn't feel like a real person, he just seems to be an empty slot that you can insert yourself into. I never knew what he liked, and disliked, his hobbies, and his motivations. I don't know about his life before the world became broken, and I don't know him at all. He just seemed bland and unlikeable. If I said Donovan was a part-time chef, it wouldn't be out of character because we just don't know anything about him. He's so plain. I didn't like that at all. I mean as opposed to if I said Harry Potter was a part-time chef, it would be amusing because Harry isn't the type of person who would share an interest in such a thing.
Same thing for every single character. Like, they are all so flavorless. And because they have no defining character traits, their dialogue is then lifeless and boring. There's no substance because they are just your everyday generic characters.
There was too much action and no time to breathe and get to know the people.
There needs to be more interactions between Kaden and Donovan, I know they are love interests so they need to communicate more. Go through things together. Have them go on a mission together, have them get stuck in a room, and talk about themselves. Share with us more about them. Because I wish to know more. I really want to love it and the premise is fantastic. As an author, you're so very creative and I believe that you have great potential. It's difficult to come up with an engaging idea, but you did it! But it was just a good idea, execution-wise, it was so very poor.
I was so intrigued. I just wasn't a fan of the characters or execution at all :( I want to read more from you because you definitely have an extraordinary imagination! I love your marketing technique and you deserve all the success you have right now and in the future. Keep writing because I would love to see your writing grow and improve!
Please try to slow down when writing, let there be slow, quiet moments where characters can just exist with no action or surprises. Let them interact and talk, it makes them more 3 dimensional and real. Let the main character have more thoughts, on what he thinks about this, show his personality through the way he describes things, views certain situations, and the way he reacts.
Another thing was that sometimes things randomly happened and it was just very abrupt- it took me out of the story a lot and I didn't really like that. Maybe something you can do is have a build-up to a surprise. Let there be tension, waiting, suspense then BAM drop the bomb. I would love a build-up, it keeps me engaged and helps with scene transitioning. All the best to you, I hope this doesn't discourage you because you truly are a wonderful writer.
Never STOP writing, I hope to see your books in my local bookstores one day <3
I was so excited, as I especially loved the first chapter, albeit it was a little too fast-paced for me, but I was in love nonetheless. Fast pace doesn't necessarily mean bad, I love a good, fast-paced story at times.
However, despite my attempts to finish and immerse myself into this seemingly wonderful piece of fiction... I just could not.
All the characters had no personalities, whatsoever and I never got a chance to know anything about them. Donovan doesn't feel like a real person, he just seems to be an empty slot that you can insert yourself into. I never knew what he liked, and disliked, his hobbies, and his motivations. I don't know about his life before the world became broken, and I don't know him at all. He just seemed bland and unlikeable. If I said Donovan was a part-time chef, it wouldn't be out of character because we just don't know anything about him. He's so plain. I didn't like that at all. I mean as opposed to if I said Harry Potter was a part-time chef, it would be amusing because Harry isn't the type of person who would share an interest in such a thing.
Same thing for every single character. Like, they are all so flavorless. And because they have no defining character traits, their dialogue is then lifeless and boring. There's no substance because they are just your everyday generic characters.
There was too much action and no time to breathe and get to know the people.
There needs to be more interactions between Kaden and Donovan, I know they are love interests so they need to communicate more. Go through things together. Have them go on a mission together, have them get stuck in a room, and talk about themselves. Share with us more about them. Because I wish to know more. I really want to love it and the premise is fantastic. As an author, you're so very creative and I believe that you have great potential. It's difficult to come up with an engaging idea, but you did it! But it was just a good idea, execution-wise, it was so very poor.
I was so intrigued. I just wasn't a fan of the characters or execution at all :( I want to read more from you because you definitely have an extraordinary imagination! I love your marketing technique and you deserve all the success you have right now and in the future. Keep writing because I would love to see your writing grow and improve!
Please try to slow down when writing, let there be slow, quiet moments where characters can just exist with no action or surprises. Let them interact and talk, it makes them more 3 dimensional and real. Let the main character have more thoughts, on what he thinks about this, show his personality through the way he describes things, views certain situations, and the way he reacts.
Another thing was that sometimes things randomly happened and it was just very abrupt- it took me out of the story a lot and I didn't really like that. Maybe something you can do is have a build-up to a surprise. Let there be tension, waiting, suspense then BAM drop the bomb. I would love a build-up, it keeps me engaged and helps with scene transitioning. All the best to you, I hope this doesn't discourage you because you truly are a wonderful writer.
Never STOP writing, I hope to see your books in my local bookstores one day <3
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