Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Book Review and Giveaway for Malum Duet by Amo Jones


MALUM PT 1
“Love is savage, love is blind, love is something they may not find…”
Once upon a time, there was a young girl who lived in a battered trailer, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks.

One day, she fell down The Elite Kings’ rabbit hole. Sucked into a dark vortex of lies, hate, and deceit, and spat out by money, glitz, and power.

There were things this little girl didn’t know, things she was about to find out and secrets that have been kept from her. Those secrets were guarded by the boys that were about to smash her world open and tear it all apart…

He may be a Malum, but she is a Stuprum, born into this world but neglected by the choice of her mother. Her eyes may not glisten with stars, but they roar with fire, and when she finally reaches her peak, it’s that same fire that will burn.

Them.
All.
Down.

My name is Tillie Stuprum, and my story is not like the rest.

Everything she thought she knew is a fabricated version of the truth. I’m Nate Riverside-Malum, the one your girl whispers about to her friends and whose initials are scratched down your back. Her story is not like the rest of them, because her story is dead.



MALUM PT 2

Some girls don’t like pretty things.

Some girls like things that are destructive, and toxic. Things that fuel our bodies with adrenaline and bring our demons to their knees. 

They say magic isn’t real, but it’s it the closest way to describe love? It doesn’t exist physically. It merely exists around us, within us, possessing our souls and making us do stupid shit. Shit like falling in love with a boy who knows how to rip my world apart and raise hell with a simple flick of his wrist. Their secrets are now mine. I’m not just in the middle of this game, I’m helping orchestrate it. Can the cries of my aching soul be enough to drown out the burning embers of my mistakes?

The mind strengthens the heart, roughing the edges to prepare it for war. This is a war I will not win.

This is a war of fate.

