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A review by yourbookishbff
The Devil of Downtown by Joanna Shupe
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh I loved this. Our youngest Greene sister, Justine, finally gets the main character moment she deserves, and my favorite side character from Prince of Broadway, Jack Mulligan, is her perfect foil. She's a do-gooder, well intentioned and determined but also overly trusting and still young, and he's a kingpin of lower Manhattan. Scarred and suspicious and willing to cheat, steal and blackmail his way to security, Jack shows Justine the reality of living life in and outside the confines of law and propriety. I loved seeing Justine navigating a path to fulfilling her own purpose - and learning the hard way that sometimes you can't change a corrupt system from the inside - and I was so moved by Jack's desperation to find any path that Justine can walk with him. High stakes and swoony and sexy with a perfect conclusion. Also, my least favorite character in this series, Duncan Daddy Warbucks Greene is vacationing in Europe for all but three pages of this book. Good riddance.
Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism