Ravage
- its.brittanyb
- Sep 4, 2025
- 13 min read
“Look at you taking all of us. You’re fucking perfect.”
REVIEW
Would I read this again? Yes No Maybe
Spice Level Legend How spicy is this book?
Tropes | Trigger Warnings |
Why choose, Friends to lovers, Enemies to lovers, Forced proximity | Multiple mental illnesses, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Child abuse, Sexual assault |
SUMMARY
Want to just skip to the spice? I got you - Chapters 9, 15, 28, 30, 32
Avery wakes up, restrained to a bed, in a lab. There are two doctors there - a male named Dr. West and a female, Dr. Cromwell. Cromwell tells Avery she is in the Emerson Lab, and there is nothing to be afraid of, they are just doing some routine tests. Avery of course does not believe them (rightfully so). They are basically treating her as a guinea pig. Multiple experiments take place - mentally, physically, and emotionally. They torture her. While down there, she sees Vivian. Arthur had already announced that she was dead but nope - alive and being experimented on.
Theo, Damon, and Grey had been rushing to Dr. Elsher’s office, thanks to the heads up from Christopher, but when they get there, they find out it's too late. Theo, like us, has no idea what the fuck is going on. Damon convinces both of them to go back to his room so they aren’t caught by guards and taken to solitary (well Damon wouldn’t be but the other two).
Damon’s little computer nerds have realized that Lilydale people have been playing them. Letting them think they were running the cameras, but really, Lilydale has been in control this whole time and now they have them locked out of everything.
Damon tells Theo that usually when people disappear, Arthur will first announce them as missing, or imply they are in solitary confinement. They are usually gone 4-7 days and it depends on how the testing goes, if they come back or not. If they die during testing, then Arthur will announce that they died. Damon promises they will get to Avery but they need to be smart about it and not do anything that will get them captured. If they are caught, they can’t help her.
We get flashbacks of Damon’s childhood. His mom was lovely and his dad was a giant dickhead.
Once Arthur leaves the building, the boys begin their rescue mission. Theo and Grey go together and Damon takes Leighton. They think Avery will be in one of two locations so they are going to split up.
Damon and Leighton’s area appears to be empty and Leighton thinks it's a decoy but Damon finds some EEG results with Avery’s name so they start searching every door. They find Vivian and Damon has Leighton take her upstairs while he continues looking for Avery. He finds her, she’s not in good shape but she is able to walk on her own. They encounter 3 guards who try to stop them but they fail. They get back to Damon’s room but Grey and Theo aren’t there. Damon is a little worried because Grey and Theo’s area should have been empty so why aren’t they back?
They return a few minutes later and Damon steps out so they can all be together. Grey has Theo move his mattress into Grey’s room and they all spend the night in Grey’s room.
At breakfast, Arthur announces to everyone that he was wrongly informed of a student dying, and TADA she is actually alive and healthy and back (Vivian). He heavily implies that Avery is suicidal to try and explain her absence. Damon tells Grey and Theo they need to proceed with the ASS plan - Avery Sleep Schedule. Damon found out from the guards that Arthur will be conducting “wellness checks” in the evenings so Damon doesn’t want Avery ever left alone. Damon tells Avery that he knows about the experiments but he didn’t know the full extent of it. Damon tells Avery that his family owns Lilydale. Damon apologizes to Avery and tells her that he’s sorry he couldn’t protect her or get her sooner. Avery reassures Damon that she doesn’t blame him. Grey and Theo both notice that Avery and Damon are having a moment. Grey, shockingly, doesn’t want to punch Damon in the face, but instead, tells Avery that he and Theo need to go locate someone, and they leave Damon and Avery alone.
Damon tells Avery that they have paused the experiments for the last six months, ever since Leah (Grey’s last hookup) died during them. Avery tells him everything that they did to her downstairs. She asks him why he is in Lilydale. He said his father locked him to control him and because he’s afraid of Damon. He knew that Damon wanted to kill him and also he gets to control Damon’s money this way. He said his dad paid someone to misdiagnose Damon as being mentally unfit and a danger to society, then used his money to create Lilydale. He uses the medical research to be able to fund Lilydale to stay open.
