Crow's Row : Uhhh...the storytelling was okay? 
 Yes, that's about as good as you're going to get from me. I had to find something positive to say. 
 What a difference a week makes, I guess. It's been several days since I left Crow's Row unfinished (see first half of review below). I finally decided to bite the bullet and finish up the last few pages today. The extreme frustration that I felt last week has since diminished, leaving me with a sense of apathy. Nothing about the book's glaring problems were resolved, but I can't say that this was a boring read either. Storytelling is not the issue here. If I were to rate the book simply on the story, I could easily go 3 or 4 stars. Unfortunately, the spotty world-building and extreme character deficiencies (because when killing wasn't bad enough, Cameron had to go extra-douchey by listening to Emmy's private phone messages) were inexcusable. I didn't like how we found out some of the reasons why Cameron did bad things near the end of the book. Great, so now I'm more sympathetic toward Cameron, while managing to be even more annoyed with Emmy for being okay with him doing this stuff without knowing the real reasons for his behavior. 
 Final thoughts : The mob world seemed silly. The names (Viper, Spider, Rocco, etc.) sounded like a t.v. show ripoff. I had a hard time believing that a 25 year old man-boy (really, he acted 16) was running this show. He was the boss of all of the bosses of this strange gang world that we really know nothing about, other than they "do bad stuff." There were plot holes aplenty in this story. 
 Emmy fell too hard, too fast, with no real reason to attach. There wasn't enough time for Stockholm Syndrome to develop. Period. She threw herself fully and completely onto a person who was doing things that would scare the shit out of most people, yet she overlooked it because he was nice to her. Does this happen in real life, where girls fall for bad guys that they have no business being with? Yes - all the time...but we don't call it Stockholm Syndrome in order to make it look somehow more excusable. 
 I'm screwed. That darn cliffhanger at the end makes me wonder if I won't pick up book 2 out of curiosity. I have been a curious cat in the past. It's a wonder I haven't used up all nine lives yet. 
 First half of review from last week : 
 Crow's Row : Otherwise known as - How I Sold My Soul For An Ipod or I Have Candy, Get In The Van 
 Help me. Help me. HELP me. Okay, I might need some serious hand-holding in order to finish this book. I'm about to do something that I've never done before and that's give out a premature rating before I've gotten to the end of a book. I reserve the right to raise my rating later if I decide to soldier on and finish, but something big is going to have to happen in the last 100 pages for me to change my mind because right now I am more pissed off at a book than I have ever been before. If you have known me for any length of time, you'd know that out of the 385ish reviews I've written, there have been maybe 3 or 4 books total which have made me go on a serious ranting tangent. So, we're talking rarity here. Hell, I've rated a book 1 star before and still found nice things to say about it. I just don't usually get that worked up over a book that I don't like. UNTIL quite possibly NOW. 
 So of course, you're going to ask what set me off... 
 I can not tell this without adding in some spoilers. It's just not possible to explain my level of frustration. So here's your warning :there are some spoilers ahead. I say go ahead and read it anyway because it's not like I can spoil the ending for you, obviously. 
 First off before anyone slaps me with the obvious : you did read the summary first? question...yes, I did. I like books about Stockholm Syndrome. This, however, is not a book about Stockholm Syndome, even though that's what I thought it would be. There was no TIME for SS to even develop. 
 Is there anything about this guy that would make you want to get close to him???? 
 1. After your first meeting where his dog attacks you, this man stalks you just about everywhere you go. 
 2. You witness him KILLING someone. 
 3. After he kills someone, he KIDNAPS you and holds you hostage at his place. 
 4. You find out he's a major crime boss who used to have business with your now dead brother. 
 Oh yes...that's exactly the person I'd be falling in love with right off the bat. She was getting flushed and taken in by this guy before she knew anything about him other than the fact that he was a criminal! 
 This is the point of the book where I had to put my reader down before I threw it : 
 Emmy thinks this to herself - Cameron was everything and I was, not enough. 
 And what is up with this 19 year old girl calling a 25 year old a boy? Is he or isn't he a man? I agree that he acts like a boy but yeah...this is odd.