Review: Mafiosa

Mafiosa 
Rating: 5/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Protected by an infamous mafia family, Sophie is living a dangerous lie, pretending to lead a normal life. But the deceit can’t last for ever. Her heart belongs to a killer and Sophie’s the prime target of a rival clan. She’s determined to seek revenge on her mother’s murderers, but can she pay the price – can she be a mafiosa?

The third and final instalment in the explosive YA Blood for Blood series which started with Vendetta and Inferno. 

I genuinely am so sad this trilogy is over. I rarely ever read contemporary, I don't usually like contemporary because I prefer reading books that are far away from real life, but I ended up reading Vendetta and Inferno because so many of my blogging friends loved the books. I picked Vendetta up with trepidation...and ended up reading it in one go and completely loving it. Genuinely. Vendetta is the opening act. Inferno is the climax. And Mafiosa is the grand finale. 

Yep. I'm saying it. Mafiosa is the best of the three. Each of the books build up more and more and get better and better, and Cat Doyle outdoes herself every single time. With Mafiosa we're straight back in from the ending of Inferno, near enough. Sophie's out for vengeance and you can't really blame her after the events of Inferno. I'm right there with her baying for blood! I genuinely hated Jack. I was torn about her Dad. Because that's the thing, Doyle whips out these plot twists that entirely spins situations on their head so I was never sure about Sophie's dad and whether I should be hating him or not! She makes characters that have many different facets to them. 

Sophie refuses to take anyones crap in this book, sure I wanted to shake her more than once because C'MON SOPHIE. BACK AWAY FROM NIC AND TURN TOWARDS THE SHINING BEACON THAT IS LUCA! But I understood her, and how she was feeling and why she was handling things the way she was. She was a badass in this book, and I continue to completely love her friendship with Millie. It's so well written. So authentic and Doyle puts such a lot of effort in to showing how important friendship is. We see Sophie and Millie go through a lot and come out the other side, they get through it together and they understand each other. I forever love Millie, I wasn't too sure if she'd end up with Dom again or not, but I liked how things went with Millie! She also cracks me up so much! 

Nic....oh Nic. How I wanted to smack you one. I was so hoping he'd get a little bit maimed but my dreams weren't realised. Considering my Team Luca status Nic really irritated me. But then he went from irritating me to really, really bugging me. He wouldn't take no for an answer. He kept on. Despite all the crappy things he did to Sophie he wouldn't comprehend the fact that she didn't want to be with him. I wanted to punch him in the face. Especially when he essentially punished her for not choosing him. Seriously dude. Someone's more like a certain psycho Falcone than they want to believe. 

I'll tell you a character I really loved this book, much to my eternal surprise. Elena. Yep you read that right. I really liked her this book. We saw a different and intriguing side to her, I'd actually love to know more about her. I've been picturing Cat Doyle writing a trilogy about Elena and her sister! I genuinely really liked how she interacted with Sophie and I was devastated about how things ended for her. I also really loved Valentino in this book, I probably shouldn't find him funny when he's being big scary Mafia boss, but his reactions are so funny some times. Like after Luca's declaration to Nick. He didn't even say anything and I was chuckling! I also really love Gino and a few of the other members of the Falcone Mafia, like...I shouldn't find them funny but there where a few scenes that had me chuckling! 

Luca. I can't really talk about Luca, I'm still not over him and the ending of the book. I can't. Poor, precious flower Luca. I always felt for him. He clearly had dreams and plans he wanted to do, but he ended up as the Underboss, and he rolled with it and he tries so hard to keep Sophie out of everything, to stop her from getting too involved and changing in to a version of herself he knew she wouldn't like when she eventually looked in the mirror. Plus Luca goes through a lot in this book and I just wanted to hug him! 

I loved the romance in this book. All the warm and fuzzies. Luca is top book boyfriend material. I loved it, it was so well written and Doyle nails the forbidden romance aspect without making it overdramatic and overdone. It was just right. The angst. THE END. THE ENDING THOUGH. Spoilers so I can't talk about it but oh my God. I genuinely got a little bit choked up through all the warm and fuzzies and the internal cheering. I can't even. I'm so not over this book! 

I think I like this trilogy so much because it's different to other contemporary books that I've read, you've got a strong sense of tension and danger as you read, you find yourself holding your breath throughout certain scenes. There's action, intrigue, mystery and plenty of film worthy scenes. Plus the fast pace and the relatable characters. It's such a great combination. 

I hate it when trilogies come to an end because I always want more. With Mafiosa.....it ends perfectly. So I had that odd feeling of being so happy but also so sad at the same time because it was over. Cat Doyle ends this series fantastically. She genuinely does. Like I said, it's the grand finale. It was heartbreaking because of a twist and what happens to some of the characters, but it's also such a sweet ending for Sophie and Luca. I did love the kind of lingering sense of danger with the final scene....I mean....if Cat wanted to write another book that's an ominous dangling thread right there! (PLEASE CAT, PLEASE, JUST ONE MOOOORREEEE)

Mafiosa is the perfect ending to such a brilliant series. There where feels, all the feels. There where warm and fuzzies, action, tears, heartbreak, EMOTIONS ALL OVER THE PLACE. Plus there was the usual blend of action, and suspense and mystery. Not to mention the plot twists and the way that Doyle keeps you guessing right up until the end!