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amym84's review
3.0
Justice Parish was rescued from a life on the streets and potentially being sold into a human trafficking ring, if not outright killed, when she was a little girl. Justice was welcomed into a secret sisterhood of assassins knows as The League. Their mission is to help others like Justice who are unable to stand up for themselves. To take down the people who prey upon women and children. Justice, particularly, wants revenge against the men who killed her sister. After a botched job, the men Justice is looking for run to an area where her family has no jurisdiction.
Former Special Forces, Sandesh Ross, left that life behind and and started a non-profit to help countries torn apart by war. Acting as Parish Industries' PR rep, Justice sees Sandesh's group as a means of getting close to achieving her goal. But it seems like luck is not on her side when once again she encounters problems with the job. Only this time, Sandesh and his group have become part of the collateral damage. To make things right, Justice will have to figure out where the problems keep coming from, which leads her to an undeniable fact: someone within The League is a traitor. Together with Sandesh, they'll suss out who's behind their run of bad luck, that is, if their attraction to one another doesn't overtake everything else.
The premise of this series sounds like something that is right up my alley. A group of kicka** women assassins? What's not to love. It's probably why, despite what I feel is a rocky start, that I'll give the next book in this series a chance.
The problems I encountered while reading was just the fact that the pieces felt like they always didn't fit right together. Jumping from one scene to another, or in Justice's case from one emotion to another, sometimes felt a little messy. Readers are pretty much thrown into the middle of the ongoing operation. The League and Justice's own backstories are built up all while Justice is running around trying to figure out the traitor as well as come up with a strategy to finally get her revenge. I feel like we could have benefited from a prologue.
Also, the idea that the traitor is someone within The League should be a punch to the gut. I mean these are women who have adopted each other as family. They are sisters, but we don't see much of the tight bonds, therefore the reveal of who has been leaking information doesn't have quite the impact as it should have, for me anyway. I wanted a little more time given to show me the sisterhood between these women and their "mother".
The romance between Justice and Sandesh was surprising for me in a number of ways. Namely, I was pretty surprised by how graphic the sex was. I'm not a prude by any means, but I suppose I wasn't thinking this book, in my opinion, would border on erotica. I kept waiting for it to cross over that line just a little bit, but it doesn't. I went back and forth about Sandesh and Justice's relationship at times, like previously mentioned, things felt messy. Like from one scene to the next things just didn't fit right. But then another scene would flow nicely and I would wish the story could build more from these moments rather than the choppiness of the other moments.
To be fair, Justice, and readers, are dropped in the middle of a crisis, of sorts. Justice has lived her life in The League never questioning always doing. Well, starting with the first botched job, Justice starts to see some tears in the fabric of The League. She starts to see things she either didn't want to see or acknowledge before, or genuinely didn't notice. Now, everyone has the potential to be a suspect. I can't fault some of the narrative for feeling discombobulated because that's exactly what Justice is feeling as she looks at her sisters with doubt. I think Justice's story could have possibly been served better as the second or third book in the series for the main reason that it would have given readers a chance to learn about The League and possibly form their own conclusions. Then I guarantee the punch of betrayal would have been strongly felt.
As it stands, however, I love the premise. I loved the glimpses of the various sisters and groups, I want to hear all of their stories. I will be reading the next book because I genuinely want to be better acquainted with this world and this secret organization. A fair warning, this book doesn't shy away from some unsavory descriptions of human trafficking, sex trafficking, rape, torture. I'm not sure if the other stories will be as descriptive and oftentimes intense, but there were a few difficult passages to read.
*Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Former Special Forces, Sandesh Ross, left that life behind and and started a non-profit to help countries torn apart by war. Acting as Parish Industries' PR rep, Justice sees Sandesh's group as a means of getting close to achieving her goal. But it seems like luck is not on her side when once again she encounters problems with the job. Only this time, Sandesh and his group have become part of the collateral damage. To make things right, Justice will have to figure out where the problems keep coming from, which leads her to an undeniable fact: someone within The League is a traitor. Together with Sandesh, they'll suss out who's behind their run of bad luck, that is, if their attraction to one another doesn't overtake everything else.
The premise of this series sounds like something that is right up my alley. A group of kicka** women assassins? What's not to love. It's probably why, despite what I feel is a rocky start, that I'll give the next book in this series a chance.
The problems I encountered while reading was just the fact that the pieces felt like they always didn't fit right together. Jumping from one scene to another, or in Justice's case from one emotion to another, sometimes felt a little messy. Readers are pretty much thrown into the middle of the ongoing operation. The League and Justice's own backstories are built up all while Justice is running around trying to figure out the traitor as well as come up with a strategy to finally get her revenge. I feel like we could have benefited from a prologue.
