Damaged

“Don’t you worry about that, my pretties. Mama’s got that handled.”

My favorite part of this book was learning more about Calliope — such an awesome secondary character and a total badass 😎😎 I didn’t mention her in my main reviews, but I ADORE her 😍😍 She’s the sunshine among psychopath killers, and I love her relationships with the Mulvaneys. The fact that she’s the mom of a psychopath makes perfect sense considering how at ease she always is with the boys 🤝🤝

The pairing of Arlo and Dimitri, though, wasn’t my favorite 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ After years of abuse, Arlo jumped far too quickly into a sexual relationship with Dimitri. And why did Dimitri wait so long to help Arlo when he already knew what was happening? That felt unresolved 😕😕 Also, why didn’t Calliope let the Mulvaney brothers handle the murder cleanup? She does enough for them — they would have stepped up for her in a heartbeat.

“Maybe it makes me a shitty person, but I like that you want to kill people for me.”

This story had the potential to be amazing if it had been longer. Imagine a 300+ page book of Dimitri quietly pining for Arlo, convinced he’d been forgotten — that would have been so compelling to read 💕💕 Instead, we got a novella where they’re declaring love after reuniting for only a very short time. Because of that, I didn’t feel deeply connected to their relationship. I know novellas are meant to be short, but I still wish this one had been expanded 😔😔