REVIEW: The Con by Justine Elvira

The Con by Justine Elvira
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Description: 

Jagger had three rules for every con:

1. Don't back out
2. Don't forget the story
3. Don't fuck it up

I broke them all.

I first met Jagger when I was just nine years old. He was an older boy who gave me twenty dollars to buy a new pair of ballet shoes after I dropped mine in the mud. That's when I fell in love with him.

And love would be my downfall.

I would run into Jagger over the years and I'd watch him as he'd hustle strangers out of their money with his latest scam. He lied, he cheated, and he took advantage of anyone he could. Most importantly, he never got caught. 

Well, until he needed me to help him pull off his biggest con to date.

I thought I could do it. He told me it was easy to make money through deception, and I believed him because he had a lot of it.

But I should have known that nothing is guaranteed.

My name is Ronnie and now we're on the run.

*Recommended for 18+ due to subject matter and sexual content.

I love Justine Elvira’s writing, so when I saw this coming out, I couldn’t wait!

From page one, I was pulled into the lives of Ronnie and Jagger. The book starts off when the characters are young and follows them, and their interactions with each other until adulthood.

Ronnie and Jagger grew up in the same trailer park. Both have crappy home lives and each deals with it differently. Ronnie turns to ballet to escape from life while Jagger becomes the breadwinner at 13 years old by pulling cons to bring in money for his family.

The met by chance when 9 year old Ronnie dropped her new ballet slippers in the mud and Jagger gave her money for a new pair…it was love at first sight. It took a little longer for me to fall for him. I liked him when he was a kid, he was always nice to Ronnie. But after they finally hooked up after a party, I had my doubts that he could redeem himself for me. It really helped to have his POV later in the book. Then I was able to see into his mind and where he was coming from.

When it came to the con…I wasn’t sure what to expect. I kept wondering how Ronnie would get pulled into his life and specifically, into the con. But actual event was very interesting and had a twist to it. I loved Ronnie and Jagger on the run together. My only wish is that we’d gotten to see a little more of them after the fact.

But overall, this was a really great book.

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