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kathrynd 's review for:
Reflected in You
by Sylvia Day
After the promise of the first book I think I was really expecting that theme of sexual healing to continue on into this second book. And I'm not one to label things as problematic simply because I don't like them, but wow, this certainly was problematic in a lot of ways.
To begin with, the biphobia disguised as being progressive. I really hope that Cary being a 'tart' is simply because of his past and not because of his being openly bisexual. I know he is just a side character, but I can't deny the hurt I felt when his cheating on his boyfriend, his boyfriend being openly biphobic by saying he was uncomfortable with Cary's attraction to men and women, his pretense to self-sabotage by hooking up with men and women is excused by Eva herself as just a byproduct of his sexuality. Bisexual people are not more likely to be cheaters than anyone else, and the insinuation of that was something I can't excuse. I could have been good to emphasize that his behaviour is a result of past trauma, not directly his sexuality.
Not only that, but the first book gave me the impression that Eva and Gideon were better than Anna and Christian, more adult and more ready to communicate. But oh my god the contrived twists and turns of this book occurring simply because of constant miscommunication was exhausting. I can't deny the sex was hot, and, much like the first book, frequent. Watching these two characters destroy each other while thoroughly entertaining was so painful to watch because all they needed to do was talk to each other and over half their problems could be resolved.
So unfortunately for me, this book took promising characters with interesting backstories that could have used each other to grow and heal and make the erotica novel something new and interesting in terms of non-toxic couples, into the cliche. That's not to say I won't be continuing with the series, I absolutely will I'm in far too deep with this couple to not see it to the end now.
To begin with, the biphobia disguised as being progressive. I really hope that Cary being a 'tart' is simply because of his past and not because of his being openly bisexual. I know he is just a side character, but I can't deny the hurt I felt when his cheating on his boyfriend, his boyfriend being openly biphobic by saying he was uncomfortable with Cary's attraction to men and women, his pretense to self-sabotage by hooking up with men and women is excused by Eva herself as just a byproduct of his sexuality. Bisexual people are not more likely to be cheaters than anyone else, and the insinuation of that was something I can't excuse. I could have been good to emphasize that his behaviour is a result of past trauma, not directly his sexuality.
Not only that, but the first book gave me the impression that Eva and Gideon were better than Anna and Christian, more adult and more ready to communicate. But oh my god the contrived twists and turns of this book occurring simply because of constant miscommunication was exhausting. I can't deny the sex was hot, and, much like the first book, frequent. Watching these two characters destroy each other while thoroughly entertaining was so painful to watch because all they needed to do was talk to each other and over half their problems could be resolved.
So unfortunately for me, this book took promising characters with interesting backstories that could have used each other to grow and heal and make the erotica novel something new and interesting in terms of non-toxic couples, into the cliche. That's not to say I won't be continuing with the series, I absolutely will I'm in far too deep with this couple to not see it to the end now.