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Fighting For Life
Aubry and her parents’ involvement with a drug syndicate has made her life miserable. Struggling to keep up her studies until graduation, she is forced to sell drugs to make ends meet. Her abusive father steals the drugs she intends to trade, making her drown in debt when her boss discovers her secret.
Desperate, she joins The Underground, a high-paying illegal fighting club where she meets her popular classmate Aiden Clark and asks him to train her. Unexpectedly, a special friendship develops, and Aiden finds himself wanting to protect the girl he initially detests.
Will she win the fight and finally set herself free from her undesirable life? Can she keep her friendship with Aiden without being haunted by her past?
[Trigger The following story contain mentions of abuse, drugs, and self-harm. Reader discretion is advised.]
Desperate, she joins The Underground, a high-paying illegal fighting club where she meets her popular classmate Aiden Clark and asks him to train her. Unexpectedly, a special friendship develops, and Aiden finds himself wanting to protect the girl he initially detests.
Will she win the fight and finally set herself free from her undesirable life? Can she keep her friendship with Aiden without being haunted by her past?
[Trigger The following story contain mentions of abuse, drugs, and self-harm. Reader discretion is advised.]
- GenresRomanceSportsHigh School
772 pages, Paperback
Published August 21, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
April 22, 2023
Could not put it down finished it at one day it was so gooddddd def one of the best books i reead i laughed.cried.kicked my feet did everything u could think of already want to forget it and read it fir the first time again😭😭😭😭😭💖💖💖💖
UPDATE
i did read it again and i loved it even more i finished it in 2 days i absolutely love this book🤭💗💗💗💗💗
UPDATE
i did read it again and i loved it even more i finished it in 2 days i absolutely love this book🤭💗💗💗💗💗
November 11, 2023
I SWEAR I’m emotionally attached to this book. It’s been years since I’ve read it on wattpad for the first time and I’ve read it multiple times since and I just can’t get enough of this book. Aubry and Aiden will always have my heart (and Brandon because without him…… 💔)
January 25, 2024
i don’t know how to feel about this book. for a Wattpad book, it was good. but as a published book, not so much. i hoped for some serious editing in the kindle version, but i was disappointed 😐.
this book is way too long and very repetitive. i love dual POVs—but the author does this thing where she repeats dialogue/events that just happened in Aubrey’s pov, THEN AGAIN in aiden’s pov. or vice versa. once in a while this is fine, and usually even helps paint the scene the author is trying to portray better. especially if it’s a climactic moment—it’s cool to hear both sides. but that’s not how it’s used at all, and it just got way too confusing after awhile.
like i said, i think the plot is honestly very interesting, heartbreaking and i was rooting for Aubry all the way through. but it just wasn’t executed well.
aubrey’s story was painful, and like i said i was rooting for her the entire book. but after awhile, the constant traumatic situations were so repetitive, i just couldn’t take it seriously anymore. i know it’s a book—but from how tiny aubrey is described as, there’s no way she would have survived her physical injuries she sustains OR been able to fight in any capacity 🙃 i mean this girl was constantly bleeding, had broken bones, scabs all over; she was a mess! it just made no sense to me. also she was living on the streets for months, completely disheveled (?). how is she alive? how does she somehow still look so gorgeous, even if she was beaten to a pulp 2 pages before (?) bizarre.
also, why is every man in this book besides Aiden either a r*pist, an abuser or a hater? again, it’s just over the top with the trauma. it was unnecessary. it was more for shock value than progressing the plot. a lot of these events that happen to aubrey, could have been omitted. and instead, spend more time exploring single painful events more in depth little by little.
overall, i liked aubrey’s resilience as the FMC a lot! aiden was kind of a prick imo. but his family is so pure, especially when they take her in after finding her freezing to death on a bench.
like i said, for a wattpad level read it’s good. but that’s about it . tries way too hard to be edgy.
💗💗💗
𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: none
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬: enemies (kinda?) to lovers
💗💗💗
💭𝘪’𝘮 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳-𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘻𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦—𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵-𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴. 𝘰𝘣𝘷, 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦. 𝘪’𝘮 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦…𝘴𝘰 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵. 𝘪’𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭.
𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 & 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 💗✨
this book is way too long and very repetitive. i love dual POVs—but the author does this thing where she repeats dialogue/events that just happened in Aubrey’s pov, THEN AGAIN in aiden’s pov. or vice versa. once in a while this is fine, and usually even helps paint the scene the author is trying to portray better. especially if it’s a climactic moment—it’s cool to hear both sides. but that’s not how it’s used at all, and it just got way too confusing after awhile.
like i said, i think the plot is honestly very interesting, heartbreaking and i was rooting for Aubry all the way through. but it just wasn’t executed well.
aubrey’s story was painful, and like i said i was rooting for her the entire book. but after awhile, the constant traumatic situations were so repetitive, i just couldn’t take it seriously anymore. i know it’s a book—but from how tiny aubrey is described as, there’s no way she would have survived her physical injuries she sustains OR been able to fight in any capacity 🙃 i mean this girl was constantly bleeding, had broken bones, scabs all over; she was a mess! it just made no sense to me. also she was living on the streets for months, completely disheveled (?). how is she alive? how does she somehow still look so gorgeous, even if she was beaten to a pulp 2 pages before (?) bizarre.
also, why is every man in this book besides Aiden either a r*pist, an abuser or a hater? again, it’s just over the top with the trauma. it was unnecessary. it was more for shock value than progressing the plot. a lot of these events that happen to aubrey, could have been omitted. and instead, spend more time exploring single painful events more in depth little by little.
overall, i liked aubrey’s resilience as the FMC a lot! aiden was kind of a prick imo. but his family is so pure, especially when they take her in after finding her freezing to death on a bench.
like i said, for a wattpad level read it’s good. but that’s about it . tries way too hard to be edgy.
💗💗💗
𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: none
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬: enemies (kinda?) to lovers
💗💗💗
💭𝘪’𝘮 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳-𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘻𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦—𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵-𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴. 𝘰𝘣𝘷, 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦. 𝘪’𝘮 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦…𝘴𝘰 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵. 𝘪’𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭.
𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 & 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 💗✨
December 5, 2021
It's decent read, however....
It is, actually, really really well though out book. It is interesting. It is entertaining. It is a book full of emotions. However....and I am really sorry...but execution of it is really poor. Although, there were no typing mistake as such, quarter of the word count could have been slashed. So this book is written in dual POV right...Author would finish one POV and start another POV exactly the same...like word to word...And then trail of though about something, on several occasions, same thought repeated twice in one paragraph...
Nevertheless, I read the book and I finished it...just because I loved the plot and it's development. By the way, it is a sloooow burner...and it was fine...it was not the main issue.
In my opinion, this book require professional editing...and then it will have a chance to do good.
Did I enjoy reading it...regardless few glitches, yes.
Would I recommend it to a friend...yes, but will warn them about its quality.
Would I read it again... no.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
If I would still 5 ⭐ in a half... I would give 2.5 ⭐ for plot and it's development (rounds up to 3⭐) . The other half would go to the execution and writting style... 0⭐
It is, actually, really really well though out book. It is interesting. It is entertaining. It is a book full of emotions. However....and I am really sorry...but execution of it is really poor. Although, there were no typing mistake as such, quarter of the word count could have been slashed. So this book is written in dual POV right...Author would finish one POV and start another POV exactly the same...like word to word...And then trail of though about something, on several occasions, same thought repeated twice in one paragraph...
Nevertheless, I read the book and I finished it...just because I loved the plot and it's development. By the way, it is a sloooow burner...and it was fine...it was not the main issue.
In my opinion, this book require professional editing...and then it will have a chance to do good.
Did I enjoy reading it...regardless few glitches, yes.
Would I recommend it to a friend...yes, but will warn them about its quality.
Would I read it again... no.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
If I would still 5 ⭐ in a half... I would give 2.5 ⭐ for plot and it's development (rounds up to 3⭐) . The other half would go to the execution and writting style... 0⭐
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2023
I started reading this and God was it hurtful to read. So much happened to the main female character, I loved her for being so strong and never giving up. This is what I love reading in a novel. I expect authors to not make the women rely upon others
February 6, 2026
Spoilers *Long Review*
This has an interesting day for me because I just read a book that was originally released on Wattpad and not gonna lie, I got instantly hooked by its plot and premise along with the darker themes that the story has and decided to buy the version of Amazon Kindle. Now, the Wattpad version was excusable because it has a lot of spelling errors, but when I saw the novel version in its fullest, I suddenly found myself more frustrated in ways that I couldn't begin to understand despite the interesting premise that is both heartbreaking and resilient.
