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Royal Elite #1

Deviant King

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Elsa ha un piano ben preciso: terminare la Royal Élite School in relativa tranquillità e iniziare a frequentare l’università dei suoi sogni.

Non ha però tenuto conto di Aiden King, rampollo di una delle dinastie più potenti d’Inghilterra e re incontrastato della scuola: basta uno sguardo da parte del ragazzo e ogni progetto di Elsa va in fumo.

Forse, anche sfidarlo non è stata una mossa intelligente…

Aiden ha un solo scopo: vendicarsi di Elsa per un evento del passato, un fatto che li ha legati e di cui lei non ha però memoria.

Inizia così uno scontro tra i due, in cui Aiden non esita a usare anche la sua forza fisica per piegare Elsa. Lei dovrebbe soltanto odiarlo e invece inizia a provare qualcosa per quel ragazzo che agisce come un mostro. Anche Aiden inizia a provare qualcosa oltre l’odio che lo anima e, forse, distruggere Elsa potrebbe non essere più il suo unico scopo.

Benvenuti alla Royal Élite School, dove non sono ammessi perdenti.

Attenzione: primo libro di una trilogia, non autoconclusivo. Il testo contiene scene di dubbio consenso e sesso esplicito.

In prima di copertina trovate il titolo del manuale di Sun Tzu, L’arte della guerra, scritto in caratteri cinesi.

360 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 21, 2019

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About the author

Rina Kent

48 books33.7k followers
Rina Kent is a USA Today, international, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of everything enemies to lovers romance.
She's known to write unapologetic anti-heroes and villains because she often fell in love with men no one roots for. Her books are sprinkled with a touch of darkness, a pinch of angst, and an unhealthy dose of intensity.
She spends her private days in London laughing like an evil mastermind about adding mayhem to her expanding universe. When she's not writing, Rina travels, hikes, and spoils cats in a pure Cat Lady fashion.

You can find her below!

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5 stars
28,760 (35%)
4 stars
27,079 (33%)
3 stars
16,493 (20%)
2 stars
4,933 (6%)
1 star
2,769 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 7,324 reviews
Profile Image for daph pink ♡ .
1,074 reviews2,908 followers
February 12, 2024
1*this is shit* star

Warning: If you really want to enjoy this book, you need to shut off your feminist brain. I am sorry, I could not.

Here's a little suggestion to the author:"If the only purpose of your book is steamy romance, at least do it well."This book not only missed the mark, but it just flew right past it.

I don't have a problem with dark high school romances; I quite like them, and that's why I picked up this book, but readers need to get this thing in their heads:
"There is a fine line between bully romance and sexual assault."


At times, I felt like the author forgot what she wrote on the previous page, like there is a scene where the heroine closes the door of the room and they start having sex, and she wonders what would happen if someone walked through. It was clearly mentioned by the heroine, yet she was conflicted in her mind about it.

The book was already unnecessarily long, with bland writing and repetitive dialogues and scenes, and the author dares to bore us with these inner conflicting thoughts.

Throughout the book, I was as clueless as the heroine about her past.

Speaking of her,Elsa/Ellie/Elsie/Frozen (whatever you wanna call her) is the only reason why I gave this book 2 stars rather than 1. (I gave it one star in the end because idc)I am proud of her for using her goddamn brain!I thought she would give in long before the hero!
By the end of the book, I actually lost count of how many times she randomly bumps into people and says, OW! (MIND IT, IT'S OW, AND NOW OH!)

Aiden, motherfucking king, the over-the-top possessive boy. I know he's going to be a dark character and a bully, but the things he did to Elsa were beyond bully romance.

Anticlimactic first meet✔
Bland writing ✔(a little suggestion again to the author: the least sexy way to describe someone as sexy is to not use the word sexy.)
Repetitive scenes✔
Horrible side characters✔
Forced CHEMISTRY✔
Obvious cliffhanger✔
Nothing out of the blue story✔


There are enough reasons for you not to read it!So whatever you want to do with this book, do it. You want to burn it, throw it, cut it, do whatever you want.
Profile Image for Jessica ❥Chatterbooks Book Blog❥.
830 reviews3,105 followers
October 4, 2020
4.5

Well, Rina Kent just left one hell of an impression on me! This story isn't about your average new adult couple, and their romance isn't normal by any means. Prepare to clutch your pearls if you can't deal with sexual situations that aren't exactly consensual. *In other words, heed the content warning before going into this one!*

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Like it's stated in the title, Aiden King is one deviant motherfucker! He has no boundaries whatsoever, and his moral compass is broke as fuck. The things he did to Elsa were cruel, crazy, and 100 percent criminal on several occasions. Despite that, I wound up rooting for him in his quest to make Elsa his. 

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It makes no sense for me to feel that way, because she honestly needs a restraining order and a psychiatric evaluation. I do too though apparently, because I kept wanting her to give in to a lot of his demands pretty early on in the book! LOL At the same time, I wanted her to fight him and give him a taste of his own medicine, and she did that, too. I can't actually fault Elsa for any of her decisions, because Aiden has me just as fucked up as she is. 

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I couldn't get enough of Elsa and Aiden together! I literally read the entire book from start to finish in one sitting. The steamy scenes between the two of them were intense, twisted, and super hot! Their relationship is complicated from the beginning, and just when you think things are starting to make more sense, BAM! Rina Kent throws you a curve ball that knocks your ass out. 

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Aside from the romance, I loved the added mystery of Elsa not remembering her past due to experiencing a traumatic event in her childhood. Bits and pieces sneak through in flashbacks and dreams, and I was trying to piece everything together along with Elsa. I love it when the narrator is as in the dark as you are, and if you do too, then you'll definitely enjoy that aspect of the book. 

