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wendydawn21's review against another edition
5.0
I was really surprised by this book. It's been sitting on my Kindle for sometime, and I decided yesterday to take the plunge and finally read it. Omg! Am I glad I did. Styx/River is such a possessive alpha male, but you can't help but root for him.
My only issue. I find myself torn with Rider/Cain....
My only issue. I find myself torn with Rider/Cain....
naardsx's review against another edition
5.0
First and foremost; believe every 5 star review, because none of them are lying!
I have had the Hades Hangmen series on my tbr for over a year now, and I continuously pushed it down the list because I very rarely enjoy hyped books. However, as soon as I started, It Ain't Me, Babe, I realised how wrong I was to have not read it sooner! *internally kicking myself*
Excuse my language, but Tillie Cole does not fuck around; you hit the floor running as soon as you start this book. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting going into this, other than it being dark and great, but I was not expecting to be hit with suspense straight off the bat. It had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish, and I lost quite a few hours of sleep because I just couldn't put it down.
I don't think I need to say this, especially because if you are part of the romance reading community, you already know how popular and highly recommended this book/series is. Nevertheless, I'm going to say it—I highly recommend you start your journey NOW with the Hades Hangmen. It's not for the faint hearted, it's dark, gritty and triggering, but if you're a fan of dark romance and have yet to read this one...DO IT!
Lastly, if you are planning on picking this up, I highly recommend you read the Author's Note first. This note had me appreciating this story, especially Salome (Mae's) story, so much more!
_______
This review was written as soon as I finished reading, so it may not make complete sense. I am planning on coming back and adding quotes and maybe doing a more thorough review. However, right now I think this speaks volumes on how much I loved and enjoyed Styx and Mae's story! I had to rate it a 5 straight away, and had to say something about it because 5 stars just doesn't do this book justice!!
I have had the Hades Hangmen series on my tbr for over a year now, and I continuously pushed it down the list because I very rarely enjoy hyped books. However, as soon as I started, It Ain't Me, Babe, I realised how wrong I was to have not read it sooner! *internally kicking myself*
Excuse my language, but Tillie Cole does not fuck around; you hit the floor running as soon as you start this book. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting going into this, other than it being dark and great, but I was not expecting to be hit with suspense straight off the bat. It had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish, and I lost quite a few hours of sleep because I just couldn't put it down.
I don't think I need to say this, especially because if you are part of the romance reading community, you already know how popular and highly recommended this book/series is. Nevertheless, I'm going to say it—I highly recommend you start your journey NOW with the Hades Hangmen. It's not for the faint hearted, it's dark, gritty and triggering, but if you're a fan of dark romance and have yet to read this one...DO IT!
Lastly, if you are planning on picking this up, I highly recommend you read the Author's Note first. This note had me appreciating this story, especially Salome (Mae's) story, so much more!
_______
This review was written as soon as I finished reading, so it may not make complete sense. I am planning on coming back and adding quotes and maybe doing a more thorough review. However, right now I think this speaks volumes on how much I loved and enjoyed Styx and Mae's story! I had to rate it a 5 straight away, and had to say something about it because 5 stars just doesn't do this book justice!!
hmmreads's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Sigh... so much potential.... The audiobook narrators did so well, especially the male narrator with Styx's stutter. But dang the plot and the characters in itself were mediocre and full of cliches.
The book opened with Styx and Mae when they were kids. Stx was out with his dad burying a rival when Styx wandered off to a fence where Mae was on the other side. Styx had a stutter and couldn't speak in front of others other than his dad and his best friend Ky. But he somehow was able to speak to Mae. See, I get that his concern for her (because her inside that fence was shady af) could stir up his voice to let loose and ask for her welfare. But it's believable only if other dire situations would also cause him to speak up. The whole problem was that this was too much leaning into the girl-saves-boy trope. As in, love is everything and it can move mountains magically kinda stuff. It wasn't a complete miracle that his stutter was just gone but still...
I think I would've given the book more slack if it didn't take itself too seriously. But with the cult thing going on, I doubt it can be unserious. Because of this, the predictable "plot twists" or the twist fakeouts were just so disappointing and cliched... It'd be better if they weren't treated as plot twists, just lay it out in the open. Don't even attempt at foreshadowing bcs it just made your characters look dumb...
