In Ruins (Black Falls High, #1) By K.G. Reuss

He was my best friend before he was my enemy.

I’m a nobody at Black Falls High.

When the school’s mean queen forces me to my knees in front of the student body, everything changes.

Now, I’m back on my former best friend’s radar.

And this time, he has his new crew and “no” isn’t part of their vocabulary.

When a night out puts me in a compromising position, I’m at their mercy. If they don’t keep my secret, it could destroy more than my friendship.

They own me.

And my former best friend is making it his mission to ruin me.

But not if I ruin them first.

In Ruins is a #whychoose romance. Due to dark content, this book is recommended for eighteen and older. In Ruins (Black Falls High, #1)

Whether I liked the story or not aside, this book was well written. I like the writer's sentences, pace, and ability to drag you into the story.
As for the story, honestly I let too much time pass between reading and writing the review, and I read all the other books in the series so they kind of blended together. All I'm left with is the overall feeling.
Rosalie seriously got on my nerves in the first book, that much I do remember. 281 I was looking forward to reading this new to me author, unfortunately that feeling didn’t last. This was on the cusp of being a DNF by the end of the first chapter, and I kinda wish I would have listened to that instinct.

The prologue gave a little insight into Rosie and Fox’s past friendship, and from there these characters took a nosedive.

My all-time favorite trope is bully romance, but there’s a finesse that authors need to make these types of stories work, and In Ruins didn’t have any of it.
In the first chapter she’s made to get on her knees and lick the food off the “Queen Bee’s” shoes. Why? Because she bumped into her and food spilled on her shoes from it.

Does Rosie put up any sort of fight? Of course not.

Rosie was weak, she posed no challenge at all to these guys, she bent to the will of anyone that got in her face. In my opinion that’s not the type of heroine meant for a bully romance. I think she’s taken the place of the top doormat character in a romance.

Normally my favorite thing is the push/pull between the heroine and the bully because she’s sassy, and strong, and never willing to just bend at the will of others.

This book was all the same, someone bullying Rosie and her bending at their will, and in the times she did try to pretend she had a backbone it came off as ingenuine and ridiculous. How was I supposed to believe that every now and again this character that continuously proves she has no backbone, all of a sudden had one for the length of a sentence and then for it to vanish again as if it never existed.

I didn’t feel a connection between her and any of the guys, and Fox’s reason for hating her wasn’t even really explained, other than he blamed her for his mom’s death which made zero sense.

Some of the guys were kind of sweet, and even a little charming, but to be honest I don’t remember their names, nor do I care. Several of the guys were supposed to have the “alpha-hole” vibe, but alas that wasn’t what I got from them.

Rosie didn’t even have a best friend to offer anything to the story. She was awful.

And the other guy in the story was just as wretched as the other characters, supposedly he and Rosie were friends, but then he drugs her, for the reason men do those things, and then he blackmails her.

And after the incident the next time she speaks with him, she still says he’s “the good guy”....

Instead of telling her “friend” she keeps her mouth shut because she doesn’t want to upset her, and she says nothing while her “best friend” begins dating a man that drugged her and was taking advantage of her in that state.

With friends like that, who needs enemies? Well, except Rosie because it seems like everyone in her life is her enemy in one way or another.

There was no character development, by the end of the book the guys have lessened their chance of having any redeeming qualities, and Rosie is a spineless mess that all of a sudden makes a threat which was laughable at that point.

I will not be reading any more by this author, no chemistry, no likeable qualities in any of the characters, weakness in moments that should have shown a character's strength, no witty banter, and lackluster steam. This is a story about 4 football hotshots, better known as the 4 horseman and the girl who they want to break... or do they. They rule the school and get what they want, when they want it. No isn't usually a word they hear.

Fox, Ethan, Cole and Enzo - Fox has known Rosalie since they were very young and they have lots of history. They are neighbors, neighbors that loathe each other. Something happens and he goes from loving her and him being her whole world... to him hating her and wanting to make her life as miserable as possible. They all just seem to watch her be tormented from afar and watch while other students try to bring her to her knees.

Fox's girl Juliet tries one day in the cafeteria at school. Juliet demands that Rosalie lick the food that supposedly got on her schools when Rosalie accidentally bumped into her. She refuses to which angers Juliet. Which then makes Fox step in. Hmmmm....

Now Rosalie is in Fox's sights one again. All the boys want her and try so hard to get her to be putty in their hands. Fox wants her, but doesn't want to give in. Kinda like a - if I can't have her no one will scenario.
Something happens at a party and the guys blackmail her into being theirs. It takes a bit of convincing, but she finally surrenders to them. To do what they what, when they tell her to do. It's a just say yes and don't ask any questions thing.

