Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - À contre-sens

This entire series is full of misogyny, victim blaming and full toxicity.

The main character (Nick) abuses Noah in books 2 and 3. Here are some examples:

TW: ABUSE, SEXUAL ASSAULT

* In book 1 he leaves her alone in the road at night, and basically tells her she can fuck off because he's not driving her home. She had to get into a stranger's car to get a ride, and Nick never apologized.

* In book 2 he abuses her quite a lot. There is a scene where a random girl at a party kisses Noah (she didn't want to be kissed and pushed the girl immediately) and Nick blames Noah and angry fucks her in the bathroom even though Noah is visibly upset about all of this and her consent is dubious, she literally ends up crying. No aftercare, no anything.

"I didn't want to be there naked in front of him, I didn't want him to look at me, he was humiliating me, he was treating me like he had never done in my life, he was hurting me."

Time after that they get into a fight and he talks a lot of shit about Noah's trauma.

Then I felt him from behind, he grabbed me around the waist and the next thing I know my back was hitting the car and he was holding my face in one of his hands.

"If it wasn't for your shitty trauma I'd leave you here alone, do you hear me?" he said, rage exuding from every pore of his skin. "You've crossed a limit tonight, and I'm not going to forgive you, don't even think about opening your mouth until we get home because I swear I won't answer Noah, do you understand me?"

Just a few examples of him being extremely toxic:

"I don't want to be near you!" I yelled at him.

His gaze turned into something indecipherable. "Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you have no choice, because you're not going to be with anyone other than me."

and another...

Anger clouded his face, and he grabbed me around the waist and pushed me against the door. His hand collided with it inches from my face. "I'm trying to control myself and you won't let me!"

* At the end of book 2 Nick and Noah fight and he kisses another woman, and lets Noah think he fucked her too. Noah was obviously upset and went to see her therapist who sexually assaulted her in her state of vulnerability. Nick feels betrayed after this "infidelity" and the rest of the book is him breaking up with Noah, victim blaming her and ignoring the fact that he cheated first.

* In book 3 we have more of the same abusive & toxic shit. There is a scene in the original Wattpad book that was deleted after publishing, but can still be found in Wattpad. In this scene Nick sexually assaults Noah:

"Is this how it was with him, Noah?" Is this how he prepared you or fucked you without regard?"

I froze as if a glass of cold water had been thrown on me. Nicholas didn't stop, he kept moving his fingers, and my body seemed to return to that stupefied state where I felt absolutely nothing.

Cold, I felt cold.

"Let me go" I said softly, but he didn't listen to me or simply didn't want to. His mouth silenced me—his mouth silenced me again.

I closed my eyes tightly and felt new tears flood my cheeks.

"You're soaked, Noah... are you wet because of me or because I just reminded you how you fucked another?"

"Let go of me!" I yelled desperately, pushing him with my hands and then he did. His eyes looked at me with lust, yes, but with a hatred that crossed unsuspected limits.

He released me, but stayed glued in front of me. I heard his rapid breathing.

Things that were never addressed:
- Nick was abusive
- Nick cheated on Noah
- Noah was assaulted by her therapist
- Noah was assaulted by Nick himself.

And yes. They end up together. This series deserves 0 stars.

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