I think a lot of my expectations came from the fact that this was pushed as first and foremost a Sweeney Todd retelling. But then, it instead is mostly a Hamlet retelling which just happens to share characteristics of the Sweeney Todd tale. And honestly, we didn't need another Hamlet retelling. The Lion King was already peak Hamlet retelling.

Which, okay, fine. So it's a Hamlet retelling. And if that was the only issue I took with the book, then it wasn't too bad. But this was kind of dreadful by the end, and I think I know why most of these dark romances are not really doing their thing for me. They take themselves way too seriously, and the disturbingly dark background content and trauma dumping isn't exactly my cup of tea. And as far as characters go, the two main characters we're fairly forgettable after everything that's happened. Even the spice was fairly tame, compared to the previous books of the Tattered Curtains series. Overall, I just didn't get that invested. Which is a shame, considering I was here for the revenge-murder spree that Talia was getting herself into. I only wished there was much less Hamlet and more focus on the two characters actually holding a shop together where they bickered like a married couple and exacted sweet vengeance together to right the world and get rid of all the assholes in their neighborhood. Like Dexter but a more organized crime network sort of thing.

Um, okay, maybe not.