π‘†β„Žπ‘’’𝑠 π‘”π‘œπ‘–π‘›π‘” π‘‘π‘œ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘˜.
π‘†β„Žπ‘’’𝑠 π‘”π‘œπ‘–π‘›π‘” π‘‘π‘œ π‘“π‘Žπ‘™π‘™.
π‘†β„Žπ‘’ 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘’π‘£π‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘’π‘Žπ‘™π‘™π‘¦ π‘π‘œπ‘šπ‘’ π‘π‘Žπ‘π‘˜ π‘‘π‘œ π‘šπ‘’, π‘œπ‘› π‘Žπ‘™π‘™ π‘“π‘œπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘ 
π΅π‘’π‘π‘Žπ‘’π‘ π‘’ π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘  𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑑 π‘Ž π‘“π‘Žπ‘–π‘Ÿπ‘¦ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘™π‘’
𝐼 π‘Žπ‘š π‘›π‘œ π‘˜π‘›π‘–π‘”β„Žπ‘‘.
𝐼’𝑙𝑙 π‘‘π‘Žπ‘˜π‘’ π‘Žπ‘™π‘™ π‘œπ‘“ β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘ π‘œπ‘’π‘™
𝐴𝑛𝑑 π‘π‘œπ‘’π‘Ÿ 𝑖𝑛 π‘šπ‘¦ 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑒.
π‘π‘œ π‘™π‘–π‘”β„Žπ‘‘.
π‘π‘œ π‘™π‘–π‘”β„Žπ‘‘.
𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 π‘šπ‘¦ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘˜π‘›π‘’π‘ π‘ , π‘ π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘£π‘–π‘£π‘’π‘  𝑖𝑛 π‘‘π‘Žπ‘¦π‘™π‘–π‘”β„Žπ‘‘.
π‘‡β„Žπ‘–π‘  𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑑 π‘Ž π‘“π‘Žπ‘–π‘Ÿπ‘¦-π‘‘π‘Žπ‘™π‘’.
𝐡𝑒𝑑 π‘™π‘œπ‘£π‘’ π‘‘π‘œπ‘’π‘  𝑀𝑖𝑛
π΅π‘’π‘π‘Žπ‘’π‘ π‘’ 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 π‘‘β„Žπ‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ 𝑠𝑖𝑛
𝐼𝑑’𝑠 β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘‘β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ π‘™π‘–π‘›π‘”π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘  π‘€π‘–π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›.
π‘†β„Žπ‘’ π‘π‘’π‘Žπ‘‘π‘  π‘‘β„Žπ‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž π‘šπ‘¦ 𝑣𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑠.
π‘Šβ„Žπ‘–π‘ π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘  π‘œπ‘£π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘šπ‘¦ π‘“π‘™π‘’π‘ β„Ž
𝑇𝑒𝑔𝑠 π‘œπ‘› π‘šπ‘¦ β„Žπ‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘‘ π‘ π‘‘π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘›π‘”π‘ 
πΏπ‘–π‘˜π‘’ π‘Ž 𝑝𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘”π‘™π‘’π‘‘ 𝑖𝑛 π‘Ž π‘šπ‘’π‘ π‘ 
π‘Šπ‘–π‘™π‘™ π‘šπ‘¦ β„Žπ‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘‘ 𝑏𝑒 π‘’π‘›π‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž
π‘‡π‘œ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘›π‘” β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘π‘Žπ‘π‘˜ π‘‘π‘œ 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒
π‘Šβ„Žπ‘’π‘› π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘“π‘–π‘Ÿπ‘ π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘” π‘ β„Žπ‘’ π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘β„Žπ‘’π‘‘ π‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿ
π‘Šπ‘Žπ‘  π‘›π‘œπ‘‘ β„Žπ‘–π‘š
π‘‚π‘Ÿ β„Žπ‘–π‘š
π‘‚π‘Ÿ π‘šπ‘’
𝐼𝑑 π‘€π‘Žπ‘  π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘œπ‘›π‘’ π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘ π‘œπ‘› π‘‘β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ β„Žπ‘Žπ‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘’π‘‘ β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿ, π‘–π‘›π‘‘π‘œ π‘šπ‘–π‘ π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘¦.
π‘‡β„Žπ‘–π‘  𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑑 π‘Ž π‘”π‘Žπ‘šπ‘’.
π‘‡β„Žπ‘œπ‘ π‘’ π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘’π‘›’𝑑 π‘šπ‘¦ π‘‘π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘π‘˜π‘ 
𝐼𝑓 π‘ β„Žπ‘’ π‘‘π‘œπ‘’π‘ π‘›’𝑑 π‘œπ‘π‘’π‘¦
π‘‡β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’’𝑠 π‘Ž π‘›π‘’π‘šπ‘π‘’π‘Ÿ…
86


~DUET REVIEW~
REVIEW: 3 SOLID STARS
"When Nate bears his soul to you, he takes yours as collateral."

This entire review will consist of me battling between my own frustrations and my love for this story and the characters. It was a rough ride, but I am not entirely sure it could have really been told by anyone else, any other way. While I realize a 3 star review isn't indicative of my LOVE for this book, I truly did love the storyline and the characters. I loved the actual plot and the depth that Nate had. Nothing in this book was surface scratching, and believe me when I say that I was easily confused 65% of the time. There was SO much going on, and so many pieces to put together. What a ride.

I love Amo Jones
I love her crazy books
But dammit, they’re frustrating! Frustratingly good, but frustrating nonetheless.

But I couldn’t walk away.

I try really hard to be fair in my reviews. I don’t ever want to come across as me trying to find little things here and here to complain about, but I also know that I want to always give an honest opinion. I try to enjoy my reads, but I also have a really hard time accepting things in books that don’t really work. Drinking? Drugs? Normal teenager stuff and I know this happens. But running the town? Murder and mayhem? Ordering drinks in a restaurant? Nope. And the drug use? It felt 'token'. Basically placed to give a darker edge to the characters that we didn't really see in the first three books. It just felt far fetched to me in some spots, and it didn’t feel like there was enough believability to the amount of power and destruction these teenagers wielded.

