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McGowan Mafia Series: Books 1-5 by Effie Campbell

 in Books / Romance / Series by

The McGowan Mafia series by Effie Campbell is such a spicy and amazing series. When I tell you I read 4 books in like 2-3 days, I am not joking! I would have read all 5 but I actually didn’t know the 5th book was released until I started writing the review for book 1-4.

The series is:

  1. Dark Escapes
  2. Dark Enemies
  3. Dark Obsessions
  4. Dark Desires
  5. Dark Corruption

Each book is a standalone technically, so you can just read one if it draws you in. But I read it one after the other, and it was kind of nice because you got to see a little bit of character development and how each character got to have their own story. I enjoyed that certainly and I pretty much inhaled the entire series. But if you just want to dive in because one stands out to you, you definitely can!

I felt book 1-3 were really like the dark romance, morally grey, attitude woman kind of story. They were 1000% my cup of tea and I loved the story. While the books were dark of course, overall they weren’t dark dark and if you got to some of the darker themes, you could kind of fast read by them. But, I wasn’t as much of a fan of book 4 – mostly because there was a wider age gap, the FMC used “daddy” which I’m not personally a huge fan of, and it was more about hedonism kind of themes which didn’t really interest me. It was a good book and kept me engaged, but wasn’t what I was expecting based on the first few books. But the last one, Dark Corruption, which had a similar vibe to book 4 I loved – that one worked for me!

These books are SPICY. I’m talking like 5 out of 5 on the spice scale. These are absolutely not books for under 18 by any means due to the language and the themes that are in the book. But good god did I keep wanting to come back for more! I will note that a lot of the words used for certain actions were quite vulgar as well. I know not everyone likes certain words being used so if that’s not your cup of tea, a bit of a warning there.

If you are looking for a deep story with your romance then this isn’t it. This really is primarily focused on the smut and spice side with a hint of a mafia story – the traditional mafia vibe that you would expect.

Going into it, honestly, I had no clue that they were based up in Scotland which I felt was a bit of a struggle. I felt they were in New York the whole time and then when they’d mention going between Glasgow and Edinburgh, that was really the only reminder that this wasn’t based in the USA. Maybe a bit more of the local dialect could have added a bit more to really make you feel immersed. But if you are reading this kind of series, you aren’t going to be really focusing on that. That’s just me being nit picky to be honest.

Once again, this isn’t a book that with a review you can say too much about. Each MMC was hawttttt, each female had that spunk and the spice was perfectly spicy. This is most likely going to be a book series that I will want to add into my comfort rotation, along with The Predator by Runyx.

All I can really say is it was a page turner and really hit the spot nicely for me. Exactly what I wanted. I initially fell into the book from some reel I saw on Instagram related to Book 3 and I am glad that I did because gosh, was it good! I’d give this a solid 4/5 as it was enjoyable, decently written for what it was and kept me wanting to come back for more. I was engaged and it was an absolute page turner!

Happy Reading!

 

AI and Books: The Dangerous Future

 in Books / Opinion by
This post contains some information as well as my opinion on the matter.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is something that isn’t going to be going away. The pandora’s box is open and no one is closing it. AI will be with us forever and we unfortunately have to accept that – as much as we may not want to.

While AI does bring a lot of wonderful things to certain sectors, in the literature field it is beginning to raise a lot of concerns and create a lot of issues.

Before we dive in a little bit, as a reminder of what AI actually is.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities.

–IBM

From Canva.com

I want to specifically call out that human intelligence part.

Artificial intelligence, through things like language learning models (LLMs) have the ability to create conversations and simulate what a human would say or write. Based off of a massive data set, and the data that people put into it and feedback you can give on responses, AI’s are constantly learning and developing to get better and better.

I’ve personally seen AI’s online that you can roleplay with that respond in an incredibly realistic way. It’s almost like two people are live roleplaying – except one of them is actually a computer.

Now you may be asking – okay what are you getting at?

The future of stories and literature writing.

When I read a book, and when most people read a book, they want to read what was written by the author. Not what was written by an AI or by an author that prompted an AI and spliced it together.

I am not here to read a book published by a computer.

There are programs out there, for now, that can pick up on when an AI was used to create something. But publishers have to actively vet for that. And in a world where self-publishing is becoming easier and easier, there’s not always a way to know who wrote the book. Some indicators could be a more robotic writing style or it just not flowing organically. However, with AI’s getting better and better, it may become increasingly challenging.

But to be honest, in my opinion, with the amount of self-published crap out there (yeah, I said it), is it AI or is it just a bad writer who didn’t have the rigor of a good editing process? Sometimes it really is hard to know.

AI allows anyone with no talent whatsoever to go to an AI, paste in an idea, and turn it into a story. If you have a little more creative talent, utilizing a roleplay AI allows the story to progress even faster as the AI pushes and generates part of the story idea.

From Canva.com

Now I have no clue the answer to fix this because the future is AI and the future is machine learning.

