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A review by konvineo
Efterårets luner by Lisa Kleypas
2.0
2.5 stars
And so my experiment continued with the second installment in the Wallflower series.
In comparison to the first book, this one was a bit better. I felt that there was this uncomfortable unbalance between Annabelle and Hunt, and several instances of dub-con type events between them. On the other hand, I feel like Lillian and Marcus felt more like they were on even ground, despite the fact that the book makes it clear that their social status is not equal. I think it's the way they interact with each other, their chemistry. They were so good together, that I actually laughed at their banter.
That being said, it seems that I might be doomed to have at least one Problem™ with each of the books in this series. I still feel that there are consent issues, though they aren't as bad (I can't believe I just wrote that), as in the first book.
I also continue to have some serious problems with Kleypas's understanding of how the hymen and vagina works. In the case of Lillian Bowman, it's the case that she's described as having bled after her sexual debut with Marcus, and I'm assuming that that is in reference to the fact that her hymen was... torn? Which, sure, that does happen in real life. But at the same time, Lillian is described as being an avid rider, and she seems to be really into the hurdle jumping thing. Now, unless Lillian has/had an uncommonly thick hymen, that thing would torn way, way before because of the horseback riding. That is what normally happens because of how rigorous this type of activity is, and, to my understanding, if this isn't the case with Lillian... then she probably wouldn't have enjoyed her time with Marcus, and also might've needed some medical help. So like, this is a Problem™ for me. Also, I'm not a fan of how the intimate scenes are described, as was the case with the first book. They're sometimes boring, sometimes annoying and headache inducing and just way too flowery, without actually being super flowery in the language. And, also like the last time, the Danish translation is extremely bad, and the translator still didn't look into, or understood, context in relation to what Danish word to use to get the most authentic translation.
Then there was this one scene, that just gave me the absolute creeps, and part of me just wishes I heard this wrong, but I refuse to go back and listen to it again, because my spine will forcebly eject from my body. So in this scene, we have the Wallflowers sitting down, talking/gossiping, and Lillian is observing Annabelle. Based on her observation, she concludes (from what I heard) that: Annabelle doesn't look a day over 12 years old.
Then the book follows up with some very adult information about Annabelle, and I just noped out for a couple of hours. I'm about the same age as the character Annabelle, and if someone told me I looked like a 12 year old, I'd flip my shit. I'm a grown-ass person, it would be creepy. Honestly, I'm not even sure what Kleypas was going for here. Is it that Annabelle, looks youthfull, vibrant, excited, full of life? Like, what? Why not use one of those words, or something similar. Yeah, hard nope to this whole thing.
I'm also highly sceptical of the fact that St. Vincent is going to be the "hero" of the next book. I'm so not here for trying to excuse gross behaviour. Not so much his very open attitude towards sex (though the going after married women is another nope), but what he did at the end of this book. It's gross, and I have a feeling it's going to be excused as being a reaction to some super tragic past, to which I say:
So, was this better than Fifty Shades? Slightly yes, so I'll put it on my list. However! It won't be a book I'll be super excited to recommend to others.
And so my experiment continued with the second installment in the Wallflower series.
In comparison to the first book, this one was a bit better. I felt that there was this uncomfortable unbalance between Annabelle and Hunt, and several instances of dub-con type events between them. On the other hand, I feel like Lillian and Marcus felt more like they were on even ground, despite the fact that the book makes it clear that their social status is not equal. I think it's the way they interact with each other, their chemistry. They were so good together, that I actually laughed at their banter.
That being said, it seems that I might be doomed to have at least one Problem™ with each of the books in this series. I still feel that there are consent issues, though they aren't as bad (I can't believe I just wrote that), as in the first book.
I also continue to have some serious problems with Kleypas's understanding of how the hymen and vagina works. In the case of Lillian Bowman, it's the case that she's described as having bled after her sexual debut with Marcus, and I'm assuming that that is in reference to the fact that her hymen was... torn? Which, sure, that does happen in real life. But at the same time, Lillian is described as being an avid rider, and she seems to be really into the hurdle jumping thing. Now, unless Lillian has/had an uncommonly thick hymen, that thing would torn way, way before because of the horseback riding. That is what normally happens because of how rigorous this type of activity is, and, to my understanding, if this isn't the case with Lillian... then she probably wouldn't have enjoyed her time with Marcus, and also might've needed some medical help. So like, this is a Problem™ for me. Also, I'm not a fan of how the intimate scenes are described, as was the case with the first book. They're sometimes boring, sometimes annoying and headache inducing and just way too flowery, without actually being super flowery in the language. And, also like the last time, the Danish translation is extremely bad, and the translator still didn't look into, or understood, context in relation to what Danish word to use to get the most authentic translation.
Then there was this one scene, that just gave me the absolute creeps, and part of me just wishes I heard this wrong, but I refuse to go back and listen to it again, because my spine will forcebly eject from my body. So in this scene, we have the Wallflowers sitting down, talking/gossiping, and Lillian is observing Annabelle. Based on her observation, she concludes (from what I heard) that: Annabelle doesn't look a day over 12 years old.
Then the book follows up with some very adult information about Annabelle, and I just noped out for a couple of hours. I'm about the same age as the character Annabelle, and if someone told me I looked like a 12 year old, I'd flip my shit. I'm a grown-ass person, it would be creepy. Honestly, I'm not even sure what Kleypas was going for here. Is it that Annabelle, looks youthfull, vibrant, excited, full of life? Like, what? Why not use one of those words, or something similar. Yeah, hard nope to this whole thing.
I'm also highly sceptical of the fact that St. Vincent is going to be the "hero" of the next book. I'm so not here for trying to excuse gross behaviour. Not so much his very open attitude towards sex (though the going after married women is another nope), but what he did at the end of this book. It's gross, and I have a feeling it's going to be excused as being a reaction to some super tragic past, to which I say:
So, was this better than Fifty Shades? Slightly yes, so I'll put it on my list. However! It won't be a book I'll be super excited to recommend to others.