Empire High Untouchables by Ivy Smoak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars.
The Untouchables. That’s what everyone calls the Hunter and Caldwell brothers. At least, it’s my best friend’s nickname for them. And since she’s the only one that talks to me at my new school, I’ll take her word for it.
.
The nickname probably comes from the fact that they’re exorbitantly wealthy. Old wealth. The kind that isn’t flaunted around. But you can tell by the way they carry themselves. Or maybe the name just refers to the fact that they’re so beautiful it’s almost hard to look at them.
.
No matter the reason for their nickname, it’s an ironic one. Because I’ve only been going to this school for a week and I already want to touch.
Empire High Untouchables
What a phenomenal ending!
This was definitely not your traditional bully romance book. When I first saw the blurb I thought this would be similar to a lot of bully romance books that are trending recently. It has the poor girl who is a nobody at a school full of wealthy entitled teens. A group of 4 guys are the wealthiest, best looking and most popular. In this case they are called the Untouchables.
However, this book turned out to be more of a character study where it showed insight into and motivations of the main characters and many of the supporting cast as well. It was a window into the life of a teenage girl during an extreme time of her life and what at first seemed a bit tame and slow moving was a completely fascinating build up to a near perfect ending (with cliffhanger).
The main character, Brooklyn Sanders is a teenage girl who recently lost her mother after a long battle with cancer. Her father left as soon as he found out Brooklyn’s mother was pregnant so he has never been in her life and she doesn’t even know his name. It has always been just her and her Mom. Brooklyn’s mother was her best friend, closest confidant and was solely responsible for her. Though Brooklyn didn’t have an easy life with her Mom, she had to work and go to school and she was caretaker through her mother’s illness.
Brooklyn not only lost her mom, but her home and everything she knew. Her only living relative is her uncle Jim lives in New York and took her in after her mother died. She barely knew her uncle and feels like a burden to him so she works to help with the rent. Jim is a janitor at Empire High which is one of the best schools in the country. So Brooklyn is able to attend school, but everyone considers her a scholarship student which are lowest of the low to the elite at the school.
Brooklyn has one friend, Kennedy who lives in the apartment down the hall from her. Their apartments are tiny compared to the lavish park avenue apartments of some of the other students. Brooklyn is drowning in sorrow and barely holding on but one thing that helps her is her crush on Matt Caldwell. Matt and Mason Caldwell and Robert and James Hunter make up the Untouchables. When Matt starts talking to Brooklyn she is amazed and elated.
However, something happens and Matt starts ignoring her. Brooklyn struggles to figure it out and she befriends another guy Felix who is in her Gym class. Both guys seem to like her but there are forces beyond her control that drive the action. I don’t want to give away any of the plot but to say that this is a Clean Romance. Though Brooklyn dates Felix and Matt and shares intimate kisses, that is about as far as it goes.
Though the lack of steam didn’t bother me because the story was so good. I was invested in these lives and I wanted things to come together and work out for everybody. Except the bully Isabella and her friends. I thought the ending was fantastic and I can’t wait for the next book. I seem to say that a lot but I really want to find out what happens next.
I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.
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