Member Reviews
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
365 Days took over the world when the movie dropped on Netflix. It was hailed as the new Fifty Shades of Grey and was the next big thing. With the book not being translated to English yet, a lot of people couldn't wait to read it. While it was interesting to see the differences between the book and the movie, I think this was a very rare case where the movie was better (for me personally).
This book was entertaining, but I didn't go into it expecting to read the next great romance. This was pretty much exactly what I expected it would be. Laura & Massimo had chemistry but didn't bring anything new to the genre with their relationship.
If you're looking for a hot enemies-to-lovers type romance with passion that's not big on plot, then give this a read.
4/5 I hate it when people who read a book like this rate it low or give it a bad review because it isn't the type of book they normally read. This book brings exactly what it promises. It is about the head of a crime family who has a vision of a woman after an attempt on his life. He becomes obsessed with this vision and when he runs into a woman who is the exact likeness of his vision, he does the logical thing and kidnaps her . . . He forces her to stay with him for 365 days and is sure he'll make her fall in love with him during that time. Laura is a pretty strong female main character and holds her own even against the head of Sicilian crime family. Can she resist everything Massimo can give her?
This quote is the best way to sum up this book, "One thing was for sure: this wouldn't be an ordinary, boring life - more like a gangster movie sprinkled with some porn."
Like I said if this is the type of book you like to read, definitely give it a go but if it's not, just don't read it. I feel this will have similar success as the 50 Shades of Grey series did, maybe even a little more since people may have watched the Netflix movie before being able to read an English translation of this book.
I was so excited to finally have the opportunity to read this book. Well.....that ended very quickly as I found this very difficult to read. I did not watch the movie as I always feel the book is better, but wonder if it is because it was translated from another language that I struggled with it.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book
Loved reading the amazing and engaging first book in the 365 Days series. When Laura is kidnapped by Don Massimo, head of the Sicilian Crime Family, Massimo tells her he will keep her captive for 365 days. If Laura does not fall in love with Massimo within 365 days, he will let her go. Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written and riveting story capturing the reader's attention from the first page of the story until the last page of the story full of anticipation for the second story in the series.
I reviewed a copy of the book through NetGalley.
365 Days was all the rage this past summer because of the movie. Being an old soul, I needed to read the book first.
If you like a dark, mafi vibe to your romance you will be entertained by 365. I am a mafia lover so I was intrigued. While the it's mafia and "dark" romance lite, it's still a steamy read.
I'm curious to see how the trilogy plays out however, I won't die without it. The depth of the characters was pretty nonexistent. The most intriguing part of the story, his premonitions, is completely glossed over. It's almost like a weird quirk and not really touched upon.
Overall, I could take it or leave it.
365 Days is the English release of the first book in the polish trilogy about the head of an Italian crime family and a polish woman on vacation. In Sicily. This is the book that is based on the movie 365 Dni (Days) on Netflix.
Massimo Torricelli kidnaps Laura Biel while she is on vacation with her boyfriend. He takes her to his chateau, where he gives her 365 days to fall in love with him.
The book is written in the first person and switches back and forth between Laura and Massimo. This translation is well done, much better than the google translate that fans did last summer. The transitions are kind of weird; they move back and forth within the chapter, so unless you are familiar with the story, it might not be clear who is narrating.
Trigger warning - Massimo is pretty violent towards women, and we are thrown right into it in the first chapter with the airplane scene. It could read as rape and might be trigging if that is not your thing.
It was exciting to finally get to read this in English after reading poorly translated versions.
After seeing the movie I just had to read this book. It was so good. Searching for a women he has never met but who has captured is every thought. She has to be real right? Well when thinking not he sees her and has to have her. He doesn’t care what it takes to have her. He will do anything! But will it make her fall for him? He gives her a year to fall for him. Highly recommend.
I enjoyed the story of Massimo and Laura. Book is way better than movie. Massimo had a gentler side. Laura was fierce. Off the charts chemistry. No spoilers. Can’t wait for book two. I was given advance copy for a voluntary review.
3 Stars!
Ok, truth be told, I started this book about a month ago when I first received the ARC but had to set it aside because I lost interest after a few chapters. Like pretty much everyone else on the planet, I too saw the movie on Netflix last summer and was hella intrigued by the totally unconventional story. So I powered through this time. There were parts that were solid, but there were others where I think something is lost in translation because the delivery was stilted.
If you were a fan of 50 Shades, I think you'll enjoy this. There's A LOT that goes down. You have to really be able to suspend reality and just go with it. And, yes, the sex scenes are every bit as graphic as they are in the movie...maybe more?
I've always been a fan of dark erotica if it is executed correctly. It's a translated book, and it shows. There were several European phrases I had to look up, but that's ok.
I'd be interested in seeing where this story goes. The potential is definitely there.
