First off - I just want to say thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I've seen this book around and was really excited when my request for the book got approved, but unfortunately it was a DNF for me. I struggled a lot because I found the book hard to get into. I will admit that I haven't read the first one, but to be honest I won't be reading any more of the series.

The characters throughout the book lacked development in my opinion and they were miserable for the most part. I've read books where characters struggle before but what this book lacked was growth from those situations.

I'm happy that there are others that enjoy it, but not a book for me.

This is the second in a series and since I couldn't get into the first book, I didn't even try to read this was since it is simply a continuation of the first. If you like books about snobby rich kids and how they run their lives, then this might be a good read for you,

4 ⭐️ || 2 🌶️
I immediately jumped into this after Save Me’s cliffhanger! I’m was so excited to read more about Ruby and James, but my interest was even more piqued by their sibling’s side stories. In this volume we get the additional POVs of Ember and Lydia, which help round out the never-ending drama that revolves around Maxton Hall.

I’m a little disappointed that the plot ended on a similar low, but it will not keep me from devouring the next book. Very excited to see what comes next for our friends at Oxford 👀

Thank you Net Galley and Berkley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

I literally had in my initial Save Me review "I'd like to see more of Lydia's story" and boom, first chapter is from her POV. I absolutely loved Lydia in this book. And I enjoyed getting to connect with the other characters.

I was so certain going in that I would be upset at James for what he did to Ruby, but the first person pov really makes it hard to hate him and I found myself sympathetic. He acknowledges what he's done and owns up to his actions. But his "fighting" to win her back feels like he's not really putting in enough effort. I appreciate how Ruby handles everything though.

The first half does feel a little slower than the first book, but the pacing picks up a little more eventually. I need Save Us immediately!!

Again, saw this as a Read Now for Berkley Publishing and downloaded it immediately.

The moment I finished Book 1 last night, I started Save You.

I am so invested in these characters! I enjoyed how book 1 switched from Ruby's POV to James' but book 2 was even better. Now you get chapters from Ruby, James, Lydia, and Ember.

I really like Ruby's character. I love how she knows what she wants and what she deserves and she is so strong for sticking to that. At 18, I wouldn't have been able to do that. James' friends are awful - Cy reminds me of Chuck Bass in the worst way. I'm so anxious for Lydia and what is to come. Ember... girl... I see bad choices being made in book 3.

I did not expect that twist at the end! Like WHAT! I need book 3 ASAP - hey Berkley, I know my rating isn't the best, but if you could approve me. I'll have the book done and reviewed in less than 24 hours of being approved. Pretty please & thank you!

When I say this series is my new obsession, I'm not joking. I will be thinking of these characters and all the drama for days and weeks! Knowing me, I'll grab the audio as soon as possible. I'll also be sharing this series for weeks to come! It absolute love with all this rich drama.

Thank you Netgalley & Berkley Publishing for my Ecopy.

Ruby and James! I love them and enjoyed this second installment. Loved the additions of Lydia and embers perspectives. Didn’t see some of the twist coming and the ending…. Ugh and now the wait for the final book. Again love them and loved reading about them and can’t wait to continue this series.

Ruby Bell and James Beaufort fell hard and fast for each other, before a tragedy tore them apart. James callously betrays Ruby, leaving her determined to leave him in her past. But James just can't move on from the only person who has ever made him feel like there might be more out there than his life inside a gilded cage. James' twin sister enlists Ruby to help her in supporting James and getting through her own hard time, but Ruby is determined to keep James at arms' length.

Save You is book two in the Maxton Hall series by Mona Kasten that is out for the first time in English. You absolutely have to read these books in order to have any idea of what is going on.

I knew going in that this would be heavy on the angst after the way that the first one ended. I was so mad at James and really looking forward to him doing some groveling. I didn't really think that Ruby made him work too hard, honestly, as she seemed pretty open to forgiving him and falling back into a romance with him more easily than I expected from a spitfire like her.

My favorite part of this book was the Ruby and Lydia friendship. I am so glad that they got close, and that Ruby was there for Lydia in ways no one else was. I did not mind having Lydia's POV in this one.

I did not like having Ember's POV. I felt that it detracted from James and Ruby, and really their relationship is the heart of the series. I wanted more of them, less of Ember!

I just know that season two of the show is going to absolutely wreck me with angst when it comes out later this year, but I'm glad I had the book to prepare me in advance!

SAVE YOU by Mona Kasten

I was SO glad to be back with Ruby & James and the rest of the Maxton Hall crew! The cliffhanger from book 1 had me in a chokehold and I was dying to see how it all would work out.

With book 1, I loved it so much because the characters are falling in love and it’s packed full of angst. Then with how it ends, I thought book 2 would be full of grief and figuring things out after heartbreak. And while it was both of those things, I needed a little more plot to be invested like I was with book 1. It felt like the majority of the book was a lot of repetition between Ruby and James. He did a bad thing. He’s hurting from the grief of losing his mom. Ruby can’t forgive him but she still loves him. Over and over. And then suddenly, without much work from James, things were ok between them. It felt a little disjointed.

