Book Review: Misfit

It’s not secret that I love Elle Kennedy books and as I wait for The Graham Effect to come out at the end of the month, I’m reading her Prep series. I read the first book, Misfit, last week and it was so addictive.

Misfit is an ensemble novel meaning it’s told from the POV of multiple characters. The setting is Sandover Prep, an all-boys boarding school where all the wealthy students have all been in trouble with the law or kicked out of their previous schools.

The story all starts when RJ, who has been kicked out of another school for his habit of hacking, and Fenn become stepbrothers. RJ and his mom don’t come from money, but his new stepdad is very rich. At the wedding, their parents break the news that RJ will be joining Fenn at Sandover for their senior year.

RJ doesn’t like being social, doesn’t really do friends, and just wants to either get kicked out of school again or wait til his mom and her new husband inevitably get divorced. But, Fenn wants to get RJ to socialize and maybe they can be brothers.

Over a little bit of time, RJ actually starts to like the school, Fenn, and Fenn’s friends that he’s forced to socialize with – Lawson and Silas. Lawson loves chaos, is constantly doing drugs and hooking up with multiple people all the time, but seems to have a good heart. Silas is the all-American good guy, but can he really be that good? Aside from making new connections, what really keeps RJ interested in staying at Sanford is Sloane – the headmaster’s daughter who lives in a house on the grounds. However, Sloane isn’t going to make it easy for him.

Along with RJ settling in to Sanford, there is a mystery going on. Sloane’s younger sister, Casey, was in a mysterious accident a year ago. She can’t remember what exactly happened and the police investigation turned up barely anything. Sloane is determined to find out what happened that night and with RJ’s hacking skills might give them the answers they have been looking for.

This book was so good and I always love the found family trope. As much as I loved the tension and spiciness between RJ and Sloane, I also loved the growing friendship between RJ and Fenn! I really like Lawson, but Silas I’m unsure about. Something about him seems fishy so I can’t wait to see what happens in book 2 to find out more about the characters. I just feel like there’s something he’s hiding. I also think, Fenn’s best friend who got sent away by his father and no one can find/contact him – not even his brother Lucas – plays some part in the mystery or maybe a new mystery in book 2. And the cliffhanger in Misfit makes me want to read Rogue ASAP! However, I have some Halloween-y books to fit in before then so I probably won’t get to Rogue for a couple weeks.

Read this if you want a spicy prep school romance with some mystery and the found family trope.