I didn't think it was possible for Waverly to top Broken Elite, but I genuinely believe she did with this one. Kennedy was my favorite character in the first book, so I've been looking forward to reading Damaged Elite since she announced it. It took me a while to finally arrange my reading schedule for it, but once I started it, though, I could not put it down.
If you follow my bookstagram, you probably know that Broken Elite is one of my absolute favorite books that I've read this year. I read it as an ARC in March, and as soon as I possibly could, I bought the paperback copy. Unlike the first book, which I was a slight bit iffy on at first, I was fully invested from page one of Damaged Elite.
I was expecting it to start completely over - around where the first book started - and follow Zach and Kennedy from there. However, it picks up about where BE ends. This was slightly confusing at first, since it's been about six or seven months since I last read it, but I caught onto the references quickly. The only thing I couldn't remember right off the bat was what happened to Andre at the end of BE; I was confused about that until the end.
The characters were well-written, as was the character development - I'm a sucker for a tougher guy softening over time for the person he loves, which describes Zach perfectly. As I said before (probably a couple times), I adored Kennedy from the start. She reminds me a lot of my best friend, and I love that she can be both serious yet lighthearted at the same time. The Elite Boys remind me a lot of two of my closest male friends, in the sense that they continuously bicker and end up bringing either my best friend or me into the middle of it. Some of the Elite Boys - Patrick - were extremely frustrating in the first book, but they were much more tolerable in this one.
Even though this book focuses primarily on Zach and Kennedy, we still get to see Patrick and Everly quite a bit. I love how healthy their relationship became; I also loved watching Zach and Kennedy slowly become less toxic as the book progressed. I often found myself just as annoyed with Zach as Kennedy was getting - maybe even more annoyed. When he finally let his guard down with her, I got so excited I scared the bunny.
As with Broken Elite, some of the dramatic events did feel slightly exaggerated, but again, I thought it made the story even better. Though honestly, at this point, I don't think I could even put a secret crime ring hidden in a college frat house past people.
I was actually very pleased with the ending of the book, even with some of the events (that I won't mention to avoid spoilers) that happened. I did accidentally spoil the last chapter, and though I thought I knew what was going to happen, I was shocked. I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry (happy tears, I swear), so I did both.
Despite the drama, suspense, and darker subjects this book portrays, I found it a bit comforting. It always feels nice to go into a book with high expectations and have those met, if not exceeded. Additionally, I went into this one knowing and loving the Elite boys, and of course they didn't disappoint at all. Even during the more intense parts, the bickering between Patrick and Kennedy always lightened the mood. I definitely see myself rereading this series quite a few times in the future.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book via Waverly. This did not influence my opinion in any way.