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nickbreezyreads_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
This book will always be my introduction to Dark Romance/ Dark Mafia Romance & I love this book so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Minor: Pregnancy
vj_thompson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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? No
4.5
The writing took some time to get used to, but eventually I didn’t mind all the internal monologuing. It was tough to get through the first part of the book because of the immaturity of the two main characters but once they were together and married, their character development was significant. I surprisingly liked this book. I tend to stay away from mafia type romances because some times they can be a little too dark.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Stalking, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Grief, Physical abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Torture, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny
booksalacarte's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Brutal Prince- 2⭐️ 3.25🌶️
Mafia Romance
Dual POV
Arranged marriage
True Enemies to lovers
Forced proximity
Bully moments
Age gap (10 years)
After a public incident between their children, 2 mafia fathers make a deal to have them marry to unite rival families.
I didn’t love the FMC. She came off as an immature and childish character for most of the book. My biggest issue was the strawberry allergy incident. Having a kid with a food allergy, I am very against allergies being used as a prank. Who the hell doesn’t take food allergies seriously?! The girl would have never been forgiven by me… And it’s on the cover? So is this the big draw to the book? Nope. That’s not tomboy/hellcat behavior. That attempted murder. And she doesn’t even think of the implications her actions would have on her family… ever.
Honestly the MMC wasn’t any better. He came off chauvinistic and depreciated the FMC, and women he dated in general… it was gross. Also, he was a 30 year old, living at home having his every thought taken care of by a housekeeper, chef and his parents.
This book wasn’t very lovey-Dovey. It was more enemies than lovers… well except that there were 4+ spicy scenes. So there was a bunch of lust.
There wasn’t and true character development. Nothing to show any growth. The main characters just stayed pretty flat while the plot raced through a bunch of quickly concluded plot points.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks bloom books for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Classism, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Classism, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Gore
kathis_wonderland's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Brutal Prince by Sophie Lark is the first book in the Brutal Birthright series. After Aida (accidentality) sets her family's rivalling family's library house on fire, she is forced to marry their eldest son Callum. Both hate each other's guts, but they have to play along to their fathers' wishes. The more time they spend together the more attracted they are to each other. But other families are pissed and they have to be cautious.
I received this book for free through an online read club and I desperately needed a quick read yesterday. Here, the book did not disappoint. I read it in one go. It was not a mafia story I expected. The ones I read previously, I did not enjoy at all. Usually they are just to brutal. Sophie Lark did a better job here. We had a lot of action, but there was no real harm done to the children of the mafia bosses from the families themselves. I loved Aida's brothers. They are quite the gang and would do anything for their siblings. The same goes for Aida. She is not some damsel in distress. She is quite a good fighter and knows what she is doing. I liked that about her. Callum's family is not my favourite. We don't read so much about them as we do with Aida's. Callum himself is not my type of guy either. But we will come to that. There were really steamy and sexy scenes. Callum's and Aida's chemistry was really good! But here comes my problem.
Callum kept talking about breaking Aida and making her submit to his rules and lifestyle. He kind of threw out most of her clothes, because he did not like how it was different from his standards. The first sex scene and another one later on were quite borderline. Especially the spanking scene - no consent, just some angry dominating scene. Those two scenes did not sit well with me.
The book was okay. It was not the mafia story I expected, but it was even better, because my previous experience with that trope did not go well. There were some scenes and character traits which I did not ilike at all. But it was not a bad read.
I received this book for free through an online read club and I desperately needed a quick read yesterday. Here, the book did not disappoint. I read it in one go. It was not a mafia story I expected. The ones I read previously, I did not enjoy at all. Usually they are just to brutal. Sophie Lark did a better job here. We had a lot of action, but there was no real harm done to the children of the mafia bosses from the families themselves. I loved Aida's brothers. They are quite the gang and would do anything for their siblings. The same goes for Aida. She is not some damsel in distress. She is quite a good fighter and knows what she is doing. I liked that about her. Callum's family is not my favourite. We don't read so much about them as we do with Aida's. Callum himself is not my type of guy either. But we will come to that. There were really steamy and sexy scenes. Callum's and Aida's chemistry was really good! But here comes my problem.
Callum kept talking about breaking Aida and making her submit to his rules and lifestyle. He kind of threw out most of her clothes, because he did not like how it was different from his standards. The first sex scene and another one later on were quite borderline. Especially the spanking scene - no consent, just some angry dominating scene. Those two scenes did not sit well with me.
The book was okay. It was not the mafia story I expected, but it was even better, because my previous experience with that trope did not go well. There were some scenes and character traits which I did not ilike at all. But it was not a bad read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Alcohol, and Death of parent
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