Grey and Theo go see Christopher. They want him to figure out who switched Avery’s regular medicine and gave her the medicine that drugged her. They don’t believe it was the doctor because he is basically incompetent. Christopher said he will try but he isn’t in cahoots with his uncle or Arthur, and they’re mad at him for trying to help Avery.
Guards come to collect Avery to go to Dr. Elsher’s office. Theo and Grey don’t want her to go but Avery wants to and Damon agrees. They won’t be far anyways - they’ll be waiting in the hallway. She confronts Dr. Elsher and then tells him she will no longer be meeting him, she wants to go back to Christopher.
Grey and Avery (finally) hook up (in the library because of course) and afterwards Avery tells Grey what happened to her in the lab. Damon had told Grey he was concerned about Avery’s lack of emotions and Grey realizes its not that she is shutting down because she is scared or traumatized but that she is fucking pissed. He remembers what he said when she first got to Lilydale - that if she controls her emotions, imagine the things she could do.
Theo goes down to the lab because Damon has asked him to go retrieve all that paperwork that Damon had seen. Theo doesn’t find any paperwork but does find some expensive looking machines that he takes a lot of joy in destroying. He walks into the next room and finds a doctor (Dr. West) trying to save a machine. Theo asks him if he knows Avery and when the guy doesn’t answer, that’s all the answer that Theo needs. He hits him a bit with the IV pole he was using to destroy the equipment. Then straps him into a chair and turns on the electroshock therapy machine and walks away.
At her session with Christopher, he tells her that the reason she is back in Lilydale is because Damon cut a deal with his dad. He doesn’t know exactly what the deal entails but he knows that it's because of Damon that she came back. He also tells her that he was the one who framed her with the access card. Also lets her know that he knows she is trying to ignore her feelings about everything that has happened to her but she can only do that so long until they explode out without her consent. Damon is waiting for her in the hallway when her session is over, and he gives her a cell phone so they can all stay in touch. Where’d the cells come from? Christopher bought them for everyone on Damon’s request.
Avery questions Damon about if he knew Lily (who the facility is named after). How his room is the only one with lilies while everyone else has roses. He says yes, he knew her, that's why his room is number 1, he was the first admit. Avery guesses correctly that Lily was Damon's mother. Damon says his father killed her but his mother made sure that Damon was taken care of - her money is in his name. By having Damon committed, Alexander is trying to control Damon's trust fund. Avery guesses correctly that the reason Grey calls Damon "Deadman" is because of his initials.
Grey starts to believe he is being selfish in not letting Damon and Avery be together if that's what they both want. He thinks he will give them a little push in the right direction.
Theo tells Avery about his fun he had in the lab with Dr. West and Avery is happy to know he has been dealt with.
Damon wants Grey to call a meeting for tonight and Grey tells Damon that he isn't going to stand in the way of him and Avery, but he better not hurt her, or Grey will end him. He then sends Avery a quick text telling her it's ok if her heart belongs to three people, he isn't going anywhere.
Damon finally tells Avery (and us) about the number system. He said they group people by who they think will be targeted first. Group one is the most critical with group five being people they aren't worried about at all. Avery was quickly moved up to group 1. Damon says they have people stationed around to make sure each group gets to where they are supposed to be going during free time. Damon tells Avery that she became important to Arthur and it could be because of her past, her personality, or the fact that she's important to Damon.
At the meeting we learn that Operation Clown has to do with hacking into Lilydale's IT system.
They want to plant a camera into Arthur's office that is separate from the Lilydale camera system. Avery thinks maybe Christopher will help sneak in a camera for them. They call it Operation Magic Trick.
Arthur calls for Theo and confronts him with picture evidence of him killing Dr. West. Theo gives zero shits. He knows they can’t tell the police because it will expose their experimenting on people. Even though it might be legal, it will ruin their reputation. Arthur orders him into solitary confinement for a week and as Theo is being led out Arthur yells out that he can’t protect Avery all the time and good luck with doing that in solitary. Luckily, Theo had speed dialed Damon before walking in the office, so Damon knows what’s going on.