Additionally, the plot set Mae up for failure. Aside from Styx's magical improvements, we didn't see much of Mae's merger into the real world. When Mae was running away, she got injured. She hitched a ride and stopped at the Hangmen MC club where the guys found her. Then the plot had Styx leave her with another member named Rider for a month because Styx got shit to do. So instead of showing us the ups and downs of her discovering new stuff, we just got a time skip. By that point, she was like 85-90% civilized. It was just such a bad choice. I would think the appealing thing for a plot like this was to see her getting to know stuff, but no....
One month with Rider caused Rider to fall in love with Mae. Rider was the only member who didn't drink and indulge in women, we were told that this was because of his religious background. Styx came back and was jealous of them. The club had a little outing and Mae had to go on Rider's bike because Styx had another girl on his. Which was just stupid... just get the other girl off but okay whatever. At the park, men with balaclavas shoot at them, killing the other girl and they were also aiming at Mae. It was so obvious that these guys had something to do with the cult so the book treating it as an "omg who could that be??" was just frustrating. Even though I guess Styx wouldn't know and Mae... her mind might not even reach there.
Anywayss, the plot twists are... Styx suspects one of the members was a spy and Pit got accused. Styx killed Pit but surprise, it wasn't him. At one point, Mae was being "naive" Mae and went to Rider's room. She discovered him with a girl and decided to interrupt them because "it wasn't like him to do that". Rider, all horny and heartbroken, kissed Mae. Styx found out and threw Rider out of the club. Several of the guys went to check up on him but he disappeared. Mae and Styx was in their room when the club burst open with an injured Rider as a hostage (the club was somehow empty at that time, I don't know why, I don't care). They tied up Styx and Mae. And then Rider did a whole Disney villain reveal saying that he's brother Cain. Mae recognized his name as the heir of the cult. This whole reveal was unnecessary af, just go in and declare yourself as Cain mygod. Why the theatrics of being injured.
The cult members went on a tangent how they were in the gun business now and wanted to take out the Hangmen and steal their business so they set nazis to kill them. And then they just took Mae and left. Without killing Styx or even attempting to do it. Shake my head... They weren't against killing because they killed Mae's sister in the beginning of the story, so like what's going on.
Styx gathered extra club members from other chapters in nearby states and went to ambush the cult. It just so happened to be Mae's wedding day to the cult leader. Some unimportant pages later, Cain begged Mae to leave with him and saved her life by killing one of the brothers. Mae was like, "no, I love Styx, just leave." and then she gave him a peck on the lips. Girl... no matter how "naive" she was supposed to be, no sane person does that. A peck on the cheek, sure. But on the lips? Bro.
Styx saved them and we got sneak peeks of the next books. Ky smitten with Delilah. And Flame, who was known to not be able to withstand touch, was magically able to withstand Maddie's touch.
Aside from all that. The lore was pretty cool. Mae coming from a cult and Styx was the president of the Hangmen MC club where they worship Hades was pretty dope. Mae thinking that she really did land in hell was interesting to read too. The first fourth of the book wasn't so bad when all this lore came to light. But then it went downhill.
Sigh... so much potential.... The audiobook narrators did so well, especially the male narrator with Styx's stutter. But dang the plot and the characters in itself were mediocre and full of cliches.
The book opened with Styx and Mae when they were kids. Stx was out with his dad burying a rival when Styx wandered off to a fence where Mae was on the other side. Styx had a stutter and couldn't speak in front of others other than his dad and his best friend Ky. But he somehow was able to speak to Mae. See, I get that his concern for her (because her inside that fence was shady af) could stir up his voice to let loose and ask for her welfare. But it's believable only if other dire situations would also cause him to speak up. The whole problem was that this was too much leaning into the girl-saves-boy trope. As in, love is everything and it can move mountains magically kinda stuff. It wasn't a complete miracle that his stutter was just gone but still...
I think I would've given the book more slack if it didn't take itself too seriously. But with the cult thing going on, I doubt it can be unserious. Because of this, the predictable "plot twists" or the twist fakeouts were just so disappointing and cliched... It'd be better if they weren't treated as plot twists, just lay it out in the open. Don't even attempt at foreshadowing bcs it just made your characters look dumb...
