By Julia Hartke
1992 – the year an amazing and cheesy writer was born. Mona Kasten is a German author known for her romantic literature and corny young adult novels. After studying library and information management, she dedicated her time to writing for a living. And after reading all of her published novels, I can say that she seems to be doing it quite well.
Her newest trilogy consists of the novels “Save Me”, “Save You” and “Save Us” and I will discuss and review the first one. Save Me was published in February 2018 and has been a major success throughout the last months. Not only the first part, but in fact all three of them were and still are on the Spiegel bestseller list, which is a German list that indicates what books are bought the most by the representative cross section of the population.
The characters are sometimes a bit naïve or even imprudent, but all in all they are quite lovable and as a reader you fall in love with the protagonists more and more throughout the story. Ruby Bell, the female leading role, is not interested in money, glamour or luxuries even though she goes to school at Maxton Hall, which is one of best private schools in the country. The only reason why she endures the problems and mobbing with her spoiled classmates is her big dream of studying at Oxford University. On the other hand, there is James Beaufort, the male protagonist and the secret leader of the high school. Rich, arrogant and attractive are the words you would most likely use to describe him in the beginning, but during the story you learn about other sides and traits of him that actually make him quite endearing.
Ruby knows who James is, but not the other way around. Only when his family is on the verge of loosing their hardly earned image does he recognize Ruby. But he sees her not as a person, but more as a threat, all because of a secret that could lead to his sister being expelled from school. She never wanted to be part of his world or the upper class in general, but suddenly she is thrown into his world and into his heart and there is no way to escape! But are they really good for each other or will they destroy one another in the end?
Throughout the novels several places in England are mentioned, like Oxford and London, and they are described in such a beautiful way! You can let your imagination run wild while reading this and dream about the lovely British countryside, the atmosphere and places you would like to go. Even if these places are familiar to you, you can still indulge in reminiscences. The perfect book series for people who love England, a bit of a romance and a flashback to school days.
Mona Kasten knows how to make you feel excited as well as anxious for the following books. I hated her for the plot twist in the ending chapters of Save Me, especially because I had to wait three months until Save You was finally published in May 2018. At the same time, I love her for doing just that! Her books are written in a simple and normal modern-day style and language. Perfect for young adults or readers that just want to read something simple in between. It is relatively easy to understand everything and still be able to read her books in a short amount of time. If you like this kind of literature, you don’t need more than two days for a book from Mona Kasten, which is a true blessing, but at the same time a curse if you want the sparks to last longer.
To sum it all up, I would say that Save Me is a really enjoyable and well written book by Mona Kasten and I fully recommend not only this, but all of her novels, to you. Expect a great book with lovable characters, an endearing story and a lot of romantic drama! I rate this book with 4/5 stars and I’m hoping to read much more from Mona Kasten in future.
4 out of 5 stars
The Rostock Review 