All that glimmers is not gold, but nothing glows quite like the gilded cage of Ironside Academy.

The Ironside Show is back. Bigger than ever, and shinier, too.

To the audience, it’s a glorious spectacle, but to Isobel Carter and the Alphas of Dorm A, it’s a trap. A maze. The further they venture, the darker their path becomes, until all the tarnish has flaked away and only the bare metal bars remain.

Every choice has a consequence. Sometimes, they are awarded pretty bribes in pretty packages. Other times, there is only pain. Whatever awaits them, they will have no choice but to forge ahead, each decision leading them deeper into a labyrinth of manipulation and danger.

Their goal: fame, at all costs.

Unfortunately, with fame comes scrutiny, and there’s one secret they can’t afford to reveal.

One beautiful, brutal secret that could bring it all crashing down.

Beware those that climb.

Beware those that fall.

Okay, so, I’ve now read book four. Let me tell you the ‘sick adrenaline’ feeling was so strong in this book. I had to step away from it for a while because it was causing feelings that could have sent me tumbling down a hill.

During my break, very traumatically for me, I was driving to work and a young deer shot out across the road. It was working SO HARD to run across to the other side. Fortunately, I had enough time to break and there were no cars on the otherside and the deer made it safely across. But was my brain happy with that? HELL NO. I had an anxiety attack which triggered and FND episode and for the entire day my brain played the image of that deer crossing the road on a loop! I was exhausted by the end of the day and quite honestly it was a nice little relief to come back to this book.

So, I will say that the plot ramps up in this book. I was trying to explain the concept of this book series to two friends the other day – neither of whom have ever picked up a smutty book in their lives – but I was talking about the depth of the world building and the intricate weave the characters have found themselves on. They were fully in agreement with me that Isobel as a real life person would either have died long before now or be locked up in an asylum.

In this book the entire Ironside Academy has moved to France which did seem like a bit left field but its not necessarily had a big impact on the plot. I suppose it adds unknown elements of the underground mysterious busybodies/culture.

This book starts with trauma and ends with possible trauma. So far, Isobel and the 10 alphas have been avoiding the fact that they are bonded and have been doing as little as possible to encourage it. Of course, we learnt that not being in contact with her alphas caused a lot of pain and illness for Isobel, so the alphas became ‘surrogate mates’ as aside from the eleven characters and the reader, no one else knows.

I mentioned in book 3 how displeased I was that Eva had come back as a character and how much I didn’t trust her continual involvement. I was right to be suspicious. She fucks with the system and it pissed me off. I can’t completely say her cumuppance was warrented but, I needed her character to leave the main plot line.

The mysterious people that run the Stone Dahlia and apparently, the ironside academy because a more prominent focus, the villan if you like. I didn’t learn too much about them but they certainly gave icky vibes throughout the narration. I think having had so much mystery surrounding it and having the last three books focus more on the characters, it enhances the plot in this book and challenges a new direction to take. It is definitely a plot point that gave me a lot to think about.

Ironside academy is really stirring the pot in this book, they bring in human contestants. That’s not a spoiler because they don’t take much plot focus in this book, I’m sure it is building to something for the final 2 books of this series. It does bring in an aspect I hadn’t considered though, because all in ironside are fighting to win as an ‘icon’ and thus earn the right to live among the humans with all the privilages of freedom they otherwise wouldn’t have. But having humans and gifted in the same room irks me. It leaks into that stereotype of human mated with supernatural creature ‘mary-sue’ bullshit.

Towards the end of the book we get to learn some very interesting things about Braun, Isobel’s dispicable father and it didn’t necessarily change my opinion of his character but it did open my mind to why he is written the way he is and how what happened to him shaped the man he became. I don’t condone at all the abuse he has heaped upon Isobel over the years but I did understand his character more learning what I did.

The sex that has been ‘off the table’ for the past three books is definitely ‘on the table now’. The smutty/spicy part of the series is definitely finding its sea legs and there are encountered splattered all through the book. There is also a lot of teasing around Isobel’s innocence, both in experience and sexually but it leans into the plot because it allows the characters to explore without feeling too much or too little. It’s also all done with conscent which is incredibly important.

The biggest character change in this book is Niko. I won’t say any more on why but it was utterly fascinating reading the change and the consequences of that change. It is unclear what will happen now and where it might lead but much of the ‘sick adrenaline’ feeling I had came from his narrative.

There is also more involvement of Kalen and Mikel, especially where Isobel is concerned which I think was needed for both the characters and the plot.

I’d like to say its all heading in one direction down a narrow road. But I see many avenues the series could take at this junction and I’m unsure which one will be the clear winner.

Coming from a world of Eva Ashwood, Eva Chase, and J Bree, this series, while unconventional with the number of partners, has ticked every box of what I like to read. I’m a big fan, as you know, of world building, plot depth, and character evolution and this series has all of that, plus the well balanced smut. They compliment each other.