Filthy Rich Boys: Rich Boys of Burbery Prep., Book One

Harsh

CM Stunich is a very interesting author for me. I love 80% of her work. I enjoy her jabs and foray into current civil issues and politics - as I’m a firm believer truth should be shoved in people’s faces whether they like it or not.

I’ve struggled with her lash outs as an author. So I’ve stepped back from fully supporting her as a fan in her groups, but I can’t stay away from her material. Stunich can write. I can’t deny that and she tends to speak to me through her words on the page.

This story? Was harsh. I knew what it was going into it. I had some serious eye roll moments when it came to Marni and some of her decisions. And even though the ending was given away in the beginning, therefore I knew she would be betrayed by the guys... it still hurt to experience. Just like it hurt the main character.

Stunich does that. She really does. She grips you as a reader and you can’t look away.

So I’m sitting here frustrated that book 2 isn’t out on audio right now. I know I need to get the kindle version, which sucks because I really don’t like reading books anymore. I need to listen for my lifestyle. But I’m so compelled to know what happens... I have no choice. I hopefully will know what happens soon.

As for Marnye Young? WOW. I struggled with her as a narrator for the Kit Davenport series - but she completely turned it around for this one. Her voice was so pleasant to listen to and the duet narration was awesome.

So good job on that! Good job all around.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Most Pathetically Stupid book award winner!

There’s a lot of stupid, badly written books, this is 100% the most pathetic and stupid. The writer’s ability to write isn’t even the problem, it’s that she seems to have the intellect and emotional maturity of about a 12-14 year old. I would be shocked if the author wasn’t just about exactly this: a very young Millennial emo outcast who was bullied and grew up without wealth but deeply envied it, is potentially obsessed with it yet is clueless as to how the upper echelon actually behaves and that ‘rich people’ are actually humans—not evil aliens devoid of developed brains and behaviors. She’s also clearly a liberal as the book is full of virtue signaling. Here is the mindless story: some spoilers that don’t affect the story.
The rich kids are bad, (of course wealthy people are awful). Marnie is the only scholarship recipient in this expensive prep school (named after a random designer clothing brand to make it sound rich). The scholarship creator picked her essay out of thousands and apparently let her kids read it even though they’re her peers at at the school and it would provide them with every opportunity to bully because it was full of every deep, painful, embarrassing secret Marnie has. The rich kids at the school instantly and with zero cause hate Marnie ‘for no other reason than because she’s poor’. (Everyone knows her socioeconomic status somehow?) They do horrendous things to her which she just takes like a brainless sap (the author thinks Marnie looks like a saint I think). They even chop all her ‘butt length’ hair off into a pixie cut and dye it red after apparently drugging her—yet all she does is not report it, the-dye it ‘rose gold’. But occasionally it’s long enough to twirl, I guess the author forgets her own details they’re so inane. The one girl who is super nice to her is the scholarship creator’s daughter who read her essay, but her twin brother is awful to her. (Zero substance to character development, they’re either totally good or totally bad, they also have zero nuance whatsoever. Entirely one dimensional) Then suddenly Marnie is fully ensconced in their inner social circle (despite being called ‘working girl’ and ‘charity’) soon all the ‘idol boys’ are jockeying for her affections. (yes it’s that stupid, the rich popular kids are called idols and others are called plebs like plebeian) Her mom who left her at a gas station when she was 3 to run off and marry a rich man (again, rich people = terrible people) gives her 15 year old daughter sexy lingerie as a gift for prep school to ‘bag a rich boy’. These are also 15 year old Freshman boys with full tattoos, driving cars, frequenting gambling venues and consuming alcohol and cigarettes being referred to as men. One is an actual famous rock star. It’s like a little girl’s juvenile fantasies—so embarrassingly silly. Marnie is a virgin because it has to be as stupid and cliche as possible and merely touching her butt is enough to ‘pay her debt’ to one of the boys. (Some poker game she won meant they couldn’t be mean to her for the rest of the 1st semester, apparently she lost a round and her debt was a junior high level bum squeeze—so stupid and juvenile it’s embarrassing). She also refused to forgive her ex boyfriend due to discovering he made a bet involving her, yet the ‘idol’ boys are only being decent to her because she won a poker bet and call her names yet she’s ‘falling for all of them’ despite zero development or growth in any relationships or encounters. One idol boy supposedly spent all day baking artisan chocolates for Marnie’s Valentines gift. Yeah, a rude 15 year old boy tirelessly baked dozens of batches of fine chocolates to perfect the craft for a girl he just recently reviled and still calls the ‘working girl’.
The girl’s expensive education is paid for, her uniform and ‘book bag that cost more than her father’s car’ (Hermès Birkins for prep school apparently?). Her entertainment, clothes for personal use after school, etc all provided for her yet the author constantly squeezes in how unfair it is that she doesn’t have as much and how if she had family wealth akin to ‘the gdp of some small countries’ (another dumb cliche) she’d ‘lift families out of poverty but that’s just her’. So it’s another thing politicized by a liberal mindset that rich people are to blame for all the ills and evil of the world and those with normal amounts of money or less are Saints who deserve to be gifted everything. The rich kids also don’t appreciate the things they have...so Marnie deserves them. She feels sorry for them because they don’t understand wealth and what it’s like to live without it. OR...maybe they are a bit more evolved emotionally or sophisticated enough to understand that money doesn’t actually equate to happiness and success in life.
The overall affect of this book is that it could have been written by an immature, envious, angry, vengeful and profoundly unsophisticated junior high school child. Seriously, who publishes this junk? Editors and publishers don’t seem to work hard to discover talent and quality and intelligent writing anymore. And I guess lots of very young, immature readers are consuming more books—but if they’re this stupid it’s not a good thing.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Irritated, but hooked.

The whole time I was reading/listening to this book I was wondering why it got so many 5 star ratings. But now at the end I figure I don’t have to like the main character for the book to be good.
Marnye is the stupidest girl that falls for every trick thrown away. But then she is only 15 so... What bugs me is that she should know better. She does know better and still walks blindly in to the trap. This isn’t a spoiler because the prologue gives it all away. Which also bugged me why put tell the reader so succinctly then ending of your book. Leave a little suspense. Reveal the trick but maybe don’t tell us she is ready to fight on. That would have at least been a gratifying reveal as the prologue was essentially retold.
I guess my main problem is no one would be this stupid, right? And to go from one enemy to another and have the instant hits for someone who has made your life hell and called you a White every which way just doesn’t sit well. I don’t think a victim of such heinous before would be so gullible.
All that said I read the whole bloody book and am buying book two.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

omg! love it!

I love anything by CM STUNICH. but by far FRB has been my favorite series so far. I can not wait for the rest to be on audio!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Disgusted

Don’t waste your time on this crap. If you like weak females who throw themselves at boys with no redeeming qualities even after they throw her multiple suicide attempts In her face then go ahead. There are no heroes in this book. Just a downtrodden girl who lusts after people who treat her like dirt as if stepping all over her is forgivable
If they are good looking but the cruelest boys ever. Between that and the fact that the kids were acting like 20+ year olds and were actually high school freshman.....yeah.....no.

4 of 7 people found this review helpful

CAN'T WAIT TO READ #2!!

The story makes you angry and full of swoon. The story and characters are just amazing!! Onward to number two!!

Can’t wait to see how it ends

I am rooting for Marnie big time to get her revenge on everyone. Wow the cruelty that the idols of this school is unreal. Marnie is strong and Zayd, Tristan, and Creed better watch out after reading this book Marnie is coming back to Burberry Prep with a vengeance . Can’t wait to read book two.