Take a photo of a barcode or cover
jamreadsbooks 's review for:
Contempt
by Sam Mariano
3 stars, I liked it overall and would probably lean towards a four if it was written more as a standalone and I only had to consider the main H and h of it but that's not the book that was written so as it stands I have some hang ups.
The main thing is that the beginning dynamic between H and h felt really confusing for me, I didn't understand where they stood with each other at the start. Honestly I don't think they were given enough consideration as a pair. Even from when we met H and h in Undertow I never really understood H's motivations for the incident that led to h calling the cops on him because he goes from ignoring her to breaking in, it's a really quick escalation with not enough context. Then at the start of Contempt their dynamic was still pretty shaky to me, it felt really fast for her to go from "I'm terrified and calling the cops" to "he's hard a hard time I should cut him some slack". That being said, once we got to the party scene and their relationship shifted it got a lot more solid for me but that was halfway through.
I really didn't like the Javi of it all. Her insecurities about Britney while texting who she thought was Javi really bothered me. Especially since once they got together H never gave any indication that he would be into anyone else while she absolutely did. I mostly forgave this when the twist was revealed but until that point it was really annoying me and that feeling lingers when considering the overall impression of this book. I also recognize that this whole thing stems from the issue that H is supposed to be obsessed with her but doesn't really take advantage of that forced proximity for the first half of the book. At that point have Gemma and Parker take that long to move in if you're not going to capitalize on it. It would have given Gemma some more agency if she was holding off on the move in date bc you know her daughter had only just called the cops on her soon to be stepson, and added to the conflict between H and h about their differing levels of fucks given regarding their parents relationship. Also it would have clarified H's obsession with h and we negated the Javi and Brittney issues.
Lastly, and this has nothing to do with the main romance ark but was major, is the sprinkling in of stuff between Hannah and Dare that had me questioning the "hea" of Dare and Aubrey from book 1. It's going to really bother me if Aubrey isn't endgame for Dare. I can handle the non and dub con and all the other toxic shit that's going down, but I cannot handle changing heroines on me. It's a weird place to draw the line but that's where I'm at. Now if later in Hannah's storyline she manages to get Aubrey safely away from Dare, that's cool, but not if she winds up with him or her instead. And this book had sooo many snippets that make you question both Hannah and Dare's intentions which I don't like. The main reason I'm able to deal with noncon/dubcon aspects in fiction has to do with Hs commitment to h and seeing how h gets to a place of peace in these toxic as fuck relationships. That get's thrown out the window if you switch love interests on me. I didn't like it in the Morelli series but I'll hate it if it happens here bc I'm way more invested in this one.
It worries me enough to wonder if I can keep going with the series. I really liked the first book, with the biggest issue being not fully understanding how/if Aubrey got to a place where she felt safe in such an unsafe relationship, and I was super excited at the prospect of seeing more of them throughout the series to build that understanding. However, now I'm worried we didn't get that deliberately bc Dare is going to shift to Hannah instead and the original relationship will implode. It's enough to make me consider bumping this down to 2 stars but I'll wait on future books to decide.
The main thing is that the beginning dynamic between H and h felt really confusing for me, I didn't understand where they stood with each other at the start. Honestly I don't think they were given enough consideration as a pair. Even from when we met H and h in Undertow I never really understood H's motivations for the incident that led to h calling the cops on him because he goes from ignoring her to breaking in, it's a really quick escalation with not enough context. Then at the start of Contempt their dynamic was still pretty shaky to me, it felt really fast for her to go from "I'm terrified and calling the cops" to "he's hard a hard time I should cut him some slack". That being said, once we got to the party scene and their relationship shifted it got a lot more solid for me but that was halfway through.
I really didn't like the Javi of it all. Her insecurities about Britney while texting who she thought was Javi really bothered me. Especially since once they got together H never gave any indication that he would be into anyone else while she absolutely did. I mostly forgave this when the twist was revealed but until that point it was really annoying me and that feeling lingers when considering the overall impression of this book. I also recognize that this whole thing stems from the issue that H is supposed to be obsessed with her but doesn't really take advantage of that forced proximity for the first half of the book. At that point have Gemma and Parker take that long to move in if you're not going to capitalize on it. It would have given Gemma some more agency if she was holding off on the move in date bc you know her daughter had only just called the cops on her soon to be stepson, and added to the conflict between H and h about their differing levels of fucks given regarding their parents relationship. Also it would have clarified H's obsession with h and we negated the Javi and Brittney issues.
Lastly, and this has nothing to do with the main romance ark but was major, is the sprinkling in of stuff between Hannah and Dare that had me questioning the "hea" of Dare and Aubrey from book 1. It's going to really bother me if Aubrey isn't endgame for Dare. I can handle the non and dub con and all the other toxic shit that's going down, but I cannot handle changing heroines on me. It's a weird place to draw the line but that's where I'm at. Now if later in Hannah's storyline she manages to get Aubrey safely away from Dare, that's cool, but not if she winds up with him or her instead. And this book had sooo many snippets that make you question both Hannah and Dare's intentions which I don't like. The main reason I'm able to deal with noncon/dubcon aspects in fiction has to do with Hs commitment to h and seeing how h gets to a place of peace in these toxic as fuck relationships. That get's thrown out the window if you switch love interests on me. I didn't like it in the Morelli series but I'll hate it if it happens here bc I'm way more invested in this one.
It worries me enough to wonder if I can keep going with the series. I really liked the first book, with the biggest issue being not fully understanding how/if Aubrey got to a place where she felt safe in such an unsafe relationship, and I was super excited at the prospect of seeing more of them throughout the series to build that understanding. However, now I'm worried we didn't get that deliberately bc Dare is going to shift to Hannah instead and the original relationship will implode. It's enough to make me consider bumping this down to 2 stars but I'll wait on future books to decide.