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Deviant King is the first book in a series, so be prepared for a cliffhanger ending. I got enough answers for me to not feel super frustrated by it, but it still left me reeling. I can't wait for the next installment, Steel Princess! Hopefully, we finally get some of Aiden's POV, because so far, the story has been in Elsa's entirely. 

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Side note: The side characters in the book intrigued me enough to want more of their stories. Fingers crossed they get books of their own in the future!


I recommend Deviant King to fans of intense dark bully romance and slightly unhinged alphaholes.
Profile Image for Zainab Qadeer.
46 reviews487 followers
August 22, 2023
“Do you know that I feel murderous when someone touches you? Is that why you pulled that fucking stunt?”

⚠️⚠️⚠️
Before I even get into this I just want to warn you this is a dark bully romance so please read the trigger warnings and not for everyone at some points I thought it wasn’t for me it still isn’t for me BUT I BOUGHT THE FULL SERIES IN HARDBACKS BECAUSE THE COVER WAS PRETTY SO WATERSTONES I HOPE YOUR MAKING GOOD USE OF MY MONEY BECAUSE IT DEFINITELY DENTED MY BANK ACCOUNT😂💀

The story hits off immediately with Elsa who’s living with her aunt and uncle because both her parents died in a fire. It’s her first day at royal elite which as youv guessed it is a private school for the insanely rich upper class. Elsa immediately becomes friends with Kim the outcast who shows her around when they stop to watch the football team she’s met with these chilling black eyes before she gets a chance to ask who that boy was Kim pulls her away telling her that that’s Aiden king the most powerful and popular guy in school but she isn’t fast enough as Aiden slams her against the wall hand on her throat with the words “I will destroy you ”which seals her fate like bro your 16 chill

Now did I love this or hate it I can’t really say im leaning more towards hate… the bullying isn’t why I rated this 3 stars as that was clearly part of the trigger warnings and it’s my fault for reading it it’s the fact that I can’t really make out the plot like yess there’s something that happened in Elsa's past that we don’t know of and the accident that caused her to lose her memories but there isn’t much about it just a few flashbacks and nightmares. I feel like we just kept going back to the same point in this book which was the constant fighting between Aidan and Elsa it was just repetitive .


“You looked fucking adorable.” Aiden smiles.
“Uh.. go back.” Ronan stares at Aiden as if he grew an additional head. “Did you just say ‘adorable’?”
Aiden’s poker face returns.
“No, no, no… don’t close off. Come on, King.” He retrieves his phone. “Say it again, I need to get it on camera.”
Aiden stares at Ronan’s camera and mouths. “Fuck. You.”
RONAN ASTOR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN 💗💗💗

I loved the friendship between what they like to call the ‘four horsemen’ Aiden, Cole, Ronan and Xander the bonding between them, the funny cute moments but also the moments where they pissed one another off was definitely one of the highlights for me. Ronan has to be my fave he was just soo funny and for what. Him I LOVED 😂😂

“Then who did you come for, hmm?” His eyes spark, and it pisses me off.”

“Who do you think? I came for my boyfriend Xander.”

“Go ahead, sweetheart. I dare you to say that again.”

“I told you, sweetheart. You’re already mine, so stop acting otherwise.”


Aiden and Elsa were confusing they pissed me off but I found them cute at times my feelings for them are definitely INCONSISTENT😭 one second I love them the next I wanna push both of them off a cliff. The obsessive jealousy I loved Typical me how Aiden couldn’t stand anyone near Elsa and was ready to drop his childhood friends for her and the fight between him and Xander was just 😍😍 come on we love a bit of jealousy maybe i love it a little too much

“How did you know that I only eat that type of food?”
“Your aunt was packing a vegetarian lunch and there was a special brand of biscuits with no fatty acid on your breakfast table.” He glances at me. “Besides, you only eat your lunchboxes at school.”
“You’ve been watching me at school?”
🥰🥰

Their cute moments were definitely adorable. Aidan knowing every detail about Elsa the way he took care of her diet knowing what she could eat and what she couldn’t had my heart he wasn’t a complete psychopath but I’m not denying that he’s not one like he’s still 99.9% a confirmed psychopath 😂😂 BUT THEIR CUTE MOMENTS IN MY OPINION WERNT ENOUGH AFTER THE WHOLE PHONE SCENE I JUST CAN'T GET OVER IT

“I have a rule: Never try to understand bullies.” she really needs to re read her own rules 💀😂

“I called you by your stupid last name, what else are you waiting for? Hail to the king?” fully rolling 😂😂

I loved elsa at the start but she irritated me as the book went along she started off so strong and indestructible not allowing aiden to break her and get his way with her only for her to give into him. The one scene that triggered me was when she hit silver like yess silver is a bitch but the whole scene gave me second hand embarrassment like if you want to hit anyone hit Aiden he’s the one with her it just cringed me out. SHE LITERALLY WENT FROM IM NOT TAKING SHIT FROM ANYONE TO PERSONAL DOORMAT .

“Why do you think no one asked you out these past two years?” Xander lifts an eyebrow.”

“It’s his way to eliminate competition.”


“What will you do if I somehow cheat?” I’m treading into a dangerous territory, but curiosity gets the better of me.
“Kill the bastard.” No hesitation.
“How about me?”
He cups my jaw with false tenderness. “That’s the difference between you and me, sweetheart. You’d leave me in a heartbeat if I cheat, but I’ll never leave you even if you cheat.”


Aiden is definitely a deranged psycho you love her but then create these rumours about her and her biology teacher and for what to take out the competition I thought your the most popular guy then what’s the insecurity about . The fact that he brought silver on his arm to piss Elsa off to get her to admit she likes him was hilarious like drastic much .His eye twitching got me I can just imagine it every time he got pissed like hello that’s cringe but funny at the same time 😂😂😂

I loved that this was set in England because finally I knew the towns but out of all them Kent chose Birmingham whyy? If you live in Birmingham I swear I’m not hating now as a huge premier league fan It sucked that the team that everyone loved was Arsenal i wish it was Manchester United Well now you know where I live😭🥹

Can we talk about Xander and Kim because there’s clearly something between them I want to see what the deal is with him because he’s clearly obsessed with her but such a prick to her .

SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️⚠️⚠️

What I hated was the whole phone scene because there’s a fine line between bullying and assault and let’s be honest he assaulted her my guy had his hand down her top and then kissed her heart surgery scar that guy had some weird obsession with that scar it was really creepy. I’ll always hate Aiden for that it was unforgivable THE ONLY REASON WHY IM NOT LOWERING MY RATING IS BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT ITS A BULLY ROMANCE WHERE IT IS MADE CLEAR BUT WAS IT NECESSARY NO IT WAS DISGUSTING

“Are you, Elsa? Because I was never supposed to like you this much. Hell. I wasn’t supposed to think about you more than I think of myself.”

This is making more sense now because he can’t love the girl who’s parents were responsible for his mothers death 😭

Now what was this ending that first encounter with Aiden made sense it falls into place. Was he with Elsa to get revenge for the death of his mum because if that’s the case I’m pissed for her because he even had me believing that he was obsessed and infatuated with her.
This whole cliff hanger is killing me it’s what brought this book together I DID NOT SEE IT COMING .

SPOILERS END HERE ⚠️⚠️⚠️

This ends on a cliff hanger which I might add is AMAZING so you know what that means I’m reading the next book I hope that the second book is more interesting with a proper plot and WE GET MORE RONAN CONTENT BECAUSE I FULLY LOVE HIM 🥹💕 This book wasn't the best sooo 1 star for Ronan 1 star for the cover and 1 star for the cliff-hanger which made it interesting i think my maths is mathsing. Just a word of advice this book has quite a bit of Smutt which I didn’t read so if you like that then you’ll probably love this I say this every time as I did a lot of skipping
Profile Image for Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️.
1,930 reviews32.9k followers
July 21, 2021
4 Stars

I've been on quite the Rina Kent binge lately to say the least...but I didn't think I would try this series. I've been really loving her darker adult mafia-ish stuff and this is new adult and takes place in high school. So I wasn't all that drawn to it as I just haven't been into the YA/NA stuff lately.

But then, well...

description

I ran out of Rina Kent shit to read.

And so here we are.

I figured I wouldn't enjoy this as I've read a lot of high school bully romances in the past. Plus, I'm like basically middle-aged now, folks. And, you know...

description

I figured I would crack this open and condescendingly bow out shortly thereafter.

Instead, this was me a few chapters in...

*
*
*
*


description

That's right folks. It's official. I'm a spazzy band geek with a saxophone, way too much inner delinquency, and a lack of acceptable maturity.

I mean, I'm basically late 30's going on 16, here.

Not that I would encourage anyone who actually IS 16 to read this. The relationship here is completely unhealthy and includes what most would consider full on sexual assault.

Which, is obviously bad, bad, bad.

[Insert disclaimer so people don't get pissy here]

description

So, yeah, there's that.

But hey, at least I pretended to be classy and above it all for a whole gif.

Thank God I had Aiden and his sexy crazy asshole-ness to bring me back to who I really am.

description

Already on book two.
Profile Image for marwah .
483 reviews1,167 followers
November 7, 2022
TW: sexual assualt

dnf at 51% surprised i got that far damn-

“A-Aiden, what are you doing?” “For the last time, it’s King.” His face is completely blank except for the slight smirk. “You said you’ll report me for sexual harassment.”
“W-what… ?”
“It’s your lucky day. I’m making the report come true.”
“You… can’t be serious?” My voice cracks.
“Have I ever joked with you, Frozen?” I struggle against him, my heartbeat increases with every second that I can’t budge away. “Aiden! Stop it.” “Wrong name.”
what😍🔪

I would have continued this quote but I think we all know what happens...
spoiler alert: she never reported him for harassment and he just kept doing it AND still fell in love with the bAd EvIl BoY😍 #goals
I actually had an entire review planned out in my head of me just hating on this book, but I realized that I didn't have to waste energy writing a review for a book that doesn't even deserve one *writes one anyway*
the quote above is from chapter 5.
yes
five chapters in and the mc has already sexually harassed the fmc, not one not two but three times
oh wait and I can't forget that amazing prologue, can I ??
(context: their first time meeting)

"A strong hand wraps around my throat and pushes me against the wall."
"W-What are you doing?” He leans forward so his mouth hovers inches away from mine and growls. “I will destroy you.”


what happened to hello? how are you? my name is?
SIR WHAT DID SHE DO TO YOU???? YOU LITERALLY JUST SAW HER AND SAID “OH LET ME MAKE THIS GIRL SUFFER BECAUSE SHE HAS NICE TITS AND ‘BULLYING` IS MY LOVE LANGUAGE AND ALSO BECAUSE I'M AN ALPHA MALE SO SHE HAS TO LISTEN AND FALL IN LOVE WITH ME”

and if you're wondering- no I will not waste my time on this godawful series I don't give a flying fuck for the clearly nonexistent "character development". apparently, the second couple were step-siblings or some shit😭 idk if any of you guys like that I have nothing against you just not for me lol.