Also, the idea that the traitor is someone within The League should be a punch to the gut. I mean these are women who have adopted each other as family. They are sisters, but we don't see much of the tight bonds, therefore the reveal of who has been leaking information doesn't have quite the impact as it should have, for me anyway. I wanted a little more time given to show me the sisterhood between these women and their "mother".
The romance between Justice and Sandesh was surprising for me in a number of ways. Namely, I was pretty surprised by how graphic the sex was. I'm not a prude by any means, but I suppose I wasn't thinking this book, in my opinion, would border on erotica. I kept waiting for it to cross over that line just a little bit, but it doesn't. I went back and forth about Sandesh and Justice's relationship at times, like previously mentioned, things felt messy. Like from one scene to the next things just didn't fit right. But then another scene would flow nicely and I would wish the story could build more from these moments rather than the choppiness of the other moments.
To be fair, Justice, and readers, are dropped in the middle of a crisis, of sorts. Justice has lived her life in The League never questioning always doing. Well, starting with the first botched job, Justice starts to see some tears in the fabric of The League. She starts to see things she either didn't want to see or acknowledge before, or genuinely didn't notice. Now, everyone has the potential to be a suspect. I can't fault some of the narrative for feeling discombobulated because that's exactly what Justice is feeling as she looks at her sisters with doubt. I think Justice's story could have possibly been served better as the second or third book in the series for the main reason that it would have given readers a chance to learn about The League and possibly form their own conclusions. Then I guarantee the punch of betrayal would have been strongly felt.
As it stands, however, I love the premise. I loved the glimpses of the various sisters and groups, I want to hear all of their stories. I will be reading the next book because I genuinely want to be better acquainted with this world and this secret organization. A fair warning, this book doesn't shy away from some unsavory descriptions of human trafficking, sex trafficking, rape, torture. I'm not sure if the other stories will be as descriptive and oftentimes intense, but there were a few difficult passages to read.
*Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
bookloverchelle's review
4.0
A really good start to the Black Ops Confidential series by Diana Munoz Stewart. Justice grew up as part of a secret organization of young women who fought against some of the world's most disgusting human traffickers. She normally hides her abilities but when a covert operation with Sandesh, a former soldier turned humanitarian, turns south she must use all of her talents to help them escape. I really enjoyed how kick-ass Justice is. Sandesh has talents of his own and he has absolutely no problem letting her take lead. Even though this was the first in the series there were a number of times where I felt like I was missing background information, some things weren't well explained (IMO). Outside of that, really enjoyable romantic suspense!
blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
I really did not know what to expect from that beginning. Audio you know, and I had not read the blurb. Because it sure begins with a bang! This woman means business, and she aim to take down the aholes of the world. And then I mean Aholes. Human traffickers and their ilk.
Right, so Justice is a vigilante. I know I know, you really should not take justice in your own hands, haha, pun intended. But these bastards deserve it, they are the worst of the worst! Justice and her sisters try their best to take down one baddie at a time. All in the shadows. Sure, she was a bit too cocky at first, it was her blatant flirting to make him squirm that I did not like. But she was so much more than that tough facade. And I did like her, more and more. Even if she should learn some caution, but at least she gets things done.
Sandesh wanted to make peace and not war. He wanted to get away from his angry side, and I get it man, and then you meet Justice. Who is hellbent on taking down the world. Poor guy did not stand a chance.
Sparks fly, and I did like that they did wait a bit with that, ok not a long bit, just not when they were in the middle of battle like with some books.
Oh and how on earth did her mum like manage to adopt 30 kids!? But she is rich, but still! Hey, money talks.
Right, so Justice is a vigilante. I know I know, you really should not take justice in your own hands, haha, pun intended. But these bastards deserve it, they are the worst of the worst! Justice and her sisters try their best to take down one baddie at a time. All in the shadows. Sure, she was a bit too cocky at first, it was her blatant flirting to make him squirm that I did not like. But she was so much more than that tough facade. And I did like her, more and more. Even if she should learn some caution, but at least she gets things done.
Sandesh wanted to make peace and not war. He wanted to get away from his angry side, and I get it man, and then you meet Justice. Who is hellbent on taking down the world. Poor guy did not stand a chance.
Sparks fly, and I did like that they did wait a bit with that, ok not a long bit, just not when they were in the middle of battle like with some books.
