The Predator

When I grow up, I wanna be just like Morana Vitalia. Because that girl got BALLS. That girl is not your typical helpless, weak-in-the-knee girl who will bend at anyone's will. She's definitely my kind of heroine, the kind I'd go lesbian for.

I'll be honest, though, I went in without expecting much. One look at the author's name, I went “Ah, here we go again with ridiculous rec from BookTok.” Never thought I'd got hooked. Not just hooked, I went all in. I submerged myself in the world of the dark underworld.

This book pulled me in like no other. And I am obsessing over Tristan Caine over and over again. Tristan Caine. Damn, I even like the name. Tristan Caine is a mood. Tristan Caine is an enigma. Tristan Caine could step on Dheo Han like an ant (iykyk) anytime of the day.

Started the second book right after I was done with this one. That's how hooked I am.

i read this book based on a book aesthetic post shared on instagram and i think for the first time ever it did not disappoint. mafia romance books are usually cliche (much like 365 days) and cheesy, and make you cringe and wonder what you are doing with life but this book, gOdaAmn, this book was beautiful. i devoured it. i inhaled it. the chemistry, the characters, the romance, the story, the fact the male mc wasn't just morally gray, but completely dark. sometimes you have to read about main mc with no redemption streak to them and accept them the way they are.

Good but had potential to be great.

I could not get enough of this book, I literally could not put it down. I had so much on my to do list for today, none of it got done because all I wanted to do was finish this book. It is a typical mob/mafia romance where the FMC is in one family and MMC is in another with some different twists about it. There was a situation with some codes in the first half of the book that was a big part of the story, but the codes barely get mentioned in the 2nd half, I was interested to see who stole them. I didn't like the repetitive references to Tristan's blue eyes, staring, and whiskey and sin voice...they were excessively over used. Additionally, the FMC uses his full name “Tristan Caine” why can't you just call him Tristan there isn't another one in the book. There are some glaring grammatical errors too for a book that's ~4.5 years old. I am invested in the story so I'll be reading the rest of the books.

this shit was straight ass man.

the characters were weird as fuck - very much the vibe of when Edward watches Bella sleep/the forest ‘i know what you are' scene except that was their every interaction. this mans would just stare at the girl from a dark corner of the room and her inner monologue would be all ‘i know he's watching me... my kuchi is throbbing in morse code, translating his every movement to my nervous system.' likeee, EVERY SCENE BRO?!? what happened to HELLO? HOW ARE YOU? they could just not be normal. THIS HAPPENED LIKE 6 TIMES.

and the amount of unnecessary enemies-to-lovering was driving me INSANEEE. and the reason?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! SPOILER ALERT: this man's aversion to the FL was basically spawned from the fact that she didn't die in a kidnapping when she was a toddler but his sister did & then he made the executive decision to kill someone bc of a matter regarding this issue. LIKE??? WHAT WAS SHE SUPPOSED TO DO, BITCH? DIE?? GO BACK AND ASK HER KIDNAPPERS FROM 20 YEARS AGO TO ‘FINISH THE JOB'???? let's be so fr rn. AND ITS THE WAY THIS BITCH GOES TO APOLOGISEEEE??? FOR WHAT??? BREATHING?!?!?!?!?

thick as a mf brick bro. omfg.

and they were so edgy for no reason. I did not picture the ML as some hot brooding motorcyclist mafia man. no. i pictured him as fuckn tatted-up marilyn mansion bc this bitch was saurrr fookin emo & I just know he dyes his hair black and does a sick frickin side part in the mirror every night before he goes to bed listening to paramore. he literally said ‘you assume I have a heart'. whats more emo than that?

and the fml was so stupid man. THE CONFLICT OF THIS BOOK - AND I ASSUME THE NEXT BOOK BC IT WAS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO RESOLVED (WE'RE STILL ESSENTIALLY AS CLOSE TO SOLVING THE COMPLICATION AS WHEN THE PROBLEM FIRST AROSE) IS ALL BECAUSE HER DUMBASS COULDN'T RESIST AN ELEMENTARY DARE. yeah. her rando ass ex bf (which she'd had for a couple of weeks) simply dared her to make a MASSIVE, MILITARY-ASS VIRUS (just to see if she could??) to which she obliged and had the audacity to be surprised when this mans took off with the virus, selling it to the highest bidder or whateva.

like, it's simply amazing how this girl was written with the IQ of einstein but lacked the braincell capacity to use that brain she was gifted with.

this book astounded me. baffled me, even. much buffoonery was afoot here.

She started...
He stared...
🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️
We Stared...

So, basically, it Had a lot of repetitive and staring scenes, and also, his voice sounded like “Whiskey and Sin.” Morana is the nerdy Wattpad girlie.

Regardless of this, the tension between Tristan and Morana is what I'm living for

Rooting heavily for them.

This one I am unsure about. I enjoyed it. It was very good in the end, but I had a hard time getting into the beginning.

It was a dark mafia book without ever really explaining the mafia aspect, which was a vibe. It was all enemies. Barely any benefit. Shelved with no third act breakup because they aren't even really together

Morana was a woman who knew her worth and wasn't a damsel. Which I loved, and felt relatable. She took no shit but played the part of mafia boss daughter well.

Tristan Caine can GET IT. His sex appeal and those eyes.

The knife to the throat??? It was a lot but overall a very good dark romance.

Okay, so....
Barely 3 stars, almost gave it 2 but I didn't hate it and I want to know what happens so safe to say I was entertained.

I HATE books that have paragraphs and paragraphs of metaphors for literally every single thing and inner thoughts that just drag forever. At some points I forgot what was even happening in the scene cause it was just endless paragraphs of describing feelings or thoughts instead of what was going on.

Tristan barely said 5 full sentences so I don't love his character. I get the dangerous/hurt/moody but please god give us something

I desperately want to see their relationship evolve so I'm going to keep reading the series but this first book was not great