I have read dark romances but this book right took dark romance to a whole new illegal level and I won't tolerate that sorry not sorry.
April 29, 2020
Fantabulous!




This was such an awesome bully romance. If you like this genre at all, then this is the book for you. The Hero is a huge jerk and a big bully and completely obsessed with the heroine Elsa Quinn. First he bullies her by turning the whole school against her on her first day, then later he bullies her into almost everything she does. She sees emptiness in his eyes, she knows he has something dark inside him.

I had been waiting for this book. Not long ago I read Noble Savages that included the book Cruel King. I love Bully Romance and Cruel King was one of the best I had read and was a step in a new direction for Rina Kent. I think all her Mafia/assassin series books are incredible. Cruel King was the story of Levi King and it included Levi’s cousin Adrian and this book is Adrian’s story. The way Levi talked about Adrian sounded like Adrian could be a sociopath.

Elsa likes to stay in the background but is not afraid to stand up for herself, and while she is afraid of Aiden, she stands up for herself anyway. Though he seems to always see through her. He says she likes being forced into doing things she thinks she should have issues with, and she isn’t sure if he is right or if she just hates him. Maybe she thinks she should because he made her miserable for a long time.

On her first day at Royal Elite School Elsa meets Kim, a girl who is sneaking around the edge of the crowd of students and she figures that Kim is a girl like her, who just wants to keep her head down and get through high school so she can get into a good college. They become immediate friends. Then she sees Aiden on the field with his friends. She meets his eyes and can’t look away. He then comes up to her and tells her that he will destroy her.



Aiden is the king of the school and after that the majority of the student body treats her like trash. El and Aiden have daily glaring matches but other than that, they have no contact. He doesn’t outright bully her, but he also doesn’t do anything about it and since one word from him to the other students would stop it, she blames him for starting it and letting it go on.

Things change on the first day of their senior year when he starts bullying her face to face. He wants her and she is putty in his hands. There are also a lot of secrets at play. Elsa is being raised by her aunt and uncle since her parents died when she was young. She doesn’t remember anything before she woke up in the hospital and doesn’t want to remember.

Also, there is something going on with her friend Kim and Kim won’t talk about what it is, but it is the reason Kim has been an outcast even though she has known 90% of the students since middle school. Kim even lives right near Aiden and across the street from Aidens best friend Xander.

The biggest mystery is Aiden himself. Why is he so dark? When Elsa calls him sick he doesn’t deny it, he knows he is different than other people. Elsa is curious to know what made him that way. She even wonders if he was abused as a child. I love how it is written, with all the mystery and we as readers don’t know the answers either.

But as I stare up at Aiden’s punishing eyes, my earlier thoughts shrink behind my trembling, defective heart. He scares me. Call it instinct or an intuition, but something terrifying lurks behind that easy-going smile and football star image.
“What did you just do?” His voice is calm and quiet with a slight huskiness.


I hate in some books how when the reader knows what the secrets are and the people who have the secrets don’t tell them to each other, so everything is about huge misunderstandings or just the fact that the main character(s) don’t really know the motivation behind certain things the other one does. This book doesn’t do that. The reader is as in the dark about the secrets as the character(s) who don’t know.

Another thing I like was that this was an erotic romance and boy was it spicy. I give it 5 peppers for hotness 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶! One thing I sometimes hate about high school romance is that they are too clean and a great number of high school students can be a bit dirty. If they were we wouldn’t have TV shows like Teen Mom or Young and Pregnant.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

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Profile Image for Iqra.
462 reviews4,094 followers
May 7, 2024
2.5*

Okay lol. I avoided writing the review but then I couldn’t not vent about this book when I basically crawled through it fighting for my life jaksjdkdk

No srsly why was it so sad to read this? Like it had no actual flavour. The drama was forced. The plot? Nonexistent. pls someone tell me what was the purpose of this book??? I just read it and I couldn’t tell you what it was about if you put a gun to my head 🤡🤡

Oml Not Rina using the word ‘arsehole’ every three lines. help?? I swear shes handing them out like they’re fucking sweets *attempts to strangle myself*

Elsa was cute till she wasn’t 💀 If this bitch runs into hard walls that start beating under her fucking palm again in the next book I’m gonna rip my oesophagus out and smack her with it. I swear she pissed me off to no end.
Also, why do all the fmcs need to have amnesia for the “plot” to work?! 🙄🙄

I kept getting deja vu bc it was basically a repeat of inner monologue from book 1. If I wanted to read the same shit again then I would’ve reread the first book.

“𝗛𝗲'𝘀 𝗸𝗶���𝗴 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹. 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲.“
~NO. Just no.

“𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀“
I’m speechless 💀💀💀💀💀

There was no original thought here. And don’t get me started on how they went in circles and had the SAME FUCKING ARGUMENT EVERY TIME 😭🔫

And Aiden?? He was so fucking irritating. He was just… there in the book. Like he had no actual presence. The book started so strong with him being really up front and centre but then he just got sorta lost?? What happened to his whole “I’m gonna destroy you bitch” threat ???
Also what is with the eye twitch?? It has me cackling EVERY TIME pls 🤣🤣

Anyway… I’m most likely still gonna read the next one bc I’m just a girl 😇👩‍🦯

𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲:
Xander and Kim’s story sounds interesting. I’m noticing how I look forward to couples that aren’t even the MCs in these books and that says a lot 💀

𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀:

“I hate you,” I tell him with all the pent up frustration I’ve been feeling this morning.
“I think you don’t, sweetheart, but you wish you did.” He reaches for me and pinches my cheek. “You’re adorable as fuck when you’re all flushed.”

