A review by darcynewtonn
Moments Of Malevolence by T.L. Smith

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Overall this was a great book. 

I loved Alaska's personality as i'm a sucker for a powerful woman who can stand on her own rather than the regular innocent women with no experience with 'bad' men. Alaska's job as a sex phone worker further reflects her hot-headed, witty personality as she regularly has to have conversations with pushy, demanding guys. She's an outgoing woman working two jobs, the other being a bar/ waitress job (Hooters sort of) where she's face to face with the types of people she talks to over the phone.  She handles them with sass and a confidence that only Alaska can possess.....until she's actually face to face with one of her callers. 

Zuko is the type of man who will treat you like a princess in public and treat you on the other end of the spectrum in private.  This contrast is demonstrated numerous times throughout the book when Alaska goes through a series of events and Zuko is always right there.  Zuko Is definitely a morally grey man who could do with some straightening up and holy moly is that exactly what Alaska does. This woman does. not. tolerate. a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g.

While it was a good book overall, I felt the characters could have been developed better.  I felt no real emotional connection to the characters as their backstory and emotions weren't described enough throughout. 

It is a relatively short book and has quite a chopped timeline, it felt as though the whole book happened within a week as there was no build up of tension. There was no real plot twist/drop or climax to the story which was a bummer. The two 'problems that happened within the book were resolved way too easily and didn’t seem like that big of a deal and overall seemed like unrealistic scenarios and solutions. I felt like I was holding my breath waiting for something exciting to happen that just never really came.

I would have loved to know more about Zuko's job to 'hunt' as it's all we hear about in the blurb and also throughout the book, he's just described as a 'scary man' with 'power' and we never truly see why besides one or two slightly violent scenes. It sort of felt like he was putting it on to come across as a bigger person than falling in love with a waitress. 

I think the plan and intention was definitely there for the book it just wasn't executed brilliantly, the sex phone thing could have been used more and the unknown identity/ fake identity could have been taken further. To take this book to a 4 star I'd say it should have been 400-500 pages. 

If you're looking for an introduction to dark romance this is definitely a good place to start as it's an easy read and not too dark. 

If you've made it to the end of this review, do send me a friend request as I love connecting with people! 
Instagram & TikTok where I post bookish content and more book reviews: darcynewtonn