So this was still as addictive to read as the first one. It was gritty and edgy and there was a LOT more spice going on (which I adored, ty author) and overall this read was a wild ride that kept me clutched in its grip the entire time.
I really liked how the FL changed and evolved after being with the Mafia for 3 months. I really liked how her character evolved and learned from that. I was happy to see those changed when she came back to the club and stood on more even ground with her men as she fought to prove she was a real woman now. Adult. Grown. Mature. What killed me tho, is somewhere along the way, she LOST that sparkle of change that had been forced upon her by her collective experiences. She goes from, “I won’t let my anger control me” to reckless loud mouth and on some occasions, devolved backwards rapidly on the maturity scale at breakneck speeds.
Her character has always had the charm of being hard to love and rough around the edges. That mindset and mentality was an interesting change of pace and realistic in terms of her feelings to rage against everyone and everything in the first book. Now in this next book, these feelings were supposed to have been cooled and even exhausted. She’s supposed to be wiser now. She’s supposed to be more observant, more comfortable with enemy’s both posh and brash, cloak and dagger, charming and crazed. Instead, after a brief amount of time where it feels like she’s learning all of her lessons and she’s honing herself into a deadly person, she just, falls of track and misses the target completely (I feel at least).
Like,
There are times she’s just selfish and it’s hard for me to empathize now. Again, she goes through this Mafia experience for 3 months and comes out the other side with a new perspective. I admire that. I loved that. She understands to temper her rage and anger. To not let it control her. To not think of everyone as the enemy (trusting anyone aside). But there are times after she comes back to the club she has these lapses of being a kid again. Not an 18 y.o who’s seen some sh*t and done some stuff, no, she’s reverted back to her 16 y.o self. Or her 17 y.o state of being. Like that time she shouted out to her fathers club of filled with biker wives that she’s calling dibs on 4 men (that her FATHER doesn’t even know she’s hooked up with yet). This is of course while she’s still under suspicion by that same father and club about being a traitor/ spy for the mafia, and her brother is gunning for any excuse to axe her from the land of the not-dead-yet club. All bc she “couldn’t help herself”. That’s just ick girl. Not cute.
Some other things I noticed while I read was that there are times it’s confusing as heck to follow along with conversations. These characters will literally be talking about one thing and then there’s this weird gear switch mid convo that circles back to something else completely separate and it makes it such a pain to follow along. (Example from chapter 18:)
Gidget: “Grey will keep Reba as safe as he can for as long as he can, but I have to find her. He’s waiting for me to figure this thing out.”
Sin: “You might have trust in this guy, but I sure as hell don’t. Gidge, if anyone can find Reba, it’ll be Beast. That is, if she’s still alive.”
(Theres some filler going on before the next sentence about how she’s fondling him rn and that Beast promised to get her Reba back or the wedding was off and then she says next randomly…)
Gidget: “That was a weird night for me, I won’t lie,”
(I saved another example in my Quotes/Highlights thing. These aren’t just one off’s)
More still that irked me as I read was that there are these times she’s just seems so full of herself despite proclaiming to be a feminist.
Quote: “Even were I to marry him (Crown) instead of Beast, he still wouldn’t get what he wants because I will never be the sort of girl who loves only one man. There’s too much of me. I’m too volatile. I’m a white-hot star in a distant galaxy, and I need people in my orbit.”
Quote: “I’ve always been more comfortable with the men in the club—even as a child. And not because there’s anything wrong with the women. I simply don’t like the roles they play in this fucked-up, backward little society of ours.” (Which is totally up to them btw, the women. As we all know, in this fcked-up, backward society of theirs the woman have a voice at the table and a safe space to do so with the boys club. But really, ya kno, she’s “different” 🙄)
Quote: “Cruce, one of the old-timers with a wife half his age. Cue my eyeroll. Not that I can’t admit that I have a bit of a fetish for older men, but I still scoff at everyone else. Because the world is gross; even the slice I’ve taken for myself is wicked pretty.”
Quote: “What was your sister’s name?” I ask, thanking her departed spirit for the ferocity and the love she instilled in this man. She might not be here to benefit from it, but I can—if Sin will allow it.
Overall, look, the themes of these novels despite being catchy and easy eye candy to read till the end, they’re messy. And it’s hard for me to get behind HOW messy it gets without the proper descriptions on those feelings or changes that overwhelm this character (she has an emotional breakdown over a house) and basically, I’m saying that it is hard to fully emerge myself and empathize with the emotions she feels. That the way they are broken down and described is hard to relate to- if at all bc I don’t feel like they’re really delved into or explored as much they should be. I feel the same with any other times she’s broken down or been extremely upset over something. Her relationship with her father. Her half assed attempt at trying to waltz around the topic of outright saying she wants a gaggle with the guys. The way she talks to the guys sometimes. Handles them. Treats them.
Ugh, for as addictive as it is to turn the pages of this novel, what I’ll say is this. It’s messy. It is stupidly, frustratingly, unnecessarily, messy and therefore sloppy and it doesn’t need to be. It has the potential to be more. It could be better. But for now, messy is certainly an interesting way of exploring a new angle with readers and it’s not a bad idea, it’s just driving me insane.