“Besides, did you miss the part where I’m mad at you?���
“I’m mad at you, too. We can be mad at each other while you’re sitting on my lap.”

He threads his fingers into my hair and tugs the band free before bringing a strand of hair to his face and inhaling. “Hmm, you smell like temptation.”
Profile Image for Ri ♡ .
340 reviews1,023 followers
May 9, 2024
3.5 stars

“I was never supposed to like you this much. Hell. I wasn’t supposed to think about you more than I think of myself.”


Deviant King is your typical bully romance with a mystery and suspense plot and a morally grey hero who wants to destroy the female main character. It's cliché and cringe but also addicting and entertaining.

This book was much better than Cruel King. I had some expectations based on what I heard about this book, the tropes and also I was drawn to Aiden from the very first book of this series. There was something about his mysterious and quiet personality but turns out he's a sociopath with no morals.

The plot is compelling with a complex layer of suspense, darkness, mystery and angst. Aiden and Elsa's mysterious past plays a major role in this book to get you hooked from the very first page. I am not a big fan of bully romance but Deviant King was different than other bully romances. Yes, Aiden is a bully but there back and forth and bickering and banter was so fun to read. The main characters are bounded by their tragic past and the animosity and the feud between their families and you can't help but want to know what happened to them that led them to this path of hate and destruction.

I still hated that the main characters were teenagers and I had to brainwash myself into believing that were in their early 20s but atleast Aiden and Elsa did not had 2d personality like Levi and Astrid. The writing still needs a lot of work. It's cringy and the dialogues had me laughing most of the times because of how these teenagers behaved like they are the king of the world.


➸ Elsa Quinn is portrayed as this strong, protective and defiant female character who never shows her weakness of vulnerability in front of anyone. She doesn't remember her past and was bullied in RES because of how Aiden made a promise to her that he will destroy her. At first, Elsa was just the ice queen who don't give a shit about anything or anyone, but it was more about her staying away from all the unwanted attention while also trying to fit into her new life at RES. She never backs down from a challenge and when Aiden pushes her, she gives him as good as she can and I liked that she's not a doormat female character because I really hate it when they make their sad life their whole personality.


“Aren’t all girls supposed to be attracted to the white knight? Prince charming? Why the hell am I gravitating towards the villain?”



➸ Aiden King is your typical morally grey character who's also a sociopath with no emotions, a deviant with no moral compass, an anti-hero with manipulative and possessive obsessiveness personality. He hides all this behind the façade of the perfect boy of RES. Aiden wants Elsa, so he will do anything to get her where he wants her, he pushes Elsa to her limits, he play the games of mindfuckery until she bows to his command. In short, he is unhinged. I am intrigued about him but I don't like him because of what he did to Elsa in this book, but I am hoping to see some redeeming qualities of him in the next books.


“Aiden…”
“Hmm, sweetheart?”



╰┈➤ Aiden and Elsa has crazy and explosive chemistry. They both are fucked up for how they react to each other. They hate each other, but they also had few sweet and endearing moments in this book. One minute Aiden is forcing Elsa to do what he commands and the next he is calling her adorable and sweetheart. He is unhinged but atleast he owns it. I couldn’t help but root for him in this book. What started as hate and destruction has slowly evolved into attraction, lust and tension and maybe even love. I hated how he bullied her but I also liked how Elsa fought back. They way she gets on his nerves everytime was so funny and I love it when Aiden is pissed and jealous. They are match made in hell.


“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to have you, sweetheart.”
“Nothing?”
“Absolutely nothing.”



So far, the story is going great and the plot is set at a good pace. There are no major revelations happening in this book and I am hoping to know more about Aiden and Elsa's past in next books. There are so many truths to be revealed, mysteries that needs to be unfold, pasts that needs to be unravel and I am so here for it.

————————

This better serves the ice queen x bad boy trope or i am suing rina kent
Profile Image for mel ☽.
369 reviews10.7k followers
May 25, 2024
#0: cruel king4.5 stars
#1: deviant king4 stars
#2: steel princess3.5 stars


4 stars

this is my first ever bully, academy type of romance book and i really liked this! it was definitely a page-turner for me and that's definitely a plus. i mean, i read this rather than study for my midterm soo... yay, right?

i wasn't expecting anything that would wow me to be honest, but this did because all the mystery from the h's childhood got me hooked.

family intrigue, rich people doing bad things but they gotta hide their asses, private school full of rich snobs, a little bit of petty teen drama, push and pull from MCs, H chasing the h going all cavemen most of the time, enemies to lovers, bully romance, side characters' story being introduced... if y'all like these then i recommend reading this book 100%

"Being hated by Aiden King is dangerous.
But being wanted by him is lethal."


Aiden King (H):
- 99.9% sure he's a sociopath.
- wouldn't want to date him irl, but fictionally? hell yeah.
- rich kid who's family rules the whole UK and probably the whole world.
- rick kid who rules the whole school.
- part of the 4 horsemen with his three little minions.
- super duper possessive as hell, always going all like "she's mine", "stay away from her she's mine", "imma beat you up if you touch her" blah blah blah. even though i don't like this kind of alpha/possessive intensity from my H, this doesn't bother me as much and i actually liked it??
- kind of an evil genius. like, wouldn't be surprised if he's related to Elon Musk type of genius.
- not a man ho. I REPEAT. NOT a man ho (thank god).
- #1 kink: chocking

Elsa Quinn (h):
- Ice Princess
- "Frozen"
- not a doormat (thank you jesus).
- fights back.
- very protective and loyal to her best friend, Kimberly and i LOVE that. she always stands up for her and acts like a momma bear.
- can't remember her childhood cuz of trauma.
________________________

have to admit, sometimes, i wasn't really convinced with the romance and the progression was a bit too fast for my liking considering their history but i get it. it's all part of the H's evil plan or whatever.

