syniya's review
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tankytoon's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I do not know why I even bother finishing this unimaginative novella when all the other titles I've read of this author didn't impress me.
I was expecting some dark, twisted romance and all I did was snooze through this book. The Romance was shallow, the sex was tediously boring, and even the killing was lackluster.
Taboo books are supposed to be exciting but this one just fell flat.
I was expecting some dark, twisted romance and all I did was snooze through this book. The Romance was shallow, the sex was tediously boring, and even the killing was lackluster.
Taboo books are supposed to be exciting but this one just fell flat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Sexual content, Death, Gun violence, and Blood
oliviak_31's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mello_cra02's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I read the blurb and I was expecting a dark romance. Where was the "dark" in this story? They are the most civilized mobsters to ever existed 😂.
I can not believe I'm saying this but there was too much communication. They talked, and then kept talking a bit more. Usually, I would be pleased. Communication is always welcome and necessary for a healthy relationship!!! In this case, I felt like their conversations were getting them nowhere. They were not having the conversation I wanted them to have. Too much was said but they still had doubts and problems 😫.
Another thing that bothered me was the writing. I struggled while reading the character's inner monologues. I couldn't make them apart. They all sounded too similar. I had to keep checking whose chapter I was reading.
This author it's not for me but I want to finish this series. I'm curious about the characters from the last book.
I can not believe I'm saying this but there was too much communication. They talked, and then kept talking a bit more. Usually, I would be pleased. Communication is always welcome and necessary for a healthy relationship!!! In this case, I felt like their conversations were getting them nowhere. They were not having the conversation I wanted them to have. Too much was said but they still had doubts and problems 😫.
Another thing that bothered me was the writing. I struggled while reading the character's inner monologues. I couldn't make them apart. They all sounded too similar. I had to keep checking whose chapter I was reading.
This author it's not for me but I want to finish this series. I'm curious about the characters from the last book.
lycangrrl's review
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Incest, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Blood, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Trafficking, and Child death
Spoiler
Cannibalism only mentioned as a joke, does not actually happen. Pedophilia only discussed briefly and not in detail (14 daughter says father forced her to go to his work and go in a back room with men, no specifics on page)vrstal's review
4.0
3.5/5.
Content Warnings for book: Incest, brief mention of parricide, fratricide, grief, sex trafficking of a minor (off page), murder, gun violence, discussion of cannibalism, brief but explicit description of underage sex
Kink: Light unnegotiated D/s, exhibitionism, public sex, group sex, switching
Family Values is the second book in the Sinful Desires incest mafia series, that weaves the story between twin brothers Theodore and Jasper, and the Sterling family head Abaddon. This is mostly, a story about the bond twins share, and how to find happiness while processing grief.
Theodore and Jasper are already twins who have been lovers - one of them is not whole without the other. Throughout this story we are shown time and time again how Jasper, the one who is seen as braver and better built for a life in the Family, feels he is the weaker out of the two of them. This is because Theo is his spot of goodness, his sunshine amongst all the dark he ultimately comes to cope with. Theo isn't built for this world of bloodshed and death, but it is not so simple that he could just walk away from it. Instead, we come to see how both Jasper and Abaddon protect him by shouldering the painful parts of their business, while his own job is to love. To give love fully, and to hold them and caress the wounds that still remain. He is honestly my favorite character.
Throughout the book we see the hurt and grief Abaddon holds, and how the twins help him process through it. While the past cannot ever be undone, new perspectives can be shed over it, and through the twins Abaddon is able to learn that you can love once again, and it doesn't undo the love you held for someone else before. I find a lot of books Hywell writes tend to touch on deeper topics beyond the relationship she is conveying, and I think this is done here too within the pages of this book. Grief and love are sometimes so difficult to put to words and understand, but these three find their way together.
The course of their relationship is slow... and unfortunately for me, there was no burn. There is no tension that pulls them together as a trio - Jasper and Theo had plenty to want to stay together, but the same couldn't really be said for Abaddon with the two, individually or as a pair. Perhaps this was on purpose, but Abaddon was very closed off and hard for me to connect with as a reader, even in his own POV chapters. Jasper and Theo were a lot easier for me to see as full, well-rounded characters, though I believe that is aided in the fact that they are character foils to one another. There is no tension, so when they do get together, it feels rather anticlimatic because nothing was released. It just was.
There is a scene later in the book where it touches on how Abaddon was holding back from the twins, but did anything really change between him and the twins on page? It's hard to say, though I did appreciate the clarity when it is noted that the pairs - Abaddon and Theo, Theo and Jasper, Abaddon and Jasper - all needed to have special time together too. How polyamory triads do not have to be all three of them together, always. Another issue that comes up, is because of this slowburn, it feels like the sex scenes are packed in for the later 40% and are more checklist - one with Theo and Jasper, one with Jasper and Abaddon, one with Theo and Abaddon, a couple with the trio. I feel a few of them could've been cut and it wouldn't have really changed anything, and while that's fine to have sex just for sex, it did just make the narrative feel disjointed.
