I finished this book with a feeling of dissatisfaction. It feels strange that Tony should just accept the mob and forget about his dead wife and mother - two positive influences in his life. I know it's a matter of survival, but it didn't feel natural. I didn't understand why the Slayers were at Kate' s funeral. Tony did lose his wife, so why do they still want revenge? I mean his wife was tortured in the most barbaric way , being eaten by a madman for seven days!! This is more a horror story than a mystery/thriller. I didn't appreciate the violence of Kate's torture and Tony's time in jail. It was graphic and unsettling. I've read horror stories, but this is not to my liking.
I also didn't see the connection where Kate took out the trash and the romantic dinner afterward at their home!
Lastly, I think Ms Dearth should put her biography at the end. I think the impact of her abused childhood on her protagonist would be more positive. Instead, it being in the beginning of the book actually distract the reader and made me feel like there too much repetition of abused children. I'm very sorry that Ms Dearth suffered during her childhood and there are lots of other children in the same boat, but I had the impression of being force-fed this fact, which I find uncomfortable.
To conclude, I didn't enjoy reading this book, although I'm sure there are other readers who will appreciate it. I don't think I will recommend this to my friends. I'm really sorry if I've hurt Ms Dearth's feelings. I'm very aware that it must be very difficult for her to be able to write all this out. Bravo to her courage and success.

This story begins when Tony Bruno is 7 years old and follows him through young adulthood. It is bleak, brutal, and at times shocking. Life for Tony is nothing but pain. He is taunted, beaten and bullied nearly to death by his classmates, belittled and beaten at home by his good for nothing father, friendless and alone in his misery. He is subjected to every abuse imaginable. Physical, emotional, and later sexually assaulted, which was quite difficult to read...I had to put this book down twice and walk away for a bit.
At 13 he is tossed out of his home with nowhere to turn. Tony ends up in a gang and later in the mob. There are few friendly faces amidst all this turmoil. He meets a kindly older woman and her grand daughter who become his surrogate family, and a girl he falls in love with, but his gangster lifestyle attracts danger to those closest to him. This was an emotional read, that at times had me enraged, disgusted, and sometimes in tears.

A truly disturbing and realistic story about a young boy who is bullied, accused of a crime he doesn't commit and immerses himself in a life of crime thinking this will make him a better person. Hard to read at times, with a lot of violence, however extremely well written and gives the reader a true look into the life of gangs and the Mafia.

Mean Little People is a dark book about what can happen to a child whose family cannot or will not provide him with love and basic support (food, clothes etc.). It is a raw, violent look at the many sick people waiting to take advantage of a child with few choices, and the impact on a boy that wanted a happy life and ended up mentally and emotionally scarred to such a degree that he became the man he never wanted to be. It is a horrific story, but one I am afraid is more on the mark than off.

An eye-opening read, this is a book that I won't soon forget!

Many thanks to Netgalley, Paige Dearth and publisher Fiction with Meaning, LLC for allowing me to read an e-copy of this book.

This is a dark book. Tony is bullied at school, bullied at home by his father, winds up in Juvie where horrible things happen to him, lives on the streets and pretty much raises himself. Just when you think things are in an upswing you get the rug pulled out from under you. It is an emotional roller coaster of a book.

Paige Dearth really takes you on a ride of survival and pain. Well written this book sucks you in and keeps your attention as you keep routing for Tony to win at this game of life. Tony's life is violent, from almost getting lynched by a group of bullies to being kicked out of his house, joining a gang and then ultimately finding a home in the mob. As a Philly girl I loved the setting and Dearth really brings South Philly to life, North Philadelphia has changed a bit from the time this book is set but I remember when it was the gang ridden hell hole she describes.

Its been a few days since I finished this book and its still sitting with me. Tony is one of those characters who will stay with me for a long time.

I really can't review this book as the subject matter is not my cup of tea. While it's a frightening story that rings only too true, and the characters ring true, I am not fond of books about organized crime. My heart went out to Tony as I saw him suffer and change irrevocably by the horror he endured, but after reading about half of the book the violence had turned my stomach so much I could not go on. I am sure that other readers will like this book. It just wasn't for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing the opportunity to read this book. I expect that it will be quite successful.

I didn't like this book. I skipped paragraphs and sometimes entire pages. The story was ok, but I hated the dialogue. The plot spanned over the main character's life, and it was just one bad thing after another. It was just a bit too much in the end.

Didn't finish. I found this book very depressing and had to stop!

Mean Little People takes us through the life of a young promising boy that has to live in a harsh world, surrounded by terrible people. Being unfamiliar with the author I was shocked by the crudeness in which violence was depicted, there were so many moments when I was sure that there’s no way she would go as far as actually showing the deed, but Paige Dearth doesn’t shy away from showing the countless cruelties that Tony has to suffer. This book is not for the faint of heart as it goes to really dark places. It is addicting, but I had to read it at a moderate pace. Because of the nature of the content, it doesn’t really favor binge-reading, unless you’re feeling too cheery and want to change that. The more you read, the more you can feel the darkness taking root in your mind just as it does in Tony’s.

As the book progresses, Tony starts to battle the darkness that the world forces on him, trying to find a balance between what keeps him human and what is slowly turning him into the monster that he has sworn never to become. Tony as a characters is both tragic and scary, it hurts seeing him transition from a lovable young boy to a hateful adult.

I feel that the fact that Tony goes through so many terrible things hurt the quality of this book. There were moments, mostly in the first part of the book, when it all felt like a game of “how can we make Tony suffer more?” It wasn’t the violence itself at fault, but the way in which the universe seemed to plot against Tony took me a bit out of the story and made me self-conscious about the fact that I was reading a book. To add to that, some of the character’s decisions (especially his mother’s) didn’t feel believable to me.

Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed Mean Little People, it reminded me of Karin Slaughter’s Pretty Girls which is a favorite of mine. I like authors that are not afraid to tackle subjects in a way that might turn some people off because of the roughness and the straightforward rawness that they infuse in their prose. Paige Dearth is an author that I’ll keep my eyes on.

Wish I could give this way more than 5 stars! I cried many times while reading this book. Tony is a young child, bullied by his peers, beaten by his father and he feels worthless, as though life will never have a meaning for him. The book made me angry too, I wanted to reach into the book and punish those who treated him so inhumanely. But I loved Tony, who only wanted to be loved. As he grows into a man bad things still happen to him but the book takes us through his journey. Tony is determined to work hard and become the man he was born to be. A hard book to read, but well worth it and I will read this one again! I first read this when it was released as Born Mobster.

This book will keep you awake at night! It's shocking, and not for the weak of heart. However, this is a well written story, that I believe has a ring of truth of what goes on in this world we live in. It will keep you turning page after page. The author does a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life, I look forward to reading more of her novels.