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Mafia Princess
Inspiration for the Amazon Prime series BANG BANG BABY Marisa Merico, the daughter of one of Italy's most notorious Mafia Godfathers, was dazzled by her father, Emilio DiGiovine. To her he was all powerful, sophisticated and loving; to the rest of the world he was staggeringly ruthless. Marisa knew her father would do anything for her, but she hadn't expected just how much he would ask in return. Born to an English mother, Marisa turned her back on her quiet life in Blackpool to join her charming father, Emilio DiGiovine, who had spent years trying to tempt her back to Italy. Arriving in Milan, Marisa had no idea she was returning to the heart of one of the most notorious drugs, arms and money laundering empires in the world. At first her father shielded her from the family operations and Marisa was overwhelmed by the attention and gifts he lavished on her. But soon the temptation of a new recruit was too great and Marisa was drawn ever deeper into the family's sinister and brutal regime, witnessing things she was too scared to believe. The day she eloped with her father's chief henchman was the day her father decided she was ready to be initiated into the true nature of the family business. Suddenly Marisa saw there was no limit to what he would expect her to do for him. She knew it was wrong, she knew she had to get out, but she had no idea how she could break the sacred Coda Nostra – and survive. Marisa's extraordinarily story is the most powerful portrayal of a Mafia family to emerge in recent years. It's the perfect balance of shocking violence, dangerous betrayals and enduring love.
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
37 people are currently reading
340 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
November 30, 2022
Marisa Merico's autobiographical 'Mafia Princess' plays out like a film script. In fact, the book has inspired a series entitled 'Bang Bang Baby' on Prime. I look forward to checking that out. I listened to the audiobook, which was well-narrated by Rachel Atkins. I found it to be an interesting foray into a world previously unknown to me outside the realms of fiction.
August 29, 2017
Dosadno, loše napisano. Početak je obećavao mnogo bolju radnju. Uopšte mi se nije dopala
February 25, 2011
I have just read the book called Mafia Princess by Marisa Merico. I thought this book was very boring and slow moving. I did not enjoy the book at all.
The first reason why you shouldn’t order any more of these books is because of the plot. The plot is always the main thing that makes a story alive. The book’s cover is a scam. The interesting summary and decorative cover art really does grab one’s attention. The foreword is interesting. It gives the reader a good idea of what the book is about. The book Mafia Princess tells the story about the author as a young girl born into a mafia family. She is the daughter of a mafia godfather, making her a ‘mafia princess’. Technically, this book is an autobiography. The book is in the correct section, the ‘True Crime’ section, as it is about the mafia and the author doing illegal things. She tells about her life in a mafia family and the differences or similarities between her mafia family and regular families. The point is that I didn’t understand at all what the author was building up to. It seemed like a monotonous life story, having only the excuse that she is a mafia princess to be interesting. The plot in the first few chapters are very slow moving, and it’s hard to get interested into the book. It was so boring that I only read half the book, and it got so extremely boring I just had to put the book down. It’s not that it was cliché, but I sort of had the sense it would have an ordinary ending. Now don’t think that I should’ve read until the end to get the good stuff. What really counts is that the real action of the plot started too late, if it would start at all. More than halfway through nothing interesting has happened at all. If other people read this, the readers would most likely have dropped the book because the author has failed to get the plot moving in time. Sure, other readers might have read it to the end, but I am an impatient reader, and I’m sure a lot of other customers are impatient as well.
The second reason is the flow of the story. How does this story flow? It goes one way and another; it shifts events so roughly that the reader is left temporarily blinded to what is currently going on in the book. As a life story, it seems unorganized and very difficult to follow.
And finally, the third reason is that the style of writing is incredibly toneless and unexpressive. Each of the paragraphs the author writes seems to mirror each other. The style she wrote them in makes them almost identical to each other. It is a tirelessly repetitive style, and since the paragraphs all just seem to blurt out the same message, it makes the story so monotonous that it’s hard to understand what the author is trying to talk about. Another thing to point out is that it is difficult to grasp the author’s point. In each chapter, she describes an event during the course of her life. The style she writes each chapter in is very bland and hard to read without falling asleep. Each chapter doesn’t seem to have a point; it just seems like another useless turn in her life. The chapters don’t contribute much to the plot and in no way builds up to a probable climax.
The first reason why you shouldn’t order any more of these books is because of the plot. The plot is always the main thing that makes a story alive. The book’s cover is a scam. The interesting summary and decorative cover art really does grab one’s attention. The foreword is interesting. It gives the reader a good idea of what the book is about. The book Mafia Princess tells the story about the author as a young girl born into a mafia family. She is the daughter of a mafia godfather, making her a ‘mafia princess’. Technically, this book is an autobiography. The book is in the correct section, the ‘True Crime’ section, as it is about the mafia and the author doing illegal things. She tells about her life in a mafia family and the differences or similarities between her mafia family and regular families. The point is that I didn’t understand at all what the author was building up to. It seemed like a monotonous life story, having only the excuse that she is a mafia princess to be interesting. The plot in the first few chapters are very slow moving, and it’s hard to get interested into the book. It was so boring that I only read half the book, and it got so extremely boring I just had to put the book down. It’s not that it was cliché, but I sort of had the sense it would have an ordinary ending. Now don’t think that I should’ve read until the end to get the good stuff. What really counts is that the real action of the plot started too late, if it would start at all. More than halfway through nothing interesting has happened at all. If other people read this, the readers would most likely have dropped the book because the author has failed to get the plot moving in time. Sure, other readers might have read it to the end, but I am an impatient reader, and I’m sure a lot of other customers are impatient as well.
The second reason is the flow of the story. How does this story flow? It goes one way and another; it shifts events so roughly that the reader is left temporarily blinded to what is currently going on in the book. As a life story, it seems unorganized and very difficult to follow.
And finally, the third reason is that the style of writing is incredibly toneless and unexpressive. Each of the paragraphs the author writes seems to mirror each other. The style she wrote them in makes them almost identical to each other. It is a tirelessly repetitive style, and since the paragraphs all just seem to blurt out the same message, it makes the story so monotonous that it’s hard to understand what the author is trying to talk about. Another thing to point out is that it is difficult to grasp the author’s point. In each chapter, she describes an event during the course of her life. The style she writes each chapter in is very bland and hard to read without falling asleep. Each chapter doesn’t seem to have a point; it just seems like another useless turn in her life. The chapters don’t contribute much to the plot and in no way builds up to a probable climax.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2014
Unpleasant people doing unpleasant things.
March 4, 2019
Book that got me so interested I finished it in a couple of hours. Author (Marisa Merico) was born as a daughter to one of the leaders of deadly 'Ndrangheta mafia. While her mother tried to keep her from the criminal workings of her father's family she got seduced by that way of life very soon - both tough men surrounding her father and general luxury. All of this finally got her in jail.
As it is almost always the rule she decided to move out when she gave birth to her daughter but it will take her few more years (most of it spent in high security jails in UK) to finally regain her freedom and normal life.
Author provides details on inner workings of mafia family, how they are controlled and how everything (including family relations) is controlled by a single thing - business and profit that business brings.
Very interesting and cautionary tale - crime is not something someone can move in and out at will (as example of her second husband Frank shows), once in it means inside for life. Very rarely someone gets out of that way of life alive [to die of old age].
As it is almost always the rule she decided to move out when she gave birth to her daughter but it will take her few more years (most of it spent in high security jails in UK) to finally regain her freedom and normal life.
Author provides details on inner workings of mafia family, how they are controlled and how everything (including family relations) is controlled by a single thing - business and profit that business brings.
Very interesting and cautionary tale - crime is not something someone can move in and out at will (as example of her second husband Frank shows), once in it means inside for life. Very rarely someone gets out of that way of life alive [to die of old age].
April 20, 2018
I refuse to give this book any less than 5 stars. It's one of the absolute best written books I've ever read. It is written from a daughter's view who was corrupted by her father. Her father who was a narcissistic prick. The daughter who was loyal AF and loved her father. Read the book and understand what I'm speaking of.
