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Careful what you wish for.
Attending the elite Knightswood Academy was always a dream I knew would never come true until it did…

The life I knew for seventeen years shattered the day a freak accident burned it all down, including my mother.

I expected a social worker to come take me away but my life is forever changed when a stranger steps in, claiming to be my legal guardian, one my mother appointed thirteen years ago.

Whisked away to a mansion and a world I could only conjure in my wildest imagination, I am enrolled in the school of my dreams, the elite academy which my mother attended.

Knightswood Academy is the last connection I have to my mother and the only reason I agree to stay in a stranger’s home. But before I can get too comfortable, I am shown the door out of the glittering world I’ve just stepped in.

The Kings of Knightswood Academy don’t want me there.

And they will make sure I understand just how badly and why…

For I am nothing but the charity case. Someone they can step on, trample over and force to leave because Knightswood Academy is reserved only for the elites.

But I’m a girl who grew up in the shadiest parts of town. I am prepared to stay and carve my place at the academy despite every single barb and stone thrown my way.

The only thing I never expected was to come face-to-face with the darkness the academy hides in its polished halls and the only people I can trust to get me out alive are my three tormentors.


Charity Case  is the first book in a contemporary reverse harem high school romance series.

Note:  The Kings of Knightswood Academy  is a reverse harem academy series meant for mature readers who enjoy their academy romances with some bullying and no restraint to language, violence and a few heated scenes.

388 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2019

309 people are currently reading
513 people want to read

About the author

Ivy Clyde

25 books161 followers
Ivy is an Electrical engineer by profession. She started writing fanfiction in her spare time and after a whole year of writing, she decided to start writing an original series with her own characters and has never looked back.

Although, work and tight deadlines often have her drinking coffee, she is a tea-lover at heart. She loves to read, but keeps taking trips to Hogwarts now and then. (Who could miss JKR's lovely invitation?) Her favorite current TV shows are Game of Thrones and Pretty Little Liars.

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5 stars
265 (45%)
4 stars
150 (25%)
3 stars
119 (20%)
2 stars
41 (6%)
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11 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
Profile Image for Paula  Phillips.
5,742 reviews348 followers
September 12, 2019
I've been really loving the Bullymance and Academy tropes at the moment and enjoying it. Charity Case by Ivy Clyde, the cover jumped out at me and so I grabbed it on Kindle Unlimited. Charity Case starts off with Paris and her best friend Zoya at her mother's bakery having fun. They kiss her goodbye and head to meet Nikolai - Zoya's stepbrother at Knightswood Academy which is a rich elite school. During that time, they get a phone call and Paris's life is changed forever. She is headed to a stranger's home and then enrolled at Knightswood Academy. Of course, as she is poor and a ward of the state now she is viewed as the help and the Davenport's son Liam whom she is staying with isn't going to make things easy for her as he wants her gone. As soon as she arrives, Paris is happy to see her best friend Zoya but the bullying starts as nobody rich and wealthy want a poor girl taking over their school and threatening their statuses. We have a tiny bit of bullying from our main three males but then that dies off as they show romantic interest in Paris. The bullying in Knightswood Academy tends to come from the Queen Bees of the school who are feeling left out as the hot guys tend to be gravitating towards Paris. The bullying also gets quite intense in the last half of the book when Paris stands up for a new friend Lucas and his cousin's aren't pleased with the friendship and set out to break and ruin Paris for interfering with family business. I did like the part where Gabrielle's ( that's one of the guys) Grandfather has a connection to Paris's mother. I had hoped we would find out about her real father, but it didn't come up. Maybe in the second book. Charity Case by Ivy Clyde also finished on an edgy cliffhanger scene too - so I can't wait to read Book#2 when written as went straight to Amazon and noticed we didn't have one up on the author's page.
Profile Image for Leanne.
1,496 reviews39 followers
November 21, 2019
The storyline is decent, the characters are relatable in that oh so fun teen angst stage, but the writing itself gives off the impression it’s written by a teen.

