Cruel Love
Author: Kate Brian
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In the final jaw dropping Privilege novel, Ariana Osgood will face her fate. I was anxiously awaiting this novel since about October when I read and reviewed the two previous books in the series.  Although I was confused with the timing of this book coming out before the final PRIVATE novel which is set to come out in the fall (it doesn’t make sense chronologically) I was still very excited to see what would happen to Ariana.

In this last installment, we pick up right where we left off. Ariana’s new best friend Lexa Greene is in the emergency room after throwing herself through a glass roof after keeping one of Ariana’s secrets. Ariana doesn’t know what to do. All she knows is that she wants to kill Reed. Reed is the reason Ariana has had to change her whole life. Reed is the reason that Ariana has had to kill both enemies and friends. Ariana knows that if she kills Reed, all of those deaths will be avenged.

But in the midst of planning to kill Reed, Ariana faces a new problem. Dr. Meloni, the psychologist from prison is on Easton’s campus. And every student has a mandatory meeting scheduled with him. Ariana knows that if she has to talk to Dr. Meloni, the jig will be up. Now Ariana has two deaths to plan, and a limited amount of time to do it.

Oh my goodness. What a ride Kate Brian has taken readers on throughout the PRIVATE and PRIVILEGE series. Before I started this book, I had this little inner struggle with myself. Something I’ve mentioned in other reviews of the PRIVILEGE series is how well Kate Brian makes readers root for Ariana even though she is a criminal. Before I began reading, I tried to decide  if I hoped Ariana would get away with everything and continue to live a semi-normal life, or if I had hoped she would finally, finally get caught. I didn’t come to a decision.

But somewhere in the first 20-30 pages, I thought to myself enough is enough. Ariana has killed enough people. After this latest shocking killing, I cringed as I read on. These books really have gotten very graphic and very cruel. Definitely not the direction I had expected when I first began the PRIVATE series about two years ago.

I like that in this book, Ariana is less confident than in the past. Usually, Ariana feels like she has control, or if she doesn’t have control, she quickly gains it. In CRUEL LOVE, Ariana feels hopeless at points in the book. It seems like her lies are unraveling. Her ex-boyfriend Palmer is suspicious of her. Lexa is dead. Kiran’s body is found. She’s finally the queen bee at school, but with no one left to worship her. It’s satisfying to see Ariana worry for once.

Even though these books have gotten darker and darker with each new installment, I was once again completely engrossed and lost in Ariana’s seriously messed up world for a good three hours as I raced through the book. I don’t know what it says about me that I absolutely LOVE this crazy series, but I’m okay with it. Even though I definitely don’t agree with Ariana’s decisions, it’s sometimes fun to get into the mind of the bad girl.

After finishing the book, I’ve decided that I didn’t have any empathy for Ariana in CRUEL LOVE. In past books, I’ve definitely felt for her- even rooted for her, but this book took things too far. I think Kate Brian did this on purpose, and expertly too. I won’t say anything more. Without giving anything away, I feel very satisfied with how the book ended.

Now to wait until the final PRIVATE book comes out!

4/5