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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
emotional
Könnte die Autorin einem vielleicht mal zutrauen, dass man sich Fakten über die Länge von 50 Seiten oder gar des ganzen Buches locker merken kann?! Ergänzungen gerne, aber diese unnötigen Wiederholungen! Man hätte auch diesmal wieder gut 50 Seiten Papier sparen können, wenn manches einfach 1x erklärt worden wäre und gut.
Ansonsten wurde das Buch ab der Hälfte Tatsache interessant und ich wollte weiterlesen (was bei anderen Büchern von Mona Kasten bisher nicht so war). Dennoch bin ich unzufrieden, der Stil wechselt zwischendurch extrem (Achtung Spoiler: als die Beziehung der beiden an Fahrt aufnimmt, wird auf einmal sehr explizit beschrieben und manche Verhaltensweisen sind für die Personen einfach unlogisch).
Da am Ende extra ein crazy Cliffhanger gepackt wurde, macht es für mich die Story insgesamt nur nervig und ich hab Zero Lust, mir den nächsten Teil bzw. die beiden Teile auch noch reinzuquälen.
Ansonsten wurde das Buch ab der Hälfte Tatsache interessant und ich wollte weiterlesen (was bei anderen Büchern von Mona Kasten bisher nicht so war). Dennoch bin ich unzufrieden, der Stil wechselt zwischendurch extrem (Achtung Spoiler: als die Beziehung der beiden an Fahrt aufnimmt, wird auf einmal sehr explizit beschrieben und manche Verhaltensweisen sind für die Personen einfach unlogisch).
Da am Ende extra ein crazy Cliffhanger gepackt wurde, macht es für mich die Story insgesamt nur nervig und ich hab Zero Lust, mir den nächsten Teil bzw. die beiden Teile auch noch reinzuquälen.
Happy Pub Day!
Thank you to @BerkleyRomance, @monakasten & @netgalley for the free #gifted copy of this book! All opinions are my own.
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Save Me
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Mona Kasten
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬:Maxton Hall, Book 1
𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬:355
𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬:
𝙍𝙪𝙗𝙮 comes from a lower income family. She is a scholarship student at Maxton Hall with hopes of going to Oxford. She is a planner girl, head of the events committee. She caught one of her teachers with a student (Lydia - twin sister of James).
𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 comes from a wealthy family and is head of the lacrosse team and thinks he can get away with anything since his parents donate a good amount of money to the school. He confronts Ruby about his sister’s predicament and then pulls a prank on her at the school dance that gets him pulled off the team and right into the events committee with Ruby.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬:
YA Romance
Private/Prep School
Sports Romance - Lacrosse
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
Family Drama/Expectations
𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: I absolutely fell in love with this book! I read it in one sitting! I enjoy grumpy/morally gray MMC’s and strong FMC’s that give it right back at them. Ruby did this well with James. I loved all of the angst and banter between them. I really loved when they went to Beauforts in London to try on the Victorian clothing. Such a bummer that his parents were there. I adored the relationship development between these two - how they didn’t want to like each other, kept denying it but it was truly inevitable. James pulling her out of the pool had me swooning - the car ride home. There were so many tender moments just between them.
Even though a good chunk of the side characters were jerks, I really enjoyed meeting them too. I was slightly confused with what happened between Wren and Ruby when she transferred to Maxton Hall. I will patiently wait for the next book in the series, until then I will watch the adaptation of the Netflix show.
𝐂𝐖:Bullying, Teenage Drug/Alcoholism, Physical Abuse, Student/Teacher Sexual Relationship
The way that Save Me took over my life and became my entire personality is shameful. The whole book was one long game of will they or won’t they, and I could not put it down. I stayed up until 2 a.m. reading it, and I have no regrets. It’s set at a prestigious private high school and is filled with drama, angst, secrets, toxic relationships, and rich kids behaving badly. It was utterly addictive and I need to read the next book immediately.
I adored Ruby and James. She’s a hard working scholarship student who is passionate, intense, and driven. And he’s the grumpy, unimpressed heir to a billion pound company who treats people like they’re disposable and only cares about lacrosse. They couldn’t be more opposite from each other, but they complement the other so well. They initially hate each other, but when they’re forced to help plan a school dance together, they spend time around each other and become friends. As they develop feelings, James fights against it because Ruby is everything his parents will never accept. Their relationship had all of the tension, chemistry, and pining I could ever ask for, and I could hardly stand how delicious it was.
I’m fully obsessed with this series and plan to start the next book immediately, and once I finish that, I’ll binge watch the TV series, and then I’ll impatiently wait and gnaw at the bars of my enclosure until I get my hands on the third book.
Thank you to Berkley Romance, Berkley, Penguin Random House, Mona Kasten, and NetGalley for the ARC.
📔Save Me
✏️ Mona Kasten
📆 July 1, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
READ IF YOU LIKE:
👜 private high school
👜 rich kids behaving badly
👜 strangers to enemies to friends to lovers
👜 they’re from different worlds
👜 bad boy x good girl
👜 will they or won’t they
👜 forced proximity
👜 forbidden love
👜 dual POV
*Connect With Me*
https://instagram.com/shanisshelves?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
https://www.tiktok.com/@shanisshelves
I adored Ruby and James. She’s a hard working scholarship student who is passionate, intense, and driven. And he’s the grumpy, unimpressed heir to a billion pound company who treats people like they’re disposable and only cares about lacrosse. They couldn’t be more opposite from each other, but they complement the other so well. They initially hate each other, but when they’re forced to help plan a school dance together, they spend time around each other and become friends. As they develop feelings, James fights against it because Ruby is everything his parents will never accept. Their relationship had all of the tension, chemistry, and pining I could ever ask for, and I could hardly stand how delicious it was.
