All Saints’ High Book 3
This is the last in the All Saints’ High series and I looked forward to reading Vaughn’s story. He was very enigmatic in the other two books and I wanted to know what made him that way.
In the first two books Vaughn is cold and horrible in general, even to his friends. He’s a tortured artist, and as such he believes himself to be above materialism. When Leonora Astalis, a fellow artist moves to the area from England, he takes an instant dislike to her. They have a history that is not revealed until now. He’s obsessed with bullying her. At one point I doubted Vaughn could reform and win her over he’s that bad, but they are drawn to each other because they don’t fit the mood of everyone else around them.
It turns out she walked in on something five years ago when they attended an art school run by her father. No one is really sure what Leonora saw, but it is enough for Vaughan to torment her at every opportunity to force her to keep his secret.
Despite Vaughn’s cruel and callous treatment of her, Leonora is not a mouse. I respect her because she doesn’t let him get away with it. She’s not cruel in return, but she stands her ground. I quickly realised this was going to be a hard fought, bitter, and sharp-tongued romance, filled with mean comebacks. Even Leonora admits “it’s exhausting”.
As with the others in the series, this is crammed with gut-wrenching angst and destructive teenage behaviour. There are also some scenes which made me squirm a bit, involving blood drinking and using a sculptor’s chisel as a sex toy. Not something that gives me the feels, I’m afraid, and this is not a vampire book.
Then, suddenly, the vindictiveness changes without any real reason. All the nastiness is forgotten and they transform into “we were meant to be” and “no one understands us like each other”. Vaughn’s so-called secret, which was obvious really, is that he was sexually abused by her uncle and he wants to kill him, but she didn’t understand what she saw as a child, and now still does nothing. In the blink of an eye, his parents also work out what happened to him with only the vaguest and unconnected of clues and do Vaughn’s dirty work for him.
To wrap it up, Vaughn gets his vengeance, realises he has always loved Leonora, and claims “I bullied her because I loved her.”
I’m not into this as much as I have been with the other books. I can handle gritty and dark, but I struggle with the psychology of trying to justify a destructive and vindictive relationship, because the behaviour was determined by past loss or abuse. Plus, we’ve got managing parents, again. This seems to be a recurring theme for the author. They think their kids should get together so they plan everything and it all works out in the end.
This book has soured my enjoyment of the series a bit and I’ll take a break from this author for a while. I’ve had my limit of teenage angst for now.
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Feels: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
