Shunned, by Steffanie Holmes | Book Review

Hey friends! Today I have my book review of

Shunned, by Steffanie Holmes.

Shunned is the first book in the Kings of Miskatonic Prep series. 

Trigger Warnings: Sex with a Minor, SEVERE / BRUTAL Bullying.

I should have kept my mouth shut.
I should have let them win.
Now the kings of the school are out for my blood,
… and they’re not the only ones.

The fire took everything.
My parents. My best friend. My life.

Now I have a second chance.
I only have to endure one year at this prestigious academy for rich snobs.
One year of being the charity case no one wanted.
One year of taunts and insults and bullying. Then I’m free.

But I didn’t count on Trey, Ayaz, and Quinn.
Arrogant, privileged, dangerous.
Drop-dead fucking gorgeous.
They want me gone.
They want me to suffer.
They’re determined to make my nightmares real.

Tough luck, bully boys – I won’t hide away.
I’m not afraid.
But maybe… I should be.

HP Lovecraft meets Cruel Intentions in this dark paranormal reverse harem bully romance. Warning: Not for the faint of heart – this story of three broken bad boys and the girl who stood her ground contains dark themes, crazed cultists, books bound in human skin, high-school drama, swoon-worthy sex, and potential triggers.

From GoodReads [x]:

“REVERSE HAREM” IS, LITERALLY, THE OPPOSITE OF “HAREM”, WITH A GROUP OF MALES CENTERING ROUND A SINGULAR FEMALE, USUALLY WITH THREE OR MORE MALES. QUITE OFTEN FOUND UNDER THE ROMANCE GENRE.

Shunned is a dark and heavy novel. I would not suggest reading this book at all. Especially if you’re looking for a light read. Like, no. 

Reader, let me just start out this book review that I was so incredibly angry while I read this book. I felt Hazel’s anger, I knew her anger. I felt like I was her anger. There are so many different things that made me angry about while reading Shunned. And this book left me with more questions than answers. 

I could only stomach the happenings of this novel because I needed to know how Shunned ended. 

Shunned is my first ever Bully Romance read, and to be honest I didn’t know what to expect. I of course knew that there’d be bullying involved, but how that turns into romance is beyond me. 

There’s only one point of view within Shunned, and that’s from Hazel. We see her bullied beyond belief, and she still endures it. Hazel isn’t one to sit around and let herself be bullied so she does retaliate. 

The beginning is absolutely deplorable. And the middle and ending aren’t at all that much different. 

Something that angered me while I read Shunned was the Tug-of-War that Hazel went through every single day. The story pretty much goes like this: Hazel starts to like the guys, and then the guys do something that re-instates the fact that No. Hazel does not like the guys. But then she starts to like them again. This repeats for the entirety of this book.

Upon finishing Shunned, I had so many questions—and absolutely no answers.

Questions: what inspired the author to write this story? Especially with how the main character was treated?

2: that ending. Why? 

When I finished Shunned, I realized that the synopsis for this book is very sneaky.

After I finished reading Shunned, the book took a back seat in my mind. I was thinking about this book, and where the story might go. And though I’m curious about where the story could lead to… I’ve decided that I’m not going to go on to read more of the series.

So while my review may be all over the place, messy and maybe even confusing, I do have final thoughts on this story. Though it should be obvious… I didn’t like it. 

I give Shunned, 1 star.

Thank you for stopping by!

See you soon, and Happy Reading!
Adele