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A review by talknerdybookblog
Rabid by Ivy Asher, Raven Kennedy
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.0
No strong representation of diverse characters or minority identities.
Originally was going to be 4-stars, but because of the purposeful OW drama (see Safety Rating and my comment for details) and trauma minimization (see the spoiler in my Possible Triggers spoiler), it got pushed to 2-stars.
However, I pushed it up to 3-stars because once the Hero realizes how much he hurt the Heroine he did some serious grovelling. Also, there’s no woman-on-woman hate! The Heroine actually realizes it’s the *Hero* who is in the wrong, which is so rare.
I’m sure most people won’t find it offensive but I’m just really over this sexism being explained away as double standards or disrespect 🤷🏻♀️. I really enjoyed the book; it has excellent pacing, a great Heroine to root for (who is so awesomely badass) and intriguing world-building. But, at the end of the day, I had many issues with the book's sexism and trauma minimization. Therefore, my rating needed to reflect my concerns.
For those interested, I understood the Hero's approach to the claiming and his treatment of the Heroine sexist and here's why:
(1) the Hero throws the fact that the Heroine's wolf wanted to be claimed by him as proof the Heroine also "wanted it" (sounds familiar, no?). Heroine does point out that she never verbally consented to be claimed–she asked for sex, that's it. But, once again, the Hero says the fact that she joined the claiming hunt – despite her being tricked into it – is "evidence."
(2) throughout the novel, the Hero tells the Heroine his claim is the answer to all her problems and trauma! (Go read the 'Possible Triggers' tab... do you really think a guy who doesn't actually love her is the "solution" to any of her concerns?)
(3) the Hero's scheme to get the Heroine to claim him was to incite her jealousy with an OW (see Safety Rating and my response in the comments). You later find out that he asked the OW's permission–the OW then tells the Heroine that she was in on the scheme and the Hero (the pack's Alpha) would never treat anyone in his pack with such disrespect as to use a pack member (the OW) for such a scheme without their consent. This whole conversation went downhill fast for me. I was loving it because there was no woman-on-woman hate but the OW's above response about the Alpha never disrespecting someone was so off because her statement was directly contradicted by the scheme the Hero was asking her to partake in: pretending they were going to get it on, in the Heroine's face, to purposefully hurt, humiliate and antagonize her (without her permission). It had a very "he doesn't hurt me" vibe that everyone uses to defend men when they're accused of assault.
(4) Writing this review made me think how the Heroine's worth and value to the pack was directly tied to her mating with their Alpha. No one offered to protect her and/or invite her into the pack without that string attached. And, given that she appeared on the pack's borders drugged, starved, and naked and was shown no kindness by them (you can still be suspicious of her without treating her like she's inhuman)... I still don't understand how the Alpha (the Hero) could be pissed at the Heroine for jumping to conclusions. The Hero makes every hurt, trauma and disrespect the Heroine has experienced about him.
(5) the Hero ranting on and on about the stupidity of her plan to run away from the packs because she didn't want to be forced into a mating (and in her original pack that would've been accompanied by being continually r@ped). I mention in the spoiler in the 'Possible Triggers' spoiler, but the Hero looks at the situation from the perspective of someone who has never been a woman (in this world, even Alpha Females must submit to the Alpha Males) or someone who is not the apex predator. It doesn't click that running away and risking going rogue is better than the fate she faces if she stays in the pack.
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions... could be Not Safe for some
• No cheating
— But, Hero purposefully flirts with OW *after* he mates the Heroine to hurt her.
• Does have OW drama
— See above. Hero does it in the hopes of triggering the Heroine’s wolf, who would then force the Heroine to officially claim the Hero and complete their mating. Yeah, not controlling at all.
• No OM drama
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing each other away
• No separation
Possible Triggers: Yes
• Murder
• Blood and gore
• Death of parents
• Attempted r@pe
• Starvation, abduction and confinement
• SO much sexism
• Minimization and gaslighting of Heroine's trauma by the Hero, including suicide ideations
Ending:HEA... I would’ve like an epilogue that focused more on the couple
SPOILER Warning: the following includes quotations from a conversation between the Hero and Heroine at ~50% of the book. It includes a discussion of r@pe, suicidal ideation and minimization of trauma (see above trigger warning list too):
So, days before meeting the Hero, the Heroine is almost r@ped, forcefully joins with her wolf (and is physically violated in that process), almost killed, starved, confined, and thinks her mother's best friend is dead. Oh and her mom (her only family and only friend) died a week before the world ceremony! She's also trying to reconcile her wolf's instinct with her brain.
When the Heroine's trauma becomes too much (compounded by her new mate being an ass), she looks over a cliff and it's insinuated she might jump. The Hero finds her and (obviously) becomes wary. The Heroine starts ranting about the unfairness of her trauma and how hurt and broken she feels. And, the Hero? He then makes her hurt about him and her (mistaken) assumptions of him (even though he builds up that reputation because it makes other packs stay away, so I don't get why he's judging? Like, just explain yourself if you're so bothered!).
Originally was going to be 4-stars, but because of the purposeful OW drama (see Safety Rating and my comment for details) and trauma minimization (see the spoiler in my Possible Triggers spoiler), it got pushed to 2-stars.
However, I pushed it up to 3-stars because once the Hero realizes how much he hurt the Heroine he did some serious grovelling. Also, there’s no woman-on-woman hate! The Heroine actually realizes it’s the *Hero* who is in the wrong, which is so rare.
I’m sure most people won’t find it offensive but I’m just really over this sexism being explained away as double standards or disrespect 🤷🏻♀️. I really enjoyed the book; it has excellent pacing, a great Heroine to root for (who is so awesomely badass) and intriguing world-building. But, at the end of the day, I had many issues with the book's sexism and trauma minimization. Therefore, my rating needed to reflect my concerns.
For those interested, I understood the Hero's approach to the claiming and his treatment of the Heroine sexist and here's why:
(1) the Hero throws the fact that the Heroine's wolf wanted to be claimed by him as proof the Heroine also "wanted it" (sounds familiar, no?). Heroine does point out that she never verbally consented to be claimed–she asked for sex, that's it. But, once again, the Hero says the fact that she joined the claiming hunt – despite her being tricked into it – is "evidence."
(2) throughout the novel, the Hero tells the Heroine his claim is the answer to all her problems and trauma! (Go read the 'Possible Triggers' tab... do you really think a guy who doesn't actually love her is the "solution" to any of her concerns?)
(3) the Hero's scheme to get the Heroine to claim him was to incite her jealousy with an OW (see Safety Rating and my response in the comments). You later find out that he asked the OW's permission–the OW then tells the Heroