u/Parking-Hold7972

What I liked

Yulian : His character was fun to read. He was chaotic , messy and unhinged but the love he had for his mom , sister and Cyrus was really adorable. He was always ready to do anything and everything to protect them and go to any limits for them. Didn't hesitate to show how he felt. We love a man with emotions. Him naming his bike was both hilarious and cute. Though there were things that I disliked about him but overall he was entertaining.

Sasha and Kirill cameos:I loved Kirill and Sasha's all cameos and how supportive they were as parents. Also , them going with Vaughn to save Yulian was the most Kirill Sasha thing to do lol.

Heathens: I ATE whatever little crumbs I got about them. Also , the scene in epilogue where it's told that how all of them are now living with their partners was so emotional looking back from where they began in GOM. Them as a group and all their scenes were a highlight for me. Ignoring the audiobook voice of Killian where it sounded like Killian was some 80 year old dude who smokes 20 times a day.

Anton and Maksim cameos: It felt good to see AntonMaksim together and doing so well with eachother. The same for KarinaViktor these people deserved the happy ending they got.

What I did not liked:

Execution: Someone on Goodreads said that this book had good bones but bad execution and Rina has this recipe she follows with all of her books and sometimes it works, other times it just doesn't and it was spot on. Like here RK even had the chance to show a layered emotional buildup cause these guys knew eachother since they were teens but then ofc RK HAS to bring a girlfriend cause obviously that gf is going to be a cheater.

Vaughn: Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't like grumpy MMCs but Vaughn's character just felt bland and after a point his character got too repetitive. I don't even have much to say about him because I barely remember anything that he did in the book. He wasn't memorable to me. I didn't liked how he referred to heathens as his entourage. His attitude constantly seemed like 'Im better than everyone else' and I couldn't emotionally connect with his character.

Mafia Camp: Is it only me or does anyone else over here finds the concept of Mafia camps funny in HTV. Not that the club rivalry in LOG made much sense but I've heard of club rivalries among colleges before so it sounded somewhat realistic.

Also Serpents and heathens had a history together while Landon was the only one from elites who caused chaos for fun and games so it was a teeny tiny bit understandable but why would the NY bratva crew ever send their minor kids to a camp that too with the kids of rival Bratva group and why would the rival groups organise a camp among teenagers as an attempt of peace? Why did the parents even sent their kids? I get it that Yarslav (or whatever his name was) is a piece of shit so he wouldn't care that much but KirillSasha and KyleRai too? Yes the kids have security but even then both KirillSasha and KyleRai must've known that it is dangerous for their children. If Niko and Vaughn were atleast adults it would make some sense but they are both minors here and I might be nit picking but it seemed very out of character for the first gen crew.

The proposal: Yulian deserved a better proposal. And there wasn't really a need to show NikoBran wedding in epilogue. I love NikoBran but we already know the info about them getting married through GoWar. And Vaughn just thought that yk what all this decoration should be more useful and proposed Yulian. Yulian definitely deserved a better proposal than that.

Told but not shown: many sweet things that Vaughn and Yulian do for eachother are just told that yeah they did this for eachother but they aren't shown. Like Vaughn and Yulian being domestic? Not shown. Yulian and Vaughn cuddling? Not shown. Vaughn helping Yulian study? You guessed it right , not shown.

Vaughn flying EVERY WEEK to the island seemed too unrealistic even by the standards of fiction.

All of Yulian's stepbrothers suddenly becoming allies: they were all against eachother but suddenly Alina is like 'they just want a chance. They're not bad' and boom character development.

The NY Bratva storyline: I'm probably gonna get downvotes for this but I have to say that the Bratva suddenly being non-homophobic made no sense. The misogyny and homophobia was highlighted in all the Bratva books of first gen.

And if you keep first gen aside in second gen too Nikolai says that he won't take his boyfriend to meet his uncles because they have the same homophobic mindset. In KTV and the beginning of HTV Vaughn himself mentions that Bratva is still homophobic.

Yes , the old people will die eventually but I don't see why their heirs would not take advantage of the homophobia that's been there in Bratva for decades. Adrian , Kirill , Rai , Kyle Jeremy and Nikolai would not mind it but they aren't the only members. The Bratva is obviously far bigger than that. Not to forget that Rai couldn't get the Pakhan position because of her gender.

Yes , she didn't compete for it but let's be real if Rai was a man she would've totally gotten the position. It also shows a pattern in RK's books where she makes FMCs quit their career(Example- Silver. Who goes from wanting to be a PM to suddenly becoming a society lady) or put them in an inferior position than men (Example- Rai) but when it comes to her MMCs she gives them all the power. It shows a pattern about how much RK is biased towards her MMCs.