Things start to heat up..... and then secrets are found out and hearts are broken. Can they come back from this --- I don't how I feel about the guys - Cole and Enzo are broody and playful, Ethan is the kind and thoughtful one (possible act) and Fox is the one who couldn't be bothered by her until he got that first taste, now he's feeling... something. That ending though! I sure hope Fox grovels and Rosie doesn't give in too quickly. I can't tell if their plan just got away from them OR if Rosie was supposed to find out what they truly wanted from her. Which was to break her and just let her be another conquest.

Oh gosh, that cliffhanger!! Need to read book two asap! Disappointing

I didn’t finish. And honestly I’m mad. I’m super into RH and I’ll take a good bully RH any day when there is a justifiable reason why there is some reason to it. At this time I am 36% in and so far all I’ve gotten is the immature back and forth banter between high school kids. I should’ve known better.

Possible Spoiler:

I can handle dark bully RH but I can’t abide by coercing a minor into doing sexual favors because the guys stopped a rape from “getting to far” when the lead was obviously drugged and intoxicated and then prior to them stopping it they filmed part of it. That’s just not cool. It’s garbage. They blackmail her into agreeing to be whatever they want her to be. And then on top of it the female lead the next day goes to the guy who assaulted her and says :

Direct quote:

“ It shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t want it. You drugged me.I’m sure it’s a mistake. You’re a nice guy”

What in the ever loving f**k? I can’t. Then he goes on to try to blackmail her into them continuing where they left off or he’ll tell her best friend who really likes him.

There’s a fine line. This book just wasn’t for me and I could’ve left off there, but what really pisses me off is that there’s no real trigger warning it just says “this is a reverse harem bully romance” I’m sorry but there’s a difference between bullying and rape, and videotaping a minor getting assaulted. The guys who are potentially going to be her harem allow parts of the assault to happen so they can use it for leverage. How are people finding this sexy??????? How is this rating high???? How is normalizing rape culture sexy??? This was an absolute dumpster fire book that blows my mind that there are a total of four books. ⤅ I've read a lot of spineless, masochistic heroines, but this one has to take the fricking cake.

The book opens with the heroine GETTING ON HER KNEES TO LICK THE SHOES of some evil queen bee. Um, what the hell? Without a gun to her head, she sinks down and is fully ready to do some literal bootlicking, all the while whining 'I'm sorry for bumping into you, it was an accident! Please don't do anything to me!' She's only saved because the hero storms in and stops it.

If you thought he was a knight in shining armour, think again. He's her ex-best friend who was her first kiss then randomly stopped talking to her and has ignored her for years. When she tries to thank him for stepping in, he tells her to piss off... and somehow, that makes her run to the toilet and start sobbing. Because of a couple of mean words from someone she claims to hate. Good God. In fact, in the first 10% of the book, the heroine spends most of her time crying or hiding away from other people in the toilet.

I'm sorry, I just cannot deal with a heroine as spineless as this. I don't need my heroines to be made of steel, but I expect a basic level of self-respect and dignity. That involves NOT GETTING ON YOUR KNEES TO LICK SOMEONE'S SHOES, moreover someone who doesn't even seem to have hurt or otherwise coerced you into doing it?? The girl literally just gives the heroine a glare and our heroine is tripping all over herself to do whatever she wants. The phrase 'willing victim' comes to mind. I'm out of here.



K.G. Reuss

This book was so good! I love all the characters, and its nice to see a female lead who's NOT a badass in a violent way, but one who keeps pushing through hell. Shes a fighter in the mental sense, and I love that. The guys are all very different from each other, and I love some are softer than others. My heart hurt for fox, and watching this story unfold was painful but beautiful. Kindle Edition This is my first read by K.G. Reuss and my mind is completely blown. This had been chilling in my kindle for awhile and I am kicking myself for not picking up sooner - it pulled me right in and I can’t stop reading the series.

I haven’t read a Bully high school romance this good in a long time. K.G Reuss is a great storyteller.

The story centers around Rosalie “Rosie” and her tormentors: Juliet, Fox, Cole, Enzo and Ethan. These people make her life a living hell on earth. The first page you’re introduced to Juliet asking Rosie to lick her shoes or else, face the consequences. Fox comes to her rescue but no good deed goes unpunished.

It is nonstop pulling at your heartstrings from there on out. K.G. did a phenomenal job (in my opinion) at painting the picture of this dark and ominous plot with characters that had me intrigued and wanting to know more. As soon as I post this I am already starting Book 3. I went into Book 2 and finished it in less than 24 hours.

This story is told from Rosie’s POV so we don’t get the guy’s perspectives. I hope we get to see that in future books though. I love the Multiple POV books especially in Bully romance.