The relationships the mc has with her “bullies” was not all that believable. Then again as I’m not a huge fan of fast burn Rh’s that probably adds to my bias.

I was hoping to see more of a redemption arc but it’s not terrible. If you like fast burn academy stories I would recommend this one.
Profile Image for Andrea Simon.
73 reviews1 follower
November 20, 2019
This book could go a few rounds with an editor. I'm not sure if this was written in an other language then translated to english using a translator app, but it feels like it due to awkward wording/words missing. The characters all spoke so stunted and not at all like teenagers. Also, this is supposed to take place in the US, what high school has graduation ceremonies for each grade?
15 reviews
September 16, 2019
I'll read the next one

Book took on too many story lines and didn't have emotional depth. Having said that I did finish it and I'll be reading the next one to find out how the cliffhanger ends. I do wish the characters would have real emotional responses. Some really heavy things happen but the responses are very superficial. Hoping the next one is improved or I doubt I'll finish it
Profile Image for Liana.
60 reviews
December 18, 2019
In all, I enjoyed reading this. I just wanted to start out with that because there were quite a few issues that I found with the book, to the point where I started compiling a a list. I love reverse harems, but I’m not a huge fan of this “bully” trend that’s kind of popped up out of nowhere. However, this one was done well, with very little of the cruelty coming from the heroes (making their love story more believable, and honestly, more digestible, in my opinion). But as I said, there were quite a few issues with both the writing and the plot, which made the story hard to digest at times:

-Odd phrasing and grammatical errors, including using the female spelling of one of the male main character’s names (spelled Gabrielle—the male spelling would be Gabriel) which was a bit distracting. And—this is a weird one, but hear me out—she talks about muffins as if they’re cupcakes and it just. It bothers me so much. She does this a few times throughout the book.

-Plot holes and continuity errors, such as the fact that there are men watching over her cabin, yet she’s kidnapped literally right in front of it. Or, in a different instance of kidnapping, she’s handcuffed, blindfolded, and muffled, and then the situation is just like, completely glossed over? And everyone’s all good? Why was it necessary to do kidnap them, put them in separate cars, bind her, etc? This was not explained and they moved on so fast. Also, how many times are you gonna get kidnapped before you inform the authorities? Because these are only two of the instances where she was taken. Or at the very least invest in some body guards who actually do their jobs.

-Strange inaccuracies that, at some point, just kind of became funny. For instance, that Halloween was on Friday the 13th? Not sure if the author is aware, but that’s not how Halloween works. And to be honest, even if Halloween changed dates and could be on the 13th, there was literally no significance to this in the plot. Another example: idk what type of periods this girl gets, but I think she should get herself checked out. Never in my life have I had a cramp, then immediately (I mean within seconds) bled through my clothes, and stained a seat. That’s concerning.

-A lot of terrible stuff happens to this girl, but very little time is taken to process it. The emotions feel very surface-level, and glossing over these instances that should be trauma-inducing made it hard to connect at times. People can be amazingly resilient, but that doesn’t mean anyone would be fine hours after being assaulted and nearly gang-raped. We don’t get much of a dialogue about the emotional consequences of this event.

-I didn’t like the hint of victim blaming that was thrown in there towards the end (even if it was just through an internal monologue) when she didn’t come forward right away about the bullying and subsequent assault. I see how the author might have been trying to make this a lesson to stand up for yourself, but it most certainly was not her fault that she was treated that way. And if she didn’t feel she could come forward because no one would believe her—that’s something victims feel on a daily basis. They should never be made to feel responsible in that way.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Athena Que Será, Será.
1,065 reviews70 followers
December 27, 2020
Well... I just have this strange feeling that I read through the script of some Indian TV series.

One of the Hs is enough to take down 6 men of his own size 😐 (they're school kids!).Gotta watch Indian soaps or movies, it's eerily similar.

The h calls out her dead mother when she's about to be raped & one of Hs comes right on time n saves her 🙄.

Overly dramatic dialogues.

She always gets saved by H whenever she's in trouble 🙄! Wonder if she's having a tracker attached to her.

