Does it happen to you that you mistake a book for being in a different genre than it actually is? When I saw Very Bad Kings by German author Jane S. Wonda, I was fully convinced it was a fantasy Novel, or at least a romantasy. Or something compared to Zodiac Academy. It was exactly this that made me curious to pick this up, although this is the first novel in a ten-book series. It turnt out I was completely wrong, this is a very dark bully romance instead of a fantasy/romantasy. So, please check your trigger warnings before deciding whether to pick up this book. Trigger warnings contain sexual assault, abuse, bullying, violence, drugging and mysogynistic behavior. The Dutch publisher also published the English edition, that was surprising to find out.

About the book

A dangerous game is being played at Kingston University, where five Kings rule the campus and no one dares to challenge their rules. Mable, one of the few scholarship students, becomes the target of the wealthy elite who want to bully her out of the university. She has to deal with the rebellious Kings and their dark game. While Mable tries to survive amongst the powerful, everything changes when three of the Kings suddenly only want her. How far will Mable go to make her dream come true?

‘Very Bad Kings’ by Jane S. Wonda is the first part of her Kingston University dark romance series.

My review

Before reading

Usually I’m not a dark romance reader, it’s just not for me. This type of romances often lacks character growth and the characters aren’t generally well-written. So, when I found out that this book was exactly this genre, I was shocked. I don’t know why I thought that this would be fantasy, but yeah it’s not. I tried this book already in October, but I was in a reading slump and it just didn’t click for me at the time. I just couldn’t continue reading. Recently it got another try and this worked out better than I expected.

Characters

No, these characters are not that well-developed either, as you should usually expect in a romance. However, they are pretty interesting though. Let me be clear, I can’t resonate with any of them, not even with main character Mable who gets all the backlash and bullying. The men she encounters are toxic, and the women are questionable. Mable thinks she has some kind of support system, but maybe it’s not what it looks like. These men in this book are truly disgusting. They enjoy their behavior towards women and the power they have at the university. Gradually, Wonda shows them having doubts and that’s why they are so interesting. Do they really want to behave like this or do they just act like this because others expect it from them? As we follow both Mable – who seems to enjoy all the sex anyway – and some of “the Kings”, we learn more about their motives for the doubts.We shouldn’t sleep on Mable being very fierce though, because she truly is! She fights back instead of letting it all happen to her. She has one goal, graduating from Kingston University, and she is determined to reach that without these Kings ruining it for her.

Writing

As I’d already expected, the writing of this novel wasn’t too outstanding. It’s just fine, I managed to fly through this book in a breeze. I tried the audiobook first, but I saw the ebook with a huge discount, so it was obvious I should try that one. This helped me in getting through this book that fast. The POV switches are done well, it was clear whose POV I was reading from. And I always like that when I’m reading a book that shouldn’t be too difficult. 

Plot

The most intriguing part of this book is the plot itself. Yes, this is surprising for a dark romance. However, a game is being played at Kingston University and Mable – whether she wishes – is part of it. This game part makes that you have no idea what the author has in store for you as a reader, because games can’t be fully mapped out beforehand. The characters’ behavior influence the next steps of the game and therefore I was captivated. Somehow I wanted to know what Mable had to endure next and whether she manages to fight back just yet or if she has to hold on a little longer. The first level has been played now, which takes a whole semester at university. The next book will be set during the second semester, and so forth. Although I think this story is pretty twisted, I’m still curious for its evolvement.

Final thoughts

Despite Very Bad Kings by Jane S. Wonda being a dark romance instead of a romantasy, I surprisingly enough had an enjoyable reading time. I went in with low expectations, which truly helped. Dark romance is not my genre, I in fact avoid it. The characters are, as expected, not really well-developed, but doubts are creeping in along the way. This process of these doubts shimmering through is very interesting and shows that there is more to them than what we see from the outside. The most intriguing part of this book is the plot as a game is being played, and you just don’t know what would happen next. The end makes me curious for the second book in this series, which I will be reading as I own a copy of it. Nevertheless, I’m unsure whether I will make it to the 10th and final book in this series, because I dread long series.