Mafiosa by Catherine Doyle

Masterpiece. That's tells you all you need to know about this book and this series. It was a masterpiece.

I was so excited when I got this book but I was sad to because I knew that once I read it then a great book series would be over. I kept on trying to read as slow as I possibly could just to make it last but that plan didn't really work out since I finished the day after I got it. I would do anything to be able to be able to read this series again with a fresh pair of eyes so if you haven't started this series yet then you are lucky!

Mafiosa is the last book in the blood for blood trilogy and as you can probably tell I loved it. The series starts in Chicago when five brothers move into the old deserted mansion near where Sophie Gracewell lives and that is when things start to get interesting.

I have actually reviewed the other two books in the series. Click here for Vendetta (the first book in the series) and here for Inferno (the second book in the series).

I feel like the cover is worth mentioning because it is just so beautiful.  I mean look at that cover and the other two books are just as pretty. I love displaying them on my bookshelves.

Since I finished this book a few days ago I have not stopped thinking about the life Sophie and Luca now have and I wish I could join them because it was just such a perfect end to a wonderfully addictive series. I have never ever cried before at a perfect ending of a book but I cried at this one. It is official Catherine Doyle is now my favourite author in the world and I can hardly wait to read what she has got in store for us next.

*Spoiler and Discussion Section

Now, please bare with me as we move into the spoiler and discussion section because I have written my notes out roughly on a piece of paper but I wrote them about five seconds after I finished the book so they are a bit all over the place. Stick with me whilst I sort them out into a format you will actually be able to understand!

...Ok, so I think I have all my points set out in an good enough order!

A general point first. This was the book that  I felt that I connected most with the Falcone boys (well, some of them anyway) and I think this  was simply because our main character Sophie was living right under their roof. I still don't like the most of them but I don't dislike them quite as much as I did. The thing with this book is that it is hard to know who you can like because the lines between good and evil are less defined, which is what makes this book so interesting.

Let's discuss Valentino. I have had a kind of love-hate relationship with Valentino. I have never been able to decide whether I hated him or liked him and to be honest I'm still not a hundred percent sure. However I do like the way things were left between him and Sophie. So much so that when he was killed I was sad. I liked the genuine happiness he had for Luca and Sophie. It is clear that he would have done anything and everything for his twin and clear throughout the novel that Luca would also return this. I thought that was a lovely element to include because it is good to see the love the brothers have for one another when they always act so tough all of the time. The part in the conversation where Valentino admits that he is afraid of losing Luca to Sophie makes him feel more human and it led me to respect him where I hadn't before. I mean when you look at Valentino has been a victim of indoctrination as have the other members of the family. They have been brought up being told that their 'way of life' is the right.

Felice. How on earth did not one of the Falcones realise that Felice was not loyal to them? I mean they mentioned after the Libero incident that they knew they had someone in their presence who was disloyal. I didn't expect them to know straight away but I can't understand why they didn't take more action. They could have questioned people or maybe they did and Sophie just doesn't know? I think that the evidence Sophie brought to Valentino was enough to take some form of action against Felice. That evidence indicated that Felice thought he was reason and motive to hate the Falcone boys in the sense that he believes his brother Angelo Falcone helped his wife leave which he resented. Then there is Felice's thirst for power and to be the boss of the Falcone family. Valentino and the other boys really underestimated what he would do to get it declaring him harmless.

At the end we read article about what happened on the yacht at Donata Marino mission number 2 and I found that I felt sad reading about Dom, CJ and Elena's death. In this book Elena opens up to Sophie and tells her how she wanted to end suffering, not inflict it which made come to like her, CJ I didn't know well enough to think anything about him and Dom, well I was never his biggest fan and I never will be yet still I was saddened by his death. The reason I think it upset me a little was because those deaths were just so unnecessary. They didn't need to happen. I think Sophie said at some point something along the lines of 'these families get themselves into a hell of a lot of trouble' and I agree with her, she's right.

Sophie was annoying me this entire novel. I understand she is grieving but she is using her desire for revenge as a coping method which is obviously not good. I love Sophie, she is a great character but I just wished that she would stop thanking the Falcones whenever one of them compliments her on her amazing weapon skills. It really isn't something she should want to be complimented on.

Now let's talk about our light in the darkness, Millie. No matter how hard things are for Sophie, Millie is always there for her sending a blast of positivity her way and that is what I love about Millie. The fact that she is always positive and will do anything for those that she loves. Millie by simply being herself is helping Sophie heal even though they both may not realise that. Even Luca acknowledges that Millie was a huge part of pulling Sophie out of the darkness that was consuming her. Do you remember the part in the novel where Sophie made the excuse of having a movie night with the Falcones? I have never laughed so hard as when Sophie told Millie what they were allegedly watching. Also Millie's boyfriends name: Crispin. It is such a funny name and Luca increased my laughter by asking 'What a Cris-pin was?'. I guess my point is that wherever Millie goes laughter follows. Every time. No exceptions. This is much a much needed element to a book and I applaud Catherine Doyle for writing Millie's character so perfectly. Millie really is the best friend we all want and need.

