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The Toil and Trouble Trilogy, Book One
The Toil and Trouble Trilogy, Book One
The Toil and Trouble Trilogy, Book One
Ebook263 pages4 hours

The Toil and Trouble Trilogy, Book One

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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The jettatori are male witches. They make and sell illegal magical charms. Their underground network controls the city, and it’s boys’ club—no women allowed.

Eighteen-year-old Olivia Calabrese is tough as nails. She not only wants in, she wants to be boss.

She’s got the pedigree. Her father ran the crew until he was arrested and locked up.

She’s got a secret weapon. Brice Ventresca—super powerful, super gorgeous.

Now all she has to do is survive the competition against her cousin and scrabble her way to the top.

Except her cousin’s not playing fair. He whispers something to her that throws her off track. Says that her dead mother wasn’t killed by stray bullets from the police, like she thought. It was a hit, one ordered by her father.

Now Olivia’s determined to find out the truth.

And gorgeous Brice? Well, he’s contracted a magical virus that makes him turn into a rage-filled monster every night at midnight.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 11, 2011
ISBN9781465726216
The Toil and Trouble Trilogy, Book One

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Olivia Calabrese values family and loyalty above everything else. Olivia has already made her first kill on behalf of the family, a gesture to show she's serious about taking part in the family business. The Calabrese family is renown for selling magically imbued charms outlawed for their tendency to turn their users into animalistic berserkers. Olivia is determined to become head of the family business but learning the source of their magical power has her questioning everything she ever knew.The Toil And Trouble Trilogy: Book One is an urban fantasy story. Olivia is a young protagonist so the story has a young adult feel but the overall story gives it a darker and edgier perspective. It took me the first two chapters to adjust to the cadence of the narration but I found it an engaging read from that point onward.I adored Olivia's character, she's a strong heroine that continually grows throughout the story. I liked that her moral dilemmas were framed within such a dark and violent setting. Characterization in general was great for all the characters and I liked how well suited the dialogue was for them all.I loved the amount of detail that went into the magic system and world building. The berserkers were interesting creatures and I liked how they were portrayed throughout the story. The incorporation of Italian witchcraft was interesting to read. I liked that it further enhanced characterization by showcasing the cultural beliefs and values of the characters. The organized crime syndicate operations were also a fun addition and I really liked how it colored the story. A majority of the story is Olivia trying to establish a place for herself within the family business. I liked the drama that surrounded her choice to become head of the family. It was fun seeing her efforts to outmaneuver her rival and also continually face tough decisions that could potentially make her lose face.The Macbeth influences felt a bit heavy to me mainly because I'm not overly familiar with the play. The story did a good job of summarizing and clarifying embedded references though I still wondered if I was missing out on something. Overall, I found Book One to be an enjoyable read and I look forward to continuing the trilogy.

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The Toil and Trouble Trilogy, Book One - Val St. Crowe

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