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A review by urmelservant
Vendetta by Catherine Doyle
4.0
Ok, so.
If I rated this objectively, I probably couldn't give this more than 2-3 stars but that's not what I'm about, son. So.
Truth is, this was just so damn enjoyable and fun that 4 stars are in order.
Characters and relationships being awesome and making sense to me and a book being entertaining is always going to be more important to me than checking a book for flaws of any sort (ie whether the plot is illogical, unrealistic etc.). So, if a book is enjoyable to read for whatever reason that is always going to trump any objective flaw I might find. That's why my rating is what it is. However, if you're the sort of person who craves logic and realism, I would advise you to not go here, because oh boy was this book a giant question mark when it comes to that a lot of the time.
1) Her uncle is a drug boss who owes Mafia family Falcone a blood debt and flees LEAVING HIS ENTIRE FAMILY BEHIND?????????? What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck in which world does that make any sort of sense, obviously they're gonna get taken hostage to get to you??? The only thing dumber than Jack leaving Soph and her mom behind was that the Falcones didn't take them hostage earlier. What sort of loser Mafia family are you, srsly.
2) He tells her to stay away from the boys in a casual as fuck way and then expects her to listen to him??? Obviously she's not going to do that, you told her that in a oooh-no-boys-for-you-niece way, not in a they're-gonna-fucking-torture- and-kill-you way. THE FUCK (I fucking love that Sophie points that out to him when she finds out later btw <33)
3) These boys are the Mafia family of all Mafia families and yet they need half the fucking book to connect the dots and figure out that Sophie Gracewell = Persephone Gracewell, niece of mortal enemy TM. Seriously? SERIOUSLY. #LOGIC.
There's sort-of-insta-love, but it honestly didn't bother me that much in this case, mainly because it felt like it was rushed to get to the larger plot AND because Sophie didn't wax poetry about Nic's stormy sea blue eyes that you coud just get lost in.
Now to the positives:
SOPHIE IS FUCKING AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
(This pretty much is the main positive like DAMN GIRL)
1) When she finds out that Nic is part of the Mafia and he trys to feed her bullshit about how this means he has a higher code of honour loyalty and morals and she's like LOL but you kill people for other Mafia families who do evil shit you selective hypocritical motherfucker I CLAPPED. And the self righteousness of the family and wrongness of vigilantism was also pointed out. Sadly, she kisses him after, but oh well. At least she later recognizes that she was far too forgiving, so.
2) She just sasses everyone and I loved it. Like, for example, they kidnap her at the end and she just goes "It was completely, unnecessarily dramatic." in reference to their demeanour. I just. Really loved that. So much. All throughout the book. Sophie was kick ass and the Queen of Sass.
Her friendship with Millie was awesome. FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS. <333
One last thing:
Also, turns out, they don't give much of a fuck if you're innocent or not when it comes to their beloved "blood debt". Also something that would've pissed me off if no one had called them out on it but instead there was a disagreement within the family and Nic went "Uh, since when do we do that? The fuck" and I lived to see another day (again). Inner mafia family feud and disagreement + some really grayblackish morality to take this to a darker place? YUP. Here for it. Something potentially dealbreakingly awful turned into a betterment of the book? CHECK.
Honestly, I just really loved how complex the portrayal of the mafia families' actions/code/justification was and how all the characters reacted to it. I was initially afraid this book would gloss over that and just be like "he's a dangerous bad boy with a gun but since he only hurts criminals and is also hot idec let's make out." But instead I got this really complex discourse and I really, really appreciate it.
So yup, this way enjoyable as fuck.
And also unrealistic as fuck but what can you do.
If I rated this objectively, I probably couldn't give this more than 2-3 stars but that's not what I'm about, son. So.
Truth is, this was just so damn enjoyable and fun that 4 stars are in order.
Characters and relationships being awesome and making sense to me and a book being entertaining is always going to be more important to me than checking a book for flaws of any sort (ie whether the plot is illogical, unrealistic etc.). So, if a book is enjoyable to read for whatever reason that is always going to trump any objective flaw I might find. That's why my rating is what it is. However, if you're the sort of person who craves logic and realism, I would advise you to not go here, because oh boy was this book a giant question mark when it comes to that a lot of the time.
Spoiler
1) Her uncle is a drug boss who owes Mafia family Falcone a blood debt and flees LEAVING HIS ENTIRE FAMILY BEHIND?????????? What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck in which world does that make any sort of sense, obviously they're gonna get taken hostage to get to you??? The only thing dumber than Jack leaving Soph and her mom behind was that the Falcones didn't take them hostage earlier. What sort of loser Mafia family are you, srsly.
2) He tells her to stay away from the boys in a casual as fuck way and then expects her to listen to him??? Obviously she's not going to do that, you told her that in a oooh-no-boys-for-you-niece way, not in a they're-gonna-fucking-torture- and-kill-you way. THE FUCK (I fucking love that Sophie points that out to him when she finds out later btw <33)
3) These boys are the Mafia family of all Mafia families and yet they need half the fucking book to connect the dots and figure out that Sophie Gracewell = Persephone Gracewell, niece of mortal enemy TM. Seriously? SERIOUSLY.
There's sort-of-insta-love, but it honestly didn't bother me that much in this case, mainly because it felt like it was rushed to get to the larger plot AND because Sophie didn't wax poetry about Nic's stormy sea blue eyes that you coud just get lost in.
Spoiler
Nic is so full of shit when he's like 'SHE'S MINE TO PROTECT' Dude, you're doing an awful job, to be honest. try harder.Now to the positives:
SOPHIE IS FUCKING AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
(This pretty much is the main positive like DAMN GIRL)
Spoiler
1) When she finds out that Nic is part of the Mafia and he trys to feed her bullshit about how this means he has a higher code of honour loyalty and morals and she's like LOL but you kill people for other Mafia families who do evil shit you selective hypocritical motherfucker I CLAPPED. And the self righteousness of the family and wrongness of vigilantism was also pointed out. Sadly, she kisses him after, but oh well. At least she later recognizes that she was far too forgiving, so.
2) She just sasses everyone and I loved it. Like, for example, they kidnap her at the end and she just goes "It was completely, unnecessarily dramatic." in reference to their demeanour. I just. Really loved that. So much. All throughout the book. Sophie was kick ass and the Queen of Sass.
Her friendship with Millie was awesome. FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS. <333
One last thing:
Spoiler
God, I think the Mafia families' lies and hypocrisy would've killed me if it wasn't for the fact the Sophie calls them out on it. It was just so full of shit, self righteous and hypocritical. I don't think I would've been able to go on if Sophie had just gone "Oh they only kill criminals though, so it's fine, Nic, KISS ME!" Lord. But instead she went WTF and I lived to see another day.Also, turns out, they don't give much of a fuck if you're innocent or not when it comes to their beloved "blood debt". Also something that would've pissed me off if no one had called them out on it but instead there was a disagreement within the family and Nic went "Uh, since when do we do that? The fuck" and I lived to see another day (again). Inner mafia family feud and disagreement + some really grayblackish morality to take this to a darker place? YUP. Here for it. Something potentially dealbreakingly awful turned into a betterment of the book? CHECK.
Honestly, I just really loved how complex the portrayal of the mafia families' actions/code/justification was and how all the characters reacted to it. I was initially afraid this book would gloss over that and just be like "he's a dangerous bad boy with a gun but since he only hurts criminals and is also hot idec let's make out." But instead I got this really complex discourse and I really, really appreciate it.
So yup, this way enjoyable as fuck.
And also unrealistic as fuck but what can you do.