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katyanaish 's review for:
Foretold
by Laura Spinella
I feel bad only giving this 3 stars, but I can't help myself.
Let me say, at start: the mystery, the multiple timelines unfolding, it was all masterful. Better than the first book, even. The twist was heartbreaking, and the story as a whole was 5 solid stars.
But the relationship was just garbage.
Look, this book is a paranormal romance. But the romance was zip. Aubrey and Levi only barely got together in the last book. Seriously, you only found out that they were for sure together - and he wasn't dead - on the last page. There was no time to enjoy their relationship, or see them really mesh their lives.
Then this book. It is nearly 13 years later and their lives have fallen apart. Levi left her 5 months ago, and her son chose to join Levi 2 months ago. That's not really a spoiler, you find out in the first couple pages.
We never get a real reason why. The best I can suss out, from what is implied, is that their son's developing gift stressed them out, and they fought over how to handle it, and 5 months ago Levi decided to bail. And then Pete apparently slowly decided he hated his mom, and left to join his dad. And that's not an exaggeration. In this book he has to be cajoled into talking to her. Tells her he hated her. Screams at her not to touch him. And various other things. I get he's a stressed kid who somehow blames his mom for his gift, as if she wanted to have hers. But he's a douche. And Levi is a douche. And they make her feel like an utterly non-essential guest in her family. Throughout the book, they have conversations about important things that we find out about when Levi informs her what they decided. She doesn't get a say. She doesn't even get to be part of the conversation. And this never changes - the end resolution is done that exact same way. They decided what to do, and then informed her. As if she should be grateful that they are condescending to be part of her life at all.
Fuck the both of them. And Levi in particular.
For being Captain Rational, we're never given a rational reason why he left. Why he thought it was okay to be yet another person in Aubrey's life who abandoned her. And then, furthermore, enabled her son to utterly kick her out of his life.
And it doesn't even make sense. As best I can infer, Aubrey and Levi fought over whether Pete's dreams were real - his gift. Levi wanted to logic them away. Aubrey knew they couldn't be handled like that. And you think Captain Logic would understand that she'd have the best insight, here, right? But no. And then in the end, Pete confesses he was afraid they wouldn't believe him. What?? He drove away and spit in the face of the parent who did believe him, abandoning her to live with the parent who didn't, while refusing to speak with or see her. How does any of this make sense?
In the end, I'm just disappointed. Aubrey deserves to have a partner who is actually a partner. This relationship is gross and unhealthy. Her kid, whatever, he is who he is. Some kids are dickheads, fine, whatever. But Levi, though... it's Levi I just can't forgive.
And I can't really forgive Aubrey for just trailing behind him like a kicked dog begging for scraps, hoping he might come back to her, happy to take whatever little bits he'll give her. It's so gross.
Let me say, at start: the mystery, the multiple timelines unfolding, it was all masterful. Better than the first book, even. The twist was heartbreaking, and the story as a whole was 5 solid stars.
But the relationship was just garbage.
Look, this book is a paranormal romance. But the romance was zip. Aubrey and Levi only barely got together in the last book. Seriously, you only found out that they were for sure together - and he wasn't dead - on the last page. There was no time to enjoy their relationship, or see them really mesh their lives.
Then this book. It is nearly 13 years later and their lives have fallen apart. Levi left her 5 months ago, and her son chose to join Levi 2 months ago. That's not really a spoiler, you find out in the first couple pages.
We never get a real reason why. The best I can suss out, from what is implied, is that their son's developing gift stressed them out, and they fought over how to handle it, and 5 months ago Levi decided to bail. And then Pete apparently slowly decided he hated his mom, and left to join his dad. And that's not an exaggeration. In this book he has to be cajoled into talking to her. Tells her he hated her. Screams at her not to touch him. And various other things. I get he's a stressed kid who somehow blames his mom for his gift, as if she wanted to have hers. But he's a douche. And Levi is a douche. And they make her feel like an utterly non-essential guest in her family. Throughout the book, they have conversations about important things that we find out about when Levi informs her what they decided. She doesn't get a say. She doesn't even get to be part of the conversation. And this never changes - the end resolution is done that exact same way. They decided what to do, and then informed her. As if she should be grateful that they are condescending to be part of her life at all.
Fuck the both of them. And Levi in particular.
For being Captain Rational, we're never given a rational reason why he left. Why he thought it was okay to be yet another person in Aubrey's life who abandoned her. And then, furthermore, enabled her son to utterly kick her out of his life.
And it doesn't even make sense. As best I can infer, Aubrey and Levi fought over whether Pete's dreams were real - his gift. Levi wanted to logic them away. Aubrey knew they couldn't be handled like that. And you think Captain Logic would understand that she'd have the best insight, here, right? But no. And then in the end, Pete confesses he was afraid they wouldn't believe him. What?? He drove away and spit in the face of the parent who did believe him, abandoning her to live with the parent who didn't, while refusing to speak with or see her. How does any of this make sense?
In the end, I'm just disappointed. Aubrey deserves to have a partner who is actually a partner. This relationship is gross and unhealthy. Her kid, whatever, he is who he is. Some kids are dickheads, fine, whatever. But Levi, though... it's Levi I just can't forgive.
And I can't really forgive Aubrey for just trailing behind him like a kicked dog begging for scraps, hoping he might come back to her, happy to take whatever little bits he'll give her. It's so gross.