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liroa15's review against another edition
1.0
This book is so, so, bad. It's almost like the author has no conception of how real people actually act and instead decided to base this book on the false reality of a steady diet of mobster films and shock value because that's literally all I can see in it.
McAvoy manages to create a cast of characters that are not just unlikable, they're absurdly so. Every single character in this book is a one-dimensional sociopath. Now, this could be fun, except for some reason none of these sociopaths manages to murder another sociopath, which is absurd. Not a single one of these characters possesses even one ounce of empathy, but they're somehow able to co-exist? Not possible. It's totally unbelievable that someone with as little empathy as Liam, for example, still harbouring his grudge against Neal wouldn't put him in a situation where he would wind up dead at the first available opportunity. But that is exactly what McAvoy wants you to believe.
The violence and the language in this book is also ridiculous. It's like someone told McAvoy that mobsters do bad things and she decided that meant they cursed every other word and tore people apart using cars. I'm not saying they wouldn't or couldn't, but I am saying that McAvoy has 0 understanding of the word restraint, and seemingly spent the entire novel trying to find even more grotesque tortures to describe. This didn't have any effect, however, except for painting a particularly bloody picture that McAvoy fails to realize modern society would not allow. (One of the more important points of the Cosa Nostra, for example, appears to be avoiding police involvement, not courting it like McAvoy describes. She also fails to take into account that killing children in high profile situations rarely endears anyone to the public and would be something the mob would avoid if at all possible.)
This doesn't even touch the casual misogyny of all the characters, or the numerous grammatical errors that existed in my version of this book. I honestly don't understand how this has such a high rating on goodreads.
McAvoy manages to create a cast of characters that are not just unlikable, they're absurdly so. Every single character in this book is a one-dimensional sociopath. Now, this could be fun, except for some reason none of these sociopaths manages to murder another sociopath, which is absurd. Not a single one of these characters possesses even one ounce of empathy, but they're somehow able to co-exist? Not possible. It's totally unbelievable that someone with as little empathy as Liam, for example, still harbouring his grudge against Neal wouldn't put him in a situation where he would wind up dead at the first available opportunity. But that is exactly what McAvoy wants you to believe.
The violence and the language in this book is also ridiculous. It's like someone told McAvoy that mobsters do bad things and she decided that meant they cursed every other word and tore people apart using cars. I'm not saying they wouldn't or couldn't, but I am saying that McAvoy has 0 understanding of the word restraint, and seemingly spent the entire novel trying to find even more grotesque tortures to describe. This didn't have any effect, however, except for painting a particularly bloody picture that McAvoy fails to realize modern society would not allow. (One of the more important points of the Cosa Nostra, for example, appears to be avoiding police involvement, not courting it like McAvoy describes. She also fails to take into account that killing children in high profile situations rarely endears anyone to the public and would be something the mob would avoid if at all possible.)
This doesn't even touch the casual misogyny of all the characters, or the numerous grammatical errors that existed in my version of this book. I honestly don't understand how this has such a high rating on goodreads.
karen1214's review against another edition
2.0
This story would have been pretty good, even though there was way too much of the same violence over and over. But the worst part of this book was the horrible editing; i.e., words left out of sentences, wrong character names used and incorrect words used (or instead of our a prime example). It made me want to get through this story as quickly as I could because the editing was driving me crazy. No, I won't be reading the rest of this series as others have stated the editing wasn't fixed in the other books.
laeticiaz's review against another edition
4.0
first, FINALLY a mafia book where the female lead isn't a pushover she's actually fucking in charge and its hot but also he's hot because he isn't straight up misogynistic
could've been better like i felt as though something extra was missing but overall if you're feeling the mafia romance trope this is a good rec
4 stars because i would read the second book but not 5 because i don't wanna read it right away
could've been better like i felt as though something extra was missing but overall if you're feeling the mafia romance trope this is a good rec
4 stars because i would read the second book but not 5 because i don't wanna read it right away
sammontano's review against another edition
loooooved the fmc but why does the world hate her?? also hate the other peoples POV
justinearianna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Strongest, smartest and most capable female lead I’ve ever read and my favorite. A female lead that doesn’t put up with anything and doesn’t give in to absolutely anything to appease the male lead yet still learns how to not only exist with him but love him and others in her life as well. That is actually very rare for me to find. The fact that she is a mafia leader and murderer is fine with me.
hopeofit_alll's review against another edition
4.0
Totally loved this book.
Also liked the fact that this book has multiple pov.
Also liked the fact that this book has multiple pov.
vacanteeth's review against another edition
3.25
This was actually really good, I got super hooked. Would've been better as a standalone tho
johannaag's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and War
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
planreadrepeat's review against another edition
I thought this was a mafia romance. It's about people in "the mafia" but it's not my cup of tea. DNF at 38%. I'm no mafia expert so I won't chime in on how it was done wrong. But I had no desire to read of the characters. They are both immature 20-somethings. Which normally is fine. But you can't be the head of the mafia and immature and make terrible decisions. While it's not awful, it's not good enough to read when I randomly picked it up.