If you read my review of Vendetta and Inferno you may know that I hate Nic... just a little. Well, that has not changed. I was already gritting my teeth because he was irritating me so much and I think I was on chapter two. I honestly don't know how I stood him for that entire book, was it just me or did he get even more annoying? I don't even know if that is possible.  Again, he fought with Luca over a girl he had no chance with but he was to much of an idiot to see that. I really loved that scene though, Luca definitely shocked him. At the end of the book we see that Nic is made boss of the Falcone family and that worries me for the future but I didn't dwell on it because there were more important things to think about, leading me nicely on to my next point.

Luca and Sophie are free! Free! They are going to have happy brilliantly peaceful lives. I was so happy that Sophie got out because she was so eager to get the revenge which she thought would grant her relief but obviously would only make her feel worse about herself. And of course for the whole book she point blank refused to listen to Luca which made him then worry about her. Luca was just as bad when Valentino died as he went on the same dark path that Sophie had been on for the entirety of this book and this can only lead to disaster. Disaster that was sure to happen only they both got lucky at Donata Marino mission number one.

I'll admit I was worried about Luca for a while whilst Sophie was at Evelina's and Luca was supposedly back in Chicago going on Donata Marino mission number 2. Luckily though he had come to his senses and was racing as fast as he could to Sophie for the better life he wanted and deserved. I got the happy ending I always wanted for them. That was the one thing I wished for before reading Mafiosa and I got it!

Evelina! I should have known that there was a reason that there was so much focus on Evelina in that book! How did I not guess that she was the one who was going to look after Sophie? I don't know how I missed it but I remained convinced that she was dead for the whole entire book.

Thank you for reading this review! Please let me know what you think!

Inferno by Catherine Doyle

Hi!

Today, I'm going to be reviewing as you might have guessed Inferno by Catherine Doyle. The amazingly, wonderful sequel to the amazingly, wonderful Vendetta.

Catherine Doyle is a really talented author with a real gift for storytelling. I would absolutely love to be even half as good a writer as she is one day.

If you haven't read or even heard of this amazing series by Catherine Doyle, well don't worry, I have a review of the first book in the series so you can see exactly what you've been missing out on.

Review of Vendetta:
http://youneedtoreadthese.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/vendetta-by-catherine-doyle.html

After book one, I had very high expectations for book two, Catherine Doyle certainly set the bar high for herself but she passed with flying colours. In fact, she exceeded my expectations with this amazing book and if you have read it then I am sure you'll agree.

Now let us move on to this book where I can go into much greater detail about my opinions or certain happenings within this book.

*SPOILER SECTION


I feel like I discussed a lot of my opinions and views of the majority of characters in my review of book one which leaves only a few left that I want to discuss.

I character that met the most horrible and most unfair fate was poor Sara Marino. Sara was so easy to like and she made an instant connection with our main character Sophie. Sara had a passion for music and had a desire to study it at university. Only Sara never got that chance because Sara had the misfortune to be born into the wrong family. Sara was born into the Marino family, a family that had been in a feud with another family, the Falcones, a family we know all too well.

The fact that Nicoli killed that innocent girl who had her whole life ahead of her just makes me hate him even more if that is even possible. I hate that he thinks he still has a chance with Sophie and hate that he shoved Luca out a window because if it. I have so many more examples up my sleeve which can tell you why I hate Nicoli so much but if I don't stop now then we will be here all night. Plus I have already went to great detail in my review of book one which you can check out if you want.

I just want to ask you one question. Why is Luca the only person in the Falcone family that knows the difference between right and wrong? I understand that they have been born into the family and have been brought up in that way. Even still, if Luca can see that what they are doing is wrong then why can't his brothers at least admit it? I'm sick of them all acting like heroes.

Next, I would like to talk about Sophie's uncle, Jack. I always thought that their was something off about him but I never expected him to be so uncaring when Sophie's mother was killed, especially since it was all his fault. As the novel went on, I came to suspect that maybe Jack and Sophie's dad were the long lost Marinos so it wasn't a huge shock to me, although I was interested to see what Sophie made of the news.

Sophie was told that she was a Marino in the worst possible way. She was told by the Falcones whilst she was looking for their help. This was certainly not at all helpful to Sophie's plea for help as it just made her look like a spy sent to get information from the Falcones.