and can we talk about Kimberly (h bff) and Xander's (H bff) history? i bet you they used to be childhood best friends but something happened so Xander became her "bully". im getting a Jared and Tate vibes and im all for that. i think im more intrigued with their relationship and story to be honest.

but anyways, since this is a bully romance some things might annoy some people and there's definitely questionable and fucked up things ((choking as kink, a little bit of manhandling, inappropriate groping without consent) happening here buuut i guess it all depends on people's preferences and such.

but i can't wait to read the next book (coming out Dec 12) cuz that cliffhanger!! omg nooo i need the next one right now!
Profile Image for Alex ✴︎.
372 reviews83 followers
April 11, 2024
DNF @ 29%

Lmao whattttt

You guys, what did I just read?

This was terrible. Okay so this is a contemporary high school bully romance which some people are into, and I'm not judging. I'm somewhat of an enemies to lovers connoisseur myself. Although bully romances aren't my first choice, depending on my mood I could be interested. But this was just... awful lol

So first, the writing is terrible. Seriously, I've read many a fanfictions that are written miles better than this. My god. The same points are repeated over and over. The author forces awkward descriptions into the text in a 4th grade attempt to add "context" and "detail." This may take the crown for worst writing in a book that I've read.

Okay, but fine, maybe I can get past some less than stellar writing if the plot is good. So Elsa starts her high school career at Royal Elite (lol) in England and on her very first day she's minding her own business when Aiden King (lol) comes out of nowhere, LITERALLY grabs her by the neck and shoves her against the wall with his whole soccer team just laughing on, and tells her he will destroy her. I mean, in what world?! She literally just walked into school!

I haven't read many bully romances, but the ones I have are just so unrealistic. And I'm someone who loves wacky fantasy and paranormal tropes, but at least the people in these outlandish scenarios act with some sense. It was just so over the top and unbelievable. Bullies aren't usually so OTT. They do little humiliating things to break people down. They pull mean pranks. They are cruel with words. They don't strangle you and shove you against a wall upon meeting you. That's just a psychopath. And everyone at the school just acts like this is a normal Tuesday. There's a difference between being a bully and being a violent psychopath. Neither is good, but there is a difference and I feel a lot of these books ignore that difference. If you're going to write about a violent psychopath, then fine, but don't play it off like they're just a school bully because- no. Aiden is not a bully. He's insane.

And I likepsychotic characters but the context around them needs to make some sense but it's just 0-100 and I can't suspend my disbelief.

Aiden literally threatens to assault Elsa because she calls him 'Aiden' and not 'King.' This is so extra I can't.

And then! He's sexually assaulting her (literally like 20 min into the book) and she's just sitting there twiddling her thumbs like la dee dah and I'm just like ???????? She's not physically fighting back at all and is just like 'oh Aiden, what do you want now dammit?' 'stop being such a meanie!"

But wait, there's more! After one of Aiden's and Elsa's 'confrontations' (consisting of Aiden threatening to sexually assault her and then doing so) Elsa goes home and is just like, "Ughh. He sucks. But there's something in his eyes?" and then throw a little bit of betraying body in there. Thanks, I hate it.

At least it was sort of entertaining with how bad it was but wow I'm going to go put bleach in my eyes brb
Profile Image for Vivian Diaz (semi-hiatus).
572 reviews89 followers
January 9, 2024
4/5 ⭐️ This was my first book by Rina Kent and it is what made me fall in love with her books. It is definitely not perfect but it will always hold a special place in my heart. It was also the first bully romance I ever read.

It just felt so comforting to be back in the Royal Elite world. And I just melted each time Aiden’s psycho self called Elsa sweetheart 🫠🫠

And he could be so sweet too 🥹 I loved it when he got the school to serve Elsa’s special food. She could never eat the cafeteria food before because of her heart condition. So he made it happen for her 🥹. And I also loved how he always brought her water after practice. And his jealousy over anyone being near his Elsa? It was so much fun 😭🫠🥹. It literally had me giggling 🤭

I did rate this 5 stars the first time I read it but I just didn’t get the 5 stars feel like last time. I still loved it though! 🥰 Aiden King will always be my favorite 😌


*2021*
5/5 ⭐️ Wow! This book was so good!! I cant wait to read the next book. It ends on a cliffhanger!
Profile Image for Arena♡.
404 reviews717 followers
July 27, 2023


This book in a couple of gif's:





So, this was my first ever bully romance and I loved it so much. (In case you're wondering, I read this book about 3 months ago, and I've come a long way since then in this trope. The reason I'm writing this review now is because when I read this book I hadn't starting writing reviews yet, and I just re-read this series so I thought why not write one now?) Anyways, like I said this was my first book in this trope and my first book by author Rina Kent, who btw is now one of my fav authors💖

Review

I loved this book so much!!

“They say it doesn’t take long for your life to be flipped upside down. A moment. A second. And it’s all over. I should’ve known. If I had, I would’ve done things differently. Maybe I would’ve walked the other way. Maybe my tale wouldn’t have ended the way it did. But the thing about ‘maybes’? They’re useless.”

Elsa Quinn, comes to Royal Elite, in hopes of doing well and getting into Cambridge which is her dream college but all goes to hell when Aiden King publicly declares war against her by saying "I will destroy you"

“Be mine and you become the queen on my board.” He pauses and flicks his tongue to lick my lower lip. “Fight and you’ll remain a pawn.”

