When a stupid prank goes wrong, Amelie thinks she’ll be getting a slap on the wrist at best, community service at worst. The last thing she expects is her absentee mother to swan into the court room and whisk her off to an English reform school....for the next three years!
What's the only thing worse than being shipped off to the other side of the world? Being sent there with her mother. However, when she’s introduced to the headmaster’s four sons, Amelie thinks she may just have found the perfect way to get herself sent home again.
Little does she know, greater forces are at work to keep her at Knox Academy for a reason. And as secrets and lies begin to be unravelled, Amelie has to decide if she wants to stay to uncover the truth, or run while she still has the chance.
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F*ck You is a reverse harem novel with dark backstory themes and an 18+ warning. It forms Book 1 in the Knox Academy Trilogy.
Can they just stop with these bully tropes? It’s tiring
It’s a stupid bully trope with no detail. Perchance it’s the British literacy which I just don’t get. The plot holds no good feel to it, the characters have no connections, even the explanation of certain events and things leading up to why Amelie was transferred to a new school was pointless.
I thought about rendering this book a chance as the story progresses, however there wasn’t any creativity. I got bored at 30% in this book as it was a blob of nothingness.
The characters lack depth, and maturation and the writing were choppy which just added more for the annoying pointlessness of it all.
Does anyone else find that the older you get and the more you read, the more precise you can be about the tropes that don’t do it for you?
For me, academy bully RH is a bit of a staple. I eat that shit up (hello, Hannaford Prep?), but what I’ve realised I don’t like is when the fmc has been sent to the academy against their will. It turns the whole story into an “I’ll show them” circus, and the heroine comes across as weak and pestilent.
DNFing this one for the above reasons and the constant winking.
What a page turner this was! I am very happy with the ending of this book too. But, let's start at the beginning.
The premise and the plot: Amelie is sent to a special post secondary school after getting into a bit of trouble. Her crime is insubstantial compared to others there, but she can't leave for three years. She comes from a background where she has to be street smart. She's also a survivor of a sexual assault. Her abusive mother is living with the Dean of the school. He has four sons. She feels a connection with each.
Amelie struggles fitting into the new school and trying to navigate life there. This is a contemporary RH, but there are lots of things happening that result in her getting into more trouble. She refuses to give in or give up.
The main characters: - Amelie - FMC, survivor of sexual assault, strong personality - Sawyer - teacher at her school, oldest brother - Kalen - youngest brother, attention seeking and needs validation - Onyx - twin of Slate, middle brother, MMA - Slate - twin of Onyx, middle brother, singer/musician (Dean Monty's only child by blood is Kalen. The others are adopted.)
Love the delinquent angle and secrets behind it. I hope there is a second book, but even if there isn't, I am happy with the ending. It's not a HEA, but it's not a cliffhanger either. It's just enough closure.
On another note, I really appreciate when authors are able to end a book on a note that is neither here nor there, such as this. To me, it shows they trust the readers to keep coming back without short circuiting our brains and keeping up on an emotional cliff for months or years or however long.
Anyway, I definitely recommend this to fan of RH who like an edge of suspense and a FMC who can hold her own. Looking forward to reading the next book!
This star rating is the AVERAGE rating across all 4 books.
First I want to start off by giving a summary of the series as a whole…hopefully.
Sum: Amelie has had her fair share of trouble making over the years, but when a simple prank of pot filled sweets left in the teachers lounge leads her into a court ruling and facing possible juvenile time, an angel swoops in to save her. Just kidding. It’s her mother, the one who abused her as a child and then abandoned her and her older brother and was never heard from again until now, just shy of her 18 birthday, Amelie is whisked away from her home in Australia to a type of reform school for bad apples in the UK, called Knox Academy. Here she realizes she’s the bottom of the food chain in a fucked up game of survival, with no one to truly trust, a looming secret kept hidden from her, and five guys who in their own ways have it out for her. Four being the actual son of headmaster Knox, Kalen and his three older adopted brothers, Sawyer (the oldest) and a teacher at Knox, then the twins Slate and Onyx. A bonus player is the silent but very deadly psychopath, Baxter Branson.
