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A review by tiffany_bibliophage
Ghost by A. Zavarelli
4.0
Our questions about Talia have been answered but the answer was a dark one.
Talia is Mack’s best friend from Crow, book one. Turns out Dmitri, Talia’s boyfriend, took her on a trip to Mexico where he kidnapped her and sold her into sex slavery. This was a dark one, her being drugged as she is used over and over again. I felt Talia’s emptiness, her need to be numb. Losing all hope, Talia saves the little pills they’re drugging her with so she can commit suicide and finally be free to fly. Then, one day, a Russian mafia man named Alexei ruins her plans and takes her away.
Alexei is friends with Lachlan, and an ally to the Irish mafia. As such, he’s been asked to help find Talia and bring her home. Two problems with that; Talia’s owner is a major supplier to the Russians and refused to give Talia up permanently, and Alexei intends to keep Talia- against what Lachlan has asked of him. Alexei has been abandoned by his father because he lost his hearing as a child and therefore is seen as defective, as far as his father is concerned. Alexei’s mom committed suicide after his father abandoned them, Alexei tried so hard to get her to stay. So Talia’s need to commit suicide to escape is something that Alexei will not allow.
Both Alexei and Talia have parents that committed suicide (Talia’s mom drowned her siblings as well). Both of these characters need love and trust in a relationship so bad, but both were too afraid, too wary to love or allow themselves to trust. Miles from society in their own little world we watch these two characters learn how to let themselves love, to trust, without realizing it themselves. Alexei was right in knowing that him and Talia are a lot alike due to their traumatic pasts. They really were the perfect pair to understand each other’s issues and boundaries.
But there’s gotta be danger, right? Alexei’s decision to keep and marry Talia angers the woman who thought she’d have him, and becomes the (one of the) weak spot(s) that someone can use to bring him down.
I was a little worried going into this book because I wanted to read more about the Irish side of things. But this was a beautiful story that I turned out to be really interested in. Now I want more of this Russian world. I guess it’s a good thing we’ll be returning to that side of things in a book or two.
Talia is Mack’s best friend from Crow, book one. Turns out Dmitri, Talia’s boyfriend, took her on a trip to Mexico where he kidnapped her and sold her into sex slavery. This was a dark one, her being drugged as she is used over and over again. I felt Talia’s emptiness, her need to be numb. Losing all hope, Talia saves the little pills they’re drugging her with so she can commit suicide and finally be free to fly. Then, one day, a Russian mafia man named Alexei ruins her plans and takes her away.
Alexei is friends with Lachlan, and an ally to the Irish mafia. As such, he’s been asked to help find Talia and bring her home. Two problems with that; Talia’s owner is a major supplier to the Russians and refused to give Talia up permanently, and Alexei intends to keep Talia- against what Lachlan has asked of him. Alexei has been abandoned by his father because he lost his hearing as a child and therefore is seen as defective, as far as his father is concerned. Alexei’s mom committed suicide after his father abandoned them, Alexei tried so hard to get her to stay. So Talia’s need to commit suicide to escape is something that Alexei will not allow.
Both Alexei and Talia have parents that committed suicide (Talia’s mom drowned her siblings as well). Both of these characters need love and trust in a relationship so bad, but both were too afraid, too wary to love or allow themselves to trust. Miles from society in their own little world we watch these two characters learn how to let themselves love, to trust, without realizing it themselves. Alexei was right in knowing that him and Talia are a lot alike due to their traumatic pasts. They really were the perfect pair to understand each other’s issues and boundaries.
But there’s gotta be danger, right? Alexei’s decision to keep and marry Talia angers the woman who thought she’d have him, and becomes the (one of the) weak spot(s) that someone can use to bring him down.
I was a little worried going into this book because I wanted to read more about the Irish side of things. But this was a beautiful story that I turned out to be really interested in. Now I want more of this Russian world. I guess it’s a good thing we’ll be returning to that side of things in a book or two.