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Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Abortion
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Abortion, Death of parent
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy
Well worth the read. Couldn't put this down once I started. I will define check out more books by this author.
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence
Minor: Abortion
Graphic: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Abortion, Death of parent
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment
Minor: Trafficking
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Kidnapping, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Terminal illness
There are so many characters in the novel that you have to keep up with, and to be honest, Elle Kayson does a fabulous job at making them all equally entertaining, intriguing, and the events of their lives are interesting...but then there are a million others mentioned at the end of the novel and your head is left spinning as you try to keep up with who's who. I mean, even the FMC, Dream, gets a new name...Baby?
That said, I wish Kayson had bothered to extend the novel by another two or three hundred pages to give us more insight into the lives of the children at then, even if only Kam/Kalylah.
I'm left with more questions than answers and that's soooo unfulfilling after reading 750+ pages.
Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment
The premise is that Dream is her crime familyâs fixer and after her brother offends the biggest crime boss in the area by eloping with his daughter, she is forced to sacrifice herself entering into a 1-month arranged situation with the closed-off, intrinsically-damaged from a traumatic childhood, cold-as-ice, Damien/Demon (the brother of the crime boss her family offended). Sparks fly as the two clash in every way in that one month where family and safety are on the line, and violence and murder are the order of the day. Dreamâs sister, Dayana, also features heavily in this as a subplot with Demonâs only friend, Smoke, Dayanaâs foolish ex-fiancĂ©e, and an assorted cast of bodyguards, villains, cute kids, and broken people.
Overall, I liked this as a dark mafia romance. It is VERY dark and not for the faint of heart. Thereâs on-page violence, assault, torture, child abuse, murder, gun violence, the list goes on. I donât think it needed to be quite as gratuitous as it was, but within the context of being a darker romance, it was good. The length of the book really allowed you to follow the characters on their journey of growth so that you felt part of their character trajectory. This solid character development was probably my favourite part of the book. I also enjoyed the adorable epilogue. This book is inherently problematic in the way of dark, mafia romance. The characters do and say awful things and deeper issues are brought up but never dealt with responsibly. E.g. the abortion plot angle.
In all, I enjoyed this authorâs writing. Itâs my first book by them and I thought they did a wonderful job keeping this ticking along and to blending an ensemble cast of characters and giving us different POVs without getting lost. Personally, I donât mind a dark, mafia romance but this is representative of the very dark side of that sun-genre, so you may want to keep that in consideration if youâre checking this out. I recommend this for the right reader- the one who is willing to âjust go with itâ and read some deeply problematic people whoâve been through a lot of trauma find love even amidst murder, mayhem, brutal violence and craziness. Nobody in this book is alright and itâs so compelling!
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment
Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Infidelity
Minor: Body shaming, Trafficking, Classism