But I was dying for answers

Amo is so authentic in her storytelling style. There is no other like her and I feel like the only reason I was able to get through this story was because I was so intrigued with not only what was going to happen, but also to see what other crazy parts surfaced. She had so much personality infused into her characters, they were honestly their own persons. Were they all alphas with testosterone coming out their pores? Yes, but the charisma each character demonstrated gave a level of intimacy between the action and the reactions of everything surrounding them. There was a deeper meaning to everything, but not always did I see the 'why' right away and I appreciated that. There was a lot of discovery with this duet, with some parts reading so vividly, yet there were other parts I was so confused by all the jumble that I couldn't make heads or tails about what was going on or who was doing what. Sex scenes were the hardest to picture...

But I was curious

The good with the bad, the name of the game, right? The amount of errors was staggering. I understand ARCs contain errors and I never hold that against an author. I realize I will get unedited copies, but I also feel like the amount in this book leads me to believe that the editor wasn’t very thorough at all - I had to read and reread a few spots multiple times for clarification just to understand the direction things were leaning. Along with this, the lack of a content editor and research was very apparent. Simple things like the location of I-5, for instance. There was quite a bit of storyline that was unnecessary and caused some parts to feel long-winded and some of it overly dramatic. I also felt that the circumstances, the activities - they all happened with a purpose and sometimes they weren't worked up to. It almost felt like afterthought instead of forethought and that doesn’t help when a character is already ‘set up’. I like crazy. I like original. These books have that in SPADES. What I don’t like is unrealistic and too far out there. But I most definitely don’t like drama. D-R-A-M-A. Unnecessary, drawn out, over-the-top, stupid decision making drama. If these “kids” are supposed to be so smart and able to run the world, why do they make teenaged decisions. You can’t have both worlds. This storyline read like 23 year old kids. Not 18 year old adults. The drama was frustrating to no end and I hate when it is mitigated by stupid, common sense actions.

Another thing that really made me side-eye was the boys’ ability to basically read Tillie's mind and know what she was thinking about at any given moment. No one tells anyone anything and everything’s a secret. They have to figure everything out, and that gets exhausting when it’s on repeat. Here and there, in context, knowing what someone is thinking happens and it’s believable. But ALWAYS?? Like, for real. If they always knew what she was thinking, why weren’t they one step ahead of her? Oh wait...

But I wanted to finish

A book should not be narrated by a DJ - but this primarily falls in Tillie’s voice. That’s obviously my personal opinion, but it felt as though every page had a song and a drink. Like, I understand having some music inspire your stories and I love to see how they influence the story, but when the story centers around a lot of the music - especially music I’ve never heard of (again, a 'me' thing), it’s very eye-roll worthy and annoying. I feel like it takes ME out of the story. I don’t like the playlist incorporated into a book in this way. But this is my issue because every few pages a song was mentioned and I didn't honestly care. I just didn't.

Having read some amazing YA, this lacks in comparison. Yes, I know this is a dark, mature YA, but the flow and structure of the story could have been better edited for content and grammar. Having read an amazing asshole bully YA, this definitely left some aspects to be desired. I don’t like to compare because everyone writes differently, and that’s my favorite thing about reading, but when the story has so much to offer, but the writing lacks in its ability to make me fall in love and sink into it, it really messes with my overall enjoyment factor. I will finish this series because I feel very invested by now - after five books, but I know I’ll have to gear up for it mentally.

I realize that this will not sit pretty with many, but I hope that while I can happily recommend the story to readers that want crazy and intense, I can not recommend it as well-written or researched, or without certain caveats. But, having said all that; I look forward to so much more from her - and I know that sounds backwards. I’ll call this my guilty pleasure. Like a gossip rag in the checkout at the store. You know it’s full of inconsistencies and half truths, but you can’t help but pick it up and check it out. I couldn't stop reading.