Damon goes with Avery to her next appointment with Christopher and she asks for some cameras for Arthur’s office. Christopher says he will try and Damon leaves to go confront Arthur while Avery has her appointment. We get some more backstory on Damon. Arthur was one of his dad’s friends and Damon’s mom found out that he was cheating on his wife. She liked his wife so she helped her get a divorce from him. That was six months before Lily died. At her funeral, Arthur’s ex-wife showed up with a guy, and Alexander tried to have them thrown out but Damon stopped them. He ended up punching his dad in the face a few times and two weeks later, he was involuntarily hospitalized and diagnosed with psych issues.
Damon isn’t shocked to see his dad in Arthur’s office. They tell him with the damage Theo has caused, their financial backers are pulling out, unless they can replace the equipment themselves. Alexander gives Damon paperwork - court order to amend his trust so he can access all of Damon’s money. Damon explains (to us) that when Lilydale was set up … complicated reason of why Damon has 51% of the shares while Alexander has 49%. But when he made a deal with his dad to bring back Avery, Alexander asked for one thing - 2 shares from Damon. So now Alexander is the majority shareholder. Which means he can do whatever he wants to Damon’s trust fund. Alexander also tells him that he told the doctors that they can experiment on Damon however they want.
Damon escorts Avery to her class but she can tell something is wrong. Later, she goes to his room and tries talking to him and then they end up making out.
Meanwhile, Grey is questioning the new kid on what Arthur wanted to see him for. He said he was told to befriend Vivian. Grey tells him not to then smashes his face into the mirror. Then he goes and visits Theo to check on him. Theo actually enjoys solitary, other than being away from Avery, because it's quiet and relaxing.
Damon tells Avery about the deal he made with his dad - about the 2 percent of shares. She isn’t mad at him even though he wants her to be. A little finger bang later and Damon realizes that he can’t fight his strong feelings for Avery.
They meet up with Grey and Damon tells him about the deal with his dad and now his dad is the majority shareholder. They are also worried why Arthur is keeping an eye on Vivian and Damon says they will keep an eye on her and protect her. Even though they have made a point to consistently watch Avery, they didn’t have a plan for when she is being escorted to and from the showers. On her way back, some of the guards escort her to Arthur’s office. Arthur makes some comments to piss her off and then tells her that she and another patient will be helping Dr. Elsher with tasks. Avery gets real upset knowing that they are trying to keep them all separated and she sweeps everything off of his desk - including a candle. That starts burning some papers. Arthur puts it out and tells her if solitary confinement was empty that’s where she’d be going. But instead, he sends her back to her room.
Damon comes later and opens the door and tells Avery to run. He catches her in the kitchen and they fuck. He tells Avery, “Maintenant tu es à moi aussi” - I googled it and Google says this translates to “you are mine now”. He then takes her back to his room where she spends the night. Damon knows that by claiming Avery the way he has, it will make her more of a target with Arthur and Alexander.
Damon and Grey escort Avery to her daily doctor appointment where Christopher comes up to them. He gives Damon a key card that will open solitary and tells them to get Theo and get to his office asap. Christopher says the court order went through which means they will start up their experiments again. The boys go to Christopher's office where Christopher has printed off the court order paperwork discussing what Alexander can do with the trust. Damon says he thinks he found a small loophole and everyone reads the part he is talking about. Christopher is like you’ve gotta be kidding. Grey says he doesn’t like it but it might be their only option and Theo is like we gotta do what we gotta do. Damon wants to do it tomorrow and tells Christopher he needs his help with this. Avery shows up then and is excited to see Theo. She is very suspicious of what they’re all doing in Christopher's office. Later in the library, they tell Avery about what Alexander has done. Grey and Theo imply they know what happened with Damon but neither one of them are upset about it. Damon walks in and says, “it's done”. The boys don’t look confused but Avery is and they won’t tell her what's done.
With Christopher's help they did get the cameras and set them up in Arthur’s office and in other areas. Damon gets a text from someone and seems surprised and tells them they have to go to the morgue.