The whole conflict getting solved in a single chapter: Yulian's dad was painted as this big bad guy throughout the story and for that much of a buildup he surely fell flat.

Well , that was my review and belive it or not I didn't mean to hate on this book but I think that as a reader if I'm spending my time and money over something I have the right to praise or criticize the work. We can agree to disagree :) Peace ✌️ 🕊️

This is a 2am draft so dont judge me too hard. I always wanted a pov of baby Jeremy during the events of Deception trilogy. So , here is my attempt at writting it.

Jeremy’s little feet slapped against the marble floors of the Volkov mansion as he sprinted through the endless hallway, his spaceship pajamas rustling with every hurried step.

The mansion was too big at night.

Too quiet.

Especially now. without Mommy.

His breathing came out uneven by the time he reached the large double doors at the end of the corridor. Papa and Mommy's bedroom.

Jeremy pressed both palms against the cold wood and sucked in a careful breath through his nose. He had to be smart about this mission. Very smart.

Papa was a light sleeper.

Mommy once told him that you could drop a needle beside him and he’d wake up ready to kill someone. Jeremy didn’t fully understand why Papa would kill someone over a needle, but he understood the important part:

Don’t make noise.

Luckily, Jeremy was smart.

Very smart.

He successfully tricked the nannies almost every night. One time he even escaped Yan and hid inside the library for two whole hours before Uncle Kolya found him.

That was impressive.

So this mission would also succeed.

Jeremy carefully wrapped his fingers around the golden doorknob and slowly pushed the door open.

The bedroom greeted him with silence.

And coldness.

A lot of coldness.

Jeremy immediately frowned.

It hadn’t used to feel like this before.

Before Mommy left, the room always smelled warm and soft, like her perfume. Sometimes Jeremy would sneak inside just to curl against her.

Now the room felt…

Dead.

Like the mansion itself missed her.

Jeremy stepped inside quietly, closing the door behind him with the gentlest click.

His gaze immediately drifted toward the empty side of the bed.

Mommy’s side.

His chest hurt a little at the sight.

Papa said Mommy went on vacation.

Mommy didn’t even say goodbye before leaving.

Not to him.

Not even once.

His eyes burned suddenly, tears stinging the corners, but Jeremy blinked them away fiercely.

No crying.

Big boys didn’t cry.

Papa never cried.

Jeremy would be strong too.

Just like him.

His gaze shifted toward the other side of the massive bed where Papa slept beneath the dark sheets, one arm beneath his pillow, his face half-shadowed by the dim moonlight filtering through the windows.

Jeremy paused.

Papa was still here.

Relief loosened something tight inside his tiny chest.

Because that was why he came.

Not because he was scared.

Not because he hated sleeping alone now.

Not because nightmares kept whispering terrible things into his ears.

He only wanted to check.

Just to make sure Papa hadn’t disappeared too.

Because what if he did?

What if Papa suddenly wanted a vacation too?

His stomach twisted painfully. Papa promised he wouldn’t leave.But Mommy promised things too.Jeremy didn’t know why grown-ups said things they didn’t mean.

Maybe that was normal.

Jeremy wouldn’t know.

He didn’t have friends to ask.

Yan played with him sometimes, and Uncle Kolya always stayed with him whenever Mommy and Papa fought downstairs in angry voices. Uncle Kolya would carry him outside afterward, where they built tiny war zones with Yan and sometimes Boris would join them too.

But they were adults.

Jeremy wanted someone small.

Someone his age.

Or maybe someone even littler.

A baby sister would be nice.

His face brightened faintly at the thought.

The other day, Mommy took him outside to see clowns before she left. Jeremy had seen a little girl in a purple dress running through the park while her older brother chased after her protectively.

“My baby sister!” the boy shouted proudly.

Jeremy wanted that too.

A tiny sister.

Someone he could protect the way Papa protected Mommy.

Maybe when Mommy came home, he’d ask for one.

The thought almost made him smile.

But then his eyes drifted back toward Mommy’s empty side of the bed.

And the smile disappeared.

When Mommy became Ghost Mommy, Jeremy started sneaking into their room more often.

At first, she barely moved anymore.

She’d stare at walls for a very long time and forget Jeremy was speaking sometimes. Her hugs became weaker too. Colder.

But Jeremy didn’t mind.

