Review: Monster in His Eyes by J.M. Dahower

Monster in His Eyes by J.M. Dahower

My Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Book Description: 

Ignazio Vitale is not a good man.

I suspect it, the first time I see him, sense the air of danger that surrounds the man. He has a way of commanding attention, of taking control, of knowing what I'm thinking before I even do.

It's alarming and alluring. It's dark and deadly. It's everything I've ever wanted but the last thing I truly need. Obsession.

It doesn't take him long to draw me into his web, charming me into his bed and trapping me in his life, a life I know nothing about until it's too late. He has secrets, secrets I can't fathom, secrets that make it so I can't walk away, no matter how much I beg him to let me go. I see it sometimes in his eyes, a darkness that's both terrifying and thrilling. He's a monster, wrapped up in a pretty package, and what I find when I unmask him changes everything.

I want to hate him.

Sometimes, I do.

But it doesn't stop me from loving him, too.

★★ 2.5 Stars! ★★

What the hell did I just read here?

Do not let the synopsis of this book fool you. It may sound extremely intriguing, but trust me when I say that it's anything but. I honestly don't even know how I managed to finish the damn thing. Harsh? Maybe. ...But sometimes the truth hurts.

In a nutshell, there is absolutely nothing interesting or memorable about the heroine Karissa. As a matter of fact, I couldn't tell you a thing about her. 

What color hair does she have? Is she tall or short? Fat or skinny? Has she had any previous relationships? TELL ME SOMETHING! For God's sake, her character had absolutely no depth. None what-so-ever, which was such a complete disappointment. Nothing ruins a book for me more, than lack of character development. Not to mention, does this chick ever have anything interesting to say? Her favorite word was "Uh"and by favorite word, I mean she literally said it in every other sentence.

"Uh... I don't really have anything to wear to a dinner party."
"Uh... Yeah, but I really should get going."
"Uh... I think I should get to class."
"Uh... I don't think that's a good idea." 

For the love of God, expand your fucking vocabulary. To make matters worse, on top of her lack of intelligence when it comes to word choice, she's also a dumb-ass when it comes to holding a conversation.

"'I have a party to go to this weekend,' he says. 'Come with me.'
My eyes widen. "...A party? Like, with people and dancing?'
'...It's more of a dinner party but yes, there may be some dancing.'
'...A dinner party,' I echo. 'Like with... dinner?'" 

Yes bitch, with dinner! Why the fuck wouldn't you have dinner at a fucking dinner party? 

I just... I can't. She was either extremely slow or her vagina did all the talking- Enough said.

Now while the hero Naz didn't grate on my nerves near as much, he also didn't expand his vocabulary much more than his significant love interest. The only difference is, his favorite word was "Huh." How charming. He was your typical cold and brooding hero, although a bit boring if I'm being honest. The guy didn't have much of a personality at all. He rarely showed any emotion and always presented a cool and calm appearance. There just wasn't really anything to his character aside from the fact that he was hot... Rich... And gave expensive gifts.

On top of the interesting dialogue and fabulous characters, we're also graced with page after page of nothing. 

Absolutely nothing of importance happened throughout the entire story up until about the last twenty percent or so. More than 75% of the book consisted of eating, screwing, sleeping... Karissa wanting to ask questions but never rarely ever having the courage to do so. ...And whenever she does find the courage to ask, Naz responds with the most irritating and evasive answers. Oh, or he says "Huh" since that's his favorite word. Then they eat... Watch some more movies... Have some more sex... Realize somewhere in between that they're both madly in love with each other even though they barely know anything about one another and then start all over again.

Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat.
Kill me.

When you can predict the way things play out a mile away, unfortunately it makes for a pretty non-compelling read. I will give the last twenty percent or so some credit, as it did keep me intrigued, but that's not saying much since that was really the only time throughout the entire novel that something exciting actually happened. 

...I honest to God just don't see how this book has pulled so many high ratings and reviews. I just found it all to be so incredibly boring. It's obvious that this story was a winner for a majority of people, but for me this book turned out to be nothing more than a drag.


View all my reviews on Goodreads