Dorothea (Arthur’s receptionist and coworker with benefits) had called in sick but surprise - she’s dead. They don’t know for sure but they assume that Arthur killed her. Avery starts throwing shit around the morgue in anger. She is sick of these controlling men and how they use and abuse everyone for their own benefit. Grey tries to calm her but she shoves him away. After destroying some more stuff, Theo comes up behind her and traps her arms, while Damon gets in front of her and gives her a little hand necklace. This shocks her enough that she stops. And then…like they do in the morgue (and the library)...they hook up. All four of them.
The next day, Damon goes to see Christopher. Christopher said he got it done, just needs Damon’s signature. Later, Christopher hands Damon an envelope and tells him happy birthday. At lunch, Arthur makes an announcement that today is the anniversary of Lily’s death and to commemorate such a day, they are going to start trialing new therapies. Hardly anyone, except those in the Cirque, knows what this means. Arthur tells them that they will offer a reduction on people's sentences if they volunteer to start the trial first.
Damon goes straight to Arthur’s office after the announcement. Alexander is there. Damon tells them that the order they have isn’t worth shit because his mom really did cover all of her bases. The paperwork Christopher gave him gets slammed on the table and Damon tells his dad he has been dethroned as the majority stakeholder. Damon is currently filing an injunction to block the previous order. Arthur says it won’t matter if the patients voluntary consent to the tests. Damon tells them that the patients trust him way more than they trust Arthur so if they are sound of mind to give consent, then they can revoke consent just as easily.
At the end of free time, Jillian is watching the videos when she sees the guards escorting Christopher out. Damon goes to intervene and asks Grey to go. Avery and Theo want to go too. They meet them in the hall. Alexander says Christopher has been fired for insubordination. Damon says well it would be a shame if someone were to sue for unlawful termination and also to report them for their “inhumane conditions”. Alexander makes a comment about how Christopher wouldn’t do that because Alexander is blackmailing him for something.
Alexander then turns his attention to Avery. Alexander makes a comment about how “accidents happen” and Arthur says maybe the new therapies can fix Avery this time. Grey attacks him. One of the guards let go of Christopher to go after Grey, but Theo tackles him. Christopher, shockingly, starts throwing some punches. Damon holds Avery back to protect her. Alexander grabs a gun from one of the guards and points it at Damon and Avery. Damon shoves Avery behind him. Avery keeps trying to get in front of him while Damon keeps shoving her back. Theo and Grey are losing the fight as more guards swarm in. Damon tells his dad this is really just between the two of them and Alexander says no this is between me and HER. Then he says “Welcome to the family, daughter-in-law.” Avery is super confused. Alexander says “You’re married now and apparently a shareholder in Lilydale.”
The loophole that Damon found said that if Damon was married, his spouse must also receive shares from the majority stakeholder. Since Alexander was the majority, Avery’s shares came from him, so that drops him down to 46 shares, which makes Damon the majority again. Christopher had conducted a psych assessment, deemed Damon competent. Then he got ordained online and signed their marriage license. It also means that if Damon dies - Avery gets all of his shares and becomes the majority shareholder. Which means Alexander is super pissed.
Alexander asks Arthur what he wants to do and Arthur suggests sending all three boys to solitary confinement. Damon loses it - he isn’t leaving Avery alone. He starts fighting all the guards while Grey and Theo start up again. Avery even punches someone in the nose and Damon thinks, “that’s my fucking wife”. Christopher is still fighting his guards. Then there’s a commotion as members of Cirque des Morts start charging into the hall.
Damon manages to get Avery back in his grip when the gun gets fired. Damon sees Alexander on the ground, after being knocked over by a guard, and the gun is still in his hand. Damon starts quickly assessing everyone to see who got hit but everyone seems fine. Avery gets his attention, she has tears in her eyes and blood on her hands. Damon hears Grey yelling and he finally realizes the reason everyone else is ok is because he was the one who got shot.
The book ends with Damon collapsing while everyone is around him.
Book Four - Exile - comes out September 13th.
