Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Marriage Game by Sara Desai

3 reviews

starklinqs's review

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  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

1.0

I just know Sam listens to Andrew Tate. 

I really wanted to like this. I love reading books from other desi authors and I LOVE cheesy romcom books. But there was way too much I thought was…super gross while reading this: 

  • My biggest issue: Sam is just super misogynistic and kind of creepy the entire book. If this was something he actually grew from, that would be great! But while Layla rightfully calls him out at the climax of the book, he doesn’t actually change his behavior. He’s “overprotective” of Layla to the point that he’s causing fights, or almost getting into fights, with every possible suitor he meets (and he barely knows Layla at this point!). He says misogynistic shit like “the man should drive” (????) and at the end still holds onto this stuff and says the man should propose. He has HORRIBLE friends except for John (who tbh, I started shipping with Layla more lmao. Sam’s ass deserved to get dumped) but despite all his friends being terrible people they continue to be in his life. Not to mention the climax of the book gets brushed over remarkably fast -  Layla’s parents weren’t too keen on Sam BEFORE that climax, and I don’t know how what happened after didn’t completely sever any form of reconciliation. 
  • Sam’s protectiveness is just dressed up possessiveness, this dude is just covered in red flags but I guess I’m supposed to root for him because he’s hot and has a tragic backstory (which isn’t even his, it’s his sister’s, and even after being called out about trying to get Justice without seeing what she wants he….still does that). It’s just really weird to me, that in a book that specifically calls out the sexism of the suitors and the abuse of another character, that the love interest is then consistently misogynistic and displays weird, creepy behavior throughout the book. 
  • The objectification. I love seeing characters attracted to each other but this was so much and so often. I don’t need to read Layla’s “breasts bounced gently under her filmy blouse”. There were so many lines that drew me out of the book that I looked back at the author because it felt so much like it was written from a man who sees women as sex objects (I guess kudos to Desai on that since it’s from Sam’s POV). Sam himself is borderline sexually harassed by a character in the book and it’s treated as a quirky funny thing, because he’s sooo hot that these things just happen. 
  • So. Much. Miscommunication. About the viral video. About the dating. About the design papers. About the dating again. Characters don’t have to be completely mature all the time but Jesus Christ. 

There were also little things that bothered me - her dad apparently knows her the best out of everyone but then sets her up with objectively horrendous men (like an ex gang member slash current criminal? Seriously? That made it into his list of yes-es?), the need to explain just about everything (like not just Indian things, at some point the book explained who Gordon Ramsey was), the weird entitled behavior Daisy and Layla had when they first used the office - even if I hate Sam, that whole thing was super weird on their part. 

This book ultimately reads about a woman who’s had horrible relationship after horrible relationship and then ends up with a walking red flag.

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kayladaila's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75


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allyhoo811's review

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funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Rating: 2.5 rounded down to a 2

I read this book because I picked up the sequel through Book of the Month and, even though I know it isn't usually required in romance series, I like to read my books in publication order. Contemporary romance is rarely my thing, so fans of this genre should take my review with a grain of salt.

Basically this book is a slightly spicier version of a Hallmark movie. Tropey characters, contrived plot that brings the two love interests together -- it wasn't anything special or revolutionary.  The overall story was entertaining in a cheesy sort of way, and I didn't hate reading it, but I did have some major issues with the characterization of the two leads:

1) The instanta-attraction/lust/whatever you want to call it was ridiculous. These two people were supposed to be irritated/annoyed/pissed-off with each other, but their internal dialogue in the first conversation was just cringe-worthy objectification of each other's bodies. That's fine at a bar, but these two people were in an office, it didn't make sense in that scenario.

2) These 2 people were supposed to be late-20's, early-30's age adults. The conflict they had over the office was like 2 middle schoolers fighting over a seat in class. In real life, this one have been a non-issue: Layla would have realized she didn't have a legal right to be in the office or Sam would have been compassionate because her father was in the hospital or they would have just agreed to share until her father was on the mend and things could be worked out. The whole thing made them both look petty and ridiculous.

3) Sam's possessiveness (right off the bat to boot) was not attractive...It was weird at best and controlling at worst. I don't care what happened to his sister, he doesn't need to try to beat up every guy that talks to a woman he just met. He harped on how the men on Layla's list were all creeps who leered at her backside and yet his entire inner-monologue was about how hot she was. Hypocritical-much?

(Edited to add) 2 Additional Problematic Elements (for me):

The continuous portrayal of Sam's job in corporate restructuring/downsizing as evil and a reflection of his character flaws. It's fine to show someone not loving their job and leaving for something more fulfilling to them personally. It's also fine to portray characters who have lost their job as angry at the people who made the decision. It's not okay to portray corporate restructuring and those who work in that industry as evil SOBs out to get everyone. If a company is going bankrupt, cuts have to be made or the whole ship goes under. In a similar vein, it's not cool to portray every person who works in HR as mustache twirling, sex-crazed villains, who get their kicks by making people cry.

I did think the author wrote well and the second half of the book was much better than the first. The interactions the 2 main characters had with their families really saved this one for me. I did find this one entertaining enough, especially with it being a debut, that I will be still be reading the second installment in the series.

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