The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
koistyfishy's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
2.5 Countenance Stars⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️/5
I have no idea what made this book so popular, but I clearly missed that cuckoo train because this was just MEH. Absolutely underwhelming.
This is a Dual POV that follows Elena and Nico(las). Both are from two rival Mafia families (how Romeo and Juliet) but in this case, to bring about a truce between their families Elena's father agrees for Nico to marry his daughter. However, that daughter happens to be Adriana, Elena's strange younger sister. What unfolds is this forbidden attraction between Nico and Elena because Nico is ENGAGED to her SISTER...but it's so blatantly obvious that it's almost not a secret to ANYONE with eyes as they can see the tension and looks between the two.
I feel like I might be a bit deluded with what my expectations are for a Mafia Don vs what this book portrayed as a Mafia Don... and I am really disappointed in what I got... I wanted this dark and disturbed Mafia Don who was the epitome of morally grey. And while Nico is a little bit psychotic in his head and quick to use his gun and burn down buildings, dark to me is not just the murderous ideations of a character... I wanted somebody a little bit more kinky and not just a possessive alphahole. He was also the most vanilla sex man I have ever seen in my life and the smut in this book could be taken out of a cutesy small-town romance about butterflies with a little bit of dirty talk.
Elena was about as annoying and irritating as her name doppelganger in The Vampire Diaries. She was quite honestly vapid, insufferable, selfish and spoiled and just really irritated the shit out of me because she was stupid. She goes on and on about how she doesn't want to be this sweet little Elena personality that she has following her around and wants to break out of that mould. And obviously the only person who's ever seen the real her is Nico. I just wanted to puke my guts out at how corny and cliché that relationship dynamic was. I just felt that the two main characters in this book were extremely superficial and played directly into their stereotype of young Mafia Don and Mafia Princess and I expected more from them...
Nico really takes the whole "touch her you die" trope to the extreme, as he will not only literally burn down your livelihood but will literally blow a bullet through your head...
From a writing perspective, it's good as most of it flows really well and it's pretty easy to pick up and generally, the story is easy to get lost in. I did like the sprinkling of the Italian culture coming through and those family dynamics. I can't say if this is something in every Mafia and I am just new to it... but for me that part was sweet. The one thing about the writing that was weird though is MOST CHAPTERS felt like they started with something akin to "metaphorical prose", almost like a nostalgic memory. This is normally fine if you are switching POVs or time jumps but even in the same POV switches and in action-heavy endings to the chapter it would start weird and only after a few sentences would it jump back to the plot...
The other aspect that took me out of the story, but it's my own personal ICK is my dad's nickname was "The Don". Every time I see the word Don, I think of my dad and I don't necessarily want to be thinking of my father when they're talking about smut and the Don in the same scene. But that's my issue and I don't think many people will be experiencing this. If anything... If I plan to read more Mafia...I might just have to become desensitised to the word Don...
I'm really sad because I wanted to love this. I wanted to enjoy my first tiptoe into Mafia Romance. But it just fell flat. And in the end, I feel empty and let down.
Tropes for your summary:
The tropes you can expect in this are:
▶ Mafia Romance
▶ Rival Families
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ Forbidden Romance
▶ Arranged Marriage
▶ Morally Grey MMC
▶ Instant Lust
▶ Posessive MMC
▶ TSTL FMC
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️/5
I have no idea what made this book so popular, but I clearly missed that cuckoo train because this was just MEH. Absolutely underwhelming.
This is a Dual POV that follows Elena and Nico(las). Both are from two rival Mafia families (how Romeo and Juliet) but in this case, to bring about a truce between their families Elena's father agrees for Nico to marry his daughter. However, that daughter happens to be Adriana, Elena's strange younger sister. What unfolds is this forbidden attraction between Nico and Elena because Nico is ENGAGED to her SISTER...but it's so blatantly obvious that it's almost not a secret to ANYONE with eyes as they can see the tension and looks between the two.