Although, I would highly recommend that those who want to go into the writing field, don’t take the easy way out. Writing is such a beautifully creative skill where you, with your brain and your hands or fingers craft people and worlds! Technology shouldn’t replace humans in this creative journey.

So while you may want to write a book fast and try to earn money by making the next best book, take a moment to stop and ask yourself if you use an AI to write it will you be proud of your work if you didn’t really write it? Would you want someone else to do that and to read a book like that?

As a reader, I read to read something created by someone, not something. I read for the human creation and I know so many others do out there.

If you want to write with AI, which honestly can have some cool aspects, being clear that this is an AI assisted created or something along those lines is better than publishing an AI creation under your own name.

Because really, it’s not your work then.

What Does ‘Age Appropriate Books’ Mean?

 in Books / Interesting / Opinion by

Reading books, and letting your kids read books, is a very personal choice. Children develop at different speeds and have different experiences which influence them.

A lot of books for younger readers are classified for certain ages and then up to certain books being ‘adult’ books.

But what does it mean to read an age appropriate book?

First off, you have the writing style and word choices. There is certain vocabulary that certain ages just do not know. That’s part of schooling and development. I don’t think you’re going to see many 7 years olds reading Jane Austen – but you may!

Next, you have the topics and themes that are in the books. I’ve touched on this with other posts in the past, but certain themes shouldn’t be in certain books. Children’s books shouldn’t be over violent, over graphic with their topics or over sexualized. The kind of violence you see in kids books may be bullying versus an adult book which could be murder! Romance in kids books is holding hands, maybe kissing for younger adults and then adult books having the horizontal tango.

But you, or others, may say “well, I don’t mind my child reading adult books with adult themes.”

I want to be clear, you are welcome to that opinion as as a parent you have every right to parent your child. However, one thing to consider is what is considered safely understanding something as well.

Children are developing. They are learning right from wrong. They are learning what being a ‘good’ person is.

I heard from a fellow Bookstagrammer that younger boys were reading Haunting Adeline, you know the book about stalking and some very dark things, and there was a concern that it would color them. Color them as in make them think that these things were okay because the book was so popular.

You sometimes see adults on the Biker side of Instagram reading some of our darker books and being like “You guys like this?” Liking something in a book and wanting that actually in real life is different. Knowing what is okay and what is not is the important line.

Younger readers may not have those skills yet. To be honest, there’s plenty of adults who don’t either. But when you are young, you are impressionable and so being a bit more careful is useful.

Books for younger people address topics in different ways and use different language. It’s not always because they can’t know about things, but because it’s presented in a way that they can understand.

So absolutely, if your child reads above their level that is fine! But certainly have them read books with themes that are appropriate for their ages. Or at least consider the impact of what they are reading. Some children’s life experience have them exposed to certain things before others. That’s okay! But doing it in a healthy way, with healthy conversations, is important.

Make sure that if your children do read those kind of books, especially if they have access to Amazon Kindle Unlimited (where a lot of these books can be easily access), that they know that they can come to you with questions to understand what they are reading.

Kids are naturally curious. I know that I was and we have to do our best to protect them. Books are one unrestricted way that they can access information – I know I used to sneak adult books in the library because no one would know! So creating a safe space and letting them know that they can ask questions about anything they read creates a healthy reading environment in a world full of potentially ‘unhealthy’ books.

What do you think about all of this?

Book Covers: Are They Misleading? 1

 in Books / Interesting / Opinion / Young Adult by

This post is my thoughts & opinions on what I am seeing.

Book covers are a very important part of a book. They look gorgeous on your bookshelf, can be used as marketing tools and (for some of us) are the reason that we buy a book.

But one thing I’ve noticed recently is book covers of books that have quite adult themes are sometimes a little misleading and, through this, encouraging/enticing the wrong audience to read the book potentially.

The one book that immediately comes to mind is Icebreaker by Hannah Grace. Now before you freak out at me, I am not critiquing her book/cover/story (I haven’t even read it) but this is a conversation I have seen related to this books cover and others in that style. This is just the title I’m using as an example.

When you look at this cover (knowing nothing about the book), what do you think? What do you think the book is about? What age group do you think it’s for?

For me, I think high school/college romance. Something cutesy. Maybe something for younger adult readers or early adults (like the under 18 age range specifically, maybe even 16 and below).

If that’s what you thought, then you’d be pretty wrong. It’s a spicy, explicit book for 18+ readers. Not child friendly.

I want to be clear, I have no issue with the cover itself. I think it’s cute and definitely would have me read the synopsis. But nowhere on the book, or summary, would you get the indication that it is going to be a book for adults and not for younger readers.

If I was a parent and saw my child reading this book, I wouldn’t think anything of it.

Now, let’s compare it to these two books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you see those two books, you are most likely to at least question what the books are about. One of them clearly says “A Dark College Romance” which gives some kind of indication that this is not going to be cute and fluffy. And most certainly isn’t for kids.

