Review: Cruel Love by Kate Brian

CONTEMPORARY TEEN FICTION
All good things must end...

For the past four months, Ariana Osgood has led a charmed life at elite Atherton-Pryce Hall, all while concealing her true identity: prison escapee and murderer. But when Dr. Meloni, the psychologist who worked with her in prison, resurfaces, Ariana realizes just how tenuous her new life is.

It's not just Dr. Meloni on her trail. After spotting Reed Brennan, her old rival from Easton, and arousing the suspicions of Jasper, the boy she loves, Ariana realizes she's one wrong move away from losing everything. All Ariana wants is to be with Jasper...but will her cruel love be the end of him?

The Privilege series is officially over! True, Ariana was a psycho teenage murderess who I wasn't a big fan of since she tried to attack Reed, my fave ever book character, but I'm still gonna miss her--and this glamorous world that I've been swept into for twenty-one books. The whole Private series, the whole Privilege series, I've been living in Kate Brian's world. And now I don't know how well I'm going to do, reading other books and hoping that maybe she'll come up with another spinoff series...tragic. Yeah, I am pathetic.

Anyhow, what a sizzling end to the Privilege series! Ariana can't face Dr. Meloni, all her friends are wallowing in their grief ever since Lexa died, and Reed has got to die for all the pain she's caused Ariana. The way Ariana is dealing with this is...surprisingly strong. Other than a few minor panic attacks, she's kept her chin up, is now officially president of Stone and Grave, and has come a long way since the beginning of even the Private series. While I still think she's a bitch who got what she deserved at the end of this book (which I am absolutely not gonna give away!), her character kinda grew on me. She changed, she triumphed, she lost, she felt. As far as characters go, she was one of the most well-sculpted, emotionally crafted characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. And I'm kinda sad to see her gone.

I have to say, this series was super short compared to the Private series. I honestly think Kate Brian could have drawn this one out a little bit more, thrown more action into Ariana's life, brought out challenges that Ariana herself, the conniving murdering little bitch, couldn't deal with. But in six-ish books, it was all over. Private and Privilege have both been ripped out from underneath me. And I was sad after the Private series ended, but I knew I had the spinoff of Privilege to keep me entertained. But now I'm losing the world that I've immersed myself in, and that you have too, if you've been keeping up on the books with me.

On the bright side, I loved all the different challenges Ariana faced in this one and all these ties she had to sever because Dr. Meloni came prancing into her life. There was Palmer, the boy who's threatening to ruin her. There's Jasper, the guy she loves but might have to leave. There are all her friends, who she has to give up even though that's the least she wants. Most importantly, there's the life she's gotten used to. The wealth, the being elite, the status, her every materialistic wish granted...how is she going to live without all that? But she has to, because as soon as she murders Dr. Meloni, she realizes that he cut her--badly. And she can't go to a hospital with that injury, because someone's going to recognize her face and notice that it's actually Ariana, not Briana Leigh Covington...

Anyhow, there's not much more I can say. Goodbye, Private, Privilege, and all the lovely characters I've met so far. I hope Kate Brian writes about you again soon! BTW, congrats to Cruel Love, which lands a fantastic five stars for being an amazing end to this short series.