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A review by missdevo
Brutal Game by Jo Brenner
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
5.0
I love a well written bully romance, and Brutal Game is *chef's kiss* (Make sure you check the content warnings if you have sensitivities). I know bully romance isn't for everyone, but the skill it takes to write the all the mean, hateful things the bully does and STILL have me turning around rooting for the MCs as a couple by the end?! BABY-it never fails to have me feeling some type of way. I'm probably too empathetic for my own good (thanks, trauma!), but I want to feel it when she breaks/snaps. I need it to be legitimately bad for her before we turn the corner and start the way to HEA for maximum enjoyment, and I found that here.
Jake Feldman, one of the Core Four on the hockey team at Reina U, is so ruthless and broken and unhinged, it seems like there's no line he won't cross. Aviva Gold is at RU in search of justice for her brother, and the road to it runs right through the hockey team. Jake does absolutely despicable things to Aviva, but the beauty of the way Jo Brenner wrote this book is that in making a lot of Jake's actions about controlling Aviva, it frees her from having to be strong and capable all the time, and that feeling becomes something she seeks out at some level. That speaks to the delicate dance to make Jake harsh enough to hurt, and somehow not make us completely despise him, and I love the rush of reading the turnaround.
This is my first Jo Brenner book, but I love her style if this book is anything to go by. I will definitely be reading Butterfly as soon as I can fit it in to experience Mason's story after the peek I got of him during Jake's.
Huge thanks to The Author Agency and Jo Brenner for the ARC opportunity.
Jake Feldman, one of the Core Four on the hockey team at Reina U, is so ruthless and broken and unhinged, it seems like there's no line he won't cross. Aviva Gold is at RU in search of justice for her brother, and the road to it runs right through the hockey team. Jake does absolutely despicable things to Aviva, but the beauty of the way Jo Brenner wrote this book is that in making a lot of Jake's actions about controlling Aviva, it frees her from having to be strong and capable all the time, and that feeling becomes something she seeks out at some level. That speaks to the delicate dance to make Jake harsh enough to hurt, and somehow not make us completely despise him, and I love the rush of reading the turnaround.
This is my first Jo Brenner book, but I love her style if this book is anything to go by. I will definitely be reading Butterfly as soon as I can fit it in to experience Mason's story after the peek I got of him during Jake's.
Huge thanks to The Author Agency and Jo Brenner for the ARC opportunity.