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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A thrilling, violent rom-com packed with heat
‘Lunatic’ is a thriller wrapped in rom-com packaging. It’s thrilling, romantic, and hilarious. It’s also hot enough to leave scorch marks!
James’s humor shines in ‘Lunatic.’ I always expect her books to be snarky and dark, but ‘Lunatic’ might be her funniest book to date.
That extra humor doesn’t detract from James’s brand. Readers will find all the violence, heat, and mayhem they expect. I love her mix of humor, spice, and chaos. I guess it’s no surprise I loved this book.
Even though I love all those things I mentioned about her books, I think it’s the characters and their interactions that make this one great for me. The dynamic between Archer and Mac is fire.
Archer is simultaneously Mac’s yellow sun and his kryptonite. Yet Mac is the only person who can ruffle Archer.
I love watching calm characters lose their composure over one person only. Archer is the epitome of that in ‘Lunatic.’ His ability to stay cool in the face of everything except Mac’s teasing made for amazing reading.
What makes that dynamic even better is that Mac’s teasing makes him look confident and hides his feelings of self-doubt. Mac experienced years of passive neglect and it affects him deeply even though he tries not to show it. That internal struggle made him real and relatable to me.
While ‘Lunatic’ can standalone, I recommend reading previous books in the series. There are a lot of characters from previous books involved in the plot. We’ve had five other books of murder, mayhem, and falling into something that looks a lot like love. That’s a lot to summarize quickly and effectively!
So yes, someone could read ‘Lunatic’ on its own, but it won’t be as fun. If you think you’d like ‘Lunatic,’ reading the series from the beginning makes sense. It also helps that ‘Unhinged’ is a great example of James’s style.
I’ll admit that I recommend starting at the beginning because I’m biased. The “Necessary Evils” series is one of my all-time favorites. I love recommending these books to folks who like dark humor and obsessive main characters.
I continue to revisit all the books in the series, and it won’t be long before I’ll be rereading ‘Lunatic’ too.
‘Lunatic’ is a thriller wrapped in rom-com packaging. It’s thrilling, romantic, and hilarious. It’s also hot enough to leave scorch marks!
James’s humor shines in ‘Lunatic.’ I always expect her books to be snarky and dark, but ‘Lunatic’ might be her funniest book to date.
That extra humor doesn’t detract from James’s brand. Readers will find all the violence, heat, and mayhem they expect. I love her mix of humor, spice, and chaos. I guess it’s no surprise I loved this book.
Even though I love all those things I mentioned about her books, I think it’s the characters and their interactions that make this one great for me. The dynamic between Archer and Mac is fire.
Archer is simultaneously Mac’s yellow sun and his kryptonite. Yet Mac is the only person who can ruffle Archer.
I love watching calm characters lose their composure over one person only. Archer is the epitome of that in ‘Lunatic.’ His ability to stay cool in the face of everything except Mac’s teasing made for amazing reading.
What makes that dynamic even better is that Mac’s teasing makes him look confident and hides his feelings of self-doubt. Mac experienced years of passive neglect and it affects him deeply even though he tries not to show it. That internal struggle made him real and relatable to me.
While ‘Lunatic’ can standalone, I recommend reading previous books in the series. There are a lot of characters from previous books involved in the plot. We’ve had five other books of murder, mayhem, and falling into something that looks a lot like love. That’s a lot to summarize quickly and effectively!
So yes, someone could read ‘Lunatic’ on its own, but it won’t be as fun. If you think you’d like ‘Lunatic,’ reading the series from the beginning makes sense. It also helps that ‘Unhinged’ is a great example of James’s style.
I’ll admit that I recommend starting at the beginning because I’m biased. The “Necessary Evils” series is one of my all-time favorites. I love recommending these books to folks who like dark humor and obsessive main characters.
I continue to revisit all the books in the series, and it won’t be long before I’ll be rereading ‘Lunatic’ too.
ok i had high hopes for this one and it was because of archer.
like, he’s such a mysterious pirate who never talks ever and we know next to nothing besides him drinking 24/7. and then you get to this book.
it was good! mac was funny and sweet and persistent, which i loved. archer didn’t know what he wanted which kind of annoyed me at times but these mulvaney boys always get with the program eventually. not my most favorite but still good. just felt like it fell a little flat. especially with the watchtower set up. like it was heavily focused on that in the first 30% which made me bored.
like, he’s such a mysterious pirate who never talks ever and we know next to nothing besides him drinking 24/7. and then you get to this book.
it was good! mac was funny and sweet and persistent, which i loved. archer didn’t know what he wanted which kind of annoyed me at times but these mulvaney boys always get with the program eventually. not my most favorite but still good. just felt like it fell a little flat. especially with the watchtower set up. like it was heavily focused on that in the first 30% which made me bored.
dark
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:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
medium-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:
Complicated
I didn't like the way this started because I was very confused and it seemed very...OOC. Like where did all these people come from? I was missing the way this all started: with an experiment and with new additions to the family (maybe that's why the first 3 books have the biggest score: they were the best).
It's probably my fault for rushing through all of these but by this book I'm so ready to be done. One more to go ig??
If I had to pick a favourite brother in the beginning, it would've been Archer for sure. Right off the bat, he was the one that caught my attention and it didn't hurt that he was very funny and definitely had a secret.
Mac was also very interesting as a character and although their dynamic started....uhm..........in a weird way, they redeemed themselves in my eyes by the 30% mark.
It was funny to watch Archer trying to understand his emotions and dealing with them. The case they were dealing with this time was...disgusting for the lack of a better word, but what's new? All the cases were absolutely cruel, vile, atrocious and I can't pick which one is the worst because how do you compare something like this?
I wish Archer told Mac about his childhood trauma though.
As for Thomas...he's starting to piss me off, I don't know how to explain better than this. It's just the vibes and his actions are frustrating me. What was that epilogue really? Well I guess we'll have to find out soon.
It's probably my fault for rushing through all of these but by this book I'm so ready to be done. One more to go ig??
If I had to pick a favourite brother in the beginning, it would've been Archer for sure. Right off the bat, he was the one that caught my attention and it didn't hurt that he was very funny and definitely had a secret.
Mac was also very interesting as a character and although their dynamic started....uhm..........in a weird way, they redeemed themselves in my eyes by the 30% mark.
It was funny to watch Archer trying to understand his emotions and dealing with them. The case they were dealing with this time was...disgusting for the lack of a better word, but what's new? All the cases were absolutely cruel, vile, atrocious and I can't pick which one is the worst because how do you compare something like this?
I wish Archer told Mac about his childhood trauma though.
As for Thomas...he's starting to piss me off, I don't know how to explain better than this. It's just the vibes and his actions are frustrating me. What was that epilogue really? Well I guess we'll have to find out soon.
dark
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated
This one was my favourite so far! Every book in the series is pretty much built on the same frame work, it's the main couple's storyline that defines the overall mood I think. After some rather brutal tendencies in the last two books it was really nice to meet a couple that was careful and respectful to one another, treating the other one with tenderness and warmth.
And I actually snortlaughed when Thomas called Archer that first morning, seething after having seen the good news well, on the news. 😂
And again when the family gets together and everyone is just confused, speaking about different things. "I feel like we're at a dress rehearsal and noone has a script."
Ok, moving on to the final book.
📸📸📸📸📸 Five cameras out of five.