The characters, especially the main cast in Aubry and Aiden are written okay and had motivations of their own along with the depth that feels earned. As a matter of fact, I've rooted for Aubry to prevail along with Aiden because her story is painful, and relatable and I got my wish when it happened when Aiden stepped in to defeat the bad guys in her life, but not before she put up a good fight regardless and the 'happy ending' was pretty nice, to say the least. In addition, the supporting cast in Tommy, Brianna, and Brandon also moved the plot along very well and even the drug lord Demetri had some depth despite not liking him in the beginning.
But one of my biggest gripes is how the characters were handled overall and how much of a chore the characters can truly be. For example, on the main villains are in its hatable characters in Daniel (the psycho brother of Demetri) Sunny, Ronnie and how they dragged the story. Now don't get me wrong, they're supposed to be hatable and ignite emotions from the reader. And I respect that because not every villain can love to hate or be charismatic as they just need to be well-written enough to become a more interesting character than the hero, in my opinion.
However, for the main villains like Daniel, I beg to differ because they're so over-the-top (and not Dio Brando-levels of hilarity) that the irritation I got is that they are written so poorly that it made me not want to physically read it. Instead of feeling absolutely tense, I felt a sense of dread, anger, and annoyance of how they ended up grating on my nerves because they all felt like a chore to sit through rather than a threat to be feared like he should've been if he was written much better. Instead, he's not a threatening villain at all because he doesn't have enough depth to be a fully-realized character.
In my opinion, I wish there were a lot of character moments because Daniel could've been a great foil for Aiden and Demetri could've been a great foil for Aubry and more importantly, Daniel should've been killed off halfway through the story and being defeated by both Aubry and Aiden for Demetri to emerge as the final boss. Across hundreds of page of how much of a horrible being Daniel is from Aubry's POV, that narrative loses all elements of surprise because we all know that Daniel is going to do something horrible to Aubry and was the same just like in the very first chapter. And for a story that was originally released on Wattpad, this is completely evident in its tropes.
However, that doesn't extend my frustration on the main villains as I also have gripes on the main characters as well despite their interesting story of a 'bad boy and abused girl' angst trope that I completely gave in and was rewarded by their ending. The main and supporting characters themselves are cringy at times (that includes Aiden and Aubry's circle of friends) and I found myself completely rolling my eyes and facepalming whenever scenes they have conflict in because it can be annoying at times.
Because they both fall into the typical Wattpad tropes, the main characters in Aiden and Aubry also have their character arcs suffer at times as well despite their good character development. Aiden, especially whom, was an unlikable prick in the beginning but managed to become likable in the end when he managed to forgive Aubry giving the drugs to his dad by saving her life. Of course, there are times where Aiden suddenly stagnates at times and his overall story suffers. Aubry's traumatic story was great in the beginning because we caught a glimpse of her life and it's rather easy to be invested in.
But there were times where Aubry's story arc feels unrealistic and grating to the point where it would've been better if her situations involving constant trauma were significantly reduced and the trauma were more subtle than absolutely blatant, like it was at times. Besides, one thing I've noticed, is that with the amount of injuries that she had sustained from the physical abuse or how tiny Aubry is, it wouldn't make sense to have Aubry suddenly defy the odds by becoming an elite fighter just because she had a few weeks to train and all of a sudden, she won her fights against opponents to make it to the Final two with Aiden. And let's not forget, the consumption of her trauma can make her unintentionally selfish at times, even towards Aiden.
And what I don't really like about this book is how truly over-the-top can be dealing with the story's trauma as it felt like a plot device designed to shock readers at first read, but after re-reading several times, it basically falls apart because the plot became stagnated as a result. Not to mention, Their inner monologue can be cringy and repetitive at times ... And speaking of repetitiveness ...
This book was way too damn unnecessarily long because this was 900 pages on Kindle (and nearly 800 pages on paperback) and it had 63 Chapters and a 7-part Epilogue that I had to sit through in a couple hours that helped me commit the memory of reading this. The dual POVs in Aubry and Aiden was brilliant on paper, but in execution, it wasn't properly done right because all it did was make it repetitive instead of seeing the separate POVs that could've been easily interconnected or better yet, if it was in 3rd-person POV, then we could've had better tight writing than the one it had. But instead, the dual 1st-person POV was a back-and-forth of the same situation that made the overall story dragged down by its length.