It's a 100% must read.
Definite 5 stars
It's a 100% must read.
Definite 5 stars
January 8, 2013
This was a really interesting read.
My main problem is that she didn't seem to regret any of her poor decisions that she had made which had large consequences. Having said that I do appreciate her honesty.
I would recommend this to fans of biographies or true crime.
My main problem is that she didn't seem to regret any of her poor decisions that she had made which had large consequences. Having said that I do appreciate her honesty.
I would recommend this to fans of biographies or true crime.
June 26, 2014
Just like any typical Godfather stories that we can watch on tv.
June 22, 2017
Interesting true story about a daughter born into her father's Italian Mafia family. She admires and is impressed by her father's "wealthy," if not ill-gotten, lifestyle. So, she follows in his footsteps while her British mother lives in poverty.
After reading Marisa Merico's story, I thought about whether she had a real choice as to what she would do with her life other than join her father in his chosen "career." After all, her father had a very dominant and charismatic personality, and like most daughters, Marisa adored him even with his serious character flaws. She hints toward this idea in the last few chapters of her book; that is, it was a life she was born into and the only life she knew. I did get the sense, though, that she was somewhat repentant about the drug-and-money running she took part in to assist her father's "business." However, she never mentioned anything at all about being remorseful regarding how such criminal activity can potentially, and almost inevitably, harm and even kill so many people throughout the world. Of course, killing, or murder, is a part of what the Italian Mafia does and, obviously, become hardened to.
Marisa ends up marrying a man who chooses to work for her Italian Mafia father, instead of going into his own father's line of work, which was a family-owned bakery. He must have been seduced, like Marisa, by the "easy money" such "work" provides. Then, after her husband goes off to prison for his mafia criminal activity, she divorces him and remarries another prison inmate while she's doing time in prison herself. What a lifestyle! Once again, it was something she was born into, and I wondered if she could have chosen something else. Probably. After all, her mother removed herself from that life and chose a different one, even if she was living in poverty. Better that than behind bars for a lengthy period of time and having a drugs and violent criminal record following you around for the rest of your life. She had two children, one by her first husband and another by her second (before he gets shot committing a crime), and it was obvious to me that it was her motherly concern and love for her children, along with her mother's guidance and example, who give her good reasons to change her life for the better.
Exciting, if not sad, read.
After reading Marisa Merico's story, I thought about whether she had a real choice as to what she would do with her life other than join her father in his chosen "career." After all, her father had a very dominant and charismatic personality, and like most daughters, Marisa adored him even with his serious character flaws. She hints toward this idea in the last few chapters of her book; that is, it was a life she was born into and the only life she knew. I did get the sense, though, that she was somewhat repentant about the drug-and-money running she took part in to assist her father's "business." However, she never mentioned anything at all about being remorseful regarding how such criminal activity can potentially, and almost inevitably, harm and even kill so many people throughout the world. Of course, killing, or murder, is a part of what the Italian Mafia does and, obviously, become hardened to.
Marisa ends up marrying a man who chooses to work for her Italian Mafia father, instead of going into his own father's line of work, which was a family-owned bakery. He must have been seduced, like Marisa, by the "easy money" such "work" provides. Then, after her husband goes off to prison for his mafia criminal activity, she divorces him and remarries another prison inmate while she's doing time in prison herself. What a lifestyle! Once again, it was something she was born into, and I wondered if she could have chosen something else. Probably. After all, her mother removed herself from that life and chose a different one, even if she was living in poverty. Better that than behind bars for a lengthy period of time and having a drugs and violent criminal record following you around for the rest of your life. She had two children, one by her first husband and another by her second (before he gets shot committing a crime), and it was obvious to me that it was her motherly concern and love for her children, along with her mother's guidance and example, who give her good reasons to change her life for the better.
Exciting, if not sad, read.