Additionally, the plot set Mae up for failure. Aside from Styx's magical improvements, we didn't see much of Mae's merger into the real world. When Mae was running away, she got injured. She hitched a ride and stopped at the Hangmen MC club where the guys found her. Then the plot had Styx leave her with another member named Rider for a month because Styx got shit to do. So instead of showing us the ups and downs of her discovering new stuff, we just got a time skip. By that point, she was like 85-90% civilized. It was just such a bad choice. I would think the appealing thing for a plot like this was to see her getting to know stuff, but no....
One month with Rider caused Rider to fall in love with Mae. Rider was the only member who didn't drink and indulge in women, we were told that this was because of his religious background. Styx came back and was jealous of them. The club had a little outing and Mae had to go on Rider's bike because Styx had another girl on his. Which was just stupid... just get the other girl off but okay whatever. At the park, men with balaclavas shoot at them, killing the other girl and they were also aiming at Mae. It was so obvious that these guys had something to do with the cult so the book treating it as an "omg who could that be??" was just frustrating. Even though I guess Styx wouldn't know and Mae... her mind might not even reach there.
Anywayss, the plot twists are... Styx suspects one of the members was a spy and Pit got accused. Styx killed Pit but surprise, it wasn't him. At one point, Mae was being "naive" Mae and went to Rider's room. She discovered him with a girl and decided to interrupt them because "it wasn't like him to do that". Rider, all horny and heartbroken, kissed Mae. Styx found out and threw Rider out of the club. Several of the guys went to check up on him but he disappeared. Mae and Styx was in their room when the club burst open with an injured Rider as a hostage (the club was somehow empty at that time, I don't know why, I don't care). They tied up Styx and Mae. And then Rider did a whole Disney villain reveal saying that he's brother Cain. Mae recognized his name as the heir of the cult. This whole reveal was unnecessary af, just go in and declare yourself as Cain mygod. Why the theatrics of being injured.
The cult members went on a tangent how they were in the gun business now and wanted to take out the Hangmen and steal their business so they set nazis to kill them. And then they just took Mae and left. Without killing Styx or even attempting to do it. Shake my head... They weren't against killing because they killed Mae's sister in the beginning of the story, so like what's going on.
Styx gathered extra club members from other chapters in nearby states and went to ambush the cult. It just so happened to be Mae's wedding day to the cult leader. Some unimportant pages later, Cain begged Mae to leave with him and saved her life by killing one of the brothers. Mae was like, "no, I love Styx, just leave." and then she gave him a peck on the lips. Girl... no matter how "naive" she was supposed to be, no sane person does that. A peck on the cheek, sure. But on the lips? Bro.
Styx saved them and we got sneak peeks of the next books. Ky smitten with Delilah. And Flame, who was known to not be able to withstand touch, was magically able to withstand Maddie's touch.
Aside from all that. The lore was pretty cool. Mae coming from a cult and Styx was the president of the Hangmen MC club where they worship Hades was pretty dope. Mae thinking that she really did land in hell was interesting to read too. The first fourth of the book wasn't so bad when all this lore came to light. But then it went downhill.
al_sharnaqi's review against another edition
1.0
I reached a breaking point at just 52%, and I ultimately surrendered, ceasing my reading altogether. This repulsive book has managed to attract a twisted audience, whose understanding of love and sex has long been distorted. Our society is in ruins if we continue to applaud such literature! Furthermore, the author is either the embodiment of evil or has endured unimaginable assault and abuse throughout her life. It is my fervent hope that we put an end to the glorification of such warped views on sex, love, and gender. This is undeniably horrifying.
crabbydragon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
brisingr's review against another edition
1.0
DNF like three quarters in. honestly, the moment when the us propaganda gets too much, it's time to fucking dnf. it's just too fucking much, i hate the usa (and this is why i need to stop taking my recs from american tiktokers, yes, it was entirely my fault)
spicymakeupreads's review against another edition
5.0
I liked this book alot. I love premise that they met through the fence as kids and then she escapes and falls into his lap. I love that its MC. I love that he loves her no matter her background and what she is adjusting to. I loved it plain and simple