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malissac 's review for:
Hell Breaks Loose
by Sophie Jordan
The second installment in Sophie Jordan's Devil's Rock series and I can say that once again I loved it. It didn't take me long to fall for Reid and that happened in the first book, All Chained Up. Here's this bad guy (or is he?) that basically runs Devil's Rock prison, and yet he's this good man that took two young brothers under his wings, earning their respect and faith. When we left Devil's Rock in All Chained Up Reid's plans, plans he has worked at for 11 year were coming to fruition. His future is on the verge of being laid out before him. A future that started with a prison riot and one that sadly and unwittingly ended up severely injuring the one man he had promised to protect, Knox's little brother, (whose story I know we are all longing for!!) North.
Reid is on a mission but it's not the mission you may expect. He's escaped prison, he's running for his life, he's weighed down heavy by guilt. The guilt related to the prison riot, the guilt related to his choices as a young adult, the guilt of leaving his brother behind...all of these things have turned him in to a rough and broody man and it's just the kind of book hero I like.
When I first read where Sophie was going with this book, kidnapped First Daughter, Prison Escapee, bumbling cruel gang...I wasn't sure she was going to be able to pull it all off cleanly. I couldn't quite (in my mind) put all the pieces together to make a believable and interesting story. I was fearful that this was going to end up feeling like a Stockholm Syndrome story except none of the characters realize it for what it is. Well, that would be why she's the author and not me. She totally made this work. All the pieces come together smoothly, Stockholm Syndrome is brought up and eventually dismissed. I didn't feel at all like she was trying to take this crazy story and make it work because it didn't turn out crazy at all and it totally worked.
I loved Grace Reeves. She's this awkward, intelligent, beautiful, (even though she doesn't realize it, because honestly how many of us believe that we are) shy, and lonely. She's being basically forced into a roll she does't want, a prison, though one with out bars and cinder block walls. In an attempt to breathe just for a moment, Grace 'escapes' from her security detail and ends up falling into the hands of a somewhat bumbling yet cutthroat band of outlaws. You can't help but fall in love with Grace through out this book. It is amazing to watch her grow from this awkward, naive girl into a strong, determined woman.
We know I loved Reid so I won't go on too much more about him, but getting his whole story, knowing where he came from and how he got there just makes him that much more of an amazing character. The love he has for his brother, despite the way their lives have unfolded and the choices that were made is as important to this story as the developing relationship between Reid and Grace. I am somewhat hopeful that we may see him again in the future, it felt to me like he needs to tell his story as well, but then again we already know why I am a reader and not a writer, haha.
The chemistry between Grace and Reid was immediate but I am happy to say the romance itself was not. When we did get to it you wanted it so badly to happen because Sophie gave us a good almost half a book building the tension between the two. I loved that both characters fought the attraction so strongly because, seriously...you've just escaped prison, found yourself the guardian of the kidnapped First Daughter or you've just been kidnapped and placed into the clutches of a ruthless gang and then into the arms of a surly prison escapee. Yeah you may find each other attractive but I am thinking steamy sexy times would not be your go to right away, haha.
In the end this is the story of two people breaking out of their prisons, one figuratively and one literally. It is a story about breaking past barriers, ones placed on us by society and family and ones placed on ourselves. It is a story about letting go so that you can see the future, so you can know that you have a future. It is a story about finding that love and family mean more than revenge or capitulation. It is a story about fighting the good fight, choosing the harder right than the easier wrong, making compromises, and taking chances.
This is a great read for anyone that loves contemporary romances or perhaps especially the broody bad boy who's a really good man and the everyday girl who fights her battles the only way she knows how but then discovers that she is stronger than she ever realized! Hell Breaks Loose will keep you turing the pages, the romance, action, storyline... it is all there and it will captivate you and have you ready for more. Thankfully North's book Fury on Fire isn't that far off in the future, January!
This book can be read as as standalone, although the series ties together you won't miss anything or ruin anything by reading them out of order but as always you know I would say read them as a series in order because it will give you the full story and effect. You'll be fine and I might sigh a little but be okay if you decide to go in at book 2 though, haha.
~HAPPY READING~
Reid is on a mission but it's not the mission you may expect. He's escaped prison, he's running for his life, he's weighed down heavy by guilt. The guilt related to the prison riot, the guilt related to his choices as a young adult, the guilt of leaving his brother behind...all of these things have turned him in to a rough and broody man and it's just the kind of book hero I like.
When I first read where Sophie was going with this book, kidnapped First Daughter, Prison Escapee, bumbling cruel gang...I wasn't sure she was going to be able to pull it all off cleanly. I couldn't quite (in my mind) put all the pieces together to make a believable and interesting story. I was fearful that this was going to end up feeling like a Stockholm Syndrome story except none of the characters realize it for what it is. Well, that would be why she's the author and not me. She totally made this work. All the pieces come together smoothly, Stockholm Syndrome is brought up and eventually dismissed. I didn't feel at all like she was trying to take this crazy story and make it work because it didn't turn out crazy at all and it totally worked.
I loved Grace Reeves. She's this awkward, intelligent, beautiful, (even though she doesn't realize it, because honestly how many of us believe that we are) shy, and lonely. She's being basically forced into a roll she does't want, a prison, though one with out bars and cinder block walls. In an attempt to breathe just for a moment, Grace 'escapes' from her security detail and ends up falling into the hands of a somewhat bumbling yet cutthroat band of outlaws. You can't help but fall in love with Grace through out this book. It is amazing to watch her grow from this awkward, naive girl into a strong, determined woman.
We know I loved Reid so I won't go on too much more about him, but getting his whole story, knowing where he came from and how he got there just makes him that much more of an amazing character. The love he has for his brother, despite the way their lives have unfolded and the choices that were made is as important to this story as the developing relationship between Reid and Grace. I am somewhat hopeful that we may see him again in the future, it felt to me like he needs to tell his story as well, but then again we already know why I am a reader and not a writer, haha.
The chemistry between Grace and Reid was immediate but I am happy to say the romance itself was not. When we did get to it you wanted it so badly to happen because Sophie gave us a good almost half a book building the tension between the two. I loved that both characters fought the attraction so strongly because, seriously...you've just escaped prison, found yourself the guardian of the kidnapped First Daughter or you've just been kidnapped and placed into the clutches of a ruthless gang and then into the arms of a surly prison escapee. Yeah you may find each other attractive but I am thinking steamy sexy times would not be your go to right away, haha.
In the end this is the story of two people breaking out of their prisons, one figuratively and one literally. It is a story about breaking past barriers, ones placed on us by society and family and ones placed on ourselves. It is a story about letting go so that you can see the future, so you can know that you have a future. It is a story about finding that love and family mean more than revenge or capitulation. It is a story about fighting the good fight, choosing the harder right than the easier wrong, making compromises, and taking chances.
This is a great read for anyone that loves contemporary romances or perhaps especially the broody bad boy who's a really good man and the everyday girl who fights her battles the only way she knows how but then discovers that she is stronger than she ever realized! Hell Breaks Loose will keep you turing the pages, the romance, action, storyline... it is all there and it will captivate you and have you ready for more. Thankfully North's book Fury on Fire isn't that far off in the future, January!
This book can be read as as standalone, although the series ties together you won't miss anything or ruin anything by reading them out of order but as always you know I would say read them as a series in order because it will give you the full story and effect. You'll be fine and I might sigh a little but be okay if you decide to go in at book 2 though, haha.
~HAPPY READING~