meh. not bad for first book, but seemed like it was missing parts of the plot. ( )

This reader's personal opinion, ©2018, all rights reserved, not to be quoted, clipped or used in any way by goodreads, Google Play, amazon.com or other commercial booksellers*

Not completely sure what I think of this first in series or if I'll continue. There were hints of unique and interesting worldbuilding and characters. Some humor. Read more gangbanger than mobster. May just be first book-it-is and rest of series a string one.

I'm not sure the book knew what it wanted to be. Lots of new stuff thrown in at end. The mystery part dud not progress well. Sometimes I started to connect to the character but a lot of time I did not because she didn't connect well to others (well, okay, an otherworldly BFF and new roommate eventually tossed in -- not really explained why our "heroine" befriended this Otherworld one but enslaved another Otherworld ...).

It was well written, but kinda a mess. If I hadn't accidentally library borrowed the next book mistaking series order, not sure how much I would have read. It was a book/series that kept showing up on my radar so probably I would have finished at least this first book.

*©2018. All rights reserved except permission is granted to author or publisher (except Penumbra Publishing) to reprint/quote in whole or in part. I may also have cross-posted on The Reading Room, Libib, LibraryThing, and other sites including retailers like kobo and Barnes and Noble. Posting on any site does not grant that site permission to share with any third parties or indicate release of copyright.

Ratings scale:

★★★★★ = All Time Favorite
★★★★½ = Extraordinary Book. Really Loved It.
★★★★☆ = Loved It.
★★★½☆ = Really Liked.
★★★☆☆ = Liked.
★★½☆☆ = Liked parts; parts only okay. Would read more by author.
★★☆☆☆ = Average. Okay.
★½☆☆☆ = Disliked or meh? but kept reading in hopes would improve.
★☆☆☆☆ = Loathed It. Possibly DNF and a torturous read.
½☆☆☆☆ = So vile was a DNF or should have been. Cannot imagine anyone liking. (Might also be just an "uploaded" word spew or collection that should not be dignified by calling itself a "published book." If author is going batshit crazy in the blogosphere over reviews -- I now know why they are getting bad reviews. Or maybe author should take remedial classes for language written in until basic concepts like using sentences sink in. Is author even old enough to sign a publishing contract or do they need a legal guardian to sign for them?) ( )

Repetition of the word "juice" had me on the fence with this book, and the chapter or so that followed were too clumsy to keep me going. DNF.

Abigail wasn't a fan, either, but she powered through. Read her review at All Things Urban Fantasy.

jjbooklvr This is book 1 of the Underworld Cycle. Domino is a gangster. Not your typical one though--she can do magic and is a lieutenant in her outfit. When one of her crew turns up not only dead, but skinned as well she is charged by her boss to find out why. All clues lead to an upcoming war with a rival outfit. With the help of a piskie named Honey can Domino figure out who is behind the murders and the upcoming war in time?

I liked how the author took the use of magic and the supernatural world and gave it a different spin from your typical Urban Fantasy story. I will have to now read the next book in the series Skeleton Crew. ( )

I read an advance reader's copy of this novel. This urban fantasy novel had a fast paced strong storyline with a strong heroine and an intelligently plotted magic system. The protagonist Dominica, or Domino as she prefers, is one of the top level magic users in a mob in L.A. that's run by a Sumerian sorcerer. Magical mob wars ensue, as her fellow mob members start turning up murdered in gruesome ways and Domino has to get to the bottom of it all. It's very mod, with Domino using Wikipedia and the Internet to divine and talk to the spirit world. Something about it didn't grab me and I had to persevere to the end, despite its good storyline. Something about the mob morality, perhaps - I think I prefer more conflicted heroines if they are going to be murdering mobsters - though the author does bring in discussions of morality to some extent. Or maybe the updates to bring in L.A. mob and mod were a little too forced for me. Or the heavy echoes of Jim Butcher and Kim Harrison. Still, the echoes were freshened up and made pretty new. Overall maybe it's just that I didn't connect with the character emotionally. She seemed cold. Best recommended to older teens and young adults, I think, who as a bonus might actually like the painfully manga looking cover. ( )