Under Locke

The Godmother of Slowburn liefert wieder ab. Du meine Güte ist Dex ein heißer Typ… Ich muss los Sons of Anarchy gucken 🏃‍♀️💨

This book was different from what I expected from a Mariana Zapata Original but not in a bad way. In the beginning [the first 50 pages maybe?] i had a hard time getting into the story which may be be connected to the fact that a motorcycle club/tattoo studio story isn’t normally my cup of tee. But I stuck to it cause I believe in Zapata and her writing like nothing else. And it was worth it!! When knowing her other books you can detect that this was one of her first books. It hasn’t got the typical Zapata-pattern which I so much adore [ you should have seen my face when I realized exactly this - not going deeper into it but she wasnt ruling on the throne for immaculate slow burn then I guess if you know what I mean ^^ ] but it was still a great story. I pretty much read it in one sitting…like all her books. Iris and Dex are an powerful front you don’t want to stand against in a war. Dex is the overprotective slightly explosiv mc I’m accustomed to from mafia books and in a twisted way this motorcycle club is nothing else than a mafia. And Iris is the sunshine despite everything she already has experienced in her short life - cancer, a shit ass dad, raising her brother, loosing her mom and grandma….. And they fit so perfectly together it was a joy to see them slowly get attached to one another. And I really liked it. But I don’t love it. This won’t become one of my favorites and it probably isn’t on my top shelf of her best books but still worth a read. Especially for everyone enjoying some gang action. 3.75

🖤

I wasn’t a huge Dex Locke (the big tatted guy that rides a bike) fan throughout the book, I rolled my eyes every time I read of him, but gradually he became very sweet and caring which made me soften from time to time, also love how relatable Iris was and her “That’s what she said” jokes and overall personality (the other characters were funny and sweet too and unfortunately almost everyone had daddy issues in this book). I can’t complain, other than my poor virgin eyes that got violated but oh well, guess that was my price to pay.

Holy Moly. This book has so many issues, I don´t even know where to start. Did I hate it? Kinda. Did I put it down? Nope, I could not. I was just not able to put this down. I will not go into details what this book is about, because, honestly? I have no idea. Short version: Iris moves in with her brother who is a member of some kind of motorcycle club. She starts working at a tattoo studio whose owner is Dex, another member of said motorcycle club. She and her brother get into trouble because of their dad. In her time working for Dex they SLOWLY become closer and… that´s basically it. First things first: if you cannot handle men behaving like they teleported straight from the cavemen-era, this is not for you. I really wanted to punch some nuts. Not just sometimes, but ALL. THE. TIME. These men are sexist asf. And yeah I know this is the whole vibe of the book, but come on, it was a bit too much. Every men in this book objectifies the female population, calling them names, touching them without consent and just generally treating women like shitty pet owners treat their poor pets. The male lead, Dex, is crazy. Not the “hehe-he´s-kinda-silly-sometimes” kind, but the “I-would-chain-you-up-and-never-let-you-look-at-somebody-else” kinda crazy. He does not accept boundaries or any other own opinions of Iris (female lead). He calls her stupid, little shit and a bitch. He does not accept her wanting to be alone. He tolerates her being angry but not her leaving, because she is not allowed to leave him. Listen, I like possessive men, but this? A tad bit too much. HOWEVER, as I mentioned, I could not put this down. Despite the whole possessiveness and foul language and their general straight forward behaviour this was a damn good slow-burn and I did not expect that. I love slow-burns, I really do, but sometimes they are not slow enough or there´s nothing at all. But this right here? Really good slowburn. The pacing was phenomenal. It is a slow burn and then *boom* spicyness up ahead. So, if you love slow-burn books with spice and can handle some motorcycle dudes behaving like cavemen, yeah, go for it. Despite all the negative points I kinda enjoyed it.

3,5 ⭐️ there’s something about Mariana Zapata‘s heroes that is so *argh* i really liked Iris and dex and the setting, just overall not my favourite Zapata ↳ would i reread? mh, yeah. certain scenes would definitely be worth it, but right now i have no desire to dive in again

Manejar a Dex Locke sería como manejar un escorpión. En algún momento ibas a recibir ese aguijón venenoso Esto me pasa por leer libros me recomienda tiktok. Antes de que alguien me lance hate por esto, quiero que sepan que esta es solamente mi opinión. Que este libro no me gustará nada no significa que a ti tampoco te guste. Todos tenemos gustos diferentes. Ahora, después de ese disclaimer. ¿Qué pasaba con ellos dos? Él solo la trata como un objeto desde que comenzó a trabajar para él, comportándose como maldito idiota posesivo, tóxico e imbecil, que hace sentir mal a la protagonista cada dos capítulos, y luego pide una disculpas que NO son disculpas, dice que no lo volverá a hacer y sorpresa ahí está dos capítulos después tratándola horrible. Ella, todo lo que había pasado en su vida. Todo lo que tuvo que soportar. Y decidió quedarse a aguantar a ese chico solo porque 1. Estaba sexi (lo repetía cada 2 páginas) 2. Era el amigo de su hermano. 3. Esta en una pandilla. Y 4. Repito, ella decía que estaba sexi. Incluso cuando tuvo la oportunidad de irse a otro trabajo, se quedó solo porque el tipo le dijo "NO DEJO IR LO MIO" Quizá en la época en la que estaba encantada con Travis Maddox y todo lo relacionado a tipos con muchos tatuajes que llaman "nena" a la chica me hubiera gustado pero ahora un rotundo no. La única persona que me conoce mejor que tú es mamá y eso es hacer trampa. Ni mis hermanas ni mis hermanos, nena. Sólo. Tú.