This series has been extremely easy to read — the writing is simple and straight-forward so they are easy to binge.

Read if you love:
-elite academia setting
-emotional, without much going on
-themes of grief and forgiveness
-teen angst and drama
-slow burn

I will say I was SO into Lydia’s chapters this go-round! I hope we get more from whatever is happening between her/Graham/Cyrus. Her chapters were by far my favorite.

3 stars! While I didn’t love this one as much as book 1, I’m still very much invested in the series and cannot wait to continue with book 3. Thank you so much for allowing me to be an early reader!!!

I will post a review on my page a little closer to pub date :)

Absolutely not. This book took everything I tolerated from the first one and made it worse. I hate the teen pregnancy trope. I hate cheating tropes. And I hate Ember. SHE WAS SO ANNOYING!!!! Every time she popped up, I felt my soul leave my body. Like girl, read the room and disappear.

Ruby spent the entire book torn between heartbreak and logic, and honestly, I couldn’t blame her—James did her dirty. But at the same time, the back-and-forth got exhausting. There’s only so much emotional tennis I can sit through before I want to walk off the court.

The drama felt messier than compelling, and with uni decisions and family pressure being the constant backdrop, everything just felt like a high-stakes soap opera… minus the fun.

I wanted depth. I got drama (not the good kind). I’m done.

I’ve been waiting to devour this series since I first saw the Maxton Hall show on Amazon Prime. I even made a DIY costume for my dog as Ruby Bell for our annual 31 days of Halloween. I was ecstatic when I heard Berkley picked it up for the English translation. Thank you Mona Kasten, Berkley, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of Save You.

I finished Save You in one sitting after finishing Save Me in two days. Kasten has a way of drawing you in, keeping you on your toes, and making you care about each character. If I could I’d be immediately picking up Save Us.

If I had to compare it to something else I’d say it reads like a mix of Gossip Girl (but in England) and the tv show The Royals (due to the twin’s relationship).

Overall rating 4.25 ⭐️ out of 5

Save You is the 2nd installment in Maxton Hall series. I love how the relationship between Ruby and James slowly healed (didn't resolve quickly) and appreciated the stories of the supporting cast of characters, especially Lydia's story and Ember's. Switching perspectives between character added depth and drama. And the ending...what a cliffhanger propelling the reader to pick up book three with all haste.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #Berkley Publishing Group for ARC.

4 Stars.

🏰 The vibes:
- Fancy private school
- New POVs
- Book 2 in trilogy
- Rich kids behaving badly
- New adult
- Closed door

🏰 My thoughts:
Alright. Rip my heart out. Put it back together. Then rip it out again. I’m here for the journey. Feeling very unsteady about the student / teacher relationship situation. I just cannot keep my opinions contained concerning the dangers of romanticizing this dynamic in anyway for any age group.

🏰 I think there’s starting to become a theme in this series where the good girl can save the bad boy. I have feelings about that overall, but this is NA - so I don’t have a YA sass rant about it. 🤣 😇

🏰The cliffhangers that Mona ends each book with has me DYING FOR THE NEXT ONE.

🏰 Book is set in the UK, so their age for drinking is different from the US, but lots of highschool parting involving alcohol, drugs, and sexual activities mentioned. This book is labeled New Adult - not YA, which I appreciated.

Note- closed door; language

Release date: September 2, 2025.

Thank you so much to Mona Kasten, Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley, and NetGalley for the gifted copy.

*note- posted on bookbub, Instagram (on my feed 7/28) , goodreads, Storygraph, and barnes and noble. Links provided. Will be posted on Amazon after release date when Amazon allows me to.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

HELP! I just finished and I need book 3, Save Us, ASAP! That ending was completely unexpected and my heart was racing especially after I read the chapter preview of the next book. I'm really hoping things are resolved early on because my heart can't handle the anticipation!

This book had amazing character development! Lydia really stole the show and her blossoming friendship with Ruby is heartwarming. Ember is inspiring and I'm in constant awe of her. Ruby and James development was a roller coaster and James should have groveled a lot more. In just two books, they have gone through so many trials and tribulations that keep shocking me.

Overall, the amount of drama kept my attention from beginning to end. With how many different POVs are slowly being added, there's so many different directions the book can take that makes me super excited to continue the series.

For fans of:
- multiple POV
- second chance
- found family
- angst

*Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for an ARC. Opinions expressed are solely my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me an early ARC of this book. I was excited when the books that the Maxton Hall were based on were being translated into english. Save You is deeply emotional continuation of Ruby and James"s story that balances many angst filled moments. Is the writing great? No Is it supposed to be? Probably not. Part of that could be related to the fact that its original German writing. But weather or not the writing itself will win any awards, the story sucks you in and doesn't let up. Looking forward to book 3.

Ruby and James have not run off into the sunset together. In fact, Ruby is doing her best to avoid James, at all costs. She needs to focus her all on her hopeful future at Oxford. But he's not willing to give up that easily, no matter how resistant she is to forgiving him. The friends orbiting around them are colliding in their own dramas, and it is all quite delicious.

I'll be honest, I finished the first book and then read this second one entirely in one night. I wish I could read German so I didn't have to wait for the third!

I was first turned on to this series watching the Amazon series “Maxton Hall” which is a German adaptation of these books. I loved it and was very curious to read all 3 now that they are releasing English translations. Not only does the show adapt the story faithfully, the English translations seem to really capture the heart and voice of Ruby & James’ story.

After reading Save Me (and listening to the wonderful new audiobook narrated by Will Watt & Marisa Calin), I became super addicted to all the highs and lows and things keeping Ruby & James apart, but you are rooting for them to be together. Ruby allows James to be his true self, which is a kind person and not the posh douchebag he pretends to be with his friends. Their chemistry is so romantic and palpable and you can really feel their connection. They come from completely different worlds and although they say I love You in this one, sometimes love is not enough! James’ father Mortimer remains TheWorst® and I only hope they can overcome the obstacles he puts in their way. I also enjoyed Ruby & Lydia’s budding friendship.

Save Me is dual POV and Save You surprises by adding 2 more character POVs and I loved how immersed I became. For me, multiple POV allows you inside their emotional selves and creates suspense and I found myself reading until midnight all week.

I will say: prepare yourself for a lot of angst! The first half of the book is slightly torturous with the whole “will they or won’t they” storyline, but the payoff is worth it. Also the cliffhanger ending is painful and I wonder if S2 of the show will end in the same way? No spoilers here, but if you’re a fan of YA/NA “forbidden” high school romances, I highly recommend these!

– Thanks to Berkeley for the ARC! –

I'm going to need some time to recover from that ending-- I felt like something big was coming but that cliffhanger just set book three up to be one of my most anticipated Fall releases. I need to know what happens next, this series has my full attention!

If I could describe this storyline in one word, it would be emotional. "Save You" picks up right where book one left us hanging as each of the main characters tries to navigate their way through the fallout of events. I loved that the author chose to add in more POVs in book two. The characters are pretty raw, we get to see the best and worst sides of them. I'm continually wondering what is going on inside their heads.

James and Ruby's relationship is right where I would expect it to be for most of this book. Ruby is dealing with betrayal and forgiveness while James is working his way through grief and the consequences of his own actions. It's heavy but I do feel like both characters showed some much needed growth by the end of book two.

There is something incredibly nostalgic about this book. While the storylines are all uniquely their own the tension, angst, drama and continual betrayals remind me of many of the Television Dramas that played in the early 2000s. I absolutely love that and think it is in part why this series works so well for me.

I can't wait to read book three , this is definitely a book series that I recommend often!

Thank you Mona Kasten, Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I was so excited when I heard that the books that the Maxton Hall series were based on were being translated into English.
Save You is book 2 in the series and did it deliver. Back were all the characters from the first book. Ruby and James were facing their troubled relationship. Lydia and James were facing losing their mom. We learned a lot more about Ember, Ruby’s sister. Lydia’s story also continued to develop more.
Save You is a deeply emotional continuation of Ruby and James's story that balances many angst filled moments, romance, and saw the growth of the characters. Mona Kasten captures the heartbreak of betrayal and the complexity of forgiveness. The characters evolve in many ways, and the slow-burn tension keeps you turning the pages. A heartfelt and addictive read for fans of intense, character-driven new adult romance.
I cannot wait to read the next book in the series!

Ahhh the ending really got me!! I loved watching Ruby and James's relationship throughout this book, and I'm dying to get to the last book in the series to find out what happens! That cliffhanger was despicable but it worked😭 I will be immediately reading "Save Us" and have no doubt I'll enjoy it as much as i did with this one! Thank you again to the publisher for giving me a chance to read this book!

2 stars. Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this eARC!

I am just not a huge fan of this series, which really sucks because I devoured the tv show! I was hoping this book would be better than the first, but honestly, it was about the same to me. One thing I did enjoy about this book was getting more POVs! (especially Lydia’s!) This book just really lacked any actual plot, it was more like filler full of emotional damage.

There is nothing wrong with her writing style, I just felt like this book could’ve been cut in half even though it is already not very long. Ruby should have made James do MORE and James should’ve done more to begin with. Everyone in the book is MISERABLE!!!!! James’s friends are absolutely horrible and I really do not like reading about them whatsoever because I feel like no one talks about the issues that happened with them prior to the first book.

Overall, I just truly did not like this and felt most of the characters lacked development.