Alright so where the fuck do I begin? How about, I have no clue what the he’ll I just read and I read all four books. I’m only giving a summary in this review, so I can spend more time on each individual book review themselves, as book 1 wasn’t that bad.
First I’ll start out with saying, at first, the book had me intrigued. Sad little girl who seems badass thrust back into her abusive mothers life, hell bent on making the world burn and hopefully getting sent back home to her family in the Outback. She even goes so far to start her plan by seducing the oldest son, before he finds out she is not only one of his new students, but also soon to be step sister. The way she went about it was bold, and honestly the very last thing I admired or enjoyed about her character.
I will say her being broken was interesting, having been previously gang assaulted by a rival group against her actual brother (Aadi) and back home bestie, Smalls. This fact is brought up more often than not, and the guys she is trying to trust, but also use to help her get sent home, are aware of this information and with a minor misunderstand, (she didn’t appreciate the grade their mother gave her in a class, and as allowed, went to get a second opinion from another teacher who anonymously, since he didn’t know who Amelie’s other teacher was, wrote them up for obvious blatant wrong doing by the grade). Amelie herself didn’t ask for that part, nor knew about, or had a thing to do with it. But the mother, divorced from their cheating dad who is shacking up with Amelie’s mother, said that she personally turned her in. So the guys thought it was okay to make like they were going to gang rape her after acting like they loved her???
This is habitual by the way, and this sort of treatment, not necessarily the gang rape, but just rude and abusive towards her for limited or zero reasons happen from all 4 brothers and side psycho boy. Like, often, and for why?
My main, main issues, is that despite these characters being in what I would guess is like a senior year of “high school” type place… is that they are all there for serious, serious issues - like murder, arson, rape, etc. and even the darker stuff, we learn later, about the brothers….so why is it they are sooooooooooo fucking immature????????????? Like on a scale of fuck offfffff are they immature!!
Kalen, acts five years old throughout the whole book, I mean to a T, but we ignore that cause he has a, and I quote, ”Monster Cock”? No fam. It’s nasty and although he was funny here and there, he came off as a petulant child who needed his ass whooped and maybe therapy.
Slate, supposedly the shy twin, amazing singer, and just as broken as Amelie (similar parental abuse), was also quick to turn on her knowing better but just, “goes along with his twin”. Okay? So you couldn’t stand up for yourself as a child, understandable, but now you’re an adult and still can’t stand up to your brother about tricking an abused girl into falling for him to then almost assaulting her because of some trivial child bullshit?? Wow…what a man….
Onyx, the twin I wish I could literally cut the fuck open and fillet like a fish. We get it, you couldn’t save your brother as a child, so you want to now and that means no girl is gunna get one over on y’all! Fuck offfffff! For real lol. He is hateful, broody, obvi thinks assault is best, moody and annoying as hell, second least fave brother. Eventually he realizes he loves Amelie, but gets pissed when she won’t forgive him for trying to gang rape her on purpose to re-traumatize her…the fuck?
Sawyer, Ah, good old chap. He is a twat with almost no personality, one hot scene in the kitchen with his soon to be sister, then he acts like an ass, takes what he wants from her but manages to always be her true favorite. I just can’t even after all the other brothers….
Branson…the only redeemable one in my opinion, but you really need to get into book two for that to matter, and beyond.
My only favorite character in the whole series? SUSAN. Yup, you heard me, the fucking tablet. She is the only one consistent, has clear intent, and never lets Amelie down. Ever.
As for Amelie herself? Juvenile, cries all the time, reads like she’s 12 sometimes. Stupid enough to forgive those guys and only mildly funny. Enough said.