He’d curl beside her anyway, wrapping his little arms around her while she lay stiff and silent beneath the blankets.

Even when she didn’t hug him back.

It hurt.

But Jeremy could survive hurting if it made Mommy less sad.

He was strong.

One day, he’d grow tall like Papa and protect Mommy from all her ghosts.

Carefully, very carefully, Jeremy walked closer to the bed. Closer to Papa.

The moonlight brushed across his father’s sleeping face, sharpening every hard line and shadow. Even asleep, Papa looked dangerous.

But Jeremy wasn’t afraid of him.

Never. Seconds passed.Nothing happened.

A tiny breath escaped him in relief.

Then slowly, his small hand lifted hesitantly before pressing gently against his father’s forehead.

Papa looked tired.

Not angry tired.

Sad tired.

Jeremy wondered if adults could miss people enough to stop sleeping too.

Jeremy exhaled shakily.

Papa’s here.

He won’t disappear.

At least not tonight.

Since there were games going on here about which couple is best and all. I thought to see that how much popularity each LOG MMCs and FMCs have on insta by the hashtags of their names and here's the list.

MMCs

1 Jeremy Volkov (22K posts)

2 Eli King (19K posts)

3 Landon and Brandon King (18.4 K. Yes both have the exact same number of posts. Idk how)

4 Nikolai Sokolov (17.4 K posts)

5 Killian Carson (14.3 K posts)

6 Creighton King (5000+ posts)

FMCs

1 Ava Nash (14.3 K posts)

2 Cecily Knight (10.7 K posts)

3 Mia , Glyndon and Annika (5000+ posts)

I'm really excited for Preston and Marcus but I wonder what role will Julian play here? He was very much involved in Beautiful and Sweet Venom. He's introduced in BV as this cold , calculated guy who is four steps ahead of everyone and in SV he's the one who manipulated Violet so that he could test his drug on her. What role do you guys think he'll play here?

There are many discussions about the best parent siblings and couple but I think that every family in Rinaverse had that one person the entire family loved/doted on the most. Again , it's strictly my opinion and we can agree to disagree.

1 Kings (Levi)- Brandon. He was Levi's favourite. Landon called him his other half. Astrid doesn't says it but it's shown that she loved him more. Brandon also kind off parented Glyndon and she had a very sweet relationship with Bran.

Kings (Aiden)- Creighton. It was pretty evident that AidenElsa and Eli too pampered Creigh the most. Though I didn't like how AidenElsa seemed biased towards Creigh but Eli too loved his little brother a lot.

Carsons - Reina. all the men in Carson family agreed on one thing and that was that they all loved Reina and would do anything for her besides of the conflict they had among themselves.

Sokolovs - Mia. It was mentioned often times how she was everyone's favourite in the family while I feel bad for my girl Maya everyone preferred Mia.

Volkovs- Jeremy. It's not that evident but I think Jeremy is kind off a glue for that family. Lia constantly mentions that how he is the light of her life. Adrian sees himself in Jeremy and Anni was ready to die and kill for him.

Who do you guys think is the most loved person in their respective families?

Finished another re-read of the book and I can't help but fall for my babies Jeremy and Cecily again. Them as individuals and even as a couple have so much depth. What made Jeremy stand out for me was that even though he's your usual ott possesive MMC but he doesn't shies away from his feelings for Cecy and isn't afraid to admit it aloud. his insecurities and abandonment issues made him more human to me. It was refreshing to see an MMC being vocal about his feelings.

Coming to Cecily. I ADORE her and anyone who hates her better sleep with one eye open. Her caring and selfless nature and her overall personality was so relatable. She was so wise for her age and her fear of being judged felt real. The way she looks out for her friends and tries to always be there for them while dealing with her own issues was really sweet and sad at the same time.

This book has so many of my favourite quotes but a few of them are.

"I've always seen you." (Ofc you did , sir 🤭)

"What does a sparkling heart means?" (Someone give our poor boy an explanation)

"My person." (We get it Jer. We get it)

"there's a lizard infront of my house." (This one is the BEST)

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat , Malysh," (Aaand father of the year award goes to Adrian Volkov)

Okay enough fawning over my favourites for today I should probably shut up now but before I do I wanna ask a few questions to GoWrath lovers on this subreddit (I hope you guys are here cause I'll look stupid if it's just me and my two brain cells who loved this book)

1 What made you like Jeremy and Cecily as individuals?

2 what made you like them as a couple?

3 Favourite quotes?

4 What would you do if one day you woke up as Cecily? 😏

Well thats it I think.