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joonlily's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I loved that Danielle was working (successfully) to help women escape abusive situations. I loved the bond between Marcus and his friends.
But a) I felt like the passion ramped up way too fast, when I would have rather had more character and relationship development, especially given that
b) I hated that Marcus continually insisted Danielle's work was too dangerous, while he was doing equally dangerous work himself. It's a consistent and important plot element that makes no sense for either character, and it just makes Marcus seem controlling. And the fact that Danielle ends up giving up on Nightingale to engage in making political change instead makes NO SENSE. (why not fight politically and still help individual women? Why not have Marcus, with his vast power, influence and money, help with the vanishings to make them safer?),
It belittled and minimized Danielle's work, and gave it so much more of a white savior feel than it should have had. Marcus never even addresses the double standard and inequity between her work and his, and Danielle spends the whole book INSISTING that what she does is important for the women that she helps, that she won't give it up for anything, only to capitulate suddenly when she grows a random interest in politics (even while recognizing that any real change will take years, and that there are no other resources for women trying to leave abusive environments).
It was infuriating.
c) Can we please, for the love of all that is holy, stop using hot sex as a replacement for characters actually dealing with their relationship problems? Especially when EVERY argument gets dropped in the middle because they "are so angry but they just can't keep it in their pants". Stop it.
I'll read more in the series but with a wary eye.
Part of my reaction is because it's touted as a "feminist"romance, but in the end the men were the ones doing the saving and starting the Armory, and the women were given the less "scary" jobs and it all just felt icky. <\spoiler>
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Domestic abuse
The heroine runs a secret organization that helps women escape domestic abuse. There is one scene where a family member's abuse is described from the heroine's memory. The hero tends to be controlling.
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