„This was pointless. I loved words. I’d always loved words. I loved the freedom you could find in them. I loved manipulating them. I loved the way they sounded and the power they held. But sometimes, sometimes, they weren’t enough.“ And sometimes those words drive me very, very close to the edge. I’m so massively disappointed because I wanted to LOVE this book in capital letters. I enjoy a good MC story (don’t we all), I loved the setting with a tattoo shop and a female main character that has enough sass to keep a whole club in line. In theory? Perfection. The reality was very much different for me as a reader. Let’s start with what lived up to my expectations: The family-feeling of an MC was nailed, the supporting characters were likeable yet had not enough definition for me to actually care about them (introducing a bond to a brother who is notably absent, having a co-worker with a life shattering crisis just to give the FMC a chance to talk about herself, … not enough, sorry). I knew I was getting into a slowburn as soon as I read the name Mariana Zapata, yet this book has almost 500 pages and after finishing I’m seriously asking myself: Why? Why is it so long? There’s not plot whatsoever to get to a length like this. While I don’t know the answer to “why”, I for sure know how – are you ready? Buckle up! First of all, inner monologues and as we only get the POV of our FMC Iris Taylor those were repetitive as fuck. I don’t really know a single thing she enjoys after 500 pages, yet the amounts of times it was mentioned that she’s a vegetarian borders on “now I know where the reputation veggies tell everyone they don’t eat meat” (they usually don’t … both, tell everyone and eat meat) stems from. The second thing repeated over and over again is a whole bunch: Our girl had cancer and the scars to show it. Please don’t get me wrong here, I root for characters that are not picture perfect, yet this topic was blown up SO much and resolved in such a non-rewarding way, and it felt like Iris was giving herself a continuous pity party and … no. Just no. [Unfortunately I had too many close encounters with cancerous diseases in my closest family that I simply can’t deal with pity, maybe that stems from how these people in my life chose to deal with it, though, I’m not saying either is right or wrong, it just was unbearable for me to read.] A lot of Iris’ character felt – for a lack of a better word – “half-assed”: She was confident and sassy, but also subdued and meek, she doesn’t swear yet swears like a pg13-rated sailor replacing curse words with “frigg/friggin”, “eff”, “crap” etc, she has such close bonds to her brothers yet is annoyed with them taking off – taking care of their own lives or the stuff that impacts hers. Another thing that really annoyed me about her character was how often she claimed in her inner monologue to “have gotten past” something while obviously still being held up on that – I lost count of how many times she kept bringing the same situations either verbally or mentally up, that had been “resolved” or proclaimed as such prior in the book. That last sentence might read cynically, and it is intended to because as much as I hate to say it, I despised our MMC. And that’s rare, I’m sorry, but wow. You truly must butcher a character for me to not even find some scratch of “but he is good/funny/whatever” (also … explains my taste in men but that’s a worse story than this book). Dex, in theory, also was great: 6.3”, inked, grumpy yet slowly melting away at the sunshine that is Iris (uuh) and fiercely loyal to a cause, his brothers and his employees (at least, that’s what everyone keeps saying, but as the entry quote states sometimes words are not enough). Our boy has a temper – a bad one at that and one out of control multiple times. He shouts at the FMC, calls her names in and without her presence, degrades her in front of his MC-brothers and has the audacity to blame her for it – “I did it because you made me angry”-style. Lovely, innit? I’m sorry, but no. Not even when he apologises, at least not the way he did, basically saying that probably will happen again. WHAT? That’s toxic if I ever saw it. We have a six plus feet manchild at our hands and nothing about this is attractive. Trying to give him some shape of personality – besides being hot and inked and easily enraged of course – by making the man have a collection of some nerdy shit did not do the trick for me then. So, summing up, we have 500 pages of minor plot, a lot of inner monologue about how everyone leaves our FMC, she had it so bad and how hot Dex is, some temper tantrums not thrown by the cute kid described in one chapter but our supposedly grown-ass male main lead and a ton of repetitions that really grated on my nerves sprinkled with a bit of “Protection for her first time? Aah, we’ll deal with consequences” on top. I wanted to love this book, I expected it to be great and instead I’m left angry. Why make it 500 pages long if it’s pure mediocrity. I guess if you are not as disappointed as I am, you might give this 3 stars as it is decently written and might just not be my cup of tea, but … the anger, the annoyance and the feeling of having wasted time reading doesn’t make me want to rate it 3 stars. Utterly mediocre experience – that’s what she said.

⭐️2,5

After becoming unemployed, Iris moves in with her brother and gets a job as a receptionist in Dex’s tattoo shop. Being polar opposites, Iris and Dex are off to a rocky start. That is, until the members of another bike club and the Croatian mafia show up to collect on a debt Iris’s dad owes them. With her brother gone to look for him, Iris has to move in with Dex in order to stay safe. What could go wrong when a naive innocent pretty woman moves in with a hot dangerous grumpy man? This was my third time reading Under Locke, and when reflecting on it, I found Dex to be too much of an asshole, and Iris was a bit too naive for my liking. And some of the humor is that of an 11-year-old boy. But don’t get me wrong, I still love the book! I will probably read it again in the not-very-far future, but I think the characters in more recent Mariana Zapata books are more developed and likable. The story itself is interesting, I like seeing the relationship development in Mariana Zapata’s books going slowly from dislike to friendship to love. I think that is what makes me forgive all their personality flaws and root for them!