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A review by theeditorreads
Riot House by Callie Hart
5.0
Synopsis:
Elodie Stillwater arrives at her new school in Mountain Lakes, New Hampshire from Tel Aviv, Israel. Wolf Hall, at first impression, strikes her as a sinister place. And meeting an unnerving stranger at the first instance she steps foot into the school compound doesn’t help. Also, she’s wary of the danger of being attracted to that same stranger.
Wren Jacobi owns Wolf Hall, or his family does. Along with Pax and Dashiell, they stay at Riot House, a separate property they named thus in the lower mountains. He came to know about Elodie even before she arrived and has quite the twisted thoughts about her.
Review:
Book One of Crooked Sinners, this is the first book I am reading by [a:Callie Hart|7771953|Callie Hart|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. The story starts with a disturbing prologue, followed by the first-person perspective of Elodie. It’s a while later when we finally get to experience Wren’s perspective and my, my, isn’t he the sinner. Earlier there was a playful cover, but this one fits perfectly as there’s so much of darkness in the story.
Daughter of a strict and abusive father, Elodie has had a rough life growing up. Her transition from living with her father in a war zone to joining a boarding school full of either military brats or other high flying non-caring parents can be somewhat compared to straight out of the frying pan and into the fire. Making more enemies than friends on the first day itself, it’s a special kind of hell. But Elodie knows how to weather any storm.
Even if Elodie doesn’t want to, she is attracted to Wren. But she isn’t aware of the dark thoughts Wren has about her. And when her father’s biggest lie to date feels like a wrecking ball, what with finding her room trashed and her possessions obliterated, she’s sure that there’s something ominous about it all.
The prologue may have been disturbing, but it has nothing on the snippets of ‘In the Dark’ which appears after every few chapters in the first half of the story. Just when I started to feel relaxed, settling into the story, the author threw me into the deep end by revealing a past incident. It felt like a gradual crescendo, a darkly beautiful, hauntingly sublime, achingly passionate tale of two damaged souls finding each other.
I love stories where the author keeps on peeling layers of the characters all throughout the story. You never know the next surprise or shock that will hit you. Almost halfway into the story, a surprise character enters Wolf Hall and a mysterious journal unravels their lives. Even the only friend she made, Carina Mendoza, seems to be hiding something. A cloak-and-dagger story, where everyone seems to be having dual identities.
Even with all the grimness, the author ensures that there are humorous moments as well as romance, especially Wren and Elodie’s secret messages to each other. I am amazed at the way the author has enfolded poetry into the story. An intense read, it is the story of two military brats discovering life, even though they have to suffer on the way to being together, as much as they have suffered before. They do make it colourful with their swearing though.
The epilogue a few weeks after everything goes down is the perfect conclusion to this story. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
P.S. Never has a blurb fit so well to a story as this one does.
Thank you to Candi Kane PR for an e-ARC of the book.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings
Elodie Stillwater arrives at her new school in Mountain Lakes, New Hampshire from Tel Aviv, Israel. Wolf Hall, at first impression, strikes her as a sinister place. And meeting an unnerving stranger at the first instance she steps foot into the school compound doesn’t help. Also, she’s wary of the danger of being attracted to that same stranger.
Wren Jacobi owns Wolf Hall, or his family does. Along with Pax and Dashiell, they stay at Riot House, a separate property they named thus in the lower mountains. He came to know about Elodie even before she arrived and has quite the twisted thoughts about her.
Review:
Book One of Crooked Sinners, this is the first book I am reading by [a:Callie Hart|7771953|Callie Hart|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. The story starts with a disturbing prologue, followed by the first-person perspective of Elodie. It’s a while later when we finally get to experience Wren’s perspective and my, my, isn’t he the sinner. Earlier there was a playful cover, but this one fits perfectly as there’s so much of darkness in the story.
Daughter of a strict and abusive father, Elodie has had a rough life growing up. Her transition from living with her father in a war zone to joining a boarding school full of either military brats or other high flying non-caring parents can be somewhat compared to straight out of the frying pan and into the fire. Making more enemies than friends on the first day itself, it’s a special kind of hell. But Elodie knows how to weather any storm.
There’s a very real danger that he’ll hold his cup to my lips, and I’ll drink down his poison like I’m dying and he’s the cure.
Even if Elodie doesn’t want to, she is attracted to Wren. But she isn’t aware of the dark thoughts Wren has about her. And when her father’s biggest lie to date feels like a wrecking ball, what with finding her room trashed and her possessions obliterated, she’s sure that there’s something ominous about it all.
The prologue may have been disturbing, but it has nothing on the snippets of ‘In the Dark’ which appears after every few chapters in the first half of the story. Just when I started to feel relaxed, settling into the story, the author threw me into the deep end by revealing a past incident. It felt like a gradual crescendo, a darkly beautiful, hauntingly sublime, achingly passionate tale of two damaged souls finding each other.
I’m afraid of real life. The people who are supposed to care for you the most.
I love stories where the author keeps on peeling layers of the characters all throughout the story. You never know the next surprise or shock that will hit you. Almost halfway into the story, a surprise character enters Wolf Hall and a mysterious journal unravels their lives. Even the only friend she made, Carina Mendoza, seems to be hiding something. A cloak-and-dagger story, where everyone seems to be having dual identities.
Even with all the grimness, the author ensures that there are humorous moments as well as romance, especially Wren and Elodie’s secret messages to each other. I am amazed at the way the author has enfolded poetry into the story. An intense read, it is the story of two military brats discovering life, even though they have to suffer on the way to being together, as much as they have suffered before. They do make it colourful with their swearing though.
A secret is a terrible and wonderful thing. It’s a flickering candle flame in your chest, warming you from the inside.
The epilogue a few weeks after everything goes down is the perfect conclusion to this story. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
P.S. Never has a blurb fit so well to a story as this one does.
Thank you to Candi Kane PR for an e-ARC of the book.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings