A Pound of Flesh is a pretty recent release, so I remember it being talked about a lot on Twitter. I’ve had a string of stressful traveling and family issues hit me at once, so of course I had to engage in a little retail book therapy and picked this puppy up. A heroine teaching literature classes to prisoners and a criminal hero who has some sort of connection to the murder of the heroine’s father? Sounds angsty and right up my alley.

I couldn’t wait to get it.

When I did and saw the stamp on the cover that the book had over 4.5 million reads online, my heart dropped. Apparently, this book used to be fanfic. Twilight fanfic. Now my hesitation has nothing to do with fanfiction in general (I used to write it back in my high school days) or that it came from Twilight. Surprisingly, I probably wouldn’t have known these characters were modeled after Bella and Edward if I hadn’t been tipped off to its fanfic beginnings. However, I’ve read quite a number of fics turned books, and I cannot remember one that I’ve actually enjoyed.

I also saw that there’s another book slated to come out this fall that’s the second book in this series. I was worried that this would be a cliffhanger situation (I know how much we all love those), but I’m happy to report that the second book focuses on another couple. No cliffhanger.

This book took me on a rollercoaster. At any given time, I wasn’t too sure if I loved it or hated it. However, I think I’ve finally figured out my feelings on the matter:

That being said, the first quarter of the book blew my socks clean off. Our hero known as Carter is a smartass with a penchant for explosive outbursts. I’m sure you can imagine how well that went over in a prison setting. Kat has tried all different teaching gigs, but there’s nothing she finds quite as fulfilling as helping those in the prison system. It’s also part of a longstanding promise she made to her father. I thought the book would mainly take place in the correctional facility, and my mind immediately started thinking of how creative these two would need to be to try and get together, given all the surveillance.

Unfortunately, the prison setting doesn’t last very long. Carter gets out on parole and Kat offers to keep tutoring him after his release since it would look favorably on him. This skirts the surveillance issue, but Kat is still under contract, complete with a “no fraternization” clause.

You would think this would be the biggest obstacle for them, and I’m all for a “forbidden romance” trope.

But though this seems to be a concern for both characters, it never really manifests into much of a threat. No one tries to blackmail them by letting their secret out. They openly take trips together and go on dates. It’s frustrating because they immediately fall in love with one another as soon as they’re no longer confined to prison walls.

In my opinion, there was really no main conflict. Kat immediately accepts Carter’s role on the day her father was murdered. It’s not much of a big reveal since it happens before the first half of the book, if I remember correctly. Carter is also part of a very wealthy family, though some of his relatives are hoping to push him out of his inheritance. You’d think that would be an issue too, like this guy who is a criminal is secretly a billionaire. But nope. What about the awful family trying to screw him over? Surely, they might interested in using his relationship with his tutor to get what they want. BUT NOPE.

Also, his family is in cahoots with some pretty shady individuals, who might be dangerous to Kat and Carter. Perhaps they could cause some trouble with their seemingly carefree relationship.

BUT NOOOOOOPPPPPEEEE.

Truthfully, not a lot happens. Kat and Carter kiss. They argue in the rain a bunch. They profess how much they were meant for each other. Kat’s friends and family treat her like a child and constantly berate her for her decisions, like working in a prison, even though she is twenty-five-fucking-years-old. You expect certain scenarios to happen and they never do.

The premise is truly what sold me, especially Kat and Carter’s early antagonist relationship, but that momentum came to a screeching halt. The action keeps getting set up to cause our couple grief – the death of Kat’s father, the secret of their student/teacher relationship, Carter’s family, their “class differences” – but nothing is ever done with these. They’re just kind of spoken into existence, and I wind up skimming the last quarter of the book.

There’s only so many “I need yous” a girl can take. I was expecting action and drama, and I just got a whole lot of sappy confessions and shitty relatives. It’s boring and a lot of the scenes seem more befitting of a young adult novel.

I’ve seen Hard Time by Cara McKenna ( A | K | G ) come up on sale a few times with a similar setting, and I’m wondering if that’ll be able to deliver what I’m looking for.