For a story that was originally released on Wattpad in 2017, I shouldn't expect too much out of it because the story hooked me up straight away and the 2021 novel version had so much potential to improve and revise on its shortcomings. I also felt like the author has a chance to deviate the characters from the original while keeping elements the same. But instead, the writing remained unpolished and the characters remained the same as it was in the original. It would've been much better if the number of chapters and the length of its pages was significantly reduced to just 300-400 pages because the entire book felt long, meaning that the plot stagnated until the very end.
I truly can't hate this book at all because the plot is interesting and the author managed to hook her readers on the character's struggles and the darker premise. I understood why it's popular on Wattpad and I love how the author managed to publish the entire thing as a novel. Not anyone can do that and I appreciate her nonetheless. However, I can't deny its technical flaws and how it's lack of deviation from its original Wattpad tropes had made this book not a well-written story at all because it has so much content, yet so little to offer to the audience.
For the ranking, I'm going to give it 2/5. The book itself on Wattpad was a great read and it had a chance to become great once I heard it was released as a novel. It had so much potential because the beginning was good and the ending was okay. However, its cons outweighed the pros as the middle part it stagnated along with its repetitiveness that dragged the story down to the end. It was a missed opportunity to say the least because I ended up skimming the entire book because it was so long and repetitive and I only just go to the parts where it truly mattered. But by the end, I felt frustrated and disappointed because the execution was poor despite liking Aubry and Aiden as the main characters.
I may look like I'm being harsh and thinking way too much, in which I am, but it's never meant for me to bash author for her work because I think she's a great writer. But this book isn't for me because it left me disappointed and frustrated since the story is overshaowed by tropes that are acceptable in Wattpad, but in the finished product.
What a waste of potential.
This has an interesting day for me because I just read a book that was originally released on Wattpad and not gonna lie, I got instantly hooked by its plot and premise along with the darker themes that the story has and decided to buy the version of Amazon Kindle. Now, the Wattpad version was excusable because it has a lot of spelling errors, but when I saw the novel version in its fullest, I suddenly found myself more frustrated in ways that I couldn't begin to understand despite the interesting premise that is both heartbreaking and resilient.
The characters, especially the main cast in Aubry and Aiden are written okay and had motivations of their own along with the depth that feels earned. As a matter of fact, I've rooted for Aubry to prevail along with Aiden because her story is painful, and relatable and I got my wish when it happened when Aiden stepped in to defeat the bad guys in her life, but not before she put up a good fight regardless and the 'happy ending' was pretty nice, to say the least. In addition, the supporting cast in Tommy, Brianna, and Brandon also moved the plot along very well and even the drug lord Demetri had some depth despite not liking him in the beginning.
But one of my biggest gripes is how the characters were handled overall and how much of a chore the characters can truly be. For example, on the main villains are in its hatable characters in Daniel (the psycho brother of Demetri) Sunny, Ronnie and how they dragged the story. Now don't get me wrong, they're supposed to be hatable and ignite emotions from the reader. And I respect that because not every villain can love to hate or be charismatic as they just need to be well-written enough to become a more interesting character than the hero, in my opinion.
However, for the main villains like Daniel, I beg to differ because they're so over-the-top (and not Dio Brando-levels of hilarity) that the irritation I got is that they are written so poorly that it made me not want to physically read it. Instead of feeling absolutely tense, I felt a sense of dread, anger, and annoyance of how they ended up grating on my nerves because they all felt like a chore to sit through rather than a threat to be feared like he should've been if he was written much better. Instead, he's not a threatening villain at all because he doesn't have enough depth to be a fully-realized character.
In my opinion, I wish there were a lot of character moments because Daniel could've been a great foil for Aiden and Demetri could've been a great foil for Aubry and more importantly, Daniel should've been killed off halfway through the story and being defeated by both Aubry and Aiden for Demetri to emerge as the final boss. Across hundreds of page of how much of a horrible being Daniel is from Aubry's POV, that narrative loses all elements of surprise because we all know that Daniel is going to do something horrible to Aubry and was the same just like in the very first chapter. And for a story that was originally released on Wattpad, this is completely evident in its tropes.
However, that doesn't extend my frustration on the main villains as I also have gripes on the main characters as well despite their interesting story of a 'bad boy and abused girl' angst trope that I completely gave in and was rewarded by their ending. The main and supporting characters themselves are cringy at times (that includes Aiden and Aubry's circle of friends) and I found myself completely rolling my eyes and facepalming whenever scenes they have conflict in because it can be annoying at times.