Overall? 1 Plot? 2 (bk1), 2 (bk2), 1 (bk2.5), 0 (bk3) Spice? 2 all the way Char Dev? Where? 0…nah 1, for Susan. Cheating? No, but fuck if there should have been HEA? Wouldn’t give a fuck but maybe Triggers? Yeah, drugs, alcohol, sexual assault, ptsd, re-trauma, parental abuse, age gap Tropes? Reverse harem, but shouldn’t have been, crime organization, enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers to wtf? High school bully sort of, shitty guys, poor excuse of a heroine.
I liked parts of it and it had a lot of potential but the behavior of the guys (for example triggering a rape victim on purpose) is unforgivable. Part of me wants to know what happens in book 2 but like there are enough bully romances that involve a secret society, I don’t need another one to keep up with.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I love me a good taboo romance and this book has it in spades; step-siblings, twins and a little teacher action thrown in for good measure. And bonus, for fans of CN’s Vengeance series, Baxter Branson is here for your reading pleasure.
WOW! This book was SOO GOOD! I was addicted from jump! I was either on fire from the steam, or laughing at the freaking hilariousness of the characters! Honestly, I could not. get. enough. These were some of my favorite character personalities I've read. Even the steamy parts had some hilarity that made you connect with it, because we all know sexy times don't always go as planned! There's always an awkward or funny moment that breaks that sexy mood, and boy did they have those moments! This absolutely a new favorite of mine, I cannot wait for more! F*ck You has made it to TalkNerdy2me's Must Reads because I just cannot live without this book in my life!
Epic ride of ups and downs to blow you out of the water and left clinging to anything as a life raft. WOW
Omg this book floored me with every turn of the page. The story itself is majorly intense but also opens you upto love and strong bonds. Only to stamp down hard with its wicked twists and turns and eye opening reveals leaving you torn with what you think Amelie should choose to do. Amelie is such a strong character that you instantly feel everything she does. Sawyer, Kaylen, Slate and Onyx are each in their own way great characters and show their growing interest in so many different ways only for some to be manipulated into believing Amelie is in the wrong to which they turn on her making her relive a bad part of her past. To which she hates more due to Kaylen not standing up for her. Will she get to go back to Australia or will the boys stop her and show her how sorry they are for treating her that way. Pick up a copy today its wicked and it will pull you down the rabbit hole to and leave you stunned and left wondering what will happen next.
From the mind that brought you vengeance comes a spin-off with bad boy Bax. What can I say except wow! Step-brothers, Twin-sammich & a teacher what is not to love. This is such an amazing co-write Jaye & Crystal mesh together seamlessly you can't tell where one let's off and another starts. A must read.
This book was so over the top and wholly unbelievable. The scenes are beyond extra and there is a complete lack of any consequences (like not even formal, but just like scenes happen and there is no reaction from the world). We just move from bizarre, unrealistic scene to the next at a breakneck pace. Some of the sections were so over-the-top that I literally expected her to wake up from a dream.
Absolutely everything was turned up to 11 in a crazy way, but somehow it was beyond enjoyable. The closest thing I can compare it to is Den of Vipers. Like, if you are willing to roll with the constant “what the actual f*ck” moments, it's an enjoyable, ridiculous ride.
I liked this one. It wasn’t the best, and the story was a bit rushed, but I definitely enjoyed reading it. If there weren’t so many loose ends bothering me, I’d probably be a lot happier with it.
Amelie was a fine FMC, the guys were a little weird but I liked them. Honestly, Elsie was my favorite. The good news is I’m interested enough to finish the series off and read the next one so I’ll be looking forward to that.
Not bad, but not the best by Crystal North. Definitely super angsty though, and the steam level was A+.
*I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Ok, so I love reverse harem and bully books, so I thought id love this too...... but, I was extremely disappointed. First, I don't think the author is descriptive enough. she jumps from one scene to another without explaining anything. I didn't mind the plot, I think it would be great if the author would have narrated the story better. I also don't understand how Kalen's mom knew who Amelie was whilst the boys had no idea she was their stepsister.