Either the author is an Indian or she might be a huge fan of Indian soaps 😉.
Profile Image for Nitchi Shade.
156 reviews14 followers
September 7, 2020
An amazing writer wrote an amazing start to an amazing world

Loved the characters, definitely bully if that’s your like, then read this book. Slow burn and very very well written. The anticipation for every next scene kept me on my feet and the character development was phenomenal.
Profile Image for Kimberly Garner.
1,341 reviews29 followers
April 20, 2020
This was a good book in the realm of RH bully romance. While I loved the story and characters, the editing errors made it rough for me to full immerse myself in the story. I have NEVER ever complained about editing errors, but yeah there you have it. The characters were great. This is a RH of three, and each guy has a totally different personality. While Paris starts off super weak willed, she does eventually grow a spine.
The timeline was a little rushed for me, but I did like she didn't just jump into bed with any of them, granted this is all my opinion. I do love the secondary characters, however I think the author threw some side conflict in there that didn't need to be there. I did move on to the second book as I was intrigued, and like I said it's not a horrible book, but the editor needs to rethink her day job.
26 reviews
August 24, 2019
Wow, really, really exciting and entertaining

I have been reading all of the HSBR that have been coming out, and this is MOST DEF. one of the better reads. The romance is slow burn enough and not rushed between all of the leading males. That’s one of my biggest pet peeve, when authors rush the story and/ or romance. The character development, which is my others biggest pet peeve, is good. I really am excited for the next installment. Def. worth the time it takes to read it.
Profile Image for bookedbysmut Nikki.
847 reviews18 followers
February 18, 2020
Repetitive

I really wanted to love this book. I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t enjoy it like I wanted.
Repetition. So much. Assaulted twice by the same group. Kidnapped twice.
Dialogue is seriously lacking here. These are supposed to be teenagers and they absolutely do not speak like teens. I actually don’t know adults that speak the way these characters do.
I’ll definitely be reading book 2, because there’s a cliffhanger. I can’t just abandon a series.
Profile Image for Karla.
550 reviews16 followers
September 4, 2019
Enjoyable read

Sign me up for book 2 because that cliffhanger. :O
The story flowed, did drop in pace in places. Did have a few flaws. But it had a compelling story line that had me turn those pages one after the other without stopping.

Yes I would recommend for the lover of BR.
6 reviews
August 23, 2019
Started put decent but lost interest

It started out interesting but then I just wanted it to be over. Both Clara and Zoya annoyed me. I will probably read the next one though
1 review
October 10, 2019
Needs editing

The story was soft and didn’t flow. It needs to be edited. It was predictable and the plot was transparent.
Profile Image for Jen.
475 reviews8 followers
September 22, 2020
It's trash but I'm into it. I'm in THAT mood.
Profile Image for Summer.
102 reviews
March 28, 2021
Nik, Liam, Gabrielle, and Paris.
Nik - The best friend's brother.
Liam - The boss.
Gabrielle - The sweetheart.
Paris - The Charity Case
The novel starts off with Paris and her best friend Zoya are at her mother's bakery having fun. They kiss her goodbye and head to meet Nikolai (Nik - Love interest 1) - Zoya's stepbrother at Knightswood Academy which is for the rich and privileged. During that time, they get a phone call and Paris's life is changed forever, her mother is dead. She now is headed to a stranger's home and then enrolled at the same Academy for the rich and privileged. Of course, as she is poor and has nowhere to go, she is viewed as the help thx to the women who took her in, her son Liam (Love interest 2) whom she is now staying with isn't going to make things easy for her as he wants her gone. As soon as she arrives, Paris is happy to see her best friend Zoya but the bullying starts as nobody rich and wealthy wants a poor girl to take over their school and threatening their status. We have a tiny bit of bullying from our main three males but then that dies off as they show romantic interest in Paris, first Nik, followed by Gabrielle (Love interest 3). Liam is a tougher cookie to crack. The bullying in Knightswood Academy tends to come from the Queen Bees of the school who are feeling left out as the hot guys tend to be gravitating towards Paris. The bullying also gets quite intense in the last half of the book when Paris stands up for a new friend Lucas (Gay) and his cousins aren't pleased with the friendship nor his sexuality and set out to break and ruin Paris for interfering with the family business. ENDS ON CLIFFHANGER!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sonya.
393 reviews
May 24, 2020
Outstanding