Because they both fall into the typical Wattpad tropes, the main characters in Aiden and Aubry also have their character arcs suffer at times as well despite their good character development. Aiden, especially whom, was an unlikable prick in the beginning but managed to become likable in the end when he managed to forgive Aubry giving the drugs to his dad by saving her life. Of course, there are times where Aiden suddenly stagnates at times and his overall story suffers. Aubry's traumatic story was great in the beginning because we caught a glimpse of her life and it's rather easy to be invested in.
But there were times where Aubry's story arc feels unrealistic and grating to the point where it would've been better if her situations involving constant trauma were significantly reduced and the trauma were more subtle than absolutely blatant, like it was at times. Besides, one thing I've noticed, is that with the amount of injuries that she had sustained from the physical abuse or how tiny Aubry is, it wouldn't make sense to have Aubry suddenly defy the odds by becoming an elite fighter just because she had a few weeks to train and all of a sudden, she won her fights against opponents to make it to the Final two with Aiden. And let's not forget, the consumption of her trauma can make her unintentionally selfish at times, even towards Aiden.
And what I don't really like about this book is how truly over-the-top can be dealing with the story's trauma as it felt like a plot device designed to shock readers at first read, but after re-reading several times, it basically falls apart because the plot became stagnated as a result. Not to mention, Their inner monologue can be cringy and repetitive at times ... And speaking of repetitiveness ...
This book was way too damn unnecessarily long because this was 900 pages on Kindle (and nearly 800 pages on paperback) and it had 63 Chapters and a 7-part Epilogue that I had to sit through in a couple hours that helped me commit the memory of reading this. The dual POVs in Aubry and Aiden was brilliant on paper, but in execution, it wasn't properly done right because all it did was make it repetitive instead of seeing the separate POVs that could've been easily interconnected or better yet, if it was in 3rd-person POV, then we could've had better tight writing than the one it had. But instead, the dual 1st-person POV was a back-and-forth of the same situation that made the overall story dragged down by its length.
For a story that was originally released on Wattpad in 2017, I shouldn't expect too much out of it because the story hooked me up straight away and the 2021 novel version had so much potential to improve and revise on its shortcomings. I also felt like the author has a chance to deviate the characters from the original while keeping elements the same. But instead, the writing remained unpolished and the characters remained the same as it was in the original. It would've been much better if the number of chapters and the length of its pages was significantly reduced to just 300-400 pages because the entire book felt long, meaning that the plot stagnated until the very end.
I truly can't hate this book at all because the plot is interesting and the author managed to hook her readers on the character's struggles and the darker premise. I understood why it's popular on Wattpad and I love how the author managed to publish the entire thing as a novel. Not anyone can do that and I appreciate her nonetheless. However, I can't deny its technical flaws and how it's lack of deviation from its original Wattpad tropes had made this book not a well-written story at all because it has so much content, yet so little to offer to the audience.
For the ranking, I'm going to give it 2/5. The book itself on Wattpad was a great read and it had a chance to become great once I heard it was released as a novel. It had so much potential because the beginning was good and the ending was okay. However, its cons outweighed the pros as the middle part it stagnated along with its repetitiveness that dragged the story down to the end. It was a missed opportunity to say the least because I ended up skimming the entire book because it was so long and repetitive and I only just go to the parts where it truly mattered. But by the end, I felt frustrated and disappointed because the execution was poor despite liking Aubry and Aiden as the main characters.
I may look like I'm being harsh and thinking way too much, in which I am, but it's never meant for me to bash author for her work because I think she's a great writer. But this book isn't for me because it left me disappointed and frustrated since the story is overshaowed by tropes that are acceptable in Wattpad, but in the finished product.
What a waste of potential.
November 20, 2024
The repeating never stops I can skin pages and still understand what's going on since what happens in the different povs is just repeated and there's no redemption arc the main character just defys all odds of being skinny and weak and untrained and just manages yo become the best fighter ever in a matter of weeks and yes can't seem to not have broken ribs for 5 minutes
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2026
2.5/5 stars. We started strong but went downhill from there. If a little life, crime and punishment, normal people, the midnight library, fight club had a child, it would be this book.
May 31, 2022
4 ⭐
Aubry and her parents’ involvement with a drug syndicate has made her life miserable. Struggling to keep up her studies until graduation, she is forced to sell drugs to make ends meet. Her abusive father steals the drugs she intends to trade, making her drown in debt when her boss discovers her secret.