August 30, 2022
Wow just wow. This was such an amazing read. I seriously couldn't put this book down. I listened to the audiobook and just had to finish it in one sitting it was that good. I loved the narrator's voice. It really made this book all the more enjoyable and brought out the great sense of atmosphere and tension that the book held. It is definitely an amazing read full of thrilling , interesting and scary moments. It was such a fascinating read about a real life high up mafia family and there envolment in drug smuggling and money laundering. There were many shocking moments when my jaw hit the floor. I definitely recommend reading this book if you want to know the ins and outs of a mafia family or if you love engaging true crime books. This book will definitely take you on areal roller coaster ride full of ups and downs that will have you flipping those pages so you can find out what will happen next.
I especially loved reading about the wars between families. Also how the police caught up with them and how they were treated inside prison. This has to be one of the most amazing true crime books I have ever read. I also found it interesting that for some of her life she lived in Blackpool which is quite local to where I lived.
Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this story of what it was like living in a mafia family. You really won't be disappointed.
I especially loved reading about the wars between families. Also how the police caught up with them and how they were treated inside prison. This has to be one of the most amazing true crime books I have ever read. I also found it interesting that for some of her life she lived in Blackpool which is quite local to where I lived.
Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this story of what it was like living in a mafia family. You really won't be disappointed.
September 27, 2022
I listened to the audiobook of Mafia Princess, the narration by Rachel Atkins superbly setting the tone for this interesting autobiography about a life that involved excitement, money and notoriety, both inside and out of a prison cell.
Marisa Merico was born into the mob after her mum Pat, a Blackpool teenager working as an au-pair in Milan fell for Emilio Di Giovine, the son of a powerful 'Ndrangheta family. Although her parents split when she was young and her mother returned to Lancashire taking Marisa with her, summer holidays spent with her fathers family gave Marisa an insight into a lifestyle that offered rewards she found hard to resist and at 17 she returned to Italy, married one of her fathers henchmen and herself became a key player in his operation.
The authors account is straight talking and matter of fact telling of highs, lows and the risks involved. The character I found most interesting was her grandmother Maria, about as far flung from the grandmother figures most of us remember as you can possibly get.
An interesting read about family, power and wealth that comes at a cost - a lifetime of looking over your shoulder, of family members being absent or killed.
My thanks to the publisher W. F. Howes and NetGalley for the review copy, I was under no obligation and all opinions expressed are my own.
Marisa Merico was born into the mob after her mum Pat, a Blackpool teenager working as an au-pair in Milan fell for Emilio Di Giovine, the son of a powerful 'Ndrangheta family. Although her parents split when she was young and her mother returned to Lancashire taking Marisa with her, summer holidays spent with her fathers family gave Marisa an insight into a lifestyle that offered rewards she found hard to resist and at 17 she returned to Italy, married one of her fathers henchmen and herself became a key player in his operation.
The authors account is straight talking and matter of fact telling of highs, lows and the risks involved. The character I found most interesting was her grandmother Maria, about as far flung from the grandmother figures most of us remember as you can possibly get.
An interesting read about family, power and wealth that comes at a cost - a lifetime of looking over your shoulder, of family members being absent or killed.
My thanks to the publisher W. F. Howes and NetGalley for the review copy, I was under no obligation and all opinions expressed are my own.
June 16, 2019
To moja kolejna ksiazka, obok "Prywatnej wojny Rosy", ktora opowiada o jednej z najwiekszych organizacji przestepczej we Wloszech. Obie historie snuja kobiety, jedna, ktora poswiecila sie walczac z kalabryjska mafia i druga urodzona i wychowana w jednej z rodzin mafijnych.
Te historie na zawsze zmienily moje spojrzenie na wakacyjne Wlochy, ktore nie maja nic wspolnego z pieknymi folderami z biur podrozy.
W tym swiecie rzadzi pieniadz, przemoc i mafijny kodeks.
Historia Marisy mnie przerazila, ale tez pozwolila mi spojrzec na swiat jej oczami, dostrzec w niej czlowieka, mimo zla, w ktorym sie otaczala i konsekwencje, ktore poniosla ona i jej rodzina, konsekwencje z ktorymi musi sie zmagac przez cale swoje zycie.
Te historie na zawsze zmienily moje spojrzenie na wakacyjne Wlochy, ktore nie maja nic wspolnego z pieknymi folderami z biur podrozy.
