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A review by quietkat
In the Absence of Light by Adrienne Wilder
I’ll start by saying I loved this book but...
Yeah... I loved it but... like the only other Adrienne Wilder book I’ve read, WILD, (see my review here) I had similar problems with In the Absence of Light.
Once again, Wilder gives us:
A great premise.
Good bones.
A fun setting that provided a lot of humor and amusing situations.
Interesting and compelling MCs, particularly Morgan.
Strong emotional pull. It moved me to tears a few times.
The sexual chemistry was hot. Smokin hot!
An immersive, compelling story.
But I, once again, found parts problematic:
The sex scene with the hand cuffs felt rapey to me. Ultimately Grant enjoyed himself but he did not consent to the cuffs AND says “All right, let me up” and “Morgan this isn’t funny anymore.” I felt super uncomfortable and found it upsetting. I don’t care how into it I am, if I start resisting and/or objecting, my partner better stop. Immediately. Especially if I am restrained and cannot physically resist! And then they need to be sure I’m all in before continuing. This was not the only incident where Morgan comes off as invasive and creepy. Several times before he and Grant are together, he gropes Grant and rubs up on him in public spaces. It seems to be trying to suggest that Morgan is empowered and sexually liberated but I think it sends a bad message that he doesn’t respect other’s boundaries or feel the need for consent. I’ve had both these things happen to me and it’s a BAD feeling.
It felt like there was too much going on. The Dillon subplot was disturbing and upsetting but I appreciated it and felt it added the right amount of conflict and additional depth to Morgan’s psychological state and character. The FBI subplot, on the other hand, felt overdone. I didn’t mind it as much as some reviewers did but it did feel tedious and for me, it distracted more from the story than enhanced it. That said, I did like what Grant’s relationship with Jeff added to the story’s conflicts and developments and I’m looking forward to Jeff’s story.
Finally, this story is riddled with typos, words out of place/order, grammatical errors, etc. Example: Jeff moved down the isle of Pews. They’re in a church so I guess it was meant to be Jeff moved down the aisle of pews. Generally, I don’t mind a few typos but there were A LOT in this book. It was distracting.
Still, I LOVED Morgan and I LOVED this story in spite of the typos and overblown plot elements, and for that alone, I’m tempted to give In the Absence of Light 5 stars. The reason I’m refraining from rating comes down to that fact that I don’t know enough about autism to feel comfortable giving the rep a 5 star endorsement.
Thanks to everyone in my TL that rated and reviewed this book! It made me smile. It made me laugh. It made me happy. Its been a most welcome and refreshing bit of sunshine and colorful light on some cloudy and difficult days.
Yeah... I loved it but... like the only other Adrienne Wilder book I’ve read, WILD, (see my review here) I had similar problems with In the Absence of Light.
Once again, Wilder gives us:
A great premise.
Good bones.
A fun setting that provided a lot of humor and amusing situations.
Interesting and compelling MCs, particularly Morgan.
Strong emotional pull. It moved me to tears a few times.
The sexual chemistry was hot. Smokin hot!
An immersive, compelling story.
But I, once again, found parts problematic:
The sex scene with the hand cuffs felt rapey to me. Ultimately Grant enjoyed himself but he did not consent to the cuffs AND says “All right, let me up” and “Morgan this isn’t funny anymore.” I felt super uncomfortable and found it upsetting. I don’t care how into it I am, if I start resisting and/or objecting, my partner better stop. Immediately. Especially if I am restrained and cannot physically resist! And then they need to be sure I’m all in before continuing. This was not the only incident where Morgan comes off as invasive and creepy. Several times before he and Grant are together, he gropes Grant and rubs up on him in public spaces. It seems to be trying to suggest that Morgan is empowered and sexually liberated but I think it sends a bad message that he doesn’t respect other’s boundaries or feel the need for consent. I’ve had both these things happen to me and it’s a BAD feeling.
It felt like there was too much going on. The Dillon subplot was disturbing and upsetting but I appreciated it and felt it added the right amount of conflict and additional depth to Morgan’s psychological state and character. The FBI subplot, on the other hand, felt overdone. I didn’t mind it as much as some reviewers did but it did feel tedious and for me, it distracted more from the story than enhanced it. That said, I did like what Grant’s relationship with Jeff added to the story’s conflicts and developments and I’m looking forward to Jeff’s story.
Finally, this story is riddled with typos, words out of place/order, grammatical errors, etc. Example: Jeff moved down the isle of Pews. They’re in a church so I guess it was meant to be Jeff moved down the aisle of pews. Generally, I don’t mind a few typos but there were A LOT in this book. It was distracting.
Still, I LOVED Morgan and I LOVED this story in spite of the typos and overblown plot elements, and for that alone, I’m tempted to give In the Absence of Light 5 stars. The reason I’m refraining from rating comes down to that fact that I don’t know enough about autism to feel comfortable giving the rep a 5 star endorsement.
Thanks to everyone in my TL that rated and reviewed this book! It made me smile. It made me laugh. It made me happy. Its been a most welcome and refreshing bit of sunshine and colorful light on some cloudy and difficult days.