Shanoff Says...

It Ain't Me, Babe by Tillie Cole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me start off by saying...How fucking awesome is this book?!? In the past I have tried and failed to connect with biker books, but this book is now one of my two favorite MC books ever.

When I started this book and had to read a glossary I was a little skeptical of how it would turn out. I mean if I had to study before reading then the book might have been a little too far out there for me. However now I see the importance of the glossary. It made it so that the story was never wasted on explaining less important things in the middle of something really good. And this book has a whole lot of really good parts.

This book opens (after glossary) 15 years before when a little boy goes wandering through the woods and stumble upon this huge fence and sees a little girl with wolf eyes. Immediately I felt connected with both of them and could see that they were both already struggling with their young lives. I loved that this first encounter with the two young children is told from River/Styx's POV. It helps you to connect with him as a man later on in the story. Because let's face it who really would fall in love with the Hangmen Mute who has a deadly reputation.

I am going to start with Salome/Mae. When the story starts at present day we meet Salome/Mae while she is running for her life and trying to escape the only life that she known inside the fence. She is badly injured but is so determined to get out that she pushes past all her pain. When she has to finally succumb to the pain and stop running she finds a place to rest. Turns out that the place she turns to for rest is the place that holds her fate. Her character is so well written and exactly as I would imagine someone raised in a cult to be. I love how we get to watch her character grow and watch her experience life outside the fence.

Now let's get to River/Styx. When we first meet him as a young 11 year old boy you can't help but love him right away. Which helps relate to him as a man. The first Styx encounter as a man is definitely that of an MC Prez. He is a drunk, filthy mouthed horn dog. When he sees the bloody lump behind the dumpster you can tell that he feels this strange connection and when he sees the eyes then he is completely consumed with the wolf eyes that he has spent most of his life looking for. I love that we get the dual POV in this book because being inside Styx's head is a pretty awesome place to be. I thought that him having a stammer would make him less biker and sexy but I was so so wrong. The fact that he can command attention without a word and that people learned ASL to communicate with him shows what a powerful guy he is. I also love that he has ever only talked to 3 people. Those moments when it is just him and Mae are so great.

Alright so this book is a little intense. There are guns, sex, drugs, abusive sexual situations, murder, mayhem, bikers, nut job cult members, foul language, nazis and so much more. But the one thing that I liked the most is the relationship between Mae and Styx. So pretty close to the beginning I figured out who the people were that are trying to hurt the MC what I didn't see coming until more than half way through the book was who the rat was. When that is revealed you have one of those 'What the FUCK?' moments and want to rip their guts out (if you are Styx or normal). The book gets a whole lot more interesting then and really kicks into overdrive.

I am very happy with the way things worked out and how the end builds up for what is yet to come. Mae has her sisters and you see that there will be more to their stories. What made me have another 'What the FUCK?' moment is that very last chapter told from 'he who must not be named for the sake of not spoiling anything'. I mean really HOLY FUCKING SHIT there better be way more to this story!!

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