This is probably the longest it took me to finish a Cora Reilly book.
I was not really a fan of the first Dante&Val book, but I was ready to be convinThis is probably the longest it took me to finish a Cora Reilly book.
I was not really a fan of the first Dante&Val book, but I was ready to be convinced. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
And so you do not need to read my whole review which is rather long (sorry!) the main reason why I rate this book relatively low is that I just did not enjoy reading it, it was dragging for me. Plus it started when Dante was nineteen and ended when Dante's what forty-eight or nine? It covers a pretty long time and therefore it's very jumpy, a scene here and then a scene that takes place months/years later. It was tough to get into the story and hardly even felt like a story, more like notes on what was happening in the Outfit when the focus was on different characters.
I would like to mention a few things - a bit on the side.
1) What is it with the new covers? I feel like the black&white ones fit the books better.
2) The author should fire her editor and get a refund. I feel like the editing is getting worse and worse.
3) Plus the author should probably get an editor who checks for *continuity* or maybe just more beta readers? Because in this book Nino was called Remo's oldest brother. Liliana is called Vitiello instead of Cancio. Plus I believe that even the colour of Anna's hair changed from the first book. And it's these little things which personally throw me off while reading.
So, I have to say that I quite liked the idea of the book being split into several parts and each focusing on one betrayal.
The First Betrayal Not going to lie, I loved this one. It was fun to read, and it gave me hope for this book. Dante's POV was fun; I enjoyed the way he was thinking and how he took action. (view spoiler)[ I had to wonder how much the things would have been different if he did not kill Jacopo. (hide spoiler)]
The Second Betrayal I actually thought that this was a bit of wasted opportunity. I wanted to see more than this one scene.
Side note: both of these parts were very short.
The Third Betrayal And this is when my problems with this book really started—the moment when we hit the previous content but now only in different POV. This one follows their first book, and I'm not sure what to say here, so, I'll put my comment which I have for Dante&Val relationship as a whole here. Even from Dante's POV and him saying I still do not feel like he loves her. And for how small Carla's part was his feelings toward her resonated more than anything towards Val. And I don't mean it just here but the moment I finished the book I still had a hard time believing his love towards Val.
The Fourth Betrayal I don't know what to say here... it just reminded me of how idiotic plan Aria had. What else can I say?
And to Orazio, I always wondered what was behind his betrayal. I had no idea what it could be, and I have to say that Orazio just became totally precious. On that note, I have to say that while I liked Val's father in the previous book, he seemed like one of the few decent parents in the whole series, I now take that back.
The Fifth Betrayal And my biggest issue with the whole book. This one probably takes a little less than half of the entire book, and it's again Twisted Pride from different POV. We got Twisted Pride, then Twisted Pride retold from Nino's and Kiara's POVs and now through Dante's and Val's POVs. While I liked Twisted Pride, I don't think that we needed to read it in so many different POVs, it's getting too much. Yes, I did expect that this book would reflect on it, but I did not expect that that would happen to this extent. While it was interesting to see what was Remo only predicting in the Twisted Pride, it also got a bit tedious. I mean different characters using precisely the same words to describe something?
Danilo called to inform me that Serafina was kidnapped by the Camorra. I assume we'll have to postpone the wedding then.
I feel a little bit bad that I laughed at this sentence. I cannot help it, at the moment it felt like such a sass! I mean, sure, go ahead, we can proceed with the wedding right away.
And I have to say that from this part the story turned rather sad. I was sorry for Ines and her family and how much they hurt. I was sorry for Serafina. My heart totally broke when I heard everyone talk about the children. I was like: "Take them and run!" I was sorry for Emma; she deserves better!
The Aftermath And my sadness continued. I was sorry for Anna (not only here but thought out the whole book), she has unexpected sadness about her which I did not see coming. Plus, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed by Val here, I expected more from her. (view spoiler)[Okay, I expected an arranged marriage for Anna, but I sort of expected Val to be against it, wanting her daughter to choose. I mean, she's the lady who got her husband, the Capo to let her work! I totally expected her to fight, so, that her daughter will have more choices in life. The fact that she suggested plus an outsider (Orazio called and demanded answers!) was totally shocking to me. And while it is said that Anna would be able to "handle a mere Outsider" (which sounded really bad), I have to disagree a bit. To me, Anna read rather meek, timid. Yeah, she may bicker with Leonas, but she then seemed to be very shaken by everything. Not sure yet on her. (hide spoiler)] The same with Anna being homeschooled for the majority of the book. I just felt sorry for her. I was sorry for Sofia. Poor girl does not deserve to be a consolidation price.(view spoiler)[ And seeing how she's pretty much locked up for *her safety* was totally heartbreaking. (hide spoiler)]
And while the end of the book had *positives* vibes, I still have to say that I do not really feel that Dante loves Val, which is a significant setback in the story.
Few notes (again?) which I was a bit unsure where to put in my review: I found it interesting that Dante was mentioning that Camorra was a problem, etc., how he had Luca on one side and Remo on the other before they were allied. I have to say that I sort of missed a scene where he reacts to Nino and Kiara's wedding and the pact between Luca and Remo. It would have been interesting to see.
I was actually surprised that when he learned that Fabiano disappeared he did not try to look for him, especially knowing that Rocco was a poor excuse for a father who just recently got another son. Also, speaking about Rocco, (view spoiler)[ I actually find it really hard to believe that no one thought it strange that he went missing for months before Dante gave him to Remo. I mean even like mention that he went into hiding or something. I would expect that the Consigliere being nowhere to be found and on top of that impossible to reach even through phone would cause quite a chaos. (hide spoiler)]
I have to say that I believe Val&Dante deserved a better book which would be more about them because sometimes they seemed a bit like an afterthought in this book. Since so much of this book was a content we already saw in other books and the story was focused elsewhere, this made Dante for the majority of this book in defence. More like he was only reacting to things rather than setting them in motion, which then has to do with why I felt this book was dragging.
The bad guys. [...] I wondered if little boys in the Camorra asked their dads the same question when they spoke about us? Would Luca's son ask his father that question when he talked about Dante? Bad was always a matter of perspective.
Okay, hands down the best quote from this book. I can totally sing under this. Not only regarding this book but in general. And it beautifully paints why Dante and the Outfit are my least favourite by this author. Dante's book was the second in the series, and to me, it did not establish him as a character I enjoyed reading about. And ever since the Outfit was in the position of the *bad* guys. The other side. And it is now hard to again get him as the *hero* (very loose term in this series), and the *heroes* (or maybe protagonists would be better?) of the previous books are the bad guys. It just does not really work for me. The series is lacking some other bad guy....more
On one side this book's killing me! The ending always breaks my heart. It starts to break a long time beforeRe-read (12/2018): This is killing me. 🤯🌋💣
On one side this book's killing me! The ending always breaks my heart. It starts to break a long time before the end because I know what's coming. (view spoiler)[I'm not counting the fact that Mel faked her death. I hate the whole "she's dead but surprises! she's not. (hide spoiler)]
On one side, I love how cruel they still are. But on the other side, I think that the parent side of them changed them a bit. And I dislike Mel being a Governor because in a way it feels like she's going back on herself. It is not something that they would do, too many short strings that lead to them. They would just get someone to do the job for them.
The major problem I have with this book (or maybe whole series but it also continues in the Children of Vice series) is the really bad editing. And I do not even mean the typos (and there are typos don't get me wrong). I meant the fact that the consistency is non-existent in here. Previously I mentioned problems like Mel wearing a dress, suddenly trousers and then, magic, dress again. However, here and then in Children of Vice it gets even worse. When the previous book ended with the epilogue, it took time pretty much at the same time as A Bloody Kingdom. In the epilogue of the American Savages, we see Monte and Fedel waiting for Mel and Liam. But in here Melody mentions that Monte died a long time ago. And that's one of the things I really hate! And with every re-read of this series, I keep seeing more and more of these little misshaps. So, I think that there will be no re-read of this in a long time.
By the way, can I say that I do not like Coraline?
ORIGINAL: I am really torn on this one.
When the third book ended my first thought was that I cannot imagine Liam and Melody being old. With teenage kids, adult kids and then grandchildren. It wasn't them.
The thing I liked the most is that they're evil until the end. Still on top, still strong and playing the world.
At first, I sort of felt cheated. (view spoiler)[ Just saying that Monte and Jinx died that seemed cheap. They deserved much more. And Mel as a governor? I wasn't sure if that was really her. Like with the president she would get a puppet. (hide spoiler)]
I was torn on them being parents. Not sure if I like them being parents. Cause I loved them so much in the first book. Not really sure being parents is what I want from them. :D On one side they were amazing. They have so much love for their kids. But they also fear to lose them. (view spoiler)[ I understand why they started to train them to be strong and to survive. But that doesn't mean it did not break my heart a bit. Not for the kids. But for the pain, Liam and Mel had to be feeling. (hide spoiler)]
...there is a lot of blood in front of those hospital doors.
I wish there was more of a story for Fedel. He would deserve one. (view spoiler)[ Painfully loyal till the bitter end. He did not deserve to die this away! (hide spoiler)]
At first, since the chapter 24, I expected something to shatter their world. I could not stop crying. (view spoiler)[I was angry at her faking her death. This Melody in hiding? That wasn't her! (hide spoiler)]
And now, thinking about it I think it's brilliant. Sort of. I wanted her or both of them to die. In some epic was! Go up in flames and never to be forgotten! To be on top of the world. (view spoiler)[I still don't see them as two "older" people just having fun. (hide spoiler)]
I also wonder if at the end Liam also (view spoiler)[faked his death or simply passed the job and left. (hide spoiler)]
EDIT: I think this book of all four has the strongest ending. Minus like the last chapter. But since the chapter 24, I think it was one of the highest moments of the series, definitely emotionally highest because seriously, every time I get to chapter 24 until the last chapter (minus epilogue) I always cannot stop crying even though I already know how it ends!...more
I do not DNF because I do not like this book. I DNF because the Czech translation is absolutely horrible and I need to I need to explain myself here.
I do not DNF because I do not like this book. I DNF because the Czech translation is absolutely horrible and I need to get the English version before I can continue.
So, let me tell you the long story short. In 2012, I was in a bookshop (as usual), and I saw this gorgeous book. Let's be honest, the sky on the cover is to die for. So, I bought it. And then in 2013 I bought the second book and in 2014 the last one. But, I never read it. Until just recently, I thought that I would never read it. But because an amazing person recommended it to me, the first time I came to visit my parents, I decided to give it a chance. I read only five chapters and let me tell you, the translation is offensive with how bad it is. I looked for an excerpt to read in English. The voice of the narrator sounds completely different, in English, it's way better. Plus, there so many grammatical mistakes and typos in the Czech translation! It just made me so angry. And let me tell if I see those than something is seriously wrong with the book! Some sentences make no sense, things are wrong. When the book started, it was said that Echo and Bane are brothers but then, couple pages later it makes it sound like Echo and Bane are brothers of Soren.
I cannot bear it and let a poorly done translation destroy a potentially good book for me....more
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