The Blurb:
Talia. I have always been a bird. Caged by one prison or another when
the only thing I ever wanted was to fly away. Sold. Beaten. Starved.
Drugged. Nothing scares me anymore. Until him. He makes the numbness
go away. He is hazardous to me. It has nothing to do with his mafia
lifestyle, and everything to do with what he offers. A gilded prison. A
retreat from everything that I once knew. The reality I have no desire
to return to. He thinks he’s caged me, but soon… I’m going to fly.
Alexei. I live by a code. The Vory code. In this mafiya world, there are traditions. Expectations. She does not care for these things. She does not care about anything. She thinks she has me fooled with her haunted eyes. What she can’t know is that I see her better than most. She wants to fly. But I’m going to clip her wings. And make her my wife.
Alexei. I live by a code. The Vory code. In this mafiya world, there are traditions. Expectations. She does not care for these things. She does not care about anything. She thinks she has me fooled with her haunted eyes. What she can’t know is that I see her better than most. She wants to fly. But I’m going to clip her wings. And make her my wife.
Swearing alert. This review will have swear words. And spoilers, because I can’t not talk about it.
*********
…HOLY FUCKING SHIT you guys!!!! I’m still in shell shock from this book.
For starters, the opening sequences of this book are basically the reason trigger warnings exist. Sweet Jesus. I can tell you that this author definitely did her homework when it comes to trauma survivors. This book is different from the previous two installments. It’s more visceral. Agonizing, even.
Talia, whom we’ve heard so much about in the previous books, has been sold into sexual slavery by a Russian man that she met at Slainte (the strip club front for the Irish mafia). Readers are greeted with everything horrific that such a situation could entail. I had to pause a few times, to be honest.
Cut to Alexei, the Russian Ghost, a skilled hacker in charge of all gambling operations for the Russian mafia. He’s been tasked with finding Talia as a favor to Mack, but he’s got some other plans in mind as well. We get the impression Alexei has some issues of his own, but it’s a slow discovery to find out just what’s going on with him. But we do know from Lachlan Crow that he’s a man of his word, and he has found Talia just as he promised.
Getting her out of that place was heart wrenching to read. The delays caused by Alexei’s necessary diplomacy make you doubt whether or not he’ll even get her out at all. And that’s only the beginning, folks. Talia is truly messed up from the ordeal she’s been through. Alexei was aware this was likely, but he rolls with it. And it’s not just patience he has…it is understanding.
The bond these two share, though neither one can admit it right away, is so insanely on point that I just could not stop reading until I knew how this was going to play out. The extreme emotional effort they each have to put into creating any sliver of intimacy is just…gaaah!! There is never an insignificant interaction between these characters. The last few chapters had my chest pounding for both of them.
This is, so far, my favorite book of the year. What an amazing ride this series has been!!!
All the stars!!!
*********
…HOLY FUCKING SHIT you guys!!!! I’m still in shell shock from this book.
For starters, the opening sequences of this book are basically the reason trigger warnings exist. Sweet Jesus. I can tell you that this author definitely did her homework when it comes to trauma survivors. This book is different from the previous two installments. It’s more visceral. Agonizing, even.
Talia, whom we’ve heard so much about in the previous books, has been sold into sexual slavery by a Russian man that she met at Slainte (the strip club front for the Irish mafia). Readers are greeted with everything horrific that such a situation could entail. I had to pause a few times, to be honest.
Cut to Alexei, the Russian Ghost, a skilled hacker in charge of all gambling operations for the Russian mafia. He’s been tasked with finding Talia as a favor to Mack, but he’s got some other plans in mind as well. We get the impression Alexei has some issues of his own, but it’s a slow discovery to find out just what’s going on with him. But we do know from Lachlan Crow that he’s a man of his word, and he has found Talia just as he promised.
Getting her out of that place was heart wrenching to read. The delays caused by Alexei’s necessary diplomacy make you doubt whether or not he’ll even get her out at all. And that’s only the beginning, folks. Talia is truly messed up from the ordeal she’s been through. Alexei was aware this was likely, but he rolls with it. And it’s not just patience he has…it is understanding.
The bond these two share, though neither one can admit it right away, is so insanely on point that I just could not stop reading until I knew how this was going to play out. The extreme emotional effort they each have to put into creating any sliver of intimacy is just…gaaah!! There is never an insignificant interaction between these characters. The last few chapters had my chest pounding for both of them.
This is, so far, my favorite book of the year. What an amazing ride this series has been!!!
All the stars!!!
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