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It’s difficult to write a review without giving spoilers away
This was such a disappointment! I've read almost every Ivy Smoak book (except The Society 2 and Single Girl Rules) and she used to be a favourite but this series has just gone off the rails.
Why after twenty plus books in the same contemporary story world was Tanner introduced with whatever paranormal he is, plus Nigel?? It's entirely bizarre and honestly it's just ruined my enjoyment of this series and every series that interlinks with this one too.
When this book, and the last, focuses on Matt, Brooklyn and their relationship and the emotional aspects it's great, never fails to evoke an emotional response. BUT if you look at how much of the content actually focused on this it's laughable!
The problem is that Tanner and Nigel have hijacked this series and yeah some parts are mildly funny, but it's mostly annoying as fuck and makes me want to stop reading. It honestly comes across as a lazy way to explain away plot points that seem to have backed themselves into a corner - like oh I don't know how to resolve this, let's just have Tanner and Nigel do something crazy.
It was also really uncomfortable reading all their interactions with Jacob. I feel like this author has no clue what being a parent is like! There's this big emphasis that Brooklyn doesn't trust anyone with Jacob, not even nursery, yet she meets Tanner and Nigel and is immediately comfortable leaving her son with them unsupervised for lengths of time and letting them bathe him??? There is no way in hell a parent would actually do that, let alone one as protective and cautious as Brooklyn is portrayed to be!
I don't understand why this series is being dragged out so much. Books 1-5 were so, so good but books 6&7 have been frustrating - if you cut out all the bizarreness with Tanner and Nigel these two books could easily have been one! I also don't understand why there's yet another villain, like come on already, they've had everything but the kitchen sink thrown at them! It's completely unbelievable now...
I'm really not sure if I want to bother reading book 8, or really any other Ivy Smoak books, or if I just want to kinda fanfic the ending in my head
Why after twenty plus books in the same contemporary story world was Tanner introduced with whatever paranormal he is, plus Nigel?? It's entirely bizarre and honestly it's just ruined my enjoyment of this series and every series that interlinks with this one too.
When this book, and the last, focuses on Matt, Brooklyn and their relationship and the emotional aspects it's great, never fails to evoke an emotional response. BUT if you look at how much of the content actually focused on this it's laughable!
The problem is that Tanner and Nigel have hijacked this series and yeah some parts are mildly funny, but it's mostly annoying as fuck and makes me want to stop reading. It honestly comes across as a lazy way to explain away plot points that seem to have backed themselves into a corner - like oh I don't know how to resolve this, let's just have Tanner and Nigel do something crazy.
It was also really uncomfortable reading all their interactions with Jacob. I feel like this author has no clue what being a parent is like! There's this big emphasis that Brooklyn doesn't trust anyone with Jacob, not even nursery, yet she meets Tanner and Nigel and is immediately comfortable leaving her son with them unsupervised for lengths of time and letting them bathe him??? There is no way in hell a parent would actually do that, let alone one as protective and cautious as Brooklyn is portrayed to be!
I don't understand why this series is being dragged out so much. Books 1-5 were so, so good but books 6&7 have been frustrating - if you cut out all the bizarreness with Tanner and Nigel these two books could easily have been one! I also don't understand why there's yet another villain, like come on already, they've had everything but the kitchen sink thrown at them! It's completely unbelievable now...
I'm really not sure if I want to bother reading book 8, or really any other Ivy Smoak books, or if I just want to kinda fanfic the ending in my head
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Now we are getting to the good stuff. Honestly if my brain wasn’t so curious to know every detail of what happens to this couple then I would have skipped book 4 & 5 to start here. I really loved how she is turning the story around and I am all for Tanner & Niguel coming in to mix things up even more. I love how that gives her friends outside the untouchables that she feels she can turn to when they all feel against her. I love how they’re secretly plotting to get the back together as well. It’s the chefs kiss I needed after so much heart ache. 😣
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Moderate: Cursing, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Alcohol
Minor: Violence, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
I became obsessed with this series back in the fall and I wish I had waited until all the books were finished. This is the 7th of apparently 8 books that ended in yet another cliffhanger. Throughout these books I have laughed, I have sobbed, I have grieved. I have been mad and happy and confused. I waited six months for this book to come out. I read it in one sitting and when I was finished I felt like I needed a drink and a long quiet sit at the beach by myself to contemplate life.
Why, ivy smoak? Why did you do this to me? I waited and waited impatiently for this book feeling like I would finally have closure. That Brooklyn and Matt would finally get their shit together and everyone would be happy. But no. You wrecked everything again. And now I don’t know how long I have to wait to get the closure I desperately need. Why is this my life?
I cried when Matt said his wedding vows at brooklyns funeral and I needed a Valium when Miller died because wtf! Finally I thought things would go right for Matt but everything is chaos! I’m so angry!
Reread:
The final book came out in the series so I had to read this again and I felt just as emotional the second time around. In the end, Brooklyn is kidnapped again.
Why, ivy smoak? Why did you do this to me? I waited and waited impatiently for this book feeling like I would finally have closure. That Brooklyn and Matt would finally get their shit together and everyone would be happy. But no. You wrecked everything again. And now I don’t know how long I have to wait to get the closure I desperately need. Why is this my life?
I cried when Matt said his wedding vows at brooklyns funeral and I needed a Valium when Miller died because wtf! Finally I thought things would go right for Matt but everything is chaos! I’m so angry!
Reread:
The final book came out in the series so I had to read this again and I felt just as emotional the second time around. In the end, Brooklyn is kidnapped again.
When I started reading Exposed by Ivy Smoak, I thought this was the final book in her Empire High series. I don't know why I assumed that, other than the fact that after EVERYTHING that Brooklyn and Matt have been through in the last six books they have FINALLY been reunited. I mean with everything that kept them apart, evil fathers, misunderstandings, evil half sisters, lies (told by others) and more misunderstandings, I just thought their reunion would end with them being together and happy. So when Ivy wrote that plot twist in the last 10 seconds of the book I couldn't help but scream out loud WTF, thankfully in the privacy of my home and not in public. And even now I can't wait to see what is going to happen in the next book, and also wonder if Ivy is going to trick me, yet again (yes this isn't the first time I've been tricked by her into thinking this is the last book) into thinking the next one will be the final book for Brooklyn and Matt and they'll actually have the chance to be happy together for longer than a minute in a half.
Once I started reading Exposed, I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. I zoomed through it, finishing it in an afternoon. And as much as the ending really annoyed me, I truly enjoyed reading the book and being pulled back into the Empire High universe.
Once I started reading Exposed, I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. I zoomed through it, finishing it in an afternoon. And as much as the ending really annoyed me, I truly enjoyed reading the book and being pulled back into the Empire High universe.
emotional
funny
fast-paced
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced