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anastashamarie's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I just...I have issues with this novella. I'm sorry if you liked it, but I'm genuinely thinking this is just not an author for me (which sucks because I loved Love Hypothesis for a bunch of reasons). This literally made me cancel my Libby holds for the other 2 novellas because I considered DNF-ing this one.
My complaints, in no particular order:
The writing of this novella just wasn't great. Lots of rambling paragraphs/sentences. Disjointed timeline with too much happening in a chronologically short period. Lack of emotional depth. Lots of cringe in general. (Girl, you're an academician for goodness sake. You can do better than this).
Fuck miscommunication trope and fuck instant love. Both are so lazy here. This would have been a much more interesting story if they had developed a relationship before the perceived betrayal; everything would have hit harder and been more meaningful if there was any sort of foundation to their relationship.
These characters feel like caricatures. The catastrophizing is a bit much--as a therapist, I have clients with diagnosed OCD with fewer obsessive and intrusive thoughts than this. Also big European man is such odd, much stoic, v hard to emotionally understand. 🙄
Speaking of stereotypes, what really pisses me off about these books is that the men are always put together and the women are messes. I could understand it in Love Hypothesis; Olive was a grad student, which is arguably one of the most tempestuous and chaotic periods of someone's life, whereas Adam was an established professor. But the rest of these women are highly accomplished with stable jobs, advanced degrees, and stable support systems. Why are they so awkward? Why do they lack all confidence? It almost feels like the author believes in the whole "damsel in distress" narrative, given that's all she writes. As a woman with nearly a decade of graduate education, it would be nice to see a badass female character in at least one of these who is confident in her power and doesn't take shit from the system that's trying to oppress her.
Also why is immaturity a hallmark trait of all these FMCs? He likes her and tells her as much. He tries to reach out once he realizes he hurt her. She and her boss jump to conclusions and then she just stonewalls him and runs away? Multiple times? Not to mention that she's extra mean (boarding on abusively so, insisting she despises him) when he tries to apologize? The toxicity levels are high here 🚩🚩🚩 This is not what female empowerment and boundaries look like.
Why write sexual tension just to pull the plug on it with something out-of-the-blue emotional? And the then when there's the emotional tension at the end and you go and interrupt it with sex? What was the literary/storytelling purpose of any of that? I'm just so confused and not in the fun "did this awaken something in me" sort of way...
Sadie was my dog's name, and I just can't get past that. 🐕 Maybe that's a me problem or maybe it's because my Sadie was a great communicator and VERY confident in herself. Either way, the comparison was the metaphorical straw here.
My complaints, in no particular order:
The writing of this novella just wasn't great. Lots of rambling paragraphs/sentences. Disjointed timeline with too much happening in a chronologically short period. Lack of emotional depth. Lots of cringe in general. (Girl, you're an academician for goodness sake. You can do better than this).
Fuck miscommunication trope and fuck instant love. Both are so lazy here. This would have been a much more interesting story if they had developed a relationship before the perceived betrayal; everything would have hit harder and been more meaningful if there was any sort of foundation to their relationship.
These characters feel like caricatures. The catastrophizing is a bit much--as a therapist, I have clients with diagnosed OCD with fewer obsessive and intrusive thoughts than this. Also big European man is such odd, much stoic, v hard to emotionally understand. 🙄
Speaking of stereotypes, what really pisses me off about these books is that the men are always put together and the women are messes. I could understand it in Love Hypothesis; Olive was a grad student, which is arguably one of the most tempestuous and chaotic periods of someone's life, whereas Adam was an established professor. But the rest of these women are highly accomplished with stable jobs, advanced degrees, and stable support systems. Why are they so awkward? Why do they lack all confidence? It almost feels like the author believes in the whole "damsel in distress" narrative, given that's all she writes. As a woman with nearly a decade of graduate education, it would be nice to see a badass female character in at least one of these who is confident in her power and doesn't take shit from the system that's trying to oppress her.
Also why is immaturity a hallmark trait of all these FMCs? He likes her and tells her as much. He tries to reach out once he realizes he hurt her. She and her boss jump to conclusions and then she just stonewalls him and runs away? Multiple times? Not to mention that she's extra mean (boarding on abusively so, insisting she despises him) when he tries to apologize? The toxicity levels are high here 🚩🚩🚩 This is not what female empowerment and boundaries look like.
Why write sexual tension just to pull the plug on it with something out-of-the-blue emotional? And the then when there's the emotional tension at the end and you go and interrupt it with sex? What was the literary/storytelling purpose of any of that? I'm just so confused and not in the fun "did this awaken something in me" sort of way...
Sadie was my dog's name, and I just can't get past that. 🐕 Maybe that's a me problem or maybe it's because my Sadie was a great communicator and VERY confident in herself. Either way, the comparison was the metaphorical straw here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Confinement
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Vomit
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