Review: Better When He’s Bad – Jay Crownover

Posted 8 February, 2016 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 30 Comments


Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Review: Better When He’s Bad – Jay CrownoverBetter When He's Bad by Jay Crownover
Series: Welcome to the Point #1
Published by HarperCollins Publishers on 17 June 2017
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
Source: RT15
3.5 Stars

Welcome to the Point . . .

There's a difference between a bad boy and a boy who's bad. . . . Meet Shane Baxter.

Sexy, dark, and dangerous, Bax isn't just from the wrong side of the tracks, he is the wrong side of the tracks. A criminal, a thug, and a brawler, he was the master of bad choices, until one such choice landed him in prison for five years. Now Bax is out and looking for answers, and he doesn't care what he has to do or who he has to hurt to get them. But there's a new player in the game, and she's much too innocent, much too soft . . . and standing directly in his way.

Dovie Pryce knows all about living a hard life and the tough choices that come with it. She's always tried to be good, tried to help others, and tried not to let the darkness pull her down. But the streets are fighting back, things have gone from bad to worse, and the only person who can help her is the scariest, sexiest, most complicated ex-con the Point has ever produced.

Bax terrifies her, awakening feelings she never thought she'd have for a guy like him. But it doesn't take Dovie long to realize . . . some boys are just better when they're bad.

Contemporary - (un)Conventional Bookviews Hot, hot, hot - (un)Conventional Bookviews New Adult - (un)Conventional Bookviews Sport - (un)Conventional Bookviews

Better When He’s Bad is dark and gritty, and while Bax and Dovie grew up in similar situations, one has managed to hold on to hope and loyalty, while the other thinks a life of crime is the only way to go.

Review - (un)Conventional Bookviews

There were many things I really enjoyed in Better When He’s Bad, and both of the main characters were among those things. Dovie was so much stronger than she looked, she had been through a lot, but she held on to her inner goodness, and was not shy about sharing her hopes. Bax was much darker, but he had good reasons for seeing the future the way he did – either he’d be back in prison rather soon, or he’d be in a coffin in the grave-yard. And he preferred the second option.

The overall story and setting were quite well done, the Point is the kind of bad part of town that exists almost everywhere. Where people feel unsafe, where bad things happen and nobody will help, but where there is still little fragments and sparks of hope for something better. Because most of the people who lived in the Point felt like there was only so much they could do to better their situations, nothing much changed, and the crime boss Novak was one of the few people who was happy about that.

Written in dual points of views from both Bax and Dovie’s perspectives, Better When He’s Bad managed to help me get to know both characters really well, and I enjoyed seeing their thoughts and actions both through their own eyes and the other character’s eyes. One of the issues I had with the story was that I thought it could have been a little tighter, with less repetition of words so the flow would have been easier on me. This is a very personal opinion, though, as I know many, many other bloggers who loved this story to pieces. It’s a 3.5 star read for me, and I will definitely pick up Better When He’s Bold very soon, because Crownover has a good premise and solid characters to build on.

Fave Quotes - (un)Conventional Bookviews

I sucked the noxious fumes into my lungs and squinted at the sky. I would kill for some Tylenol to get rid of the pounding throb in my head, but there were more pressing matters I had to deal with at the moment. Not to mention, a few rounds with Roxie had done nothing to dull the burning want at the back of my throat.

It was clear I wasn’t going to shake her off. She was bound and determined to have her fingers in everything I was doing to scare up information on Race, and the fact of the matter was, she was safer in front of me than trying to dodge my heels in the shadows. In all honesty, I figured she would see the places I was going, the rough crowd I was dealing with, and back off. 

He grinned in the dim interior of the car and I watched the way it made that star on his face crinkle up on the edges. It shouldn’t make him attractive – it was impossible to miss and screamed “troubled-and-trouble” – but it was hot. I hated to admit it, but he was all sorts of sexy felon. God, what was wrong with me? That kiss had made me stupid.

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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30 responses to “Review: Better When He’s Bad – Jay Crownover

  1. I picked up this one over the holiday break at my local used bookstore, Lexxie. You know, since I knew I was gonna love Crownover! *ha* I’m happy to see you liked it overall. I wonder if the flow was due to her starting a new series? I’m going to finish up the Marked Men series before I dive into this one though. That way I’m not behind in 2 series! 😉
    Happy Monday and happy reading, my friend!! **BIG HUGS**

    • LOL I wanted to read her books ever since we met her at RT, and this was good. You might be right, there could be things that were being set up for a new series that made the flow a little less fluid than it cold have been.
      Have a great week! *BIG HUGS*

  2. I’m glad to hear you liked it, despite some issues with the flow of the story and repetitive words. It seems like a read I’d enjoy too – especially with the bad boy main character.

    • Bad boys are so delicious, aren’t they? And the characters here really made the story, and I enjoyed it. However, when there is something that makes me kind of step back from the story, I kind of lose myself a little, thus the slightly lower rating 🙂

  3. it’s also a bit difficult to me to have repetitions because the pace isn’t the same as I keep thinking of the words. Otherwise, it sounds like an interesting one and I confess that I’m curious about the Point.

  4. I’ve been hearing amazing things about Jay Crownover for a couple years now but I haven’t read them yet. I’m not super into really gritty books, but I think I have to give her books a try.

    I’m glad you really liked this one.

  5. I am guessing this would not be up my alley but one of these days I will try Jay. I have heard nothing but good things. Repetitions are annoying to me (it happens in serials and dual POV type of books –even though those are two totally different types of books LOL). I just have a hard time with them because I am like been there, done that LOL

  6. I have been really curious about this one and you made it sound really great despite the repetitions. I do enjoy the dual POV though, its nice to get more in depth detail on the characters.

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