Scan barcode
A review by k_lenn
The Daughter In Law by Nina Manning
2.0
Not horrible but looking back at this book, I can't think of a twist that wasn't glaringly obvious from pretty early on.
The victim-blaming was pretty atrocious, too. Rant incoming:
There's absolutely no mention of how he was responsible because she couldn't consent. Are we supposed to blame her, too? Yikes.
Also: newspapers can't legally publish pictures of underage victims. Why would they? Surely it's the teacher being a statutory rapist and how that lead to his wife to commit suicide that's the news, not who the victim is. It makes no sense.
Daisy drinks hard liquor here and there throughout the pregnancy and doesn't bother with even the smallest and most routine prenatal care. Not to mention, Annie is supposed to love and care for her grandson — she thinks he'll be her son, after all— and yet she offers Daisy alcohol, doesn't give her prenatal vitamins, etc. Wouldn't she be super anal about her health and things that'd make her pregnancy high-risk, all things considered?
The ending was very convenient and plot twists, as mentioned before, were incredibly obvious. I'm not sure if I'm convinced at all.
All that being said, it wasn't that bad of a read. Went by easy and quick enough, for sure. As long as you're not looking for a carefully planned and plotted book with plot twists that'll knock you off your feet, I think this is okay.
The victim-blaming was pretty atrocious, too. Rant incoming:
Spoiler
I'd understand if Annie was the only person victim-blaming because she's looking for any and all reasons to hate Daisy... but she's not alone. Everybody who learns of it— her teachers, her friends, her parents— want to blame her instead of the ADULT who committed STATUTORY RAPE. She was 15!There's absolutely no mention of how he was responsible because she couldn't consent. Are we supposed to blame her, too? Yikes.
Also: newspapers can't legally publish pictures of underage victims. Why would they? Surely it's the teacher being a statutory rapist and how that lead to his wife to commit suicide that's the news, not who the victim is. It makes no sense.
Daisy drinks hard liquor here and there throughout the pregnancy and doesn't bother with even the smallest and most routine prenatal care. Not to mention, Annie is supposed to love and care for her grandson — she thinks he'll be her son, after all— and yet she offers Daisy alcohol, doesn't give her prenatal vitamins, etc. Wouldn't she be super anal about her health and things that'd make her pregnancy high-risk, all things considered?
The ending was very convenient and plot twists, as mentioned before, were incredibly obvious. I'm not sure if I'm convinced at all.
All that being said, it wasn't that bad of a read. Went by easy and quick enough, for sure. As long as you're not looking for a carefully planned and plotted book with plot twists that'll knock you off your feet, I think this is okay.