Somme Sketcher’s Sinners Anonymous is an example of dark mafia romance, a subgenre that has surged in popularity, particularly on social media platforms like TikTok. Works in this category are characterized by their exploration of taboo relationships set within the violent and morally ambiguous world of organized crime. The genre’s conventions often include a powerful, possessive, and ethically compromised antihero; a heroine who becomes entangled with him, frequently through a transactional arrangement; and a narrative that blends high-stakes danger with intense, often problematic, romantic and sexual dynamics.

The author explicitly signals the novel’s genre in a prefatory note, warning that it is a “dark romance” with triggers including “talk of suicide and sexual assault” (v). Dark romance is its own subgenre, one which mafia romance often falls under, and it entails its own collection of tropes and archetypes. Forbidden romance, villainous or anti-heroic male leads, and power imbalances are very common, and the female protagonist usually discovers new, often taboo sexual interests through her relationship with her love interest. Specific tropes within this genre include the male lead being a criminal or a violent individual, one who is often obsessed with the protagonist to the point of stalking or harassing her or committing crimes in her defense. This creates a sense of exceptionalism for the main character, wherein her value to him is demonstrated through how he shapes his life around hers. These character and plot arcs lend themselves to the framework of mafia stories, wherein the characters are involved in dangerous criminal affairs and women must defend their agency amid fraught gender dynamics.

Angelo “Vicious” Visconti embodies the morally gray antihero, a man who commits crimes including murder, yet he’s protective, albeit controlling, toward the protagonist, Rory. This mimics the typical dynamic in dark romance, as the female protagonist is the exception to her love interest’s violent instincts and explores a more taboo, submissive-dominant sexual relationship with him. Rory’s initial engagement to Angelo’s uncle, Alberto, in exchange for the protection of her father’s land, is a classic transactional relationship born from desperation. This setup allows the novel to explore themes of power, consent, and attraction in a patriarchal world governed by violence.