Second, Slate and Onyx are legit, soo mean to her. They started bullying her for no proper reason. They bully and expose one of her deepest secrets and don't apologize to her after they realize it was a traumatic experience for her.
Third, it's not cool how easily the FMC gets attached to these guys. Yes, in bully books, the FMC falls for the MMC but in this book, it was just way too much. She kept on forgiving the twins and Kalen even though they triggered her multiple times and didn't apologize properly afterward. Like, girl.. have some backbone, just coz they're hot doesn't mean you can easily forgive them there barely was any chemistry between the characters, and even then, it wasn't DESCRIPTIVE enough.
I'm not even going to continue on with the second book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Ok so I have major mixed feelings for this book, Amelie really frustrated me at times, she showed major backbone and sass in the beginning but I felt like she lost that along the way, then you have the four guys, Sawyer, Onyx, Slate and Kalen. I felt she had a connection with each guy, but this is where she became weak in my eyes like you can start falling for a guy without losing yourself in the process. The guys I honestly wanted to slap some sense in to them, Kalen is easily led and does what the brothers tell him, Slate was a softie away from his twin Onyx, Onyx was blowing hot and cold all the time, and Sawyer was the forbidden fruit since he's a teacher. The guys wronged Amelie so many times after misunderstandings not willing to hear her side of things but she forgave them every damn time. I'll read book 2 when that releases because the plot has intrigued me enough to keep going and I'm hoping the guys pull themselves together and grow the hell up and I hope Baxter is in the next book too, the mysterious bad boy....
Maybe it is the American way of life I live... but half the plot doesn't pass the logic test. Then the secrecy doesn't exactly make much sense either when "all" is revealed in the end of this book. Because of those main reasons, I didn't really enjoy the book at all.
An academy dark read guaranteed to have you clinging to the edge of your seat
📒REVIEW📒 December 16th 2020 . F*ck You by Crystal North and Jaye Pratt Book 1 in the Knox Academy Series . ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ . I hate myself. There’s no going back now, but I hate myself. . I should have done my research. I have been wanting to read this for the LONGEST TIME thinking that the series should be completed by now. Only to see when getting book 2 it in fact isn’t. So now I’m at a crossroads whether to continue and face what book 2 offers and slowly die painfully because I KNOW sh*t is about to go down and it could potentially end on a cliffy, or wait till the others come out and slowly lose my mind from waiting regardless? . Either way, this book, amazing! It has the element of mystery, the bully enemies to lovers romance, the steam, the drama, everything from family drama to high school drama to lovers drama, and let’s not forget the dark and twisted with the past traumas etc and I’m here for it!!!! . This book gives me all the feels in one. The angst, the sizzling chemistry, the suspense, and anticipation for when you shit is about to go down! I love it all. The characters are great, I have a hard time pinpointing Kalen, he’s just not giving me high school vibes and I don’t know what to make of that. His playful nature contradicts his situation and therefore comes across immature and not at all the 18 of 19 year old he’s depicted as. I gotta say I love Onyx, there’s just something about him, he’s shrouded in mystery even though he’s probably the most black and white out of them all. But I love them all. . I wasn’t expecting a family organisation type element in the story so that got my excitement level up higher. I love the subtly in the way the mystery is being revealed and unraveled. There’s so much still to uncover but I’m glad we got something at the end of this because I was damn near going out of my mind with what the possibilities were that was going on. This world is amazing and I hope the more we dive in with the upcoming books the darker it gets. .
Amelie was punished for a prank gone wrong. Instead of receiving the normal punishment, she was sent to a reforming academy for delinquents. As it turns out, her mom is dating the headmaster of the school. She also meets her bullies and soon-to-be stepbrothers. * * * * * * * * *We have our FMC, Amelie, is one badass chick.She is fierce, tough, cunning, & relentless. She is a survivor. She had survived a rough past between the abuse from her mother and surviving an assault, but she does not let that break her. In fact, she wants to get even.
