abinthebooks's reviews
978 reviews

Hands down the best Tomione fanfiction I’ve ever read. The characters really felt in character, and this was honestly a fic that had me in from page 1.

Another cliffhanger? S.T. Abby is just asking me to binge these. Anyways, I’m literally so addicted to this series, it’s so entertaining

This was a great ending to the series. I was on the edge of my seat, praying Lana got her revenge and a good ending with Logan. This wrapped up really nicely, and I really enjoyed this series as a whole

*1.5; SPOILERS AHEAD


Well...this was something. And by something, I mean, wtf did I just read? This was awful. I honestly haven't read a book this bad in quite some time. I enjoyed the first book in the Sinners and Saints series by L.J. (Vicious) well enough. I gave it three stars. It was fun and a quick read, but I had issues with it that I overall couldn't overlook. With Defy, however, I had no fun reading this novella and this took me two days to finish (it's literally 120 pgs???).


One of the main reasons I didn't like this was because I didn't enjoy following our heroine, Melody. Melody was obnoxious and boring to follow. The only thing she really did was whine about her job, her students, and Jamie's mom, and have sex with Jamie. That's really this entire novella. And let me tell you, even the sex with Jamie wasn't enjoyable because he literally used his toe to get her off. Yes, you read that right. He fucked her with his TOE. Look, I don't kink shame, be whatever you want to be into, but wtf? Sincerely, wtf? And then Jamie literally says, "'I'm going to come in your mouth, and you're going to come on my toe.'" gAgS. That was not at all sexy. I remember my stomach actually roiling reading this scene.


Speaking of Jamie...Jamie is such a fucking creep. He literally admits to following home Melody home for half the school year and Melody is like "yeah that's creepy and really weird but he's just doing it bc he loves me." huh??? No, that's just literally him being creepy. That's not cute or endearing what's so ever. "'I followed you to your apartment, tried to steal a private peek through your bedroom window. I don't know why I did that. I got hooked. From that day on, I followed you everywhere like an eager puppy.'" (there's more but I'm to lazy to type it all out). No this is fucking WEIRD. Idc how cute L.J. Shen was trying to make this, this is disgusting. I could not stand behind Jamie because of this.


This also makes a rape joke, because what else could L.J. possibly add to make this better. "'You know how dangerous it is to look this good on a campus that big? I could get fucking roofied, Ms. G.'" Yes because getting roofied and raped is so funny.


This also makes a point of student-teacher relationships being, ok??? I'm fine reading a teacher x student romance book. It's fiction. You can literally write whatever you want in fiction. But I draw the line when there is a clear message about student-teacher relationships being ok irl. "Because that was the problem with society. It cared too much about who you fell in love with but never why. The why matters. The who is irrelevant. Idk how lightly L.J. Shen was trying to portray this message or if it was just a part of Melody's character (which I honestly wouldn't be surprised because every decision Melody makes in this story is whack). But idk this just felt like Shen was saying "teacher-student relationships are ok" which most are not ok whatsoever.


Anyways, the only reason this isn't a complete one star is because of the information this book gives us about the past with the HotHoles. Vicious talks a lot about the things that happen when they're young in his POV during his book, as well as Emilia, but they don't really go into explicit detail about what happens. They just kind of tell you things, withoutfully explaining it. We learned more about Defy, about the building they burnt down, and about Vicious as a character as well which was interesting (because even though he's a total asshole, I still like Vicious. Never said my taste in men was good).


So, this was really badly written, and I might take a break from this series now because I really did not like this book. This would have worked so much better if this was a full-length novel, and we had more development and story for the characters. I can't honestly understand why this isn't a full-length novel because it would have worked so much better that way rather than just a novella. But who I am to determine that lmao.


Sinners of Saints

Defy - ★
Vicious - ★★★
Ruckus - tbd
Scandalous - tbd
Bane - tbd


All Saints High

Pretty Reckless - tbd
Broken Knight - tbd
Angry God - tbd


1.5 star

I liked this a lot less than the other issues in this series. I found a lot of this volume just lacking unfortunately.

DNF @ pg. 34


Yeah I can already tell this isn’t for me. The fantasy elements just don’t work for me, and I can’t get into the writing style

We read this in class within the last few weeks and I really enjoyed it.

The characters were super flawed and character development was very good.

I liked reading about the rivalries between all the Greasers and Socs, and it made it even better it was in the late sixties.

The plot and characters were well thought out, and while I still don’t recommend naming my child Ponyboy or Sodapop (by the way, why? Just why), I really liked this book.

*4.5





This was probably my favorite book in the series so far. These books are honestly just so fun and entertaining (with some heavily prevalent dark themes) and I honestly can't believe I've binged these books so quickly

*4.5

“I thought love would rip my heart out.
I thought it would set me heart on fire.
Instead, it turned me into ice.”


These books are truly insane. S.T. Abby is a phenomenal writer. I literally have spent this whole series sympathizing and actively rooting for a serial killer with a fucked up moral compass. That ending was insane, and I’m jumping right into the final book.