Reviews

Defined By Deceit by A.E. Via

agoldstarreads's review against another edition

5.0

This book was amazing. The emotions it puts you through, especially the first half are hard to swallow. I legit cried at work and in my car. What happened to Lou just broke me. He is an amazing person, so incredibly sweet and strong, he stayed sweet even after what he had been through. Shane is amazing, he looks past what everyone else sees and the claims. He loves him and trusts him. He’s an amazing man. And Ms. Pat, she is awesome. I adore her. This book just broke me open, ripped my heart out and then pieced me back together. It’s an emotional story with so much love. I would love to get Ace’s story and even Moss’s in the future, cause I’m sure his story would be one of redemption. AE Via could definitely make us love a guy that started out so terrible and redeemed himself. Just saying, (wink, wink). The writing is done absolutely wonderful, it evokes emotions and feelings. The love these two men share is inspiring. Their story is inspiring. I listened to the audio and it was done so absolutely well, like always.

melliissa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

rg4327's review

3.0

3.25 stars

hiddenthoughts's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This was an amazing read that had so much emotion packed into it. Shane and Lou have chemistry like, wow. The title says everything and the way Shane breaks down Lou's walls and helps him find himself the person he had to hide for the past 8 years and Lou doing his damndest at taking everything in stride and not giving in to the hardship reactions that others tried to provoke. I loved Ace as a side character and was glad to see him at the end. The reason I had to pull back on the rating was the legal technicality. A level 4 convicted sex offender would not be able to be around children. They wouldn't be able to live or be near a determined distance from schools so, when the one co-worker invited Lou to the field to help out (kind and thoughtful) is not plausible.

h29u_f62o's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

3.0

chelsiemarie1218's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

Audiobook (audible) - Lou was accused and convicted of raping his bf when he was 18 because the bf was too afraid of admitting his sexuality to his conservative parents. After getting out from prison Lou moves to a new small town and finds a hot construction owner who hires him just to get closer to Lou.

Shane doesn’t care what’s in Lou’s past as long as he’s Lou’s present and future. They work together to show the town Lou is not the rapist he was convicted to be. Months after his release the ‘rape victim’ admits his falsified rape statements and Lou is cleared of his former rapist conviction. Allowing Lou and Shane to end hea.

bitchie's review against another edition

2.0

Not a fan. It's crazy how an author can have some of my favorite books, as well as some of my least favorite. I wish the whole prison thing was mentioned in the blurb, I probably wouldn't even have picked this up if I'd seen that.

fluffy_dragon65's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

caniac_bar's review against another edition

5.0

Holy WOW!!

This was amazing.

I don't recommend starting it at 11:09pm on a Sunday evening as you will stay up reading more than 30% and you will be DRAGGING that Monday morning.

I couldn't put it down and my family was pissing me off by "needing" me when all I wanted to do was READ.

I easily could have read another 200 pages of Llew and Shane. Or just the crew itself. Like Jake needs a book. We need one of Ace. And Leslie. All of them. Just to get more Llew and Shane. Hell throw Jessie in there too.

booksafety's review against another edition

5.0

Book safety, tropes and tags down below.

I've read this book three times now (and I'll probably read it again), and I don't like it any less. About time I reviewed it.

I love books that have characters with gut-wrenching, tragic and sad backstories. This book is that and so much more. Hurt/comfort to the highest degree.

I love how most of the tragic stuff happens at the beginning, and we get to go on the journey of things getting better, instead of the usual where things start out okay, get worse, then awful shit happens, before things get better again.

In Defined by Deceit, the awful doesn't automatically stop after 'the main event' is over, but we get to watch Llewellyn and Shane fall in love, and it's pretty great in my humble opinion.

Llew is betrayed by his high school boyfriend in the worst way, and this book details that and all of the fallout that comes after. I cried buckets the first time I read it (I do cry at just about every book I read though, so do with that what you will).

Aiden Snow did a fantastic job with the Audiobook, as he usually does. That mans voice can tenderize meat (I don't actually know what I mean by that, but I do know he does things to my loins).

Book safety

Spoiler

Cheating: No
OM drama: No. Llew hooks up with someone from a club after he gets out of prison (tries to, atleast), long before he meets Shane.
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual
Strict top/bottom or vers: Both characters are versatile. Llew bottoms for the first time with Shane.

TW/CW: suicidal ideation, false imprisonment, false rape accusations, physical assault, bullying, explicit sexual content, police violence, impotence (mental block)

Tropes & tags

Spoiler

hurt/comfort, small town, prison, boss/employee, size difference, touch starved MC, betrayal, found family