A lot of page time was dedicated to Abaddon's grief. I don't want to spoil so I won't go too in depth, but while I think this was important for the character growth and the journey for Abaddon - I do fear the page time given to all of that, throwing in time skips and this sort of overall 'stillness' in the book, it caused the romance to suffer. I didn't really feel excited for these three to finally get together, and my emotional responses were more just on the aspects of Abaddon's internal pain than anything to do with his connection to Theo and Jasper.
The mafia content in this book was also expanded upon from Always Oskar, which made sense considering who the characters were and their roles in the Family. I am seeing the plot thread that will tie this series together, and I am definitely interested to see how much more it will be expanded on in the final book with its own grand finale.
Writing wise, I do always love Hywell's writing. The sex scenes were hot, the prose was there, though I felt there were more choppy sentences than usual in her work. Sometimes I felt things were unnecessarily repeated or too many filler words in a sentence marked by commas. I suppose I just wanted the writing to be a bit snappier and not bogged down.
Overall, this was a good read, but some aspects just didn't work for me.
**I was given an ARC in exchange for my written review.**
Content Warnings for book: Incest, brief mention of parricide, fratricide, grief, sex trafficking of a minor (off page), murder, gun violence, discussion of cannibalism, brief but explicit description of underage sex
Kink: Light unnegotiated D/s, exhibitionism, public sex, group sex, switching
"They're night and day, the shore and the ocean. But just like every night meets dawn and every day meets dusk, and the ocean kisses the sand beach at high tide, they . . . go together. You can't have one without the other. They are one half of a complete whole. And I want them both in equal measure."
Family Values is the second book in the Sinful Desires incest mafia series, that weaves the story between twin brothers Theodore and Jasper, and the Sterling family head Abaddon. This is mostly, a story about the bond twins share, and how to find happiness while processing grief.
Theodore and Jasper are already twins who have been lovers - one of them is not whole without the other. Throughout this story we are shown time and time again how Jasper, the one who is seen as braver and better built for a life in the Family, feels he is the weaker out of the two of them. This is because Theo is his spot of goodness, his sunshine amongst all the dark he ultimately comes to cope with. Theo isn't built for this world of bloodshed and death, but it is not so simple that he could just walk away from it. Instead, we come to see how both Jasper and Abaddon protect him by shouldering the painful parts of their business, while his own job is to love. To give love fully, and to hold them and caress the wounds that still remain. He is honestly my favorite character.
Throughout the book we see the hurt and grief Abaddon holds, and how the twins help him process through it. While the past cannot ever be undone, new perspectives can be shed over it, and through the twins Abaddon is able to learn that you can love once again, and it doesn't undo the love you held for someone else before. I find a lot of books Hywell writes tend to touch on deeper topics beyond the relationship she is conveying, and I think this is done here too within the pages of this book. Grief and love are sometimes so difficult to put to words and understand, but these three find their way together.
The course of their relationship is slow... and unfortunately for me, there was no burn. There is no tension that pulls them together as a trio - Jasper and Theo had plenty to want to stay together, but the same couldn't really be said for Abaddon with the two, individually or as a pair. Perhaps this was on purpose, but Abaddon was very closed off and hard for me to connect with as a reader, even in his own POV chapters. Jasper and Theo were a lot easier for me to see as full, well-rounded characters, though I believe that is aided in the fact that they are character foils to one another. There is no tension, so when they do get together, it feels rather anticlimatic because nothing was released. It just was.
There is a scene later in the book where it touches on how Abaddon was holding back from the twins, but did anything really change between him and the twins on page? It's hard to say, though I did appreciate the clarity when it is noted that the pairs - Abaddon and Theo, Theo and Jasper, Abaddon and Jasper - all needed to have special time together too. How polyamory triads do not have to be all three of them together, always. Another issue that comes up, is because of this slowburn, it feels like the sex scenes are packed in for the later 40% and are more checklist - one with Theo and Jasper, one with Jasper and Abaddon, one with Theo and Abaddon, a couple with the trio. I feel a few of them could've been cut and it wouldn't have really changed anything, and while that's fine to have sex just for sex, it did just make the narrative feel disjointed.
A lot of page time was dedicated to Abaddon's grief. I don't want to spoil so I won't go too in depth, but while I think this was important for the character growth and the journey for Abaddon - I do fear the page time given to all of that, throwing in time skips and this sort of overall 'stillness' in the book, it caused the romance to suffer. I didn't really feel excited for these three to finally get together, and my emotional responses were more just on the aspects of Abaddon's internal pain than anything to do with his connection to Theo and Jasper.
The mafia content in this book was also expanded upon from Always Oskar, which made sense considering who the characters were and their roles in the Family. I am seeing the plot thread that will tie this series together, and I am definitely interested to see how much more it will be expanded on in the final book with its own grand finale.
Writing wise, I do always love Hywell's writing. The sex scenes were hot, the prose was there, though I felt there were more choppy sentences than usual in her work. Sometimes I felt things were unnecessarily repeated or too many filler words in a sentence marked by commas. I suppose I just wanted the writing to be a bit snappier and not bogged down.
Overall, this was a good read, but some aspects just didn't work for me.
**I was given an ARC in exchange for my written review.**
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