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A review by aw21594377
Caught Up by Navessa Allen
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This was pretty different from Lights Out and I was dubious for the first 50%. By the end, I was on board with Junior and Lauren's relationship. The audiobook was excellently produced. I was expecting this to be funnier than it was -- I didn't laugh out loud at all, whereas Lights Out made me lol multiple times. Because of that, I didn't like this quite as much.
I liked diving more into mafia culture. Nico Sr. was a piece of work. Honestly, I kind of forgot about his relationship with Aly and Josh from LO. Seeing how being born into the mob ends up being their lifestyle was kind of scary. It's almost like a gang where it's really hard to leave because they control every aspect of your life. Allen had a very decidedly negative view of the mafia, which is warranted. The fact that Nico Sr. was totally willing to throw Junior under the bus with the olive oil investment shows just how brutal he is. (I just read a book where the patriarchal figures are just as ruthless -- Kiss of the Basilisk by Lindsay Straube.)
I like how sex positive Navessa Allen is. I've learned more about the industry from influencers I've seen on social media, but getting a female perspective was fun after Josh's perspective from LO. Hearing Junior break down Lauren's income was fascinating. I do wish Allen had talked about how hard it is to succeed at cam work. The amount of work and dedication it takes to become successful is grueling. Yes, she mentions it took Lauren a couple years to get to where she was, but the day in, day out work/work ethic was missing. Clearly Allen is drawn to voyeurism as a concept (Josh spied on Aly, Lauren and Junior visit Velvet). I actually also really liked the sex scenes that take place at the club. We also get a glimpse at the discrimination against the industry. There are certain regulations that entrap the owners, which are easily exploited.
The allusion to Josh's online presence when Lauren recognizes Aly's UN was sneaky! I'm kind of surprised Lauren didn't tell Junior. Also don't 100% understand why she doesn't tell him. Generally, there seemed to be secrets that were kept between the characters that had 0 impact on the outcome of the plot. Like how Josh's roommate (or former roommate) and Junior are in business together. And lastly, why Josh has such a strong aversion to meat. Like it's not a huge secret, but Junior doesn't know why and someone just tells him they'll tell him later when it would've taken 1 sentence to explain it. I feel like there's another big secret but I can't remember it at this time... (Ok, I guess the secret that Lauren's father is in Italy was kind of impactful for Lauren's personal growth.)
I also like how Junior learns about himself and his sexual preferences. His experience of being introduced to the kink world was relatable. The lack of language/vocabulary/exposure to new sexual experiences is pretty typical. The mafia is also pretty homophobic and monogamous on the whole. There seemed to be less spice than in LO, which is fine! The spice that is included didn't feel like a c/p from LO, which was good.
I don't entirely understand Junior's parents' relationship. It's hard for me to believe that Nico's abusive behavior doesn't bleed into his relationship with Moira. Of course, she's in a particular position to protect her children from their father's wrath, which we see at the end when Junior breaks free from Nico's influence. Honestly, though, when Nick Jr. tells Josh the plan of how he would break the news to Nico, I expected something more than just confronting him with the whole family present. Like, I get why he does it that way, but it was a little anticlimactic after how cryptically it's handled.
NGL, this was a fun time, but there didn't seem to be a ton of character growth for either lead. I don't think that's a bad thing, but it was somewhat hard to relate to them because not many people are part of the mob, and not many people do cam work. A way to relate to fictional characters is through their trauma. We get brief mentions of how Lauren had to work through her shame and reclaim her sexual independence, but that's mostly handled before the book starts. Sort of the same with Junior -- we see him with one foot out the door. Their big conflict at the end was kind of underwhelming. I like that there really isn't a third act breakup, but again, couldn't relate to Lauren's emotional response. I don't want to diminish her emotions, but it just felt underwhelming. On top of that, we hardly see or hear about Lauren's relationship with her sister. I don't really understand why she was included since she was nothing more than a plot device. That could've been an interesting opportunity to add more dimension to Lauren's character.
