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stephwtsn27's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Terminal illness, Cancer, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Murder, and Death
Minor: Homophobia, Trafficking, and Rape
mana_reads's review
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer
lilygrace27's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Cancer
belle13's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Tropes/Themes: Arranged Marriage, Mafia Romance
Amount of spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Explicitness: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
My thoughts
Bound by Honor will always have an extra special place in my heart but I loved Bound by Duty almost as much (occasionally even more). Val and Dante are a completely different vibe to Aria and Luca. They are much more calculating and careful with their emotions and response to things. In saying that, I think this is a more emotional story than Bound by Honor. My heart broke a little for Val because she’s so tough but feels like she isn’t good enough for someone to love and was let down twice in marriages where she had no real choice.
Val doesn’t take any shit from Dante which is refreshing and the sexual tension in this one is some of the best Cora has written in my opinion. It's a slow burn and takes them a long time to really trust and love each other which is right up my alley. I will say that I don’t think this book will age well because there are a few problematic themes - although this is consistent with the mafia romance genre I guess. I would say always check TWs for Cora’s books.
I loved it and will probably read it a thousand more times.
Amount of spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Explicitness: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
My thoughts
Bound by Honor will always have an extra special place in my heart but I loved Bound by Duty almost as much (occasionally even more). Val and Dante are a completely different vibe to Aria and Luca. They are much more calculating and careful with their emotions and response to things. In saying that, I think this is a more emotional story than Bound by Honor. My heart broke a little for Val because she’s so tough but feels like she isn’t good enough for someone to love and was let down twice in marriages where she had no real choice.
Val doesn’t take any shit from Dante which is refreshing and the sexual tension in this one is some of the best Cora has written in my opinion. It's a slow burn and takes them a long time to really trust and love each other which is right up my alley. I will say that I don’t think this book will age well because there are a few problematic themes - although this is consistent with the mafia romance genre I guess. I would say always check TWs for Cora’s books.
I loved it and will probably read it a thousand more times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Cancer
Moderate: Infertility and Homophobia
secretuser_12's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
immediately read this one because i saw the synopsis and said 'oh my god, groveling!' because duh
so i was really disappointed when there was NONE. i mean, he could've done something better but it's still lacking considering the amount of pain he made her go through. spoiler alert!! he's so painfully and incredibly hung up on his dead wife imo, and i felt like he was just using her and stuff. he's also super prideful so i should've known already that he wasn't the type who grovels but it still somehow made me hope that there's atleast a little groveling he can do, but it is what it is ig
the main character stands up for herself, yes, but she folds everytime and its so annoying because she deserves so much better!!
talks of misogyny, abuse and homophobia was here as well, but its so so so much better than the first book
so i was really disappointed when there was NONE. i mean, he could've done something better but it's still lacking considering the amount of pain he made her go through. spoiler alert!! he's so painfully and incredibly hung up on his dead wife imo, and i felt like he was just using her and stuff. he's also super prideful so i should've known already that he wasn't the type who grovels but it still somehow made me hope that there's atleast a little groveling he can do, but it is what it is ig
the main character stands up for herself, yes, but she folds everytime and its so annoying because she deserves so much better!!
talks of misogyny, abuse and homophobia was here as well, but its so so so much better than the first book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Misogyny, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Rape
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, and Classism
Minor: Trafficking and Pregnancy
lilwanderingpages's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I EXPECTED WAY MORE OK!?
Almost the same rating as "Luca Vitiello" but I know it deserves more. I even feel bad for giving Bound by Duty a lower rating than Honor/Luca.
The problem is that I had really high expectations for this one because I saw A LOT of people who love the series (and people that don't) saying that Luca and Aria were terrible, Bound by Duty is WAY better etc etc. I shouldn't have paid attention to that but I accepted these expectations and the book didn't attend it.
I didn't want to compare the two couples/books but I feel like giving my opinion about it. What I saw the most was "Dante and Valentina have a lot of chemistry, different from Aria and Luca that doesn't have it". I completely disagree and I tried to see that throughout the book. Also, I hate to compare couples and all that but, oh, well, here I am.
Now, focusing on Bound by Duty only:
Dante and Valentina do make a good couple and Dante really is very sweet but we keep getting the cold shoulder from him throughout the whole book, for this reason, I feel like the book would've been better if it was from his point of view.
As a reader, I understood Dante's whys and all, just by Valentina's pov but I got bored a lot of times, even sleepy, and really annoyed with both of them.
PS. Important to say that I liked how we got a little more understanding of the mafia world.
Even so, I really liked it and I'll read the next one (I'm hoping it's Gianna's book because for now I'm really irritated with her and a bit with Matteo too).
Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles - reviewed:
0.5 - Luca Vitiello:
TSG - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/57f24b82-8331-460a-bd4d-ae02fc323861
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4561568230
1.0 - Bound by Honor:
TSG - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/eb670dd1-294d-4e23-9bab-bc9c11aef33f
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4558103572
2.0 - Bound by Duty:
TSG - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a71e2654-573c-4d41-a224-363bbfb62ba0
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3021719736
3.0 - Bound by Hatred:
TSG - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/8e3fc6be-670e-4ae3-8bf1-eba71c361dcd
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4578787289
4.0 - Bound by Temptation:
TSG - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/e0ad773e-86e3-46fc-a250-df3cc60c318b
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4585687182
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4561568230
1.0 - Bound by Honor:
TSG - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/eb670dd1-294d-4e23-9bab-bc9c11aef33f
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4558103572
2.0 - Bound by Duty:
TSG - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a71e2654-573c-4d41-a224-363bbfb62ba0
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3021719736
3.0 - Bound by Hatred:
TSG - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/8e3fc6be-670e-4ae3-8bf1-eba71c361dcd
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4578787289
4.0 - Bound by Temptation:
TSG - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/e0ad773e-86e3-46fc-a250-df3cc60c318b
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4585687182
5.0 - Bound by Vengeance:
TSG - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/902ff414-f764-429f-b3a2-dfcd8fd35d0b
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4593389597
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Torture, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Vomit, Rape, and Stalking
lh_reads's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Outing
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Murder, Terminal illness, and Vomit
rachaelboyd's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Infertility
Minor: Domestic abuse, Cancer, and Chronic illness
carolzinh4's review
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Dante was just so cold and distant — I wished he had “melted” more towards Valentina sooner… She was the one to put a lot of effort in making the relationship work and tell him the truths he needed to hear. It was just a “meh” book overall but engaging enough to make me want to read it until the end and discover what would happen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Minor: Fatphobia and Cancer
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