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A review by dinipandareads
Violent Ends by Jessica Hawkins
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up
The sequel to Violent Delights was slightly faster paced and it had a bit more action though much of the focus was on the character evolution of Natalia and Cristiano and their relationship as they become “end game”.
I have to admit that while I understood Natalia’s fury, disgust and hesitance to believe anything good about Cristiano at the start, I found myself getting more frustrated with her belligerence as he continued to prove that little about his public persona was actually true. He’s not a “good guy” necessarily as he murders and does all the bad things as a kingpin of one of the most notorious cartels would be expected to do, but he’s definitely a much better man compared to Diego! Being in Natalia’s head became quite trying as the narrative got overly repetitive as she waffled on her thoughts about him. I feel like if that aspect was shortened it wouldn’t have dragged, but I think it was still believable progression for how much Natalia loathed him for years.
There is a lot of complexity surrounding family, loss and grief that’s explored in this story and a big part of Cristiano’s arc. He is very alpha but he treats his people with a lot of respect and Natalia like a Queen (mostly) despite her constantly throwing disrespect in his face. There were some possessive alpha moments that made me cringe but for the most part I really liked Cristiano and he and the people of the Badlands made this a more enjoyable read for me! Also, the Badlands and what the Calavera cartel is doing there was one of my favourite parts of the story—I have mad respect for them. When this place was mentioned in the first book I had a feeling that it would look something like this, so it wasn’t entirely unpredictable, but I love when books have this trope? When the public thinks a place hell on earth and it has a horrible reputation when in reality it’s peaceful and the people are living their best lives.
Things don’t get too steamy in this though there were definitely some hot moments! Cristiano is up there with the best of the dirty filthy talkers so if you like those kinda alphas, I think he will definitely be your man. Like, there’s no need for sexy times when you have a mouth like that!
The sequel to Violent Delights was slightly faster paced and it had a bit more action though much of the focus was on the character evolution of Natalia and Cristiano and their relationship as they become “end game”.
I have to admit that while I understood Natalia’s fury, disgust and hesitance to believe anything good about Cristiano at the start, I found myself getting more frustrated with her belligerence as he continued to prove that little about his public persona was actually true. He’s not a “good guy” necessarily as he murders and does all the bad things as a kingpin of one of the most notorious cartels would be expected to do, but he’s definitely a much better man compared to Diego! Being in Natalia’s head became quite trying as the narrative got overly repetitive as she waffled on her thoughts about him. I feel like if that aspect was shortened it wouldn’t have dragged, but I think it was still believable progression for how much Natalia loathed him for years.
There is a lot of complexity surrounding family, loss and grief that’s explored in this story and a big part of Cristiano’s arc. He is very alpha but he treats his people with a lot of respect and Natalia like a Queen (mostly) despite her constantly throwing disrespect in his face. There were some possessive alpha moments that made me cringe but for the most part I really liked Cristiano and he and the people of the Badlands made this a more enjoyable read for me! Also, the Badlands and what the Calavera cartel is doing there was one of my favourite parts of the story—I have mad respect for them. When this place was mentioned in the first book I had a feeling that it would look something like this, so it wasn’t entirely unpredictable, but I love when books have this trope? When the public thinks a place hell on earth and it has a horrible reputation when in reality it’s peaceful and the people are living their best lives.
Things don’t get too steamy in this though there were definitely some hot moments! Cristiano is up there with the best of the dirty filthy talkers so if you like those kinda alphas, I think he will definitely be your man. Like, there’s no need for sexy times when you have a mouth like that!