Oh and how on earth did her mum like manage to adopt 30 kids!? But she is rich, but still! Hey, money talks.
iffer's review
2.0
Eh, this was okay. Plenty of action and steamy scenes if that's what you're looking for. It's not that I expect fancy writing from this genre, but the prose felt clunky and simple. This book didn't seem particularly sensitive, probably because the writing was clunky and in such broad strokes, the way in which it uses Syrian refugees and sexual violence against women as plot drivers felt icky. In addition, little things annoyed me, like the fact that the author feels the need to mention that Justice is "Native American," multiple times, even though it doesn't add to the skimpy plot or characterization in any way. This made it seem like this was merely to convey some sort of "exotic" beauty or take advantage of stereotypes about indigenous women and families (addict Native American father and abused indigenous woman). Once again, whether it was meant that way or not, ick. Using "white privilege" glibly was also annoying, as well as attempting to make the reader sympathize with "reverse sexism" .
Spoiler
to explain Justice's brother's betrayalcritterbee's review
2.0
I am Justice is a contemporary, dark, fast-paced action romance between a woman warrior heroine and a conflicted ex-soldier hero.
Justice is an adopted member of an enormous, almost exclusively female family/organization that covertly works to rescue women and children caught in human trafficking, and to assassinate the men involved.
Sandresh is a caring ex-soldier who wants a life that involves more than just destruction. He has started a charity of ex-soldiers to help in many ways in many places with many things (it is not exactly described completely in the book). Justice’s powerful family connects with Sandesh’s newly created charity to further their mission against the leaders of one of the largest international human trafficking organizations.
While taking care of business, sparks fly between Justice and Sandresh. Their annoyingly immediate, mutual insta-lust was alternatively allowed free reign and bottled up ‘for the sake of the mission.’
The pov shifted between Justice, Sandresh and one of the villains, ‘BadGuyW’. That is pretty typical for contemporary romances, but being inside W-bad-guy’s mind was not helpful, as it was unbelievable, inconsistent, flabby, and did not inspire sympathy, respect, hatred, or even the feeling that BadGuyW was a real person
As a heroine, Justice is complex, conflicted, caring and (sometimes) competent. She survived a horrific childhood experience, and was rescued and adopted by a family dedicated to protecting and avenging women around the world. She is an angry trained assassin, who trips in the woods, loses her cool at inopportune times, and needs rescuing a few times. Simultaneously reserved, she overshares frequently (although we are always reminded that it is ‘rare’ of her to do so), and dislikes men and thinks they are mostly beasts, while being instantly attracted to and attempting to seduce Sandresh.
The Parish family is said to be powerful, rich, etc, in a very unbelievable way. Likewise, the power of the ‘bad guys’ is stressed and yet remains unbelievable, and their ‘guards’ all resembled cartoon cardboard cut-outs. Although we see the pov of one of the head villains, BadGuyW, it just serves to further confuse his character.
I loved the rescuing theme, and the determination of Justice to save victims. Sandresh’s conflicted-warrior character was interesting.
I did not care for the large amount of unresolved back story, presumably setting up later books in the series.
The chemistry between the main characters is told in a very vulgar, base, masculine manner. The sexy times are extremely descriptive, over the top, very competitive, and repetitive.
As you would imagine in such a dark, cruelly themed book, there is a lot of violence. Graphic violence. Excessive disrespect for humanity, loss of life, and torture. I am not sure how detailed the torture was, because as the descriptions began, I skipped past. What parts I did read were clumsily done; nothing was written on the fascinatingly gripping level of Stephen King.
As I said before, this book is dark. Things that have happened and are happening, both in the book and in the world, are devastating. And though told in the book, I feel that they were more used as story dressing. While people need to be aware that these horrors are happening around the world, the misery was included in the book superficially for background illustration. Likewise, character development was either stilted or unbelievably breakneck.
Overall a noisy, loud, clumsy, drive that never reaches an admirable goal.
*eARC Netgalley*
**edited to remove typo**
ATW 2018 Jordan / Syria
Justice is an adopted member of an enormous, almost exclusively female family/organization that covertly works to rescue women and children caught in human trafficking, and to assassinate the men involved.
Sandresh is a caring ex-soldier who wants a life that involves more than just destruction. He has started a charity of ex-soldiers to help in many ways in many places with many things (it is not exactly described completely in the book). Justice’s powerful family connects with Sandesh’s newly created charity to further their mission against the leaders of one of the largest international human trafficking organizations.
While taking care of business, sparks fly between Justice and Sandresh. Their annoyingly immediate, mutual insta-lust was alternatively allowed free reign and bottled up ‘for the sake of the mission.’
