Outcast

Ruthless Paradise #1

by Lexi Ray

The first time we met was a nightmare. The second time… Well, the world was already hell.

While a hundred elite students partied on Zion Island during spring break, the rest of the world was ravaged by war.

Now, two years later, the stories about Zion are dark and mysterious. Some say Zion is paradise, run by those same students. But the few who came back don’t talk about it at all.
I have a one-way ticket. Since I lost my family, the island is my only hope for a decent life.

But I am wrong…
When I reach the island, the first person I see is the one I’ve seen in my nightmares too many times.
Him.
Kai Droga.
Four years ago, in one single night, he destroyed everything I had and made me run.
He is my obsession.
My dark secret.
My shame.
And his beautiful scorching eyes are full of hate when he looks at me.
I might have made it to paradise.
But Kai Droga is my hell.
Except, this time, there is nowhere to run…

And the stories they tell about Zion Island are wrong.
The truth is much darker...

Genres: Romance, Dark Romance, Fantasy, Enemies To Lovers, Dark, Dystopia, Contemporary

350 pages, Paperback

First published July 6, 2022

Reviews

[Amber J. Cunningham-Moorât · Rating 2 out of 5]

i cringed so hard every time i saw "baby girl"

[Johanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

shameless discrimination against indigenous peoples ft. unironically calling the love interest "baby girl" is just a no for me + they are both insufferable

[Keri M · Rating 5 out of 5]

After war changes the world as everyone knows it Kai and Callie can’t forget about each other. A party years ago has left them both with very complicated feelings. Kai hasn’t been able to forget how Callie left him and all Callie wants is to be able to remember. Callies excited is still playing puppet master behind the scenes, will his jealousy threaten everything? What will happen to Kai and Callie?

This was so good. A little spice, a little post war drama, a little spying. This book as it all!! Thank goodness Book 2 is out and I’ve got it!! I can’t wait to continue this story!!!

[Breanna Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really had high hopes for the plot of this book. It was like a mix between lord of the flies and lost with post apocalyptic nuclear fallout. It had a lot of promise to be super unique with the world building and the natural conflicts that come in that environment. It could’ve been built up so much more than it was. It was just disappointing.

The FMC was the stereotypical blushing virgin type. It was annoying and frustrating to read. The lack of communication between the two main characters was so frustrating. I understand they had a messy ending with the situation four years ago, but I feel like surviving a nuclear war and seeing all the evil they did would’ve given them some perspective. Maybe you could use the reasoning of their trauma, but it was still frustrating. They also kept being interrupted in important moments, but they are on an island in the apocalypse. It’s not like they have a schedule to keep really.

Their whole relationship was founded on a misunderstanding. Time after time, if they just communicated, most of their problems would be solved. I can’t tell you how many times one would think something but would make an assumption about the other and then the perspective would switch and the other one would think the exact same thing. They were always on the same page! They just didn’t fucking talk about it!

I can’t stand Katura. Every time it was her perspective I disliked her more. She doesn’t think about anyone else and has no empathy considering she lost no one in the war. She also thinks she is this untouchable badass when really she was an arrogant, selfish bitch who needs to get her priorities straight. She mocked the survivors constantly while she was excited for her little adventure, they were just trying to survive and cope with their traumas. I do not care for her at all.

[Kat Ditto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally got around to reading the ARC yesterday and within 5 minutes I was entranced. I DEVOURED this book in just a few hours. I'm not usually into post-apocalyptic books, but this one hit different. I love all the characters I love Callie and Kai (Why are the dark but sweet ones always named Kai?) but Ty is one of my top favorite side characters of all time. I'm so excited for the next book... I can't wait I want to know what happens with all these characters I love.






Also if you sign up for Lexi's newsletter you get a Ty & Dani Story.

[Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

Personal opinion here (trigger Warner and spoiler alert): this book is just immature and very high school. They are supposed to be college aged and going through absolute chaos in the aftermath of nuclear war and there is no growth, just stagnant high school drama.

I am not a fan of miscommunication or lack of communication, especially when sexual assault is involved, and that is pretty much the story line of this book. I was waiting for it to get more interesting and for there to be some growth but just kept being disappointed.
I almost DNF it multiple times and put it down to read something else, but I stuck it out wanting to give it a chance.
I absolutely will not be reading any more into this series.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was bored

[lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

baby girl im not reading book 2

[ellebee.reads]

DNF @ 40% ... just not for me

[Buffy ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kai is such a sweetie

[Kirsty Jayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNFd at 80% because the way everything was written started irritating me too much, it’s really not illegal to say things like “we’re, I’m, they’re”. Reads a bit like a child’s story eventually?? I might go back one day because I did like the concept and want to see where it goes but the writing style, miscommunication and other little bits just started irking me too much.

[§imi · Rating 5 out of 5]

1 milion stars
this book was so unexpected
it got me out of my reading slump
but the end 😭😭😭

[Charlotte Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars - super easy read, love the dystopian nuclear world, classic tropes that we love to see, needed something easy and enjoyable with some dramatics and thats what i got - beautiful

[Hanna K. Brojan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way they love each other. I’m in love and literally obsessed with Kai’s love for her. It’s soo deep.