Also I cannot believe Sophie's dad was involved all along. I honestly thought that him murdering Angelo Falcone was just an unfortunate accident and I feel so bad for so bad for Sophie who basically has lost her whole family within days.

Before I go, I just want to talk briefly about Sophie's mum again. I was so heartbroken that she died and to be honest I don't really know how Sophie is going to cope now that her mother who alongside Millie was the one to keep her grounded.

I was so thankful that Luca came to help her as it is definitely not good for  to bottle up her feelings, the way she was. I love the thing Luca and Sophie have going on. She saves him, he saves her.

Anyways, I am so excited for Mafiosa, it's already pre-ordered and January can't come fast enough.

What are your thoughts on this book?

See you next week!

Vendetta by Catherine Doyle

Hello!

I'm back with another review!

Today I am going to be reviewing book one in Catherine Doyle's blood for blood saga, Vendetta!

I'm obsessed with this series, in fact both books made it on to my shelf with Sarah J Maas and Cassandra Clare, which is in other words my favourite shelf.

This book is the romantic thriller genre but when I purchased the book I had absolutely no clue what it was about, all I knew was that people have been talking about it and I have only ever heard good things.

I don't want to tell those of you who haven't read the book much about it simply because I myself really enjoyed not knowing a great deal but don't worry I'll leave you with a nice short cryptic little  explanation to intrigue you further.

Sophie Gracewell has a pretty dull summer ahead of her working shifts at her family's diner until one day five brothers move into the old, deserted house known as Priestly manor. But are the brothers who they appear to be?

I would one hundred percent recommend this book to anyone looking for a real page turner, a book that is utterly impossible to put down. Honestly, whilst reading this book no matter how many times I tried to put it down, five minutes later I had picked it up and was reading more. You won't be able to rest until you know what happens and then you will instantly need the second one and then after that you will be forced to wait for the third (and final) book which doesn't come out until January. I can't wait that long!

Anyways, for those of you still to read the book I hope you enjoy but for those of you have already read it then please stay with me as I move into the spoiler section where I will discuss different aspects of the book.

*SPOILER SECTION

First of all, can we please discuss Nic's character? Sorry, Nicoli, I don't think he's worthy of a nickname. I have never met a more unlikeable character. He lies about everything and anything, sure Nicoli lies about lying. He is deceitful and definitely not worthy Sophie. What makes Nicoli even more irritating is that he always thinks he is right about everything when he is rarely right about anything. Seriously, how does he think that it acceptable to shoot someone? Then after shooting Sophie's uncle he goes to the hospital and pretends like nothing ever happened. As usual, he's convinced he's done nothing and poor Sophie is so out of it that she can't get him to go away.

Next, I would love to talk about Millie, Sophie's best friend. Millie is such a good person, I mean just look at how good a friend she is to Sophie. She has stuck by Sophie through thick and thin. Millie, is a character who brings light into the story, she is a character who we readers can relate to more so than other characters. Based on the nature of this novel and the story line it can be really hard to make a connection with many of the characters but Millie isn't like this which is why I think it is so important that she is there for us, readers and of course for Sophie. I don't think Sophie would be very strong character without Millie which is why I really appreciate her presence in the novel.

Another character I have been eager to discuss is Luca. I absolutely love him and this love grows throughout this series but obviously since this is a review of book one I will stick to book one. I love the relationship he and Sophie have in Vendetta. I love his witty remarks and comebacks which never failed to make me laugh. Let's skip to the end of the book for a minute, when Luca got shot. Even the way it's described through Sophie's eyes as how it was like a scene from the movies where it is always slow and dramatic. When Luca was shot it was quick and he was lying on the ground in a pool of blood when just seconds before he was up on his feet. This is effective because it creates tension for us readers but it also gives us an insight into how Sophie feels about the situation and  I think that it's obvious that she isn't happy. I was so happy that Sophie took action and saved Luca because if he died let's just say there would have been a lot of tears involved. I loved their little passing of notes on the last page, I especially loved Nic's confusion because well, it serves him right!

Sophie I think is a good protagonist and I like her a lot. I feel like she is such a strong character at the start of Vendetta considering all that she has been through already with her father being in prison, I mean she is working at the diner to help with the situation at her home and also she has to deal with people gossiping about her every move. By the end, of Vendetta she is stronger still and went through so much. Throughout the novel she was brave and fearless and made some quite stupid decisions, but good stupid decisions if you know what I mean.

Overall I absolutely loved this book, it was filled with such interesting characters and an original story line.

I can't wait to review the sequel to Vendetta called Inferno! Please let me know what your thoughts are on this book?

Bye!