I guess, this is all to say that Lights Out was really good! And this characters' stories fall flat in multiple ways for me. Additionally, some key aspects of writing mechanics fell short. I just wasn't as pulled into this story as Aly's and Josh's. Allen set herself up for a tough task of creating a story just as captivating. And unfortunately, in my opinion she just didn't deliver as strong of a story for Lauren and Junior.The stakes felt lower -- all the conflict was resolved really easily and in relatively "normal" ways. At the end of LO, Aly and Josh kill a guy. The big conflict at the end of Caught Up is Junior facing off with his father, which in contrast was kinda boring 😬
I like how sex positive Navessa Allen is. I've learned more about the industry from influencers I've seen on social media, but getting a female perspective was fun after Josh's perspective from LO. Hearing Junior break down Lauren's income was fascinating. I do wish Allen had talked about how hard it is to succeed at cam work. The amount of work and dedication it takes to become successful is grueling. Yes, she mentions it took Lauren a couple years to get to where she was, but the day in, day out work/work ethic was missing. Clearly Allen is drawn to voyeurism as a concept (Josh spied on Aly, Lauren and Junior visit Velvet). I actually also really liked the sex scenes that take place at the club. We also get a glimpse at the discrimination against the industry. There are certain regulations that entrap the owners, which are easily exploited.
The allusion to Josh's online presence when Lauren recognizes Aly's UN was sneaky! I'm kind of surprised Lauren didn't tell Junior. Also don't 100% understand why she doesn't tell him. Generally, there seemed to be secrets that were kept between the characters that had 0 impact on the outcome of the plot. Like how Josh's roommate (or former roommate) and Junior are in business together. And lastly, why Josh has such a strong aversion to meat. Like it's not a huge secret, but Junior doesn't know why and someone just tells him they'll tell him later when it would've taken 1 sentence to explain it. I feel like there's another big secret but I can't remember it at this time... (Ok, I guess the secret that Lauren's father is in Italy was kind of impactful for Lauren's personal growth.)
I also like how Junior learns about himself and his sexual preferences. His experience of being introduced to the kink world was relatable. The lack of language/vocabulary/exposure to new sexual experiences is pretty typical. The mafia is also pretty homophobic and monogamous on the whole. There seemed to be less spice than in LO, which is fine! The spice that is included didn't feel like a c/p from LO, which was good.
I don't entirely understand Junior's parents' relationship. It's hard for me to believe that Nico's abusive behavior doesn't bleed into his relationship with Moira. Of course, she's in a particular position to protect her children from their father's wrath, which we see at the end when Junior breaks free from Nico's influence. Honestly, though, when Nick Jr. tells Josh the plan of how he would break the news to Nico, I expected something more than just confronting him with the whole family present. Like, I get why he does it that way, but it was a little anticlimactic after how cryptically it's handled.
NGL, this was a fun time, but there didn't seem to be a ton of character growth for either lead. I don't think that's a bad thing, but it was somewhat hard to relate to them because not many people are part of the mob, and not many people do cam work. A way to relate to fictional characters is through their trauma. We get brief mentions of how Lauren had to work through her shame and reclaim her sexual independence, but that's mostly handled before the book starts. Sort of the same with Junior -- we see him with one foot out the door. Their big conflict at the end was kind of underwhelming. I like that there really isn't a third act breakup, but again, couldn't relate to Lauren's emotional response. I don't want to diminish her emotions, but it just felt underwhelming. On top of that, we hardly see or hear about Lauren's relationship with her sister. I don't really understand why she was included since she was nothing more than a plot device. That could've been an interesting opportunity to add more dimension to Lauren's character.
I guess, this is all to say that Lights Out was really good! And this characters' stories fall flat in multiple ways for me. Additionally, some key aspects of writing mechanics fell short. I just wasn't as pulled into this story as Aly's and Josh's. Allen set herself up for a tough task of creating a story just as captivating. And unfortunately, in my opinion she just didn't deliver as strong of a story for Lauren and Junior.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood
Minor: Cannibalism, Religious bigotry