#CruelKing #RinaKent #RoyalElite #BullyRomance #DarkRomance #PossessiveMen #MorallyGrey #CeceRecs
Ugh. Okay. So obviously I kept going with Rina Kent.
MUHAHAHA.
And now that I’ve made it further into the Royal Elite series, I have come to an important conclusion.
I prefer the older brother.
HAHAHAHA. I cannot be trusted around a fictional family with multiple problematic men. Apparently, I need to investigate ALL of them before making an informed decision.
But let’s go back to the beginning, shall we?
Before the older brother had me developing preferences, there was Levi King.
The original school tyrant. The football captain. The self-appointed king who seems to believe that being attractive, powerful, and outrageously arrogant means the entire world should simply do what he says.
And Astrid?
Bless that girl, because she has absolutely no intention of making this easy for him.
꧁The World Building꧂
Welcome to Royal Elite, where the school hierarchy is basically a monarchy, the football captain has the authority of a head of state, and apparently nobody has informed these teenagers that they are, in fact, teenagers.
Levi King is the king of the school. He has his football team, his loyal circle, his reputation, and the kind of presence that makes everyone notice when he walks into a room.
And then there’s Astrid, who finds herself caught in a world of power games, family secrets, and people who seem determined to decide her future for her.
The atmosphere is very much dark high school bully romance: intense, dramatic, and full of people who desperately need to learn how to communicate without turning everything into a battle.
Honestly, I would hate attending this school.
Would I keep reading about it?
Well. Look at me. Here we are.
꧁The Characters꧂
LEVI KING.
The original problem.
This man has the confidence of somebody who has never once been told no and decided to take it personally when he finally heard it.
At one point, the whole dynamic is summed up beautifully:
“A king doesn’t bend.”
And the response?
“One without a crown does.”
OH, ASTRID.
Now THAT is the kind of attitude I want to see.
Because she’s not interested in simply accepting that Levi has power over everyone around him. She’s angry, she’s hurt, and she’s tired of being treated like her opinions don’t matter.
She’s also dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic accident and trying to make sense of the secrets surrounding her family. The house she’s living in doesn’t even feel like home.
So forgive me if I have a little sympathy for the girl who doesn’t want another person deciding how she gets to live.
Meanwhile, Levi has apparently decided that her defiance is a personal invitation to make her life even more complicated.
Naturally.
And then we have Daniel.
Can we appreciate Daniel for a second?
The way he helps Astrid through rehabilitation, tries to cheer her up, and makes her laugh when things are difficult gives us a little reminder that not every boy in this universe needs to be a walking threat.
Sometimes a girl needs somebody in her corner who actually makes her life better.
Imagine that.
꧁The Romance꧂
Now, listen.
I understand the appeal of a possessive fictional man. I do.
I understand the intensity, the tension, the jealousy, and the sheer ridiculousness of a man who decides he is going to pursue a woman as though the entire concept of giving up has been removed from his operating system.
But Levi King?
This boy does not do subtle.
“I’m supposed to be right fucking here, princess.”
OH, SO WE’RE BEING DIRECT TODAY?
No pretending. No polite excuses. Apparently, he has decided where he belongs, and everyone else can simply adjust their schedules accordingly.
And then there’s this little declaration:
“I came for you.”
Four words.
Simple. Direct. Infuriatingly effective as a romantic moment.
Because sometimes the appeal isn’t a grand speech. It’s the confidence of somebody showing up when you weren’t sure they would.
Of course, Levi has a rather questionable way of expressing himself the rest of the time.
“Be a good princess.”
SIR.
WHO APPOINTED YOU KING OF EVERY CONVERSATION?
And then we get the announcement:
“I’m kidnapping you, princess.”
Oh, excellent. We’re not even pretending this is a normal courtship anymore.
He’s making declarations, issuing orders, and behaving as if Astrid is going to wake up one morning and thank him for all this nonsense.
The man is committed to his brand, I’ll give him that.
What makes a bully romance work for me is the tension between the characters: the defiance, the friction, the push and pull, and the question of whether these two people can get beyond their power struggle long enough to understand each other.
Astrid doesn’t simply melt into the background. She pushes back.
And Levi?
Well, Levi seems to consider that a challenge.
Of course he does.
꧁The Drama꧂
There is no shortage of secrets, grudges, and suspicious behavior in this story.
Astrid is trying to piece together what happened to her, what her father might be hiding, and why the people around her seem to know more than they’re willing to tell her.
She’s also trying to reclaim some control over her own life.
Meanwhile, Levi has his own family dynamics, loyalties, and rivalries to contend with. His relationship with Christopher, his place on the football team, and the way he handles threats all contribute to that larger world of competing loyalties and power.
And because apparently nobody in this book can have a straightforward conversation, everything becomes a confrontation.
A misunderstanding? Confrontation.
A rival? Confrontation.
A girl who doesn’t do what you say? Obviously, a confrontation.
Levi even has a way of turning a simple request into a public challenge:
“This time I won’t make you beg for it.”
SIR, WE ARE AT SCHOOL.
Can somebody please confiscate this man’s microphone?
But underneath all the drama, Astrid’s determination to stop being invisible is what gives her side of the story something to hold on to. She wants answers. She wants agency. And she wants to stop living as though other people get to decide what happens to her.
GOOD.
Let the girl have a say in her own life.
꧁Overall꧂
★★★☆☆ — Three stars.
Cruel King gave me the dark high school bully-romance experience I expected: the arrogant king of the school, the girl who refuses to bend, the possessiveness, the tension, and the family drama that seems to multiply every time somebody opens their mouth.
Levi is certainly memorable. He’s commanding, jealous, and entirely too comfortable treating the school like his personal kingdom.
And Astrid’s defiance gives their dynamic some much-needed friction. I like a heroine who doesn’t automatically fold just because a man has a reputation, a pretty face, and an inflated opinion of himself.
That said, not every red flag automatically becomes a green light just because the man is fictional and attractive. The drama and tension are part of the appeal, but this was a three-star read for me rather than an instant obsession.
Still, Rina Kent clearly knows how to get me curious about what happens next.
Because I kept going.
And then I kept going some more.
And somewhere along the way, I started developing a preference for the older brother.
I PREFER THE OLDER BROTHER.
I need that documented for the record.
Cruel King was my introduction to this particular brand of Royal Elite chaos, and I can appreciate it for setting the stage. But the more I read, the more invested I became in the series and its characters.
So here I am, working my way through Rina Kent’s books, making questionable fictional-men-related decisions, and apparently refusing to learn my lesson.
Will I continue?
Girl.
You already know the answer.
Leave a Reply