The Wicked Redhead

This is the second installment in the Wicked City series by Williams. I’ve read that the majority of her books are written to be in series but you don’t have to read the series to understand each book – that’s NOT the case with this series.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than The Wicked City, and I enjoyed the Wicked City as well. There’s more character development, more plot twists, and more action in this novel.

In case you haven’t read my previous review on The Wicked City, here’s a quick synopsis: Ella lives in 1996, Gin lives in 1924, both are from New York City. Ella’s drama is primarily of the romantic type – divorce, new love, etc. Gin’s drama is romantic, but also adventerous with respect to her love interest and his career trying to track down and put an end to bootlegging. The book follows each woman individually, while alluding to the eventual marrying of their stories.

The parallels drawn between the lives of Ella and Gin are interesting, especially regarding the use of pregnancy throughout the two storylines. In the previous book, Ella’s storyline was a bit slow and drawn out. In this novel, her storyline really picks up the pace and has some interesting (not necessarily unpredictable) turns. Gin’s storyline was faster-paced than Ella’s, but a bit slower than in the first book. Gin’s storyline, however, had a lot more unpredictable twists and turns that actually made me stop what I was doing and listen very attentively to the story (I listened to the audiobook).

The men in the stories are definitely written by a woman. They’re very idealized and manage to say what every woman would want her boyfriend to say and do what every woman would want her boyfriend to do. Given that the men aren’t the focus of the plot, but rather the women and their growth as they take on what life throws at them, this can be readily overlooked/accepted and doesn’t detract from the plot.

It’s very clear that the women’s lives are somehow intertwined, but I’m not sure where their paths will cross, and frankly, with some of these twists, I’m not sure the reader will know until it’s written out in front of them.

***Keep an eye out for my review of The Wicked Widow, the third book in the Wicked City series! The release date for this book is expected to be October 26th, 2021. I’ll be releasing a review before the end of September (thanks to receiving an ARC from the publisher), so stay tuned!

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