Resurrection (The Sainthood – Boys of Lowell High #1) – Siobhan Davis

Genre: Reverse Harem, Bully Romance
Release Date: January 31, 2020

Everything changed the night my dad died.

The night I met Saint, Galen, Caz, and Theo.

Those manipulative a-holes set out to ruin me after our hot night together, but they didn’t realize you can’t destroy something that’s already broken. And it only works if the victim cares.

Which I don’t.

Because I’ve been in hell for years, and nothing penetrates the steel walls I’ve erected.

Until The Sainthood decides I belong to them and cracks appear in my veneer. Their cruel games, harsh words, and rough touch awakens something inside me, and now, I’m in trouble.

They draw me deeper into their dangerous world, until I’m in the middle of all the violence and gang warfare, tangled up in all the secrets and lies, and there’s no turning back.

Because they own me.

And nothing has ever felt so right.

I’m exactly where I should be.

But with enemies on all sides, survival becomes a deadly game with no guarantees.

And, sometimes, saints become sinners.

 

Resurrection is similar to Cruel Intentions, also by Davis. So, if you enjoyed Cruel Intentions by Davis, you’ll enjoy Resurrection. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Rydeville Elite series, so I was a little apprehensive in accepting the ARC of Resurrection. I am happy to say that I enjoyed Resurrection much more than Cruel Intentions for one simple reason: Resurrection does not feature as much abuse as Cruel Intentions.

Resurrection has convinced me that bully romances are not for me, regardless of the author. I don’t find bully romances exciting or hot. Instead, they’re abusive in the worst ways possible and make me cringe. The best way to describe my like of these types of novels is that I was instantly more attracted to a tertiary character as a love interest than the four Davis set up.

As for the reverse harem aspect of the novel, I was slight disappointed. The only other reverse harem novel I’ve read was Surviving Amber Springs, also by Davis. While Surviving Amber Springs is a vastly different novel than Resurrection, I found that the relationship between the main character and the love interests didn’t resemble a relationship between multiple people, instead it came off as a regular relationship that just so happens to have a love interest who doesn’t mind sharing.

There’s a lot of subterfuge happening throughout the novel. There were a few moments I was confused as to what was happening because readers are left in the dark. The ending sequence doesn’t play out as smoothly as it could because of the gap in information between the characters and the reader.

The biggest criticism I have of Resurrection is the main character. She’s almost a carbon copy of the main character from Cruel Intentions. You could switch them out and not notice a difference. Both are damaged in some way, competent, delegated to lesser roles by the men around her, and abused.

Overall, Resurrection is a decent bully romance, but doesn’t lean into the reverse harem aspect as much as I would have liked. Will I be continuing with the series? No. I was hoping the reverse harem aspect would change my opinion of the bully romance genre, but instead it cemented my dislike.

***I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

 

Have you read Resurrection? What did you think?