Desperate, she joins The Underground, a high-paying illegal fighting club where she meets her popular classmate Aiden Clark and asks him to train her. Unexpectedly, a special friendship develops, and Aiden finds himself wanting to protect the girl he initially detests.
book contains mentions of abuse, drugs, and self-harm.
***
When I first read this, I thought that I was going to hate it. The horrendous grammar mistakes and predictable characters was enough to make me stop reading but I still felt like there was something more to the book and I was giving up too quickly.. so I continued reading and eventually bought the rest of the book on amazon because the first part on Wattpad was a sample. I love the characters so much. The fact that they met on terms of blackmail and Aiden didn't want to spend time with Aubry makes their relationship so much sweeter when it turns out Aiden can't spend time away from her. I love Brandon, the fact that he was there for Aubry when everyone else hated her and refused to leave her by herself because he knew that there was more to her story 😭❤
I really love this book, at the beginning I didn't think I would even finish it but I did, and I'm glad I didn't stop reading because I can see this becoming a new comfort read in the future.
Aubry and her parents’ involvement with a drug syndicate has made her life miserable. Struggling to keep up her studies until graduation, she is forced to sell drugs to make ends meet. Her abusive father steals the drugs she intends to trade, making her drown in debt when her boss discovers her secret.
Desperate, she joins The Underground, a high-paying illegal fighting club where she meets her popular classmate Aiden Clark and asks him to train her. Unexpectedly, a special friendship develops, and Aiden finds himself wanting to protect the girl he initially detests.
book contains mentions of abuse, drugs, and self-harm.
***
When I first read this, I thought that I was going to hate it. The horrendous grammar mistakes and predictable characters was enough to make me stop reading but I still felt like there was something more to the book and I was giving up too quickly.. so I continued reading and eventually bought the rest of the book on amazon because the first part on Wattpad was a sample. I love the characters so much. The fact that they met on terms of blackmail and Aiden didn't want to spend time with Aubry makes their relationship so much sweeter when it turns out Aiden can't spend time away from her. I love Brandon, the fact that he was there for Aubry when everyone else hated her and refused to leave her by herself because he knew that there was more to her story 😭❤
I really love this book, at the beginning I didn't think I would even finish it but I did, and I'm glad I didn't stop reading because I can see this becoming a new comfort read in the future.
January 23, 2022
This book was originally available on Wattpad but I read it after it had officially been published by Typewriter Pub. I thought it was really entertaining! It had a lot of the elements that keep me hooked when I read a Wattpad story!
Still, it had other elements of Wattpad that brought the story down a bit. The writing was very immature and seemed unedited, which is to be expected by a story on Wattpad, but I was expecting the finished product to have a little more work put into it. There were many typos throughout the story.
It was also very repetitive, with lots of POV shifts that repeated each event word for word but added little to the story. I could usually guess Aubry's reaction to something by what she said and did, so an extra few pages going over the same exact conversation again seemed pointless. This made some parts of the story seem to drag on.
This does not mean I hated the book though! I would actually recommend it to people looking for a good Wattpad story to read! Kylie Alyssa Forte worked super hard to write this book, and she got it published! Not many authors (especially the ones from Wattpad) can say the same!! It is more well-written and has a fuller plot than most of the stories I read on Wattpad, and Fighting for Life would have been even better if it had been edited and refined more thoroughly.
Still, it had other elements of Wattpad that brought the story down a bit. The writing was very immature and seemed unedited, which is to be expected by a story on Wattpad, but I was expecting the finished product to have a little more work put into it. There were many typos throughout the story.
It was also very repetitive, with lots of POV shifts that repeated each event word for word but added little to the story. I could usually guess Aubry's reaction to something by what she said and did, so an extra few pages going over the same exact conversation again seemed pointless. This made some parts of the story seem to drag on.
This does not mean I hated the book though! I would actually recommend it to people looking for a good Wattpad story to read! Kylie Alyssa Forte worked super hard to write this book, and she got it published! Not many authors (especially the ones from Wattpad) can say the same!! It is more well-written and has a fuller plot than most of the stories I read on Wattpad, and Fighting for Life would have been even better if it had been edited and refined more thoroughly.