I loved this book Paris is an inspiring well rounded character that you can’t but want the best for her. The boys Nik, Gab and Liam bring drama in the best ways. Zoya and Luca warm my heart with there sweetness with whole lots of other characters. The villains in this story are bitter, cruel and twisted which gives the story its edge of darkness that gets you hooked. So as you can see I love this series and Author is becoming a fast favourite of mine.
2,475 reviews
Read
September 26, 2020
Dnf I dont read school books or rather kids still in school. I have no interest in reading a romance book about children.

The only reason I picked up this book was cos I read The Heir by the author which is an incredible 5 star read.

I should have just kept to what I know I like.

If you like this trope then im sure you like this but its not for me.

Check out her other book The Heir, its incredible
Profile Image for ~♥I_Luv_2_Read♥~.
252 reviews21 followers
April 20, 2021
The writing is atrocious and really needs an editor. The story line was interesting enough for me to finish it, but it reads like bad fanfic. You can tell the author is from the UK and with her writing a story that takes place in the USA it really shows how much she doesn't know. She said that Halloween fell on Friday the 13th as just one glaring error. So much stilted writing and Brit speak through out the whole story.
Profile Image for Sarah.
717 reviews3 followers
February 16, 2024
What a dumb girl for taking a dress from her bully like how dumb can you be especially when you have a whole closet there to choose close from but you are so dumb instead of going to closet you take dress bully gives you

Liam publicly humiliates her many times where is the public apology and public love declaration

Liam is dumb and had dumb reasons for bullying her

I am being generous by giving this 2 star. Its a 1.5 str read at beat but im going to give it a 2 because i liked Zoya
Profile Image for Karah.
196 reviews
January 13, 2020
Good start....

So far this is a pretty typical RH bully romance. It’s a prep school setting with likable characters. There are quite a few moment where you definitely have to suspend your disbelief in terms of plot. It’s good enough that I will continue on to the next book in the series.
327 reviews
February 12, 2020
Brilliant

Fast paced, well written with interesting cast of characters and dark villains. There is a slow sub plot developing to intrigue the reader even more. I am looking forward to the next book.
628 reviews1 follower
January 6, 2021
Wow

Holy wow what an intense read, I couldnt put it down. The people at that academy all need a good smack ugh so many not very nice people in there lol and that's putting it mildly. And what a cliffhanger. On to book 2.
26 reviews1 follower
January 1, 2020
Loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It had a good story line to it! I really enjoyed the first installment and can't wait to read the next!
Profile Image for Kayleigh henderson.
1,131 reviews
February 24, 2020
Wow

What a cliffhanger I really need to read the next book. Loving the characters it has had me gripped from the start.
Profile Image for Bonnieville Liddell.
216 reviews1 follower
June 15, 2020
Loved it!!

Loved it! Such a great read! Can’t wait to read more. Bring on book 2!!!!!!!! I loved the story and the plot but everything really!
Profile Image for Danna Lou.
6 reviews
August 6, 2020
Yes! Go get them, sister! Spread your sluttiness out! Hahaha I just hope they're a lot of times that she actually fights her own battle, she's basically a damsel in distress.
4.3
Profile Image for Jennifer Paulet.
1,153 reviews5 followers
September 14, 2020
Good book

I really like this book. The storyline is well written and interesting. The characters are interesting and relatable. !!! ...
5,411 reviews
Read
August 5, 2021
Interesting premise, not a fan of the writing style. DNF.
Profile Image for Angel.
1,224 reviews14 followers
October 30, 2022
It was a good book. The only reason that didn't full stars for me is because of the grammar errors.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews