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A review by katyanaish
Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean
3.0
***3.5***
I think I have a general problem with this particular series.
I love the heroines. LOVE them. And in this series so far, you have these amaaaaazing women bending over backwards to make these undeserving men love them.
To be clear, I liked this one more than book 1 - the heroine held her own through most of the book. But then the inevitable betrayal happens, and rather than saying "well, fuck that guy" in the way that you would expect such a glorious, strong woman to do, Hattie just continues to hurl herself at Beast. This book was a solid 4.5 for me until that point - - but that was infuriating.
Stories like this make it seem like sex makes everything better. That it doesn't matter if you can't trust your partner, it doesn't matter if you share your deepest dreams with him, and then the very next day he destroys them. If he'll have sex with you, none of the rest of that matters.
And then he hurts her again. And it doesn't matter, because she still loves him and just goes back for more.
It is deeply disappointing to me. And I feel like we women, in fantasizing about shit like this, are training ourselves to find it acceptable. To be utterly fine with us doing all the work in a relationship, with us having all the vulnerability. With our partners making decisions for us, all under that shit umbrella of "it was for your own good" as if we are incapable of making decisions for ourselves. And while Hattie does express that - she says hey, you don't get to make decisions for me - she doesn't ever make him pay for treating her that way. She always goes back to him, always is open to any affection he wants to give her, never even holds onto a single goddamn moment of anger.
It makes me think so much less of her.
And so, while Grace seems like an amazing character, I honestly just don't want to read her book, because I'm sure that she's an amazing character who is then going to turn into an amazing doormat for the asshole she's desperate for. And I just can't even.
I think I have a general problem with this particular series.
I love the heroines. LOVE them. And in this series so far, you have these amaaaaazing women bending over backwards to make these undeserving men love them.
To be clear, I liked this one more than book 1 - the heroine held her own through most of the book. But then the inevitable betrayal happens, and rather than saying "well, fuck that guy" in the way that you would expect such a glorious, strong woman to do, Hattie just continues to hurl herself at Beast. This book was a solid 4.5 for me until that point -
Spoiler
when, right after he betrays her and takes everything from her, smashing her dreams, she decides oh well, I still want to have sex with himStories like this make it seem like sex makes everything better. That it doesn't matter if you can't trust your partner, it doesn't matter if you share your deepest dreams with him, and then the very next day he destroys them. If he'll have sex with you, none of the rest of that matters.
And then he hurts her again. And it doesn't matter, because she still loves him and just goes back for more.
It is deeply disappointing to me. And I feel like we women, in fantasizing about shit like this, are training ourselves to find it acceptable. To be utterly fine with us doing all the work in a relationship, with us having all the vulnerability. With our partners making decisions for us, all under that shit umbrella of "it was for your own good" as if we are incapable of making decisions for ourselves. And while Hattie does express that - she says hey, you don't get to make decisions for me - she doesn't ever make him pay for treating her that way. She always goes back to him, always is open to any affection he wants to give her, never even holds onto a single goddamn moment of anger.
It makes me think so much less of her.
And so, while Grace seems like an amazing character, I honestly just don't want to read her book, because I'm sure that she's an amazing character who is then going to turn into an amazing doormat for the asshole she's desperate for. And I just can't even.