The pov shifted between Justice, Sandresh and one of the villains, ‘BadGuyW’. That is pretty typical for contemporary romances, but being inside W-bad-guy’s mind was not helpful, as it was unbelievable, inconsistent, flabby, and did not inspire sympathy, respect, hatred, or even the feeling that BadGuyW was a real person
As a heroine, Justice is complex, conflicted, caring and (sometimes) competent. She survived a horrific childhood experience, and was rescued and adopted by a family dedicated to protecting and avenging women around the world. She is an angry trained assassin, who trips in the woods, loses her cool at inopportune times, and needs rescuing a few times. Simultaneously reserved, she overshares frequently (although we are always reminded that it is ‘rare’ of her to do so), and dislikes men and thinks they are mostly beasts, while being instantly attracted to and attempting to seduce Sandresh.
The Parish family is said to be powerful, rich, etc, in a very unbelievable way. Likewise, the power of the ‘bad guys’ is stressed and yet remains unbelievable, and their ‘guards’ all resembled cartoon cardboard cut-outs. Although we see the pov of one of the head villains, BadGuyW, it just serves to further confuse his character.
I loved the rescuing theme, and the determination of Justice to save victims. Sandresh’s conflicted-warrior character was interesting.
I did not care for the large amount of unresolved back story, presumably setting up later books in the series.
Spoiler
At the ending, the token male in the organization was one of the traitors, because of his bruised male ego. That was a bit lazy and tired.The chemistry between the main characters is told in a very vulgar, base, masculine manner. The sexy times are extremely descriptive, over the top, very competitive, and repetitive.
As you would imagine in such a dark, cruelly themed book, there is a lot of violence. Graphic violence. Excessive disrespect for humanity, loss of life, and torture. I am not sure how detailed the torture was, because as the descriptions began, I skipped past. What parts I did read were clumsily done; nothing was written on the fascinatingly gripping level of Stephen King.
As I said before, this book is dark. Things that have happened and are happening, both in the book and in the world, are devastating. And though told in the book, I feel that they were more used as story dressing. While people need to be aware that these horrors are happening around the world, the misery was included in the book superficially for background illustration. Likewise, character development was either stilted or unbelievably breakneck.
Overall a noisy, loud, clumsy, drive that never reaches an admirable goal.
*eARC Netgalley*
**edited to remove typo**
ATW 2018 Jordan / Syria
bananatricky's review
1.0
DNF at 37%
I think I was misled by the cover into thinking this was Urban Fantasy.
Justice is an operative for a secret group called the League which avenges abused women. The League is unusual in that it is also a family, of adopted children who have all suffered some form of abuse. Justice saw her own sister Hope murdered in front of her eyes and is determined to avenge her murder.
Whilst chasing the brothers who murdered her sister, who are now trafficking women in Syria, Justice discovers that there is a spy in her small team, someone feeding information about the League to their mortal enemies so she goes on the latest mission alone and in secret, piggy-backing off a new charity being run by former special forces operatives.
Maybe I wasn't in the right mood but this just felt cliche-ridden. I'm fairly sure I know who the spy is, Justice seems fine with killing bad guys, until she kills one of the men who killed her sister, then she starts to feel remorse - WTF? She's a caricature and unlikable. Also, in two missions she has screwed up twice - not much of a super secret operative!
It's an easy read but I felt it was too predictable, I'd read something similar many times before and I had a sneaking suspicion that the ex-army guy would end up saving poor little Justice who would degenerate into a hapless girl. I could be wrong but it had that feel.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I think I was misled by the cover into thinking this was Urban Fantasy.
Justice is an operative for a secret group called the League which avenges abused women. The League is unusual in that it is also a family, of adopted children who have all suffered some form of abuse. Justice saw her own sister Hope murdered in front of her eyes and is determined to avenge her murder.
Whilst chasing the brothers who murdered her sister, who are now trafficking women in Syria, Justice discovers that there is a spy in her small team, someone feeding information about the League to their mortal enemies so she goes on the latest mission alone and in secret, piggy-backing off a new charity being run by former special forces operatives.
Maybe I wasn't in the right mood but this just felt cliche-ridden. I'm fairly sure I know who the spy is, Justice seems fine with killing bad guys, until she kills one of the men who killed her sister, then she starts to feel remorse - WTF? She's a caricature and unlikable. Also, in two missions she has screwed up twice - not much of a super secret operative!
It's an easy read but I felt it was too predictable, I'd read something similar many times before and I had a sneaking suspicion that the ex-army guy would end up saving poor little Justice who would degenerate into a hapless girl. I could be wrong but it had that feel.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
jcb820's review
1.0
I gave up on this about 1/3rd of the way in. Not a likeable character in sight, motivations constantly turning on a dime rather than evolving, poorly written action scenes, and a futuristic element that came straight out of left field. I think the best thing about this book is the cover- I just wished what was inside the book lived up to it.