Aiden King is the most popular guy on campus. He is dark and broody and doesn't talk much. The four of them (Ronan Astor, Cole Nash, Xander Knight and 'the mighty king' himself) are also known as the 'Four Horseman.' They are the golden boys of the town and loved by all.

Everyone knows the mighty Aiden who isn't affected by much, but when Elsa joins RES, he is affected by her presence like an itch to scratch.


(Totally inappropriate, I know, but I just couldn't resist it😂)

So anyways, no one knows why he is so affected by her presence, buuuut we find out his reasons as the story progresses and let me tell you..


I loved Elsa so much, she WASN'T a doormat at all and stood her own. Oh, and her friendship with Kim...*I'm not swooning over the friendship more than the relationship*
Honestly, she was like a momma bear, protecting Kim from all the fat-shaming and bullying. She was so strong and resilient and even though she was getting bullied too, she tried her best to protect Kim.


What an ending!! The cliff-hanger was ahh-maz-ing!!

Me at the end of the book:





I so enjoyed this book, and if you're looking for a good, dark, captivating bully romance, this book is highly recommended!!

This book may contain some dubious content as it's a dark, bully romance. But if you're okay with it I would highly recommend this book!
Profile Image for Shaikha.
125 reviews37 followers
September 22, 2021
Dnf @ 34%

First of all, Aiden King is such a regal and intimate name, how dare Ms. Kent name the H Aiden King and give him the personality of a potato!? That name paired with his posh British accent had soo much potential!

Second of all, W T F 😘😘😘

How was the this published last year!? I thought this was an olddddddd work of Rina Kent, hence the absolute absurd personalities of the characters. But no this was published in 2020. Maybe the pandemic hit her a little too hard.

I’ve read Truths & Lies duet by her and I think I marginally enjoyed it (because my previous self was less judgmental and critical and more open-minded, BUT my friends on GR have brought out this overly vicious side of me and I feel this inexplicable need to excoriate every HS book I read *growl* 👹)

But I digress.

The first book of that duet was good. This book reminded me of that duet when there was a mention of Elsa LOSING her memories (could memories be a euphemism for brain cells? Hmm, I wonder.) after being in an accident. I remember something similar happened to the h in All The Lies. I don’t know what’s the author’s fixation with making her heroines suffer from amnesia (when they already suffer from STUPIDITY) suffering two terminal diseases must be hard. Elsa might not have my respect but she has my (reluctant) sympathy.

Anyway, back to this book, I should have heeded Hala’s warning when she said I shouldn’t have picked this book. But I didn’t and I suffered. How I suffered! BUT I have to thank my prudence for bailing when I did…before this book caused any permanent brain damage.

I could have done without reading about a h who acted like a disgustingly concerned (step)mother, what with her trying to dissect Aiden’s thoughts and actions and trying to peek into his oh-so-black-soul and trying to read his oh-so-black-mind!

“The girls want him. The boys want to be him.
But none of them sees that emptiness inside him.
The void.”


If you’re trying to make your character dark and menacing at least try to make them appear, I don’t know, convincing??
A boy who throttles an unsuspecting girl he DOESN’T know after he JUST makes eye contact with her is anything but menacing. He doesn’t belong in a school that only accepts one percent of the iNteLliGent students (umm, this school needs to conduct a serious reevaluation). He belongs in a mental asylum.

“His other hand clutches my jaw, and my lips tremble at the thought that he’ll snap my neck.
“W-What are you doing?”
He leans forward so his mouth hovers inches away from mine and growls. “I will destroy you.”
Those words seal my fate.”


The hero’s first meeting with the heroine, everyone. Can you imagine the derisive laugh I had to STIFLE after reading that?! 😃😃

I did not expect such behavior from someone named AIDEN KING!?!?

Disappointing 😍
Profile Image for Maditales.
608 reviews30.7k followers
March 9, 2022
the prologue made me rate this book 1 star.

you are trying to tell me that he said "i will destroy you" and choked her in the hallway while they were idk 15 or 16????
Laughing.
that is the funniest thing I have ever seen. I first thought they were 18 but no they had to be teenagers that act like they rule the world.

Yes Aidan is sad and probably has a darker past but the plot twist was predictable and I dont know where but I have read smth like that before.
Profile Image for The Sassy Bookworm.
3,633 reviews2,796 followers
October 24, 2019
description
description To be honest, I am not really a huge fan of bully books, and the start of this one was a little rough for me. However, I like this author so I pushed through, and I am glad I did because I ended up getting sucked into the story and enjoying it a whole hell of a lot. The writing was great. It moved along at a good pace. The plot, although, far-fetched kept we turning the pages. There was a good cast of secondary characters, and I liked Elsa a lot. Aiden, on the other hand, was hard to warm up to. He is pretty much a "go to the police and get a restraining order..STAT" type of character. 👀 But I guess that was what the author was going for. Last, this one wraps up on a proper soap opera cliffhanger, and yours truly will be first in line to grab up book two when it become available. 👍👍

description

description BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | PINTEREST | BOOKBUB