W tym swiecie rzadzi pieniadz, przemoc i mafijny kodeks.
Historia Marisy mnie przerazila, ale tez pozwolila mi spojrzec na swiat jej oczami, dostrzec w niej czlowieka, mimo zla, w ktorym sie otaczala i konsekwencje, ktore poniosla ona i jej rodzina, konsekwencje z ktorymi musi sie zmagac przez cale swoje zycie.
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June 3, 2019Mafia Princess by Marisa Merico, is a thrilling novel based on the rare story of a girl born into Ndrangheta clan, one of thr most notorious drug mobs in the world. The story is interesting as it has the view of a normal everyday person, like the reader, who travels to Italy, marries the man of her summer romance, has his baby and is suddnley tied into the drugworld. Mafia Princess is told from the daughter of the gang leader and an ordinary British girl. I couldn't reccomend this book more, as it is a thrilling and exhilirating insight into stories that we don't normally hear invloving the most dangerous criminals in the world. If you like non fiction crime stories, this book is for you
November 2, 2025
One star for the idea to write it, one star for some interesting content.
However the writing of the book itself is terrible. Badly written, no cohesion, poor grammar, typos and a lot of jumping around between events and people.
I can see if done well this story could make a watchable Netflix show but being an writer is not the talent of this gangster.
However the writing of the book itself is terrible. Badly written, no cohesion, poor grammar, typos and a lot of jumping around between events and people.
I can see if done well this story could make a watchable Netflix show but being an writer is not the talent of this gangster.
December 4, 2017
Great read
Not the same old Mafia stories that we've all read and heard about. This one is different it's written wire mafiosos daughter but it's still very interesting I really enjoyed this book
Not the same old Mafia stories that we've all read and heard about. This one is different it's written wire mafiosos daughter but it's still very interesting I really enjoyed this book
May 29, 2019
Excellent read
This is an excellent book that reportedly looks into some of the Mafia Families getting started, establishing territories, and how the families can be torn down and apart.
I recommend this book to any crime readers.
This is an excellent book that reportedly looks into some of the Mafia Families getting started, establishing territories, and how the families can be torn down and apart.
I recommend this book to any crime readers.
August 18, 2021
Knjiga koja ima toliko potencijala, čitav jedan jako težak i nimalo monoton život je stao u nju ali bez trunke emocije. Niti jednom rečenicom mi nije izazvala emociju a mogla je na toliko načina. Nažalost 2.5
May 12, 2024
very readable, autobiographical account of what it’s like to grow up in one of italy’s biggest mafia families. it’s one thing to read research about this and it’s another thing to read someone’s lived experience with it.
September 10, 2017
Only a real mafia can tell a mafia story better than Mario Puzo.
March 28, 2018
Fascinating read. The Mafia circle she's drawn into really is a different world and it's bizarre watching her switch between that and her life with her mum in Lancashire.
March 1, 2019
Interesting look into the life of someone inside the mob.
December 26, 2022
Nice one...Easy-to-read, interesting true story. An enjoyable read.
January 7, 2023
A parte qualche momento morto la lettura è abbastanza scorrevole e la storia ti tiene incollato al libro
January 14, 2023
So good that someone stole my book!
March 14, 2023
Some shocking stories of what Marisa has experienced!
January 14, 2024
4 ⭐️ (📚)
Incredibly fascinating life story, despite the fact I was forced to read this for coursework it really picked up - feels weird saying that about her life but what an incredible woman
Incredibly fascinating life story, despite the fact I was forced to read this for coursework it really picked up - feels weird saying that about her life but what an incredible woman
May 27, 2013
I didn't think much of the book when I started reading this. I did however enjoyed reading this, as it was such an easy read. I guess it's an okay read for when you just want to have an uncomplicated fun read!
August 25, 2012
I love all mafia films and series and thought this book would also be good. Quite interesting, although some parts were not so good written as some other parts. Sometimes just too much names of people. If you like mafia films, this might also be for you.
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March 29, 2013Meh.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews