Book Review: Love Me Never (Lovely Vicious #1) by Sara Wolf

Love Me Never
Lovely Vicious #1

By: 
Sara Wolf

Published:
April 5, 2016

Publisher:
Entangled Teen

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Goodreads

Source:
eARC from publisher in exchange for a honest review

GR's Summary:

Previously published as Lovely Vicious, this fully revised and updated edition is full of romance, intrigue, and laugh-out-loud moments. 

Don’t love your enemy. Declare war on him. 

Seventeen-year-old Isis Blake hasn’t fallen in love in three years, nine weeks, and five days, and after what happened last time, she intends to keep it that way. Since then she’s lost eighty-five pounds, gotten four streaks of purple in her hair, and moved to Buttcrack-of-Nowhere, Ohio, to help her mom escape a bad relationship. 

All the girls in her new school want one thing—Jack Hunter, the Ice Prince of East Summit High. Hot as an Armani ad, smart enough to get into Yale, and colder than the Arctic, Jack Hunter's never gone out with anyone. Sure, people have seen him downtown with beautiful women, but he's never given high school girls the time of day. Until Isis punches him in the face. 

Jack’s met his match. Suddenly everything is a game. 

The goal: Make the other beg for mercy. 

The game board: East Summit High. 

The reward: Something neither of them expected.

 

Lovely Vicious Series:
Add this Series to Goodreads Here

 

My Thoughts:

Love Me Never is the first book in the Lovely Vicious Series.  This is a series that occurs in sequential order, and must be read in that order.  This was my first story by Sara Wolf, and it blew me away.  I though it would be a light teenage romantic read.  Instead, I got a story full of depth, complex emotion, authentic characters, and relatable angst.

Isis Blake has just moved from Good Falls, Florida to Northplains, Ohio with her single mother; in order to escape an abusive ex-boyfriend.  Isis is relieved to have a new start, because there was a guy that broke her heart in Florida, and since then, she has changed drastically.  Isis has shed a huge amount of weight, hardened her heart, and sworn off love forever.  

As the new girl, she gets the opportunity to reinvent herself, and makes a new friend named Kayla.  When the gorgeous, popular, aloof, arrogant, and intelligent, Jack Hunter insults Isis' new friend, and makes her cry, Isis punches him in the face.  This begins a war of wits, pranks, wills, and thrills between Isis and Jack, and along the way, they just might lose their hearts to one another....

Love Me Never dealt with a lot of serious life issues, some of which included self-esteem, depression, rape, physical abuse, PTSD, and terminal illness.  Yet, the story wasn't as dark as you would think.  Isis and Jack both have a fun sense of humor, and this lightens the story up a lot, as they exchange hilarious banter, try to one-up one another, and eventually develop romantic feelings towards each other.

I am suffering a m-a-j-o-r book hangover from this story, and want the next one so badly!  It ends in a major cliff hangover, and has me pining desperately for answers about how everything will play out.  Love Me Never is a very mature young adult read, and I would recommend if for older and mature teens, due to all of the complex issues that are addressed in the story. 

My Rating:

I give, Love Me Never, by Sara Wolf, 5 Painful Emotional Scars, Witty Word Play, Humorous Shenanigans, A Heaping Serving of Feels, and Massive Book-Hangover Filled Stars!

Purchase At:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Google Play

About Sara Wolf:

The short story: SARA WOLF is a twenty-something indie author from California who burns instead of tans and tries to make her cats write her books for her. Her book LOVE ME NEVER, book one in the LOVELY VICIOUS series, is coming from Entangled Teen April 5th, 2016.

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