Laura and her boyfriend are enjoying a dream vacation in Sicily when she is kidnapped. Massimo believes that Laura is the woman from his vision and must possess her at all costs. Massimo will have 365 days to when Laura’s heart but if she tries to escape his estate, he will kill her and her entire family. Will she fall for her captor? Fast-paced read with loads of drama, suspense and intense chemistry. I liked it.
After watching the movie, I was excited to read the book. Massimo's character wasn't what I expected. It was ok but it was really hard to get into the book. Maybe, I can give this another read and feel differently later on but for now, I feel just ok with it.
Thank you. Netgalley for letting me read this in return for my honest review.
I really, really wanted to love this book. There was so much hype over the book and the movie. I have not seen the movie and I'm not sure I ever will. If you are looking for super hot, dominating, steamy scenes, you will absolutely find it in this story. Usually, that is enough for me but lately I also want a strong story line. I knew the gist going in and though the story would be fleshed out but I was a little disappointed. I had to keep putting it down because I would get bored. It may be in the translation, who knows but while it was an okay story, it didn't wow me. It DID end on a cliffhanger which doesn't really bother me and it was a good cliffy if you are into that. 3.5 Stars. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to review.
365 Days by Blanka Lipińska is a failed attempt to mix Fifty Shades with mafia romance. I was not a fan of this one.
After seeing the movie, I wanted to read the book. I was excited to see the book out in English. 365 Days was an okay read for me. There is an over the top alpha hero, a feisty and strong-willed heroine, and lots of steamy scenes in 365 Days.The book ends on a cliffhanger.
This is one of the worst books I've ever read, and for reasons I will mention at the end, I can't even recommend reading this book in a "it's so terrible it's fun" way.
The author has no idea how to end chapters so chapters will usually end in the middle of a scene, and the actual book ends in the middle of a scene, mid-conversation. I actually laughed out loud at the ending because it just cuts off in the middle of a melodramatic conversation the way you might see a soap opera end. This is the worst, most amateurish ending I've ever read.
This book also doesn't have a climax either. I thought the main character would get kidnapped since the book foreshadowed it and that would have given this book an actual event to base the climax of the story around. Instead the protagonist just whines about her mafia boyfriend/kidnapper doing predictable mafia stuff. There is barely any plot to speak off. There is a lot of boring repetition as the protagonist goes to events that feel like events that already happened.
This book also had an upsetting rape-by-deception storyline that definitely could have been left out. When it is revealed that one character lies to another about birth control being used, the rape victim responds by saying they'll have to make it up to them, but that's it. It's portrayed as being no more distressing than if the character had lied about their dating history or something. It's completely trivialized.
SPOILERS
Then later on Laura tells one of her friends about the rape-by-deception and how she thinks she got pregnant on the first night they had sex, and the friend responds with this: "I don't want to sound like a crazy fortune teller, but you know those things don't happen very often. So maybe it's fate? Maybe it just had to happen? You used to tell me everything in life happens for a reason. Have you thought about a name yet?"
She literally just ignores the rape and the deception, tells her IT'S FATE that she got pregnant when her birth control was tampered with, and then moves on to baby names right away, not even upset that her friend was betrayed this way. I mean that's not just problematic, that's TERRIBLE writing in all ways. That's just not how normal people react to finding out their friend was horribly betrayed.
SPOILERS END
Seriously, I wanted to throw my tablet across the room, that part made me so furious.
This is especially difficult to process because this is supposed to be a wish-fulfillment kind of book and the love interest says he would never rape the protagonist which really sets up this mood that although there will be danger and excitement in this book, there is never any real danger of characters being sexually violated, and that's exactly what happens. This book should come with a rape trigger warning or something. It really just ruined whatever little enjoyment I'd gotten out of it.
The only good parts of this book were a few of the sex scenes (which are now retroactively icky knowing what I know now about the birth control) and lines that are so terrible they are unintentionally hilarious. For instance:
"His beautiful, straight, and thick prick stood erect like a candle stuck in the birthday cake"
"The sound of his hips hitting my buttocks sounded like applause."
I feel like if this book didn't have an upsetting rape-by-deception subplot, I could almost recommend it as a "read this terrible book for fun" read, but I can't even do that due to the distressing way rape-by-deception is minimized in this book. It's one thing to include it in the story, it's another entirely to have characters not even upset by it. That's the part that distresses me. If they'd at least been horribly upset by it, I would feel like it wasn't being trivialized the way that it is, and I wouldn't have a problem with it.
I wasn't expecting a woke book at all, but I don't like fiction that minimizes the harmful effects of rape by making victims not that upset by it (and the friend is not upset about it at all, wtf?). It doesn't even make sense from a good writing standpoint not to milk the betrayal for all it's worth by emphasizing how much pain it caused. That's how you create good drama.
I won't be reading any more books in this series or recommending this book to anyone.
3.5 stars
We'll start this review out by saying that I had already watched the movie before reading the book.
