Absolutely loved this book! It was intense and heart breaking and gripping and I was completely gutted when it ended. I desperately need to go back to Brockton to find out what happens next! I will be recommending this book to everybody I know.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy.

All the adults are dead. The teenagers (not sure about the children?) are holed up in their various high schools, just trying to survive. But when Kay finds out a secret that leadership at Jefferson High are keeping from the populace, she is abandoned outside at the mercy of the monsters that the adults have become.

This is such a gruesome and gripping story! Loved the characters and the twists and turns and the world building ... in fact, there was nothing that I didn't love! Definitely one I'll be recommending to people.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Oh lily sparks, you are a queen! I went into reading this thinking I wouldn’t like it but give it a chance. I promise you will love it as much as me! This story begins with the Growns aka dragons invading the town and follows Kay Kim, who was recently exiled from Jefferson High and has found her way to Moore High. Moore high is everything Jefferson is not, they are obsessed with Kings and medieval titles. Kay meets King Max and the lies and secrets begin. The story has it all, romance, humor and murder! It ends open ended and I can’t wait for a sequel.

Hot dog! Was this a tense action packed ride all the way to the last page. I couldn't be more impressed by Sparks newest work. She created a world that puts most mainstream writers attempts at YA apocalypse/dystopian fiction to shame. I loved how she focused on the kids and the world they built to survive.

I would scream to the rafters if this became a TV show. Highly recommend.

Thank you to North Star Editions, Flux, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for an honest review.

I unhinged my jaw and swallowed this book whole. Once again, Lily Sparks has written the kind of book that made me fall in love with reading in the first place. This story is so daringly griping and brutal, that it's impossible to put down.
This feels like Euphoria meets Game Of Thrones in the most interesting way possible. The political intrigue and the backdoor scheming everyone seems to be pulling are much more vibrant and angst-riddled with the high schools as the backdrop.
Loved this so much, and crossing my fingers for a sequel!

I like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a chance at this really interesting read!

Do you remember the show, The Tribe? If you didn't, let me clue you in: Australian show, took place in the 90's, adults were wiped out by a disease leaving teens and younger kids / babies alone on the earth. With no one to guide them and say no, the world became theirs for the taking and they mad-max'd out and formed tribes. Went on for a while.

In this, adults became infected / taken over by some strange sickness that makes them converge into monsters the size of schoolbuses. Very blob like things that absolutely tear you to bits.

We meet our protagonist, Kay, trying to outrun one. When she thinks all hope is lost, she is saved by some 'cheerleaders' who belong to a different school. They take her back to their school and she and you realize, this school is run by different rules. Their lifestyle / hierarchy is dictated by the rules of court, based on video game played by the first person to kill one of these creatures. And that's how the story begins.

I think this book is a 3.5 in terms of story / world building and character. The biggest problems is that while everyone is playing court very little time is focused / spent on the creatures and trying to understand what they are and why they are. I'm not saying that one of these kids can find the solution (because I don't think I could figure out the solution), but I think I would have liked more time spent killing these things. On the other hand, I loved the court intrigue / political stuff going on.

The end has one of those endings that has me absolutely needing book two. I need to know what happens to Max, "Kyle", his queen, and Kay. I feel that things are going to get much more complicated from here on out.

The adults in Brockton, Connecticut are turned into monsters one day out of nowhere. Now Kay is one of the Student Council members of Jefferson High trying to keep her classmates from starving after they were forced to lock themselves in their school. When Kay stumbles onto a secret from the other leadership at the school she is left for dead. But she is saved from cheerleaders from another school, Moore High. Moore High has taken a different approach to the new world they live in when she finds they have a king and actively fight the monsters instead of hiding away. But can Moore High be trusted any more than Jefferson High?

“The Merciless King of Moore High” by Lily Sparks is a unique YA fantasy with dystopian vibe. I liked how ridiculous some of the characters and their actions were because it was realistic to how some teen would act given their immaturity. I liked kay a lot though because she was smart but also not needlessly brave. It was not like any other story I’ve read which was nice. I give a 4 out of stars.

This book was different, in a good way. I honestly enjoyed way more than I thought I would. It was fun and all over the place but I was intrigued by the political games and tension and the fast pace of the plot really kept me hooked. There was definitely an aura of mystery surrounding every situation and it was quite fun trying to figure the situations out.
The characters could’ve been a little bit more developed but at least they were relatable, I really liked Kay she wasn’t annoying or over the top dramatic or unrealistically brave.
overall 3.5 stars.

The Merciless King of Moore High by Lily Sparks was a joy to read. Captivating at every turn, it never lagged and had excellent pacing. But where it truly shines is its entirely unique premise. Going in knowing the success of Lily Sparks’ previous series, I was concerned that we’d see a similar cast of characters with names switched around. We see this too often with authors who have had success in the past, and I was worried that the titular character King Max would just be Erik from Teen Killers in a crown. This couldn’t have been further from the truth.

This book cemented Lily Sparks, in my mind, as an automatic buy for me. Anything she writes, I will purchase and tirelessly recommend to others. Sparks is a breath of fresh air in YA fiction, a much-needed voice who doesn’t pull her punches for the audience’s comfort but still manages to write the stories of survivors (of various types of abuse, sexual assault, etc.) with respect and verisimilitude. I can’t wait to see what she writes in the future.

When the adults of Brockton, Connecticut, morphed into gigantic, bloodthirsty monsters nine months ago, the students at Jefferson High barricaded themselves inside their school. Now eighteen-year-old Kay Kim is trying to survive. She is dragged out of the school in the dead of night and dumped in the middle of town in a secret assassination attempt.
A group of cheerleaders from crosstown rival Moore High comes to her rescue, Kay find herself looking for aslyum at the tival school. She must slay dragons and keel her mouth shut in order to stay . I would give this book a 3.5 . I did Kay as a character . But I could not get into the story like I wanted to.

This is definitely a twist on other fantasy books that I've read. The youngsters are the ones in charge and it's interesting to see their plans.