I feel like I might be a bit deluded with what my expectations are for a Mafia Don vs what this book portrayed as a Mafia Don... and I am really disappointed in what I got... I wanted this dark and disturbed Mafia Don who was the epitome of morally grey. And while Nico is a little bit psychotic in his head and quick to use his gun and burn down buildings, dark to me is not just the murderous ideations of a character... I wanted somebody a little bit more kinky and not just a possessive alphahole. He was also the most vanilla sex man I have ever seen in my life and the smut in this book could be taken out of a cutesy small-town romance about butterflies with a little bit of dirty talk.
Elena was about as annoying and irritating as her name doppelganger in The Vampire Diaries. She was quite honestly vapid, insufferable, selfish and spoiled and just really irritated the shit out of me because she was stupid. She goes on and on about how she doesn't want to be this sweet little Elena personality that she has following her around and wants to break out of that mould. And obviously the only person who's ever seen the real her is Nico. I just wanted to puke my guts out at how corny and cliché that relationship dynamic was. I just felt that the two main characters in this book were extremely superficial and played directly into their stereotype of young Mafia Don and Mafia Princess and I expected more from them...
Nico really takes the whole "touch her you die" trope to the extreme, as he will not only literally burn down your livelihood but will literally blow a bullet through your head...
From a writing perspective, it's good as most of it flows really well and it's pretty easy to pick up and generally, the story is easy to get lost in. I did like the sprinkling of the Italian culture coming through and those family dynamics. I can't say if this is something in every Mafia and I am just new to it... but for me that part was sweet. The one thing about the writing that was weird though is MOST CHAPTERS felt like they started with something akin to "metaphorical prose", almost like a nostalgic memory. This is normally fine if you are switching POVs or time jumps but even in the same POV switches and in action-heavy endings to the chapter it would start weird and only after a few sentences would it jump back to the plot...
The other aspect that took me out of the story, but it's my own personal ICK is my dad's nickname was "The Don". Every time I see the word Don, I think of my dad and I don't necessarily want to be thinking of my father when they're talking about smut and the Don in the same scene. But that's my issue and I don't think many people will be experiencing this. If anything... If I plan to read more Mafia...I might just have to become desensitised to the word Don...
I'm really sad because I wanted to love this. I wanted to enjoy my first tiptoe into Mafia Romance. But it just fell flat. And in the end, I feel empty and let down.
Tropes for your summary:
The tropes you can expect in this are:
▶ Mafia Romance
▶ Rival Families
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ Forbidden Romance
▶ Arranged Marriage
▶ Morally Grey MMC
▶ Instant Lust
▶ Posessive MMC
▶ TSTL FMC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, Death, Sexual content, and Gun violence
ikkithepirate's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
boriiiiiing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Gun violence, Death, and Murder
grace33's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Murder, and Gun violence
aelin_morgenstern's review
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Murder and Gun violence
Minor: Pregnancy
annikenr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse
zc2's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Okay imma be real honest I’d say this book is a 4.9 ⭐️. It’s the epitome of every enemies to lovers. I love the transition from Nico and Adrianna to Nico and Elana. Where the family was Italian it was hard to keep track of who was who in the large family. Everything was delicately placed in the plot such a great read if your just starting dark romance. Definitely recommend. I would have loved an epilogue though that would be my .1 😖 anywho if you like mafia based romance this is the book for you. If you loved this book I would check out “The Brutal Prince”- by Sophie Lark.🍓
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Genocide, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Medical content, Body horror, Car accident, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Stalking
raconteur's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
They are from two mafia families. Nico is engaged to Elena's sister, but there's absolutely nothing between them, and it's shown how Elena and Nico end up together.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Murder, Death, and Blood
Minor: Gaslighting and Grief
bookishmay_'s review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Violence
megcarrick's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Drug abuse
sarahyjackson's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Lil mafia romance while I got my nails done. 💅🏻 Read it because I saw an excerpt on Twitter about their first kiss.
<check the content warnings! as with any darker romance, consent is kinda tricky here>
<check the content warnings! as with any darker romance, consent is kinda tricky here>
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Gun violence, Blood, and Death
Minor: Racism