I’m fully obsessed with this series and plan to start the next book immediately, and once I finish that, I’ll binge watch the TV series, and then I’ll impatiently wait and gnaw at the bars of my enclosure until I get my hands on the third book.
Thank you to Berkley Romance, Berkley, Penguin Random House, Mona Kasten, and NetGalley for the ARC.
📔Save Me
✏️ Mona Kasten
📆 July 1, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
READ IF YOU LIKE:
👜 private high school
👜 rich kids behaving badly
👜 strangers to enemies to friends to lovers
👜 they’re from different worlds
👜 bad boy x good girl
👜 will they or won’t they
👜 forced proximity
👜 forbidden love
👜 dual POV
*Connect With Me*
https://instagram.com/shanisshelves?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
https://www.tiktok.com/@shanisshelves
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’ve been wanting to watch the Prime show based on this book series but decided to read book one first since it was being translated into English.
The writing is very young adult but the topics and events on page are more mature. It has a Gossip Girl vibe to it. It’s an entertaining read even though I’m definitely not the target audience for it. There is a cliffhanger ending.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The writing is very young adult but the topics and events on page are more mature. It has a Gossip Girl vibe to it. It’s an entertaining read even though I’m definitely not the target audience for it. There is a cliffhanger ending.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you so much to the author and Berkley Publishing for gifting me an E-ARC of this books!
To start off, I originally watched the show and LOVED it. I’m so happy they are finally releasing the books in English. The translator did a perfect job taking these from German to English and I was never confused by grammar or wording used.
I was a little scared going into this since I already watched the show but I loved the book just as much!! I really enjoyed that the book focused a bit more on only James and Ruby’s relationship and we got a lot more cute little moments between them that really developed their relationship. They were too cutie in this book and I enjoyed imaging the tv show actors while reading all the scenes. Some parts I was even able to pick out exactly from the show!!
Overall, the plot was good and including more than the show did as I said before. I’m so upset about that ending though like why did that have to happen. 😭 It’s okay though, I’m going to trust the process. Other than that I don’t have much else to say since I’ve watched it before reading it but yeah I just love this whole book and universe so much.
I really liked Ruby’s relationship with Lydia in this. They seemed to have developed more of connection and friendship and it seemed really special. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing their friendship grow more in the rest of the series.
While I was really addicted to reading this, I rated it 4.5 stars because it did start off a little slow. Also that ending was just too upsetting. 😔 But overall I still loved it so much and I hope everyone who was obsessed with the show loves it as much as I did!! I CANNOT wait to read the next book and I’m so excited that Berkley accepted my ARC request for that one as well!!
Definitely recommend this one guys!!
🏛️READ IF YOU LIKE:
- poor girl X rich boy
- MMC with troubled home life
- a little bit of spice
- MMC plays lacrosse
- FMC strong/passionate yet feminine and seeks love
- not an easy relationship
- strong dislike to lovers
⚠️TW:
- alcohol
- sexual content
- mentioning of past unpleasant sexual experiences
- drug use (powder)
- emotional and physical abuse of teen by parent
- death of loved one
To start off, I originally watched the show and LOVED it. I’m so happy they are finally releasing the books in English. The translator did a perfect job taking these from German to English and I was never confused by grammar or wording used.
I was a little scared going into this since I already watched the show but I loved the book just as much!! I really enjoyed that the book focused a bit more on only James and Ruby’s relationship and we got a lot more cute little moments between them that really developed their relationship. They were too cutie in this book and I enjoyed imaging the tv show actors while reading all the scenes. Some parts I was even able to pick out exactly from the show!!
Overall, the plot was good and including more than the show did as I said before. I’m so upset about that ending though like why did that have to happen. 😭 It’s okay though, I’m going to trust the process. Other than that I don’t have much else to say since I’ve watched it before reading it but yeah I just love this whole book and universe so much.
I really liked Ruby’s relationship with Lydia in this. They seemed to have developed more of connection and friendship and it seemed really special. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing their friendship grow more in the rest of the series.
While I was really addicted to reading this, I rated it 4.5 stars because it did start off a little slow. Also that ending was just too upsetting. 😔 But overall I still loved it so much and I hope everyone who was obsessed with the show loves it as much as I did!! I CANNOT wait to read the next book and I’m so excited that Berkley accepted my ARC request for that one as well!!
Definitely recommend this one guys!!
🏛️READ IF YOU LIKE:
- poor girl X rich boy
- MMC with troubled home life
- a little bit of spice
- MMC plays lacrosse
- FMC strong/passionate yet feminine and seeks love
- not an easy relationship
- strong dislike to lovers
⚠️TW:
- alcohol
- sexual content
- mentioning of past unpleasant sexual experiences
- drug use (powder)
- emotional and physical abuse of teen by parent
- death of loved one
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual harassment
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really good, just missing that slight umpf-factor (the tv-series was indeed better)