Profile Image for Fre06 Begum.
1,260 reviews208 followers
October 24, 2019
I don’t rate a lot of books 4* my GR friends are very aware of that! This review is also based on Rina Kent’s other bully book in a boxset which was my favourite and the only one for me that had all the qualities I would expect in a possessive and obsessed hero.
I am not a fan of the craze that seems to be going around where it’s almost a norm to have a reverse harem (I don’t like sharing) and the blurb says heroine is strong blah blah blah. I read a few of them just to see if I could get into them but alas reverse harem (apart from Addison Cain’s Wren series) is really not for me, also these “strong heroine” are so not with their betraying body syndrome and their pathetic need for their men. Few bully stories have captured me but this author’s series is really pulling me in and honestly I really like her heroine’s because even though there is some betraying body moments they don’t let it control the brains that God gifted them with! Honestly I was beginning to give up on the bully genre because the reverse harem and cringe worthy female leads were just really annoying but I am so glad I gave this author a chance and I will definitely be looking out for her other books if her females are like two I have read so far in her Elite series! Best series this year for me!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for zaraa.
400 reviews
February 24, 2020
turns out it’s actually quite hard to get into high school based books when you’re older than the characters. no I'm kidding, but, honestly, this book was quite immature and typical high school students trying too hard to be something to stand out while acting stupid. all of the characters needed a grown up wake up call: Aidan, the male character was trying too hard to be a dark character and it obviously didn’t feel as natural as it should have. I mean he starts to bully the main girl, Elsa out of no where and starts to touch her right away, it's like there was no buildup of romance, angst, or even hate. at times, I was even confused about what I was reading like the plot sounded promising, but it could have been delivered way better.
now, don’t get me wrong because I do like dark romance and even books set in high school, but this one wasn’t anything special as i’ve heard otherwise, and I know there are reasons for why the characters were behaving the way they were, but I‘m not too invested to beat the cliffhanger and find out at the end of the trilogy.
Profile Image for Bookadmirer.
367 reviews209 followers
July 24, 2020
This book was really bad. I knew it's a bully romance and I also knew about the force seduction which I have no problem with. I have read plenty of books that have force seduction which also have good plots and enjoyed them. However, I just didn't enjoy this book. The scenes were repetitive and not entertaining. The whole mystery of the past didn't serve any purpose until the end. It was also unnecessary lengthy.

His fingers are back to my bra again, but instead of tracing like earlier, his thumb and forefinger latch onto my pebbled nipple through the cloth and he pinches.

I know it's a bully romance but this was straight sexual assault. And it happens multiple times.

I try to push at his chest, but he reaches his free hand to my nipple and pinches it while squeezing my neck harder.

He was choking her while touching her and she wasn't consenting here. I don't know how this is romantic?

In the whole book, Aiden sexually assaulted Elsa, and he continuously tries to prove she is a masochist. The scenes weren't even sexy rather very disturbing to read. The writing is totally awful.

I admit that this book was addictive and I wanted to know what actually happened and is going to happen. But i also feel this book is very similar to Fear Me by B.B. Reid .

Maybe the similarity between other bully romances I read was too much that resulted, me not enjoying this book. This book is just a decent bully romance, nothing fancy or extraordinary to offer. I won't recommend this book.
Profile Image for Jessica .
2,261 reviews14.9k followers
February 21, 2022
Yeah, high school bully romances just aren't for me. I liked them a few years ago, but I just don't care for them anymore. This one is a bully romance and Elsa has been bullied by Aiden for two years. We don't know why, but we do figure out that Aiden has bullied her because he's obsessed with her. They randomly have a close encounter and Aiden all of the sudden feels like they're going to be together. So Elsa just goes along with it?? I never understand bully romances where the heroine just decides to blindly trust the person who has bullied her and tortured her for two years. Because that makes sense. Everything in here felt very surface level and one dimensional, especially with Elsa. Her friendship with Kim was there but wasn't really explored. She ran track, but that was rarely talked about unless she was at practice. She was competing to be in the top ten percent at the super elite high school but they were rarely in class and she was never studying or doing homework. The entire book focused on how Aiden bullied her and now was dating her. And that was really it. I could have cared less about everything.
Profile Image for mira.
839 reviews1,288 followers
August 25, 2021
1.25⭐️

“Be mine and you become the queen on my board.”


if you are under 18 please i beg you don't read this shit, why? because this isn't even romance, its everything romance shouldn't be

This whole book is a big ass RED FLAG. Nothing about this is normal. Fucking hell (I wrote this from CHAPTER 6 IM ALREADY PANICKING). My heart was literally beating so fast while reading this and it wasn’t even in a good way.

i'm not even gonna comment on how psychotic aiden was. actually no i will. fucking hell i dont care what happened in your past, you don't do half the shit he did to elsa. i'm still fucking creeped out.

is this even the same aiden from cruel king??????? because i fucking loved aiden in that book and in this one i just pissed my pants.

i had a feeling about that ending but it still shocked me - thats why i'm giving that 0.25 star just the element of surprise.

update: i'm still shocked and confused
Profile Image for  ⚔Irunía⚔ .
430 reviews4,163 followers
January 28, 2021
I liked the heroine, who, in contrast to many other modern heroines possesses the ability to stand for herself. Hero's obsession with her is scary and thrilling, definitely not sth anyone would like to experience in real life.
I think it was really good we didn't get his POV and he remained kind of a mystery, at least for now.
The plot was lacking, but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless
Profile Image for crystal.
572 reviews683 followers
June 16, 2022
rina kent puts actual crack in her writing im obsessed 😩
Profile Image for moonlight ☾ [semi-hiatus].
677 reviews1,393 followers
May 6, 2022
2.5 stars

it honestly sucks when the blurb for a book is very intriguing but, once you read the book itself, it turns out...meh. nothing really pulled me in? bully romance is one of my favorite tropes but idk, i couldn't get into this. 🥴 i wasn't attached to the characters or romance (two very important things for me when picking up a book). the only two characters that kinda peaked my interest were kimberly and xander. but, even then, it was just kinda lol.

might put this series on hold for a while since i'm not in the mood to continue it rn, but i'm hoping, once i get to kimberly and xander's book, i'll be able to get into it more.
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