Be My Monster by Davidson King | Book Review
A masterclass in fumbled potential š
Book Blurb:
A man born without the ability to feel pain or fear. A mob boss whose family gets saved by a stranger stepping out of the shadows. A premise so compelling I was in Davidson King’s TikTok comments announcing my immediate intentions to read it. We do not speak of what happened next. š¬
Be My Monster is a MM mafia romance built on one of the most genuinely original character concepts I’d encountered in the genre in a while, Penn’s condition, known as FAAH Out, gives the story an immediate hook that sets it apart from your standard dark romance setup. A man who cannot feel fear falling for one of the most dangerous men in the city should have been everything. Whether it delivered on that promise is exactly what this review is about.
Book Review
A mob boss. A man who cannot feel pain or fear. A burning house that sets everything in motion.
On paper, Be My Monster by Davidson King is Book 1 of the Be Mine series. It’s exactly the kind of dark romance premise that makes you drop everything and download it immediately. In practice, however, it’s a masterclass in fumbled potential ā and that might be the most frustrating kind of book to review. But I committed by opening my mouth on TikTok, so here we go.
Penn, in concept and in execution, is genuinely compelling. The FAAH Out condition ā the inability to feel pain or fear ā is handled with enough emotional weight that it stops being a gimmick and becomes a real lens through which you understand him. (And yes, if you’ve seen the movie Novocaine, you’ll recognize the premise, though Penn’s interiority goes somewhere different.)
His gentleness against the backdrop of a world that has always treated him as something dangerous is the emotional core the book needed to build everything else around. The found family thread with Gideon’s twins also has real warmth when it’s allowed to breathe. They’re actually super cute together. It’s adorable.
The problem is Gideon. Quite frankly, I wanted to understand him ā his reputation, his grief, his authority. But he didn’t make sense. His family dynamic with his brother and sister-in-law exists in the background like furniture that no one talks about. He’s described as a powerful, dangerous man, but the actual war plotline doesn’t back that up. If it were a boxing match, the villain had him on the ropes most of the book. Made no sense.
The villain is more menacing than Gideon ever manages to be, which is a real structural problem in a story where the title is quite literally Be My Monster. If Gideon isn’t the monster, and neither is Penn, then who is? If the reader can’t feel the weight of what Gideon supposedly is and what he’s capable of, then the title loses its thematic teeth. The possessive, protective mob boss is one of romance’s most satisfying archetypes precisely because there’s real danger threaded through the desire. Here, that danger felt like an afterthought.
The character development is thin across the board, but it’s most damaging for Gideon. The romance asks you to invest in two people falling for each other, and that investment requires knowing who each person is. With Penn, I felt that. With Gideon, I was mostly taking the book’s word for it. Be My Monster had every ingredient for the kind of dark romance that lingers. A rare medical condition that reframes what it means to be dangerous. A mob boss whose power should crackle off the page. A love story forged in fire, literally. Penn deserved a better co-lead.
Other reviewers flagged grammar issues. Honestly, I was too busy grieving the missed opportunities with the plot to notice. š
Why Should You Read This?
If you go gaga for the mafia romance subgenre and the FAAH Out premise genuinely intrigues you, it’s a quick enough read that it may still scratch a particular itch. If you’re coming in specifically for the possessive mob boss fantasy or rich characters, temper your expectations accordingly. Readers who loved the premise more than the execution may still find enough in Penn to make it worth their time. Some people loved it. It just wasn’t for me.
Purchase Be My Monster by Davidson King on Amazon – also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Who was supposed to be the real monster? Let me know in the comments.
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