Hi there darlings! Today I thought I’d review my most recent read, “Because I Killed Him” a new dystopian romance by Edith Birde. With more dystopian boks releasing, and the new book to screen adaptation of Shatter Me being announced, is the dystopian era BACK?!
I came across this book recently as it’s been swirling around BookTok and thought I’d give it a go as I have not read a good dystopian book in a long time… And let me tell you, it did NOT disappoint!
What Is Because I Killed Him About?
Synopsis: In the Civilized World, everyone is rich, yet money doesn’t buy safety. It only buys a gold coffin. The real currency is having the right allies. Low-citizens survive by joining high-citizens’ exclusive inner circles, trading loyalty for protection from laws that govern speech, dress, and posture, and punish mistakes with public beheading.
Low-citizen Loredana Waldsten already knows the cost of breaking the rules. Once a rising fencing prodigy, she lost the right to carry weapons after killing a high-citizen in a brutal locker-room attack. The courts erased his death to preserve his family’s honor. Now she’s unarmed, legally defenseless, and enrolled at the elite Grandmaster University, where champagne spills into the gutters and reputations are built on death duels.
When Loredana’s father, a low-citizen politician, publicly challenges the high-citizens, she becomes a target. Some classmates demand her execution. Others hunt her for sport. And by law, she’s forbidden to fight back.
Her only chance of survival lies with Edmund Prew, a charming yet ruthless high-citizen student she’s been warned against. His family has been locked in a bitter feud with Loredana’s for years, and he wants nothing to do with her until a lost bet forces him to protect her within his inner circle. What begins as a scandalous, strategic alliance turns perilous as they fall for each other.
Because the man Loredana killed was more than an average high-citizen. And if Edmund ever learns the truth, the only person keeping Loredana alive may become the one most determined to kill her.
Tropes & Spice
TROPES:
- Dystopian
- Class Divide
- Yearning
- Academy Setting
- Forbidden Love
- Slow burn
SPICE:
2/5 – Sweet🌸
My Review (Spoilers!)
So in this story we explore a divide between the low citizens and high citizens. People are separated by the colour of the blood: Green, Orange, and Blue. Loredana (The fmc) is a green low citizen, and our SEXY mmc Edmund is a blue high citizen.
Loredana’s dad plays a big role in the story. He is a green politician fighting to ban Bliss, a drug created by the Blues, but abused by low citizens. When he announces this ban, it puts a target on him and his family’s back, but specifically Loredana, who is about to embark on a scholarly journey to Grandmaster University. Her dad warns her to be careful as people start rioting against the Bliss ban, and of course, as Loredana heads to University, she starts experiencing the brutal and violent wrath of the anti Bliss ban supporters.
We meet Edmund on the train to the University, when Loredana and Charlotte seek Jack (Charlotte’s ex) for help when she is being targeted. Eventually Loredana realises that the only way to stay safe is for her to join Edmunds entourage, a safety net for low citizen students where they join a high citizen’s entourage for protection.
As the months go by, Loredana and Edmund slowly start developing feelings for each other, but they fight these feelings as in this world it is forbidden for people of different blood colours to marry or have kids. Loredana discovers that Edmund has more in common with her then she thought, when she finds out his role in a traumatic experience she mentions through out the book…
Now, I NEED to shout out to the world how much I LOVE this man. Edmund you broke my heart knowing there are no men on this Earth that compare to you.
The yearning from this man ached my SOUL. There’s a scene in the book I keep replaying in my mind, where their both at the beach, and Loredana mentions loving this sea shell she saw in the sea, but then walks off before Edmund learns which one she means. Then a few days later Loredana wakes up, walks into her living room and see’s it’s covered in sea shells 😭 but guys that isn’t even the best part. He then tells her he didn’t know which one she liked, so he grabbed all the ones he could find hoping that one of them was the one she loved 😭😭😭😭 this man is just too much.
So the ending I did sort of see coming, doesn’t make it any less soul breaking, but it was a heck of a cliff hanger….
So overall, this book was fantastic. A LOT happens so I didn’t feel bored. I loved the yearning, the politics, the side characters etc. A great dystopian read!
My Rating: 5/5 ⭐
Read Because I Killed Him on Amazon!
