I didn't like this book. I skipped paragraphs and sometimes entire pages. The story was ok, but I hated the dialogue. The plot spanned over the main character's life, and it was just one bad thing after another. It was just a bit too much in the end.

Didn't finish. I found this book very depressing and had to stop!

Mean Little People takes us through the life of a young promising boy that has to live in a harsh world, surrounded by terrible people. Being unfamiliar with the author I was shocked by the crudeness in which violence was depicted, there were so many moments when I was sure that there’s no way she would go as far as actually showing the deed, but Paige Dearth doesn’t shy away from showing the countless cruelties that Tony has to suffer. This book is not for the faint of heart as it goes to really dark places. It is addicting, but I had to read it at a moderate pace. Because of the nature of the content, it doesn’t really favor binge-reading, unless you’re feeling too cheery and want to change that. The more you read, the more you can feel the darkness taking root in your mind just as it does in Tony’s.

As the book progresses, Tony starts to battle the darkness that the world forces on him, trying to find a balance between what keeps him human and what is slowly turning him into the monster that he has sworn never to become. Tony as a characters is both tragic and scary, it hurts seeing him transition from a lovable young boy to a hateful adult.

I feel that the fact that Tony goes through so many terrible things hurt the quality of this book. There were moments, mostly in the first part of the book, when it all felt like a game of “how can we make Tony suffer more?” It wasn’t the violence itself at fault, but the way in which the universe seemed to plot against Tony took me a bit out of the story and made me self-conscious about the fact that I was reading a book. To add to that, some of the character’s decisions (especially his mother’s) didn’t feel believable to me.

Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed Mean Little People, it reminded me of Karin Slaughter’s Pretty Girls which is a favorite of mine. I like authors that are not afraid to tackle subjects in a way that might turn some people off because of the roughness and the straightforward rawness that they infuse in their prose. Paige Dearth is an author that I’ll keep my eyes on.

Wish I could give this way more than 5 stars! I cried many times while reading this book. Tony is a young child, bullied by his peers, beaten by his father and he feels worthless, as though life will never have a meaning for him. The book made me angry too, I wanted to reach into the book and punish those who treated him so inhumanely. But I loved Tony, who only wanted to be loved. As he grows into a man bad things still happen to him but the book takes us through his journey. Tony is determined to work hard and become the man he was born to be. A hard book to read, but well worth it and I will read this one again! I first read this when it was released as Born Mobster.

This book will keep you awake at night! It's shocking, and not for the weak of heart. However, this is a well written story, that I believe has a ring of truth of what goes on in this world we live in. It will keep you turning page after page. The author does a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life, I look forward to reading more of her novels.