DNF December Review Blitz — Day #3: I’m sharing my thoughts on some book series that I have marked as incomplete as I have never finished the first novel in the series. Find out why these weren’t for me:
Synopsis for Sweet Heartbreak (from Goodreads):
Popular. Powerful. Filthy Rich.
Noah Hastings is everything I’m not.
Our worlds never should have collided, but when my long-lost father reappears my life is flipped upside down. It turns out, he’s ridiculously wealthy, and without warning he plucks me from my simple life and throws me into a world of excess.
He’s sending me to the most elite school in the country, where money and status mean everything. He gives me only one rule while I’m there—stay away from Noah Hastings.
It should be a simple request. Noah is the king of Weybridge Academy, the heir to an empire and a serial heartbreaker. I’m just the new girl who grew up waiting tables. I don’t fit into Noah’s world, and he could never be a part of mine.
There’s more to this boy than I expected though, and he seems drawn to me just as much as I am to him.
But it’s not only our differences that stand between us — it’s the secrets we keep.
Author: Alexandra Moody
Series: Weybridge Academy
# of Books: 3 (Full Reading Order Here)
Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: Young Adult / New Adult, Contemporary, Romance, High School Bully
Heat Rating: Unsure
Point of View: First Person, Single
Publication Dates: October 2022 – May 2023
Source & Format: Kindle Unlimited–eBook
Disclaimer: I stopped reading Sweet Heartbreak at 42% (start of Chapter 14) and have opted not to pick up the sequels. Find out why below…
Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:
I had read a lot of high school bully romances so I wasn’t surprised when this title popped up on my recommended reads for Kindle Unlimited. The synopsis sounded good and I feel like this book is big on the BookTok scene (? I’m not sure, I don’t have TikTok). I was optimistic going into this!
What I Liked:
–Side Characters–
One thing that really stood out to me was all the side characters and their relationships. This is such a tight-knit group of people and I liked exploring that. It reminded me of the start of the OC or any good “fish out of water” story.
What I Didn’t Like:
–Single POV; Not Multiple POVs–
The last “high school boarding school” world I had read was the Prep Series and I think that spoiled me a bit. While it also took a while to build up like this series, having the multiple POVs with all the characters just kept the plot and romance going. You got all the blocks stacking up to see the final picture and I just feel like there was a missed opportunity to bring in some other POV to make this story a little more exciting.
–Zero Chemistry–
I think the slow burn aspect of this story was definitely the main tool to drive the “in love with the enemy” romance. However, I was nearly halfway through and I think she had interacted with Noah twice and there was just NOTHING there. No chemistry, no lingering looks. Just the cliché lackluster banter of “wow, she isn’t impressed with me so I find her intriguing unlike every other female”.
It was just so boring to watch because I felt like I was just reading the diary of a girl who recorded everything she did in a day.
Will I Finish It?
This book was just unnecessarily long. Like filled with mundane details – it almost felt like it was wordy just to get a higher page count but not provide more substance. I was going to power through it to see what the family secret was but the hours to finish my Kindle calculated just didn’t seem worth it to me.
My Rating: DNF
Sweet Heartbreak DNF | Sweet Temptation N/A | Sweet Ruin N/A
This was one just missed its stride for me. All the great elements (characters, setting, etc) were there, but the romance was dull and it just didn’t grab my attention like I wanted it to.
Read if You Like: high school boarding school settings
Avoid if You: want palpable romantic tension
- Misfit by Elle Kennedy (Prep Series #1)
- King of Hawthorn Prep by Jennifer Sucevic (Hawthorne Prep Series #1)
- Things I Wanted to Say but Never Did by Monica Murphy (Lancaster Prep Series #1)
- Wicked Idol by Becker Gray (Hellfire Club Series #1)
Have you read this? Should I return to this series? Leave a comment!
