Review: Give me the next one!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2014
Review:Hmmm, not bad! I was drawn to pick this up due to the mafia trope, which for some reason I haven’t really read much about, even though, I kind of like the overly unlikely situations it usually throws at the reader and, despite it sounding completely wrong, one can’t deny that there is something intriguing and the lure of the forbidden in setting a romance in the midst of this horrible and dangerous world of crime. The supposedly tough and dependable heroine was also something to look forward to.Some key words to explain the book:Dominant teenager – My oh my, I think I’ve never read about such a high-level hot alpha who is still in high school. Nero takes bossy to another level, he literally forbids Elle from lying to him (and seems to have an internal lie detector to call her out whenever she tries to slip him something untrue), takes (or at least effectively tries) over her life, calls the shots, acts all possessive, etc. I had a deja vu that I was reading your typical post Fifty Shades of Grey adult romance. While slightly over-the-top and hard to see a teenager acting that way, I liked that Nero was domineering, because Elle definitely didn’t give him an easy time and that equaled some good scenes!Mature with a capital M – Despite the characters being in school, this is definitely a new adult book targeting adults. There was torture and killing – at times quite explicit. There was also some steamy sex and loads of chemistry between the main couple.Heroine - woman of steel – I though Elle was great! She was just incredibly tough and tender at the same time. I loved that she didn’t trust anyone easily and didn’t need a hot strong guy to swoop down and save her, she even put a fight to stop the guy. The first real conversation between Nero and her by the lunch table was epic. I only didn’t understand why she had to suffer in silence for so long, was it really because of Chloe? Then again fighting back isn’t so easy and neither is leaving. Respect to Elle!Bullying – Disgusting, appalling, inexcusable,… it was crazy what Elle and Chloe had to endure. Again, slightly over-the-top, but I’ve come to lean that reality can be much crueler than fiction ever is. I appreciated Elle also not forgetting that no one ever stepped up to help or stop and brought this up several times.Doormat bestie – Oh… I had such a hard time with Chloe, yes, I bet she has reasons and some horrible trauma in her past, but she was useless and, frankly, I felt that she just used Elle, unintentionally of course, but the other took every blow and fiercely protected Chloe. And what did she do? Not enough I tell you. Kudos for Elle for being so loyal though.Blank pages – I liked the blank chapters, they were a nice and effective touch to convey the emptiness and time flying.Food rant head! Ignore please – but it has to be said!Ok, maybe I’m slightly nuts and overreaching (most definitely), but it drove me crazy that they were talking about pizza, tacos and other such for lunch as completely normal and the humane choice, and everyone was appalled by the other, to me, awesome and healthy food choices like chicken, etc. They made it out like standing in line for pizza was the only right decision and the other line with more quality food was torture. Obviously I have no idea what I’m talking about, but do some schools really offer pizza, etc for lunch? I remember in school getting a proper warm meal with salad and vegetables and a piece of meat or fish. Really now!Overall:Definitely better than I expected and the rating is more to the side of 4 stars, but not quite! There was something different from other such books and since I can’t really pinpoint it, then it’s up to everyone to find out that for themselves! Recommend!