Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Moth to a Flame

This book absolutely broke me! Raven definitely made me very upset till about 75% into the book, but then I was proud of her. It was such a bad situation she was in and I really hated that for her because no person deserves to go through that. But the ending?!

why would you do that? 😭 why would you let Ethic and Raven get right to each other, he finally learned the truth why she left him, just to have his own goons kill her?! I knew she was gonna die bc I’ve read the Ethic series but still, my heart broke. Nikki didn’t deserve that. I will say that I like the way Ethic decided to revenge Raven

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ashleycmms's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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janjanjukebox's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Moth To A Flame by Ashley Antoinette 2010 PB 433 pages, 2020 Anniversary PB 306 pages, Ebook 309 pages, 8 hours 41 minutes narrated by Nicole Small

Precedes Ethic and Butterfly series

Genre: Romance, Urban, Drama, Adult Fiction, Cultural > African-American; Dark, Sociology > Abuse; Contemporary, Suspense

Featuring: Flint, Michigan; Kansas City, Missouri; Stupidity, Drug Use, Graphic Sex, Rape, Gun Violence, Domestic Violence, Abuse

Rating as a movie: N-17 for adult content

My rating: Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐¼
Audiobook Version ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (will get a separate review)

My thoughts: * I started with the Audible version of this book and after switching to ebook I discovered the audiobook was Abridged despite it's Unadbriged label. I ended up with 4 books, 3 were identical despite publication dates.

8% - Gunshots in the club? So it's one of those stories, so far it's better written than G-Spot by Noire, so I'll give it a chance but these type of stories get on my nerves because the girls be making no sense.
60% (ch. 13) - SMH.
60% ebook - the audiobook on Audible says it's Unadbriged but there are entire passages missing, in addition to lines here and there. In the ebook Morgan is deaf, on the audiobook she's not. I don't know if the background stories and addition information was added or edited. So now I'm going to have to checkout both books to get the real story. 🙄 [original 2010 version and the 2020 Anniversary edition]
88% (267 of 309, Ch. 20) - At this point I have been reading 2 different stories, it's going to be an interesting review.

Print Version: The story was actually good even though I'm not a fan of crime family books. No surprise, Raven got on my nerves. There were some issues like why not get a new phone and how near end of the print version Morgan shouted a name but was unable to speak before that. With the additional context found in the printed version I understood the characters more.

Audiobook Version: This audiobook was subpar, I knew it was a 3 star story that lacked a soild foundation. There were some inconsistencies that were working my nerve, so 60% in, at the start of chapter 13, I got the ebook. I browsed chapter 2 and not only was the inconsistencies missing, there were several lines that weren't in the audiobook. A secondary character, Morgan, is deaf, all of the dialogue that supports this has been removed from the audio version although it's a huge part of the plot for Butterfly. I had to reread this book, in chapter 1 there are 5 pages on how Raven's parents meet that were eradicate from the audiobook, it's also missing Mizan's background story involving his mother and brother that provides motivation for his targeting of Benjamin. When you read the actual book you realize the Unabridged audiobook is a lie, it's actually a poorly written Abridged version that removes most of character development and severely damages the plot and quality of the story in the process. The foundation it was missing was there in print and removed from the audiobook. Every paragraph is missing several lines in the audiobook and many words have been replaced. Also the chapter numbers are off. This production owes the author a huge apology for butchering her story, which is 4¼ stars without the changes.

Recommend to others?: Yes but only the print version. The audiobook is weak.

Content Warnings

macknificent's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is one of those books that you have to rate for what it is and not what it could be. What it is: a book written by a very young author, for an audience that wants to see their lives on the page but doesn't expect great literary works. From that perspective, this is a 5 star read! However, my ratings also indicate who I would recommend it to. I have to take a star away because only fans of the genre or those familiar with the culture could appreciate this work.

Having said all that, this book was well worth the hype. The plot was wild, the spice was spicy, and the whole book made me feel like I was back in my early 20s 😅 I see why so many are still heaping praise on it to this day. Also, Ethic really is everything so I'll be reading that series next for sure.

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jmiana's review against another edition

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emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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deidra_shadetreereads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

**EDITED/UPDATED***
OMG! What do I even say about this book?! It was a wild and crazy ride that I was highly entertained by! Moth to a Flame snuck in at the end of the year and got on my favorites list. I finished it about 30 minutes ago and I really shouldn't be writing this review yet because my emotions are still reeling tbh. The writing was super engaging and accessible. I borrowed the audiobook from my library via hoopla and the voice acting was great!
MtaF is essentially a coming of age story for a street king's princess. ***LOADS OF CW/TW for drug use/abuse, domestic violence on page*** Raven is our MC and she's around 17 years old at the start of this book. She has it all and wants more and there's nobody around who can check her. She finesses her way into a club she knows damn well her father would be mad about her being in and ends up meeting folks and making choices that would reach far beyond a night out on the town. I loved how the action jumped off right in the beginning. And while I was compelled to keep reading because of the break-neck pacing, I did take off a star because the fast pace in the last part gave rise to too many questions/plot holes. I know that choice was probably made on purpose because there are soooo many spin offs set in this same world. I don't need endings to be tidy but I do need them to not have glaring holes. That said, I'm actively stopping myself from abandoning my other books and blowing through as many books in this series/world as my eyes and ears will allow!

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