I was also eager to finally meet Archer and it was worth the wait. Can’t wait to read more about him and Kat and to see where and how will they all end up 😩

[L.L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing, I loved it. Read it in one sitting. Don’t have much to say except you should definitely read this book

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

felt to wattpady and young. i couldn’t get through 10% or so, just wasn’t catching my attention 😭

[Bridgette · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the worst book I’ve ever read.

[Izzy SM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't explain how much I loved this book!!! Is it the next literary classic? No. Did I love it and lived it? Totally.

First, I was delighted with the writing style! Classic, correct (even the verb tenses that most authors murder), fluid. All showing and very little telling. It's amazing when you can smell the rain and feel what the characters are feeling without needing to have everything described to you. It is RARE, but oh so amazing.
There were moments of pure pain, pure joy, pure happiness and pure angst, and I felt everything deeply.
This - along with the plot, of course - made the book "unputdownable".
If the next books in this series maintain this writing style, I will probably read everything written by this author. 😊

The plot: I could separate the plot into two lines - the romance story and the arc story. Both are great!
From the blurb, we know this is set in a post apocalyptic world, in an island that was spared to the doom and still harbours the spring breakers who where there at the time when the world went to hell and that those have split into two factions.

The arc story revolves around the why, how and future of this island and factions. And we come to see that at the center of the conflict are two former best friends who got separated by the jealousy of one regarding one girl... Callie.

The romance revolves around Callie and Kai who have met way before all this and who, due to a serious misunderstanding (I hate the misunderstanding trope but this one was not due to the stupidity of the characters and was solved kinda early on the book) hate each other. The development of their new relationship was beautiful to watch - it took some serious pride swallowing from both (IMO) and I swooned a lot 💖😍💖. And there were seriously HOT 🔥 moments between those two!! I loved how consent was so important to Kai and how he melted near Callie.

The main characters were awesome! Flawed, lovable, traumatized, strong and pure. Neither was flawless: Kai was always too much in his head and Callie was a bit naïve and not intelligent despite all she's gone through (or maybe because of it - trauma does weird stuff to people). But you can relate to those flaws, understand where they are coming from. And I loved them more for it.

The secondary characters were AWESOME!!! Kat, Ty and Maddy are my new fictional best friends! Wish I could grab a drink with them every week 😂

This book ends in a cliff-hanger so I am jumping straight to the next one. Well, maybe after I read the novella about Ty 😏.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun quick read and a great break between all the crime books I’ve been reading. Initially I was confused how they were going to make it captivating enough to make it a series but it definitely left me wanting to know what happens next. A part of me wishes that this first book wasn’t completely surrounded by the romance between the main characters but the other half of me understands that it provides the ability for the story to be stretched over a few books. I also appreciated that the intimacy wasn’t aggressive and confronting like a lot of other books usually are. Most of the series is free on kindle unlimited too apart from the last unreleased one.

[Joana | Khaleesiwithastarbuckscup · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanta coisa e bro code? Achei essa parte do Archer que é tão esperto e que falam tão bem dele um tanto ridícula e infantil. A Callie gostei, mas ela esqueceu-me muito rápido do seu propósito de querer ir para lá. A personagem que acabei por gostar mais foi o Kai. É um quase 4. O baby girl foi um grande no.

[Augusta Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying the plot line is interesting. But the writing is so terribly simplistic it gets on my nerves. I hate writing bad reviews but man this could have been written so much better! The plot line alone kept me reading because the story has so much potential! Not sure if i can power through the rest of the books but still curious. Wish the writing was better.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably one of my fav reads of January. It started out a little slow but it picked up fast and it did not stop the rest of the book. It did leave off on a cliffhanger which I did not like but ig that just means I’ll have to read the next book asap!!

[Brittany B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. Why so many repetition?? I dont have that bad of a memory i can remember stuff that was said 10 pages before.
2. The hot scenes were good tho
3 « my heart starts beating so heavily in my heart » yes xD

Will i read the second one…..maybe. Just to see if he gets the girl

[Grace Novak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked it, it was a bit fast and the book could have been dragged out a bit more, I didn’t like the multiple POV’s but it was pretty good!

[Josie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Am Anfang echt gut, hatte Hoffnung auf eine gute Storyline. Leider kam man im Buch nicht vorwärts.. die ganze Geschichte spielt sich innerhalb von 2 Wochen ab :/

[nati · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[BL ☘︎︎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been a really good book/series. Post apocalypse vibes but wayyyyy to cheesy for me.

[Formerly Known as Spoiler W · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @7%

Was not holding my interest.

[Ava Mowforth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I literally stayed up all night to read this, it's so addicting, amazing plot and I love Callie and Kai so much, I have to buy the other books now 😭🖤

[Jordanna Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. So many errors... at one point, immatures was written in place of amateurs.

The premise was really interesting but the execution fell so flat.