I do feel that some of these more explicit books that have a softer cover need to have some kind of sticker on the front, side, back or inside to clearly indicate that this is not a book for young readers. Just something to indicate this book has spice, and adult spice at that. Similarly to movies having ratings on them to indicate the age rage.

Now, I am not here to dictate what age a young adult should be reading about adult themes. That is up to each parents decision. However, that decision should be informed and not easily snuck. Just like adult videos online are clearly labeled and can be restricted, such things in books should be as well. Especially when there are clearly explicit themes or the topics may be a little more unsavory. I did a whole other post about this related to dark romance specifically.

Put yourself in parents shoes!

Most parents will be upset when their child accesses adult content. In fact, most of those websites are only for 18+ and there’s even pushes to verify your age to keep safe! Books can be just as graphic – although with words. But words or visuals can still have the same impact, especially with people who got a good imagination. I know I can read a book or watch a movie and get the same feelings and experiences from it.

So why are books with such adult content allowed to be packaged and sold in a way that can be misleading? Why are libraries or stores potentially placing them in the wrong sections (I saw a post recently on Threads that ACOTAR was in the YA section in a store????). I’m not blaming stores either because with the volume of books out there they have to get through a lot of books and organize it. They can’t micro-analyze everything.

And by adult content, I am not even entirely meaning spice. Adult content can be from sex to violence to just general themes that a younger reader is probably not old enough to read about or understand safely (post coming on this soon).

But, books maybe should have a better system to be more clear in who the audience is.

Maybe use the library system on the spine?

When I go to a library, I see books organized by sections and based on the system of the library, it will say something like “YA” or “ADULT” on the spine to indicate the section it should be in. It’s something small but very quickly indicates the age rage.

Maybe color code?

I’ve seen some authors who write books color their books based on the theme/level of spice/content. Maybe having some kind of color on a spine (not the whole spine, but a dot or a square) to indicate the level of adult content in the book.

Rate books like movies?

Just like movies have ratings, maybe books need to utilize a similar system.

The book ratings, just like movie ratings, wouldn’t be limiting but more for awareness. Maybe books, book stores and libraries need to implement a system like movies do. If someone is not old enough, a parent just needs to say “Yup, I’m good with my kind taking this out.”

This is of course my opinion, but why in the world when we restrict access to adult content to 18+ can books be so widely accessible and be allowed to be “misleading” with their covers and synopsis. I use the word misleading loosely because covers are subjective and based on what the author wants the book to be represented by. And every author/publishing house has the right to give any kind of book any kind of cover! But to cover their bases, topic depending, maybe some kind of rating or piece of information needs to be given.

Books aren’t special. They are another form of media and the consumption of them can impact someone. Dark Romance books usually include trigger warnings because they can trigger people. Movies have warnings and trailer that indicate what the level of violence is or what the topic may be.

And this idea about rating books isn’t limited to romance. There are plenty of travel books I read that based on the synopsis and cover I thought would be light, only to be hit by some terribly dark themes that made the books difficult to read.

I don’t have the clear answer on how to fix this issue – or what I see as an issue. But this should be a conversation to protect younger readers, and also just anyone else reading books.

Books are made for certain ages for a reason. Not to limit someones access to the book, but to protect the readers. Similar to how you talk about topics in different ways based on ages and level of understanding.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

The Rainbow Book Bus: Book Freedom & Inclusion

 in Banned Book / Books by

You know what you are missing from your life? A bus that brings books that allows everyone to read whatever they want while supporting everyone! If that’s what you need, then you need the Rainbow Book Bus!

I recently came across the Rainbow Book Bus and my goodness am I glad that I did. I love this idea!

According to their website:

“Through our flagship bookmobile program, The Rainbow Book Bus distributes diverse books to communities with reduced access to them. We aim to support and amplify organizations that oppose censorship, promote literacy or empower historically underrepresented storytellers. We work towards educational freedom by fighting existing censorship and reacting to future attacks aimed to reduce access to inclusive stories for young people.”

Their reasoning is to help combat all the book censoring that has been going on recently across the United States.

The bus was designed by queer artists India Torrez and Paco May and the bus is absolutely beautiful!

From their website rainbookbus.org

To learn a little more about this bus, definitely check out this video below!

Their tour has begun and as of 14 March they are in Louisiana and working their way around some southern states. You can check out their tour to see if they’re going to be stopping somewhere nearby! This book bus tour is connected with the opening of Allstora which was created by the absolutely wonderful RuPaul! Their goal with the bus is to give away 10,000 books by the end of the year – specifically books that have been criticized and banned.

I think this is such a fun and engaging way to get awareness out there, help to bring banned/restricted books to others and have some fun while doing it!

Book covers are leaning on the Rainbow Book Bus, a converted school bus whose stop sign has been changed to say “Slay.”

From NY Times post.

Books are for everyone and no one has the right to restrict your access or ban them!

Follow The Rainbook Book Bus and it’s journey on Instagram – I know I will be!