K.G. Reuss I cannot BELIEVE I made it to 40%. It angers me to no end and the FMC falls for such d*ckheads that are basically assaulting her!!
Her supponed bff just hates her for no reason whatsoever. I would get it if there was a misunderstanding of some kind in the past that was never cleared up. I'm guessing is going to be something that has to do with the death of his mother. He probably blames her or something. But with zero explanation I am SOOO pissed off that he just mistreats her so bad. I never want you to hurt what a whole looaaaad of BS!!!

I hate how weak rosie is. Too effin much. I want her to stand up for herself!! Ughhhh to kneel for julia??? Just no. Just thar great start of a scene (note the sarcasm) told be exactly everything I needed to know of rosie.

I hate the guys. They are literally the type of guys the heroes I like always defend the girl of. And nothing makes them change their minds. Honestly, the only difference I see between them and Ian is that they are 4. Dont give me this bs that because they wouldnt drug her they are good guys. They went to her home. Dragged her to a party she did not want to go (of course her lack of will and self respect added to that but that is another point), they let her get dragged to bed with a guy they knew was bad news and recorded her to blackmail her into being their sex slave. Yeah they are soooo much better than Ian. PFFFF!!!!

They see her suffer in so many ways and still bully her and hurt her. How is she supposed to feel love for them? Ever? The fact that she gets turned on makes me want to throw my phone against the wall. Or against her head. Ughhh. Blackmail her into being their whore???? Seriouslyy!!!??? The moment she accepted the deal I stopped reading.

I know that for some it is a turnon when the guys are so bossy and dominating. I get and respect that. Even like it myself. I don't mind it being a game in the bedroom. Rollplay. Cool. But in their daily lives?? That is a big fat NO. Fuck that.

Hated this book with my soul. K.G. Reuss 2nd DNF on this one - didn’t realize I’d tried this one before until I opened it at 38% 😬 …. Decided to skim to the end. These high school kids, who are doggedly pursuing an RH relationship with the h, act like middle schoolers. I am not feeling true affection/chemistry. They just seem like hormonal teenagers who want to get their rocks off with a gangbang. Not for me. In Ruins (Black Falls High, #1) I finished this only because of the same masochism that drove me to finish 1 1/2 of the Fifty Shades books--because I wanted to burn it down and salt the earth, but I needed to be fully informed in order to do so.

It's a reverse harem bully novel--this is not why I loathed it. When you know that going in, you can expect a certain kind of tension. I don't have a problem with the genre, and I've read RH/B books before and liked them.

I just hate THIS book.

It's labeled a romance, but unless coercion and sexual assault are your idea of romance, it's really just a book with some fucking in it. To sell a bully storyline, there needs to be some kind of backstory there, a tension that undergirds the whole thing. Here, the justification for the bullying is as flimsy as the wall in a Forever 21 dressing room. The four boys--only mildly characterized beyond the four popular boy archetypes--are horrible humans. The coerce the MC into being the tootsie roll center of their toxically masculine tootsie pop by THREATENING TO RELEASE A VIDEO THEY SHOT OF HER BEING SEXUALLY ASSAULTED AFTER BEING ROOFIED. The only consequences for the dude who did it are that he gets an ass kicking, but more because she is THEIRS now and he needs to step off.

NEVER does she consider going to authorities or reporting it. And I get why someone may choose not to--but AT LEAST CONSIDER IT.

And for fuck's sake. The main character. She is cardboard thin in terms of characterization, and she's supposedly smart enough to get a full ride to an ivy league college yet she is just dumber than a box of hair. It's infuriating to see her get manipulated, abused, recorded unwillingly, tormented, and then also have Roofie Dude constantly in the background threatening her with finishing what he started, which she LETS HAPPEN.

But you know, the guys are so hot, and they can make her come, so in the face of that, why would bodily autonomy or agency or even BASIC PERSONAL SAFETY matter, right? They're hot!

[Side note: Her name is Rosalie, which the boys shorten to rosebud over and over, and it's probably my fault for having read so much slashfic, but when I hear that word and there are no flowers around all I am thinking about is AN ANUS.]

Of course there is the blonde cheer captain who is evil and also bullies her, because of course other women are horrible. The only other woman in the book is her friend Jamie--no last name, no character, just a straight-out-of-central-casting sidekick--and Jamie is a fickle friend who turns on the MC and slut shames her at the first chance.

Stick a fucking fork in me.

All I can say is that at least since it was part of Kindle Unlimited, I didn't pay for the misery of reading this. At least not in a monetary sense.

This MC doesn't need four boyfriends, she needs a lot of therapy and some semblance of self worth.