*Kalen, he is the youngest of the four. He took an instant claim to Amelie. He's the funny guy, the one always cracking jokes and who wants the attention on him. He is also charming as hell. He's the only biological son of the headmaster.
*Next, we have the twins, adopted by Headmaster Knox, Slate and Onyx. Onyx, he's the hot head out of the duo. He channels his rage in MMA. He definitely has an alpha and protective personality. He has walls built up and very cautious on who he lets in. Slate is the more softer one. Although, he has some walls too, he is more the nurturer. He's a musician and also sings. He's usually the one to calm Onyx down.
Last, but certainly not least, Sawyer. He was also taken in by Headmaster Knox. Sawyer is also the oldest and is employed as a teacher at the academy. Although, he does have a little something dangerous and fire to him, he is the more level headed one out of the group.
This story was an incredible ride! And that ending showed how much of a boss bitch Amelie really is. She did what had to be done to protect herself. I literally could not put this down. Can't wait to read more from these authors!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Alright let's start this off with coffee does bloody fucking nothing for people with adhd. Okay cool we got that awesome, coffee is a stimulant sure but in most cases it's self medicating so people with adhd feel like a ND person. The rsd aspect of kalen's character was just annoying, sure rejection hurts a bit more due to rsd but clearly he had time to settle and think yet still proceeded to act like a bitch. Your diagnosis doesn't give you a reason to act like a bitch that's on him and his family.
The story was jumpy, forced together and jumped povs just to make sense at times. The rape videos being distributed actually weren't just for shock value and were brought up again, only for the heroes to try and make her feel like she was there again. So good luck redeeming these guys.
I'll be reading the next book only to see what happens with the shitshow of their father wanting to bring in Amelie to the secret society and disregarding her abusive mother.
To be blunt and rude, with spoilers if you want the secret society read featherstone academy. If you want to read bullying where the girl has a friend that is a lesbian that loves her and supports her then read the untouchables. I'm biased but if you want bullying I'd just read hannaford or featherstone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
You know.not many books can bring true smiles and anger all in a few pages, I've never read anything by either of the writers before, so after seeing this book float around on Facebook I was looking forward to starting it and it didnt disappoint. I love love love our FMC she doesnt give a shit and for me that sells a story, she really isnt a cliche character, she really has balls of steel and takes what she needs when she needs it. This book does have triggers so please bare that in mind if you plan to read it
F*UK you is right. Crystal North as done it again along side jaye Cox.
A prank gone wrong sends amelie to a new school (knox academy). She ends up meeting the headmaster four sons. Sawyer, slate, kalen, onyx, Sercets, lies, and a great plot. Amelie so called mother was abusive to her and was a tool. God I wanted to bitch slap her. Can't wait for the next installment. Find out how it all went down then pick up this book you want be disappointed.
I need to stop picking up books that I have trouble putting down. Seriously. It's becoming a problem. 😆
This was my first book by the authors, and I very much enjoyed it. The characters are relatable, and I was drawn into the story pretty quickly.
This is a medium-fast burn, and the pace is steady, which I quite like in books. There's a lot going on, and I'm glad I waited for completion so I can go straight into the next one.
There is great chemistry with these characters. Amelie is a tough chick with a bad rep sent off to a reform academy.
Falling for all of her “step brothers” we have instant attraction. But it’s a good push pull of a love hate relationship with the boys and Amelie’s mum, their future step mum.
There is some past trauma and well keep secrets with unexpected plot twists that keep you guessing.
I started and kept reading until I was done. First off it's a medium to fast burn reverse harem which I love. The characters are great and have stories that will break your heart and just as your becoming happy for them they break your heart all over again. Finding put at the end what is really going on has me itching for book 2.
I love a good Bully Romance. This one is semi dark and definitely has a few trigger ⚠️ warnings. If you don't like Bully books then don't bother to read it only to leave a bad review because of that 🤦♀️. I loved it so I'm off to start book 2 now.