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auronani 's review for:
Don't You Dare
by CE Ricci
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Aspen and Keene were great.. To start. Sure there were. A few moments that really stretched that suspension of disbelief but it wasn’t bad. I loved their interactions and questioning. Even some minor characters felt natural and a great addition.
The spice was good.
Everything was working until the “conflict”. It pushed me over the edge of believability. The author made Aspen unredeemable in my eyes. The last quarter of this books made me a bit sick.
Aspen turned from a dude you could tell was dealing with loss and struggling with trust to a total and complete selfish prick. There was a point where I could have seen okay. Aspens freaking out. Then the author delves into a m/m trope of I need to run away to find myself. That trope works in some situations. This wasn’t one. It came off as beyond selfish. Unforgivably selfish. This trope is so overplayed and honestly is just not good when literally the slightest of communication would make it less problematic. In this case Aspen not only runs away without taking a MOMENT to apologize, AFTER having a heart to heart with his mother and the reader believing she’s gotten through to him but then breaks an intimate tradition on his “journey” of self discovery.
And this journey makes no sense. This guy struggles with opening up to people so he’s going to run away and commune with nature? I nearly spit at the stupidity of it. I almost would have believed the reconciliation if it had been years later. It would have made a larger impact in the whole idea of them being inevitable too.
Dude didn’t change. You don’t get a sense of anything different about Aspen. Oh he’s okay with being “out”. But codependency is still there. The unwillingness to be vulnerable with anyone but Keene is a mental health issue in my mind. One never resolved. Aspen’s selfish actions and Keene forgiving him so easily honestly made me lose respect for Keene. Aspen crushed him. He told him if Aspen does this Keene is moving on. Keene then gives in with no real apparent change in Aspen. Far beyond my ability to suspend disbelief. This isn’t a love story at the end. It’s a frightening take on how codependency can lead you down heartbreaking roads that could be avoided.
The spice was good.
Everything was working until the “conflict”. It pushed me over the edge of believability. The author made Aspen unredeemable in my eyes. The last quarter of this books made me a bit sick.
Aspen turned from a dude you could tell was dealing with loss and struggling with trust to a total and complete selfish prick. There was a point where I could have seen okay. Aspens freaking out. Then the author delves into a m/m trope of I need to run away to find myself. That trope works in some situations. This wasn’t one. It came off as beyond selfish. Unforgivably selfish. This trope is so overplayed and honestly is just not good when literally the slightest of communication would make it less problematic. In this case Aspen not only runs away without taking a MOMENT to apologize, AFTER having a heart to heart with his mother and the reader believing she’s gotten through to him but then breaks an intimate tradition on his “journey” of self discovery.
And this journey makes no sense. This guy struggles with opening up to people so he’s going to run away and commune with nature? I nearly spit at the stupidity of it. I almost would have believed the reconciliation if it had been years later. It would have made a larger impact in the whole idea of them being inevitable too.
Dude didn’t change. You don’t get a sense of anything different about Aspen. Oh he’s okay with being “out”. But codependency is still there. The unwillingness to be vulnerable with anyone but Keene is a mental health issue in my mind. One never resolved. Aspen’s selfish actions and Keene forgiving him so easily honestly made me lose respect for Keene. Aspen crushed him. He told him if Aspen does this Keene is moving on. Keene then gives in with no real apparent change in Aspen. Far beyond my ability to suspend disbelief. This isn’t a love story at the end. It’s a frightening take on how codependency can lead you down heartbreaking roads that could be avoided.