Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Under Locke

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Under Locke by Mariana Zapata

26 reviews

birbpal's review

emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

3.75

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 Stars

This book was such a delight from Miss Mariana. Seriously, I was not expecting the spice level this book supplied! 😳 I was pleasantly surprised.

What I wasn't surprised about was the deliciousy grumpy MMC that is Dex Locke. He was low-key a jerk but swoon nonetheless. He was fiercely loyal, protective, and hot. Tattoos and piercings? Hell yes!🫠🙏

Now in typical Mariana fashion, this book was single-pov in the FMC's perspective. As the FMC, Iris was kind of hard to like sometimes. She made dumbass decisions, and she was a pushover. These were frustrating qualities, but the worst thing about her has to be her dry personality.

Iris really didn't do much. She liked to swim and read, but other than a few instances or mentions, those hobbies really didn't make her feel fleshed out to me. Iris let others dictate what she did, even in the end, when she decided to go back to school. I also hate that she apparently has a best friend named Lanie, who was mentioned a couple of times, and yet, we never got a single instance of her and Iris interacting with each other. Like, what's even the point?

Yes, I liked reading this book, but Iris as a character was hard to enjoy. Everything else about the book was really great. Sonny was an amazing older brother, Dex's employees were funny and sweet, even Luther the prez of the MC was an interesting character.

Overall, if you have a hefty amount of patience, I think you'll be able to read this book. All other aspects were enjoyable, especially if you are looking for something a bit spicier from Miss Mariana. Give it a go.🐥💕

Content Warnings

bluejayreads17's review against another edition

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3.0

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amanda_reads13's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense fast-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? Yes

2.5

Iris has recently lost her job and moves from Florida to Austin to live with her half brother, Sonny. Sonny gets her a job at a tattoo shop belonging to Dex.

I really liked Iris. She was quiet and shy, but once she became more comfortable around her coworkers, she was very funny and loyal. She has been through so much pain in her 24 years. She suffered so much loss, abandonment, health issues, and having to raise her sibling. I felt like she was very naive and overly trusting. She was very self-conscious of her scar, which any 20 year old woman would be, but that was the focus of way too much of the book.

I struggled to understand Dex. He is very one dimensional. We know that he is an angry, possessive, tall, tattoo covered hot guy, and that's about it. We don't really get much depth from his character.

He was such an asshole to Iris from the start, but called her babe and baby. Weird. He was unnecessarily angry all the time. He would blow up over the most minor things. We don't really get a reason as to his anger issues (other than the mention that his dad was a dick), nor did he really deal with his issues. This is a major red flag. Then all of a sudden he flips and goes alpha possessive over Iris. The complete 180 is very confusing. He was just way too misogynistic and sexist IMHO.

The bad boy/good girl trope was definitely being played up. The problem is that Iris is way too good for Dex. Yes, she thought he was hot, but he treated her like shit. Then he just laid claim to her one day and she just accepted it. She never really took the time to heal or learn about herself. She just went from a shitty situation to a relationship with an overbearing man.

I liked the Tattoo shop setting and Iris' coworkers. I enjoyed the bond she formed with them and how open she was able to be with them. I also really appreciated how much Sonny looked after her and took care of her.

Tropes: workplace, Biker Gangs, Slowburn, Forced Proximity, Brother's friend, Age Gap (24 x 33), Grumpy x Sunshine, Virgin FMC

Content Warnings

landawn's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

Turns out mafia-adjacent romances are definitely NOT for me.
Main gripes:
The slut shaming.
The asshole MMC who won’t try to regulate his emotions.
The immature FMC.
The unnecessary length (300 pages too many)

Should’ve been a DNF!

Content Warnings

kiahmarieee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

3.25

Content Warnings

nicolewhopickedthisbook's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

While this is not my favorite Mariana Zapata book, it was still enjoyable. Heroine seemed kind of immature for her age and what’s she’s been through (although that could have been the narrator, she made the heroine’s voice kind of whiny and high pitched)

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