But I wanted to know more

I loved Nate but let’s be reasonable. Let’s have a quiet, faint voice of reason. I felt his pain over his loss. I felt his mental and emotional turmoil with Tillie. I understood that rawness he felt and I loved how Amo put a voice to his pain like that. However, when you say you like assholes, then Nate is your asshole. He is legit an asshole. Voice of reason: he’s an asshole. Talking reasonable, he’s an asshole. Seriously, his antics are very well masked in some spots but in others, he’s kept me confused. I did enjoy his depth because he had quite a bit to offer, but my absolute favorite chapters were in Nate’s POV. That’s when his true self shined. I loved it. Tillie was a complex character. At times, I couldn’t help but feel terrible for her and her upbringing, but the fact that it made her who she was now is what makes me feel amazed by her tenacity. She’s stubborn, but gives in. She’s sexually submissive but strong in every other way. Her dynamic with Nate was delicious. They had friction and tension galore - in every facet of their story. Ill-timed or ill-located, their sexcapades were definitely interesting and showcased their depravity quite well. They were a very toxic couple, and many readers may not understand the need to still be around each other while fighting their attraction, but giving in to their desires is what makes them who they are. It is one of the many reasons I loved their story. I like hard-to-love crazy lovers. BUT, sex is used in conjunction with intimacy and bargaining. I do not pretend to like that at all. It bothers me. If you love someone so much, you don’t want others that bad to spite them. Unless you’re immature. Which the entire crew is at many times during the books.

I know my rating isn’t indicative of my love for this story, but it is. Here’s why: the story itself, in its truest form, is an amazing twisted mess of love and hate. Combine this with the secondary characters and their roles in the story, it kept me rooted to my seat while I read it. It was definitely an addicting high I got from it. BUT, gosh dangit!! The editing and the analogies, the wording and the lack of research, it pulled me out. I don’t want to be shallow. I don’t want to be judged for my ‘inability to just enjoy a book’, but when simple research goes a long way, and when proper editing sucks me in instead of pulling me out - that is what makes the rating higher. I just couldn’t do that with this one. Story was great. A little over dramatic, but great. But when I roll my eyes this much, or give a frustrated cry.....I have to give that little caveat.

But, I. Wanted. More.

This duet was emotionally and physically exhausting to read and Amo Jones always leaves me with an 'addicted' feeling. One I can’t obviously deny because I keep coming back for more. The depth at which she twists this story is intense, but the problem is some of the parts don’t make much sense. Fix the editing. Get a proofreader. Get a fact checker. Find out some truth and realities. I don’t like to nitpick things and I know it sounds like I am, but when little things that are easily researchable are messed up, it takes me out of the story. Content editing is a must. Real proofreaders are a must. A competent editor is a must. I feel like a few of these musts were lacking.

Amo's a writer with charisma - she has charisma in abundance. I can’t and won’t deny that. The problem is that while she can tell an intriguing and addicting story, her background is noisy and the plot veers off course a few times. So while I really enjoyed the first three books in The Elite Kings Series, these last two really drained me. It was ridiculousness amplified. It was CrAzY personified. Things that made no sense were the norm. Common sense was not. It just felt almost like she was working and said, “Oh yeah! Let’s add this part!” and didn’t think it through with any forethought to build up. Craziness just came out of left field.

So needless to say, despite all the negative feelings I may have had, Amo still sucked me in. She still gave me an addicting storyline. She still made me want to keep reading. It’s not that I can’t handle a stretched truth here and there. It’s when it’s a continual issue to where I’m rolling my eyes and it’s hard to see past the ridiculousness. Like, really? You can run 12 miles within months of starting to exercise? Everyone knows your thoughts? Everyone drinks but doesn’t like to drink? So many inconsistencies and it was very frustrating. However, I will continue on with this series because I feel very invested after five books with the characters and the continual underlying theme, but I know I’ll have to gear up for it mentally and emotionally. Having said allll that...I cannot WAIT for Brantley's book. I know his turmoil will be so sexy!! He is so smooth and delicious. You can add the entire series to your TBR HERE and HERE.

"Love is just an anchor. It can either be the reason you drown or the reason you float."
~BEE




OR WIN THE FULL DUET

 GIVEAWAY GOES LIVE 6/13/19



~MEET AMO JONES~

Amo Jones is a small country girl totally winging this author thing (she's probably doing it all wrong). She likes cake, loves wine, and her religion is magic. She's a profound work-a-holic, but when she's not writing, you can find her chilling with her kids & partner at the nearest beach, with a cocktail in her hand. 

New Zealand is not a state of Australia and rugby is the best sport ever played. 

~CONNECT WITH AMO~


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