Review: 4.5 Stars!  Even Better Than Book #1!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 14, 2014
Well, well!  Ilsa Madden-Mills, I love to be surprised, and you certainly accomplished that!Very Wicked Things is one of those stories where the reader is gifted with a taste of several genres.  First and foremost, though, VWT was a second-chance-type love story about two high school seniors--wealthy, Briarcrest Academy football star, Cuba, and scholarship student/ballerina, Dovey, product of one of Dallas' worst neighborhoods.  Their brief, emotional relationship during junior year was cut short by Cuba, and the opportunity for reconnecting was lost due to his devastatingly tragic, deeply personal loss and grief.  However, a year later, their feelings hadn't changed or diminished, and Cuba found it increasingly difficult to stay away from Dovey.  For her part, Dovey was broken-hearted and left believing that she had been nothing but a curiosity, a taste of the slums, to the uber-wealthy player.  Hating him fueled her...or, so she told herself.  She filled that empty year with different relationships, but none of them lasted.  None of them were Cuba.  Not even Dovey's best friend at BA, the fascinating and sexy Spider.  Dovey and Cuba were two opposites who should have, realistically, never attracted.  Well, never say never, because, in this case, opposites did indeed attract!How else would I describe Very Wicked Things?  It was a small dollop of romantic suspense, as well.  This was highlighted by Dovey's home and family situation, which I won't ruin by discussing further.  VWT incorporated slight twists and turns which filled out the story and gave these two characters something to really chew on.Speaking of twists and turns, Ilsa Madden-Mills, at moments, lulled me into a somewhat false sense of well-being.  I was, at times, convinced VWT was confined to, and defined by, that sort of very popular New Adult formula (which, with no shame whatsoever, I admit I'm quite fond of!).  Then, !WHAM!, the author threw in a few doses of hard, cold, unbeautiful reality and knocked me off of my comfy perch.  I've read a few comments claiming Very Wicked Things is much darker than its predecessor.  To that, I have to reply.  'Dark' is subjective.  How I define dark would be very different from how others define it.  Honestly?  VWT wasn't dark.  Rather, several scenes and topics conveyed a few of the harsh realities of life.  Plain and simple, it was the author writing the characters' truths.  That's my personal opinion.  And, frankly, I'd much rather read this type of story than one that simply skims the surface and doesn't bother to dig any deeper.  Oh, and by the way?  Those character truths were handled beautifully and written respectfully and in a non-judgmental tone, as they should have been, by the author.  Well done!Very Wicked Things, in addition to the above, provided growth for everyone's favorite, sweet, charming BA boy, Sebastian.  I can't wait to see where his story goes!  And, may I say, Spider?  Oh, yeah.  Waiting impatiently for more of him!!  I do hope, as I follow the lives and stories of Briarcrest Academy's most interesting students, that a certain Miss Nora Blakely will appear again in a more substantial way.  At the close of Very Bad Things, book #1, I truly believed she had more to say and reveal, and that hasn't changed.Very Wicked Things, Ilsa Madden-Mills' second book in the Briarcrest Academy series, was a twisty, emotional, romantic, fun, super-sexy New Adult Contemporary Romance which you should not and do not want to miss!!