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givemaribooks's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Holy red flags! While I liked the writing, I disliked the characters, especially the mmc. He was an asshole. I love me a grump. A lot of people would consider me a grump, but I have a problem when grumpiness turns to asshole behavior, especially over employees. He created a hostile work environment, where he was abusive to his assistants all the time. And his sister who helps him run the firm and is a lawyer did not even try to stop him. Everyone just treated his behavior as if it was part of his personality so it was inevitable because of the family trauma. This firm was ripe of a law suit.
I also do not like that the relationship happened while he was her boss and mentor, and not one person warned him about sexual harassment. He was literally thinking about having sex with her at her interview and did not want to hire her because of his hormones, which is so messed up! I think the power imbalance would have been bad enough if she had just been a regular employee, but the fact that she was pretty much an intern makes it so much worse. No one in this firm is professional AT ALL, including the lawyer that should be keeping people in check, but this just crosses too many lines for me, especially because there is this implication throughout the book that what the fmc is doing is worse that what he, her boss, is doing, which is BS! At one point he also accuses her of sleeping with a professor, and again the blame gets placed on her when that relationship would have been the professor's fault. It's like this author does not understand power imbalances...
Although the fmc is nowhere near as bad as the mmc, I also did not like her. She made a lot of excuses for being a snob and a bad friend. She was upset about it for like 3 seconds and then was like *shrug* I get that people grow apart, but you don't have to be a bitch to those old friends (except for that one friends who was straight up xenophobic).
One last issue I had with this book was with the scene where the fmc shows up drunk to the mmc's home. He knows she is drunk but still has sex with her while he is sober. I would have found this scene problematic by itself, but I think the fact that they try restraints for the first time while she is drunk without discussing boundaries is extremely problematic.
I was excited to read this series based on other books I had liked by this author, but I am very disappointed. I will try one more book before I decided if I should give up on the series or not.
I listened to the audiobook. The female narrator was ok, but I did not like the male narrator. And I don't know if it was the narration or the writing, but the sex scenes sounded kind of cringey on the audiobook.
CW: death of parent (stroke - off page)(pregnancy complications - recounted) - child abuse
I also do not like that the relationship happened while he was her boss and mentor, and not one person warned him about sexual harassment. He was literally thinking about having sex with her at her interview and did not want to hire her because of his hormones, which is so messed up! I think the power imbalance would have been bad enough if she had just been a regular employee, but the fact that she was pretty much an intern makes it so much worse. No one in this firm is professional AT ALL, including the lawyer that should be keeping people in check, but this just crosses too many lines for me, especially because there is this implication throughout the book that what the fmc is doing is worse that what he, her boss, is doing, which is BS! At one point he also accuses her of sleeping with a professor, and again the blame gets placed on her when that relationship would have been the professor's fault. It's like this author does not understand power imbalances...
Although the fmc is nowhere near as bad as the mmc, I also did not like her. She made a lot of excuses for being a snob and a bad friend. She was upset about it for like 3 seconds and then was like *shrug* I get that people grow apart, but you don't have to be a bitch to those old friends (except for that one friends who was straight up xenophobic).
One last issue I had with this book was with the scene where the fmc shows up drunk to the mmc's home. He knows she is drunk but still has sex with her while he is sober. I would have found this scene problematic by itself, but I think the fact that they try restraints for the first time while she is drunk without discussing boundaries is extremely problematic.
I was excited to read this series based on other books I had liked by this author, but I am very disappointed. I will try one more book before I decided if I should give up on the series or not.
I listened to the audiobook. The female narrator was ok, but I did not like the male narrator. And I don't know if it was the narration or the writing, but the sex scenes sounded kind of cringey on the audiobook.
CW: death of parent (stroke - off page)(pregnancy complications - recounted) - child abuse
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
theshrinkette's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment