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A review by belliz4
Rules of Arrangement by Maren Mackenzie
3.0
*I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
'Rules of Arrangement' by Maren Mackenzie is the story of Adelaide Wright, a 22 year old college senior, who is paid by fellow students to write their papers for them. When Declan, her T.A and blast from the past, finds out about her highly illegal side hustle he blackmails her into seducing Jack Nolan, a wealthy, almost 40 year old art dealer who screwed Declan over. Adelaide enters into a complicated relationship with Jack and begins to question what she's been told with what she experiences.
The book is some sort of blackmail/heist mixed in with a lot of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' vibes (contract and toxic love interest-wise, not BDSM). The novel deals with serious issues surrounding mental health, family, toxic power struggles in relationships and attempted suicide as a sub-plot which I think should have been more of a focus but what was shown was mostly (aside from the toxic power struggles) well-done.
I have mixed feelings about this book. While I enjoyed reading it, there were parts that felt very serious that were not focused on long enough and then parts that were drawn out and had me itching for the scenes to end. It was a very quick read and a good debut novel. I'm interested to see more from Mackenzie in the future and to see how she'll grow as an author.
'Rules of Arrangement' by Maren Mackenzie is the story of Adelaide Wright, a 22 year old college senior, who is paid by fellow students to write their papers for them. When Declan, her T.A and blast from the past, finds out about her highly illegal side hustle he blackmails her into seducing Jack Nolan, a wealthy, almost 40 year old art dealer who screwed Declan over. Adelaide enters into a complicated relationship with Jack and begins to question what she's been told with what she experiences.
The book is some sort of blackmail/heist mixed in with a lot of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' vibes (contract and toxic love interest-wise, not BDSM). The novel deals with serious issues surrounding mental health, family, toxic power struggles in relationships and attempted suicide as a sub-plot which I think should have been more of a focus but what was shown was mostly (aside from the toxic power struggles) well-done.
I have mixed feelings about this book. While I enjoyed reading it, there were parts that felt very serious that were not focused on long enough and then parts that were drawn out and had me itching for the scenes to end. It was a very quick read and a good debut novel. I'm interested to see more from Mackenzie in the future and to see how she'll grow as an author.