I've certainly aged out of some of the main YA book circles, and this really proved it for me.

There's not a lot to say in this review. It wasn't a bad story by any means, it just didn't do anything for me, and didn't stick in my mind.

The characters were interesting, but lacked the depth I see in other YA/fantasy books, and the same can be said for the worldbuilding. Typically, when these things feel underdeveloped, the romance tends to shine, but this wasn't exactly the case in this book, I feel. It was a perfectly fine romance, but felt forced at best, stale at worst. Maybe it was the whole "mafia boss" thing that just icked me out, or maybe that's just because I had no stakes in any of the characters. I didn't care what happened to them, what they did, and it made the whole reading process feel a bit forced. I'll admit I skimmed the last 100 or so pages, because at some point, I was just not feeling it anymore. 

I'm aware that this reads as a quite negative review, but I promise I didn't hate the book. It wasn't for me, and I absolutely recognize that. I still had some amount of enjoyment from reading the book, it was an easy, fun YA read, and while I personally won't continue with the duology, this is 100% a series I think others can enjoy, and I definitely see why.