BAD BAD BOY (Rats of Richstone #1) by Angel Devlin
Release Date: February 18th
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BLURB

He’s the bad boy from the wrong side of the river. She’s the rich girl who wants for nothing.

They call them the rats.

The people from the poor side of Richstone river. Privilege lies just a short walk away and Liam Lawson wants it. When the head of Richstone Academy offers four places to the students of Sharrow Manor, he hatches a plan to ensure he and his friends get the opportunity to change their lives for the better… forever. Via a pact of blackmail and corruption of the girls of Richstone.

They call them the riches.

The people from the wealthy side of Richstone river. A life of excess and expectation, but Phoebe Ridley doesn’t want it. When her mother starts a social experiment at Richstone Academy, Phoebe is intrigued to meet the rats, to see how they’ll cope among the elite. She and her friends make up their own experiment. Via a pact of claiming a rat and getting them to do their bidding.

But as the two sides of the river collide and the games begin, the stakes get higher and their moves darker and deadlier… And not everyone will make it out alive.

Warning: This book ends on a huge cliffhanger, to be answered in Bad Bad Girl, Book Two.

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REVIEW

Feels 1
Steam 2
Storyline 3
Overall Rating 3
Kindle eArc provided by Author
Reviewed by Stephanie

A river divides the riches from the rats, the wealthy from the poor. On one side the students of Richstone Academy attend an elite school where everything is drenched in privilege and expectations. On the other side the students of Sharrow Manor deal in drugs and debauchery to help put food on the table. Liam Lawson is determined to make it out of the gutters and across the river but what happens when two very different world collide?

“Richstone River. A breadth of water was the dividing line between poverty and privilege.”

When the principal of Richstone Academy unexpectedly offers scholarships to a few Sharrow students, Liam devises a plan that is sure to place him and his friends on the short list to be chosen. Soon he is not only attending the Elite Academy, but he is also living among the riches, including the principal’s daughter, Phoebe.

“I was determined one day I’d cross the sewer and obliterate their paradise. I would be the apple. And there would be someone there who’d be tempted to bite.”

Phoebe’s whole life was full of the expectations surrounding her privilege…do better, be better, marry up. She thought her Mom was crazy when she shared her plan to invite rats to live among the riches. But Liam was not at all what she thought. What started out as an unlikely friendship of sorts turned into something more for both of them. Phoebe is desperately trying to hide her secrets and break free from what was expected of her. Liam is trying to better himself and show he is so much more than meets the eye. Secrets, lies, angst and suspense are all tucked into the pages of the first book of this new series. Do Phoebe and Liam stand a chance to be together or will the divide of the river be too wide?

“She took my depravity and enjoyed it like the finest caviar. She accepted me for who I was, not where I was from. She could become an addiction and we all knew most of those didn’t end well.”

I was really torn with this book. I struggled a ton getting through the first half and almost gave up finishing. I feel like every other sentence we were reminded that Liam and his friends were rats. It became redundant and honestly extremely annoying. We get it. They were called rats…no need to constantly keep saying it over and over. If I had to base my review on the first half alone I would have rated this story a two but I powered through and it did get better. I like Liam a lot and Phoebe’s secret was horrible. I felt so bad for her. I didn’t really see the whole bad boy persona a ton in this book. I mean yes, there were glimpses here and there but not nearly enough for me personally to consider Liam to be a bully or feel that bad boy vibe. I definitely wouldn’t consider this book to be dark. It did get better the second half. There were some crazy twists I didn’t see coming but overall this book was average for me. Perhaps it will be a phenomenal read for you.