Review: Wicked Blaze Correctional by M. Sinclair
2.5 Stars || Reverse Harem + Prison Hijinks || Amazon + Goodreads
I struggled through this one. On the one hand, I really love the dark nature of the characters but on the other hand, Valentina is sooooooooo Mary Sue. Her Mary Sue-ness kind of pulled me out of the story on multiple occasions. She’s all-powerful, ALL the men are in love with her. She’s scary, her men are scary. . .
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the book to a certain extent. The characters are damaged, dark, and twisty. Dimitri, one of her harem – is wicked crazy, a serial killer soaked in blood most days. Milo is the damaged but sexy one, with badass magical talent that is alluded to but never really completely shown. Then there is Vaughn, the guard who has conveniently known her since High School and of course, she is his mate. After that we’ve got another shifter, the new guy, West, he’s a thief or something, and eh. . .I could take him or leave him. And to round out the harem, you’ve got the scary incorporeal, until he meets Valentina, Francisco – a magic eater, or a death eater but red.
Honestly, I would have enjoyed the guys if the author had just stuck to Dimitri and Milo. Like I said though, it’s a Mary Sue situation. They’ve all gotta have her. *eyeroll*
All that being said, I thought the book had massive potential to be super cool. Unfortunately, it’s a bit confusing where her power comes from or why she is so magnificently all-powerful, then there’s the snake that just appears and becomes what I would assume, her familiar. . .maybe, possibly. So much of this book was just confusing and now that I am finished with it, I’m not entirely sure what the point of the book was. . .
Eh. I might zip through the follow-up to see where the author takes this series, I might not. I’m blah about the whole thing.
Synopsis:
Wicked Blaze Correctional. Home to the most dangerous criminals of each realm.
Drake sent me here to ruin me. To destroy me and any memory of his egregious act that could incriminate him for being the homicidal maniac he was. What he hadn’t counted on? Me. He hadn’t counted on my strength and my magic rising up to become the scariest damn thing in this place. It helped that I had a human by my side that showed up to breakfast every morning covered in blood. I should probably ask Dimitri what that was about one of these days. Don’t forget Milo! An Ink Mage with the nifty ability to not only interpret dreams but to change them, as well as reality itself. Did I mention he was absolutely mental? Maybe it was because of the insomnia. I didn’t know what to tell them about one of the lead guards, Vaughn, who kept claiming I’m his ‘mate’ and promising to get me out. Or how to explain the odd feeling I had about the new inmate that just showed up, seeming a bit too sweet for this place. There is something changing in the air though, something different than what’s been going on the past six months. Maybe it’s the magic eater that keeps floating by my cell every morning? I didn’t care what the change was, as long as I got out. I had a witch to kill, and I wasn’t going to be able to put Drake in the ground from here.
Welcome to Wicked Blaze Correctional – Book 1 of The Wronged series. This trilogy will be a fast-burn reverse harem filled with dark subject matters, a strong FMC, and insane men. This institution isn’t like any correctional facility you’ve read about before. It’s brutal, cut-throat, and there are no rules except that you can’t leave until your sentence is done… which is never. Follow Valentina and her men on a journey filled with revenge, steam, and strong characters that don’t fit the norm of society. A bit crazy? That is just their normal. This fantasy medium/fast burn RH contains several dark themes that readers should be aware of: swearing (I know—surprising, right?), gore, violence, assault, and sexual themes suitable for +18. Additionally, this book does have mature light m/m themes that develop over time. This book ends in a ‘light cliffhanger,’ which is defined as questions left open for the continuation of the series.