Read
December 23, 2023didn’t finish physical copy but finished wattpad version
idk how to feel🧍♀️ when i read this on wattpad it was one of my favorite books but reading the physical copy was starting to change my opinion
The writing was so bad, no edits i think it was just copy and paste to a physical version with no revisions
and the exclamation points really bothered me i tried to ignore it but there was exclamation points! every! single! time! to the point i couldn’t take the characters seriously
my favorite scene was when aiden found aubry on a bench while it was snowing and he was so worried
i do remember it had a good plot twist, i think it was demetri (the drug dealer she owes money to) being her real dad or something like that?
and then i recall her sister came back
idk how to feel🧍♀️ when i read this on wattpad it was one of my favorite books but reading the physical copy was starting to change my opinion
The writing was so bad, no edits i think it was just copy and paste to a physical version with no revisions
and the exclamation points really bothered me i tried to ignore it but there was exclamation points! every! single! time! to the point i couldn’t take the characters seriously
my favorite scene was when aiden found aubry on a bench while it was snowing and he was so worried
i do remember it had a good plot twist, i think it was demetri (the drug dealer she owes money to) being her real dad or something like that?
and then i recall her sister came back
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 18, 2024
I originally read the beginning of this book on Wattpad, and REALLY loved it so much to buy the rest of the book. Don’t get me wrong, the idea and plot of the book is AMAZING. I love the idea of the drug syndicate and an enemies to lovers trope. But the writing style and characters drive me up the wall. The writing style is so very Wattpad and you can really tell. And the characters are so cringy I had to constantly take breaks from ready this book. Good plot, bad characters/writing.
February 8, 2025
I read this book as it was released on wattpad and it will forever have a special place in my heart. Its not the best book thats ever been released but it is still one of my favorites. I loved the story and it had a happy ending that made the emotional roller-coaster worth it
April 16, 2026
Not bad, predictable formula but did it really have to be 900+ pages? No, it really didn’t.
December 25, 2022
i feel bad giving this book a two stars, but i think it fits. first off, why was this so long?? its literally 700 pages of nothingness. i feel like the story should have just ended somewhere around chapter 30 or so.
dont get me wrong, the beginning was really interesting, but then it started getting a little repetitive. there was just so much yet so little.
i am glad that there was character development for aiden cuz he was a real dick in the beginning. i do think that brianna’s story is interesting tho. and cece is ADORABLE.
the book wasn’t even edited as there were wayyy too many spelling and grammer mistakes, like far too many. i did DNF this so i dont know what happens in the end.
one more thing i have to say is i absolutely hated the dual povs. usually, i love them. but in this book there would be two povs on the same situation, and like i said, it was getting repetitive.
if anyone has read this book, tell me if i should finish it. also daniel and his gang can go die.
dont get me wrong, the beginning was really interesting, but then it started getting a little repetitive. there was just so much yet so little.
i am glad that there was character development for aiden cuz he was a real dick in the beginning. i do think that brianna’s story is interesting tho. and cece is ADORABLE.
the book wasn’t even edited as there were wayyy too many spelling and grammer mistakes, like far too many. i did DNF this so i dont know what happens in the end.
one more thing i have to say is i absolutely hated the dual povs. usually, i love them. but in this book there would be two povs on the same situation, and like i said, it was getting repetitive.
if anyone has read this book, tell me if i should finish it. also daniel and his gang can go die.
May 31, 2022
I started this book on wattpad before I realised the author cut off the last half of the book. I was hooked during the first half of the book but when I found the rest of the book online I started to notice that the published version hadn't been edited. The writing was very wattpad and tried to sound professional ig, but it was just unnecessarily long. I got around 3/4 of the way through but I can no longer bring myself to keep reading it even though I do want to know what happens to them. The inner monologue in the characters was also cringy at times, as was the rest of the book (that I read).
December 3, 2024
i first read this book when it was still on Wattpad and i reread it several times on the platform. i never realized just how long this book was. it absolutely 100% did not need to be this long. a third of it could have been cut out and no plot or major development would have been lost. typos and grammar mistakes galore. it’s not an incredibly well written book by any means
despite that, i really do enjoy this book as a quick read (now that i’ve read it a few times and know which parts i can skim/skip) the satisfies the need for angsty, slow burn, and lots of trauma 💀
hoping someday this author will re-publish with some editing
despite that, i really do enjoy this book as a quick read (now that i’ve read it a few times and know which parts i can skim/skip) the satisfies the need for angsty, slow burn, and lots of trauma 💀
hoping someday this author will re-publish with some editing
January 8, 2023
I started this book on wattpad and immediately got hooked to it. I loved most of the good characters like Tommy and Brandon but Aiden sort of got on my nerves.
The way Aiden’s thought process was freaked me out a bit when the story was told in his perspective. Also when he kicked her out of his house because she “killed his dad” was absolutely insane since he knew she was homeless, like he could have at least asked one of his friends to look after her or give her a place to live.
I really enjoyed the relationship Aubry had with Tommy, Brandon, Cece, and partly Briana.
The way Aiden’s thought process was freaked me out a bit when the story was told in his perspective. Also when he kicked her out of his house because she “killed his dad” was absolutely insane since he knew she was homeless, like he could have at least asked one of his friends to look after her or give her a place to live.
I really enjoyed the relationship Aubry had with Tommy, Brandon, Cece, and partly Briana.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2021
this book will stay with me for the rest of my life! For the first time, I finished a thick book and thought... I want to know more! Aubry, how you did the things you did while facing the things you had no other choice but to face amazed me. I AM ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH AIDEN AND THE WAY HE WAS ALWAYS THERE FOR AUBRY MADE ME LOVE HIM EVEN MORE! Anyways read the book you'll love it because I sure as hell did!
February 25, 2022
I remember this book from the wattpad days. It was a great book then and it’s a great book now. Love Aubry and Aidens relationship. Even though Aubrey was the one that sold Aidens dad the drugs that he overdosed on. I don’t understand why people would ever hate her for that when the dad was the one taking them. He took the drugs, and she was just trying to make it to see tomorrow. Loved this book and proud of the author since she was able to get it published.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2024
there’s like a 20 chapter sample of this out on wattpad and i read that about 3 years ago and have been searching for the book ever since to finally finish it. and guess what I FINALLY FOUND IT. the book was pretty good too. it just didn’t need to be as long as it is and it kind of made me cringe and get second hand embarrassment and had very weird pacing but i liked the story. i’m still in shock ive finally finished it after three years.
January 11, 2025
Good story line, but seriously the author just kept dragging everything out and the majority of the book was pure rambling. This should not have been a 700+ paged book, it could have easily been a 300-400 paged story.
The story it self was pretty good, the author sure knows how to connect you to the characters and really feel the roller-coaster of emotions.
But seriously, there was so much unnecessary rambling, it was painful.
The story it self was pretty good, the author sure knows how to connect you to the characters and really feel the roller-coaster of emotions.
But seriously, there was so much unnecessary rambling, it was painful.
May 3, 2022
This would have to be on my favourite books list. It was Phenomenal. My eyes certainly hated me for the number of hours I couldn't put this book down or how many tears leaked out of them. The length of this book was one of it's biggest assets as it gave the time to explore Aiden and Aubry's relationship and the journey it took them on. So sad, but so beautiful.
January 7, 2022
honestly it was so good i read this online originally and wanted it so much when it became a book although i loved it some of the things are dark so check tw before reading because it can go deep into sensitive topics
March 17, 2022
Im dnfing this bcs of how long it is. But I read most of it so I'm just going to mark it as finished. I only recommend it if your okay with it being long. I liked the first half better but it was good.
March 30, 2022
Great story line with plot twist and the really really cool mc but every time she’s left alone she gets herself in trouble no sens of self-preservation whatsoever, kinda heartbreaking at times but it’s balanced
Overall a great book :)
Overall a great book :)
May 2, 2022
I could not put this book for the life of me, it was a lot of pages but there was never a dull moment. This story was tense but I loved the couple and love story soooooo much. Definitely one of my favorite book couples! ❤️
Read
May 9, 2022Sehr gutes Buch, der Inhalt ist super spannend. Das Buch hat definitiv Suchtpotential. Leider ist es an manchen Stellen nicht allzu gut geschrieben, der super Inhalt gleicht dies allerdings wieder aus. Kann ich nur weiter empfehlen, vor allem wenn man sich für Kampfsport, etc. interessiert.
May 17, 2022
This book was more than anything I could have imagined . It had me sobbing one minute and dying laughing another. This beautiful book has changed my perspective on so many things and made me more grateful for what I have. This is a must read.
November 5, 2022
i loved this book i first read it on wattpad to begin with and i literally cried when i got it for christmas i was so happy 😭😭😭 this book is dark like with drugs suicide and self harming but the way it portrays it and her emotions is really good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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