My first thoughts on starting the book, was that the writing was really stiff. But as I read on, I think that most of that is from the translation, and the sentences not flowing right. After I got past the writing, I decided that I really wasn't much of a fan of Laura. She seemed like an immature, petulant alcoholic. And I don't think that changed too much as the book went on. There were also things that bothered me about the continuity.
But, as much as all that irritated me, I still quite enjoyed the book. It is exactly the kind of plot that I love in a dark romance - mafia and Stockholm syndrome/forced relationship. And though I wasn't sure about this when I was reading it, after watching the movie again after this reading, I have decided that the book is indeed better. And I can't wait to both read and watch the rest of the series.
365 DAYS by Blanka Lipinska
I watched the movie and liked it. As always the book is so much better than the movie. Obviously It goes into much more detail. I did get a little weary of hearing Massimo called the Man In Black, that got pretty old. This is an enemies to lovers story, with plenty of heat, angst & drama. Massimo is the don of the mafia, powerful, totally in love with her, and he is on fire hot. Laura is a bit of a whiner, however is not submissive and gives him grief constantly. (Yes, she was kidnapped, but she does fall in love and lust with him.) I am definitely looking forward to seeing the second book translated into English, I wish that was happening a little quicker. This is a 5 star read.
Here’s a book that is both poorly translated and translates poorly. I have no idea if Google Translate was used to transform 365 dni from its original Polish, but the book is filled with odd passages, strange phrasing and many instances where a wrong word is clearly utilized. Word choice and syntax can be described as awkward and lacking in nuance throughout. It’s quite ironic considering the main character’s repeated claim that she speaks “perfect English”.
Translation aside, the characterization and plot are simplistic and crude. A young mob boss becomes obsessed with a woman in his visions and when he finally sees her doppelgänger, he kidnaps her and presents this ultimatum: give him 365 days to make her fall in love with him. If she wishes to walk away in one year she will be free to do so, but if she tries to escape before the year is complete, her family will be killed.
Massimo, the mob boss, is like a sledgehammer. The words subtlety and finesse are not in his vocabulary. He uses other women while he is “courting” his Mistress.
The Mistress is Laura. She’s arrogant and extremely superficial. As Massimo does not seem to embody any warmth, compassion or redeeming qualities, Laura’s only other motivations towards the relationship are completely materialistic. She’s shallow, greedy, likes to win but hates to work, and is shameless about it. She screams and yells a lot.
By way of introduction, Laura describes herself as being extremely fit, and having a tummy as hard as a rock and perfectly flat. She splurged on permanent brow, eye, and lip makeup “out of sheer laziness”. And most importantly, she had to be dressed as perfectly as possible all the time, because it makes her feel good and obviously (her words) made her look good, too.
Laura talks endlessly about her good looks, expensive clothes and shoes, and how fit she is. The story is told in past tense from Laura’s perspective. She sounds like an alien seeing everything on Earth for the first time. She is also conceited, needing Massimo’s constant attention even when professing to hate him. She won’t say no to the shopping sprees though. Some of the things Laura says are nonsensical. Like, “he pierced me with his gaze” while she is blindfolded. She drinks glass after glass of champagne, is bored a lot, and complains about everything.
It’s actually quite painful and annoying to read. This is an unrefined imitation of its contemporaries in the mafia and captive genres, devoid of sympathy, insightfulness, or sophistication. The plot and characters are lacking no matter how it is translated from the original.
I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to give my honest opinion on this matter.
Full disclosure, I have not seen the movie. I had a vague idea of what the book was about but that was all. I do wish I had known this book ends of a cliffhanger. Also, it could be triggering for some people due to the dark nature of the material.
With that out of the way, I enjoyed the book. Yes, it is dark. There is dub-con and violence. There are some really steamy scenes. Massimo kidnaps Laura and demands a year of her life. He forces her compliance by threatening her loved ones. He intends to make her fall in love with him during that year, and thus stay with him on her own free will. Do I think the plot is realistic? Absolutely not but that's what makes it fun. It's fantasy! A super hot guy kidnaps a girl and then lavishes her with attention and gifts. Remove the kidnapping and that seems to be the plot for most romance novels. Laura seems to need the darker things Massimo can provide. Their sexual appetites seem to be aligned well. The dub-con works for this story, as both characters seem to need it. There are some interesting side characters as well.
Overall I would declare this a good read. Some of the plot points were a little hard to swallow but the story basically progresses well. It is also impotent to note that this book only covers a few months of Laura's year with Massimo. There are 2 more books. I removed one star from my rating simply because of the cliffhanger ending. I don't read Polish and the other two books have not been translated yet, so it truly left me hanging.
I received this ebook in exchange for a review from Netgalley.
Like everyone else, I watched the 365 Days movie on Netflix and couldn't wait to read the book. The book is different than the movie in some aspects. It ends on a different cliffhanger. I will read the second book only because I want to see how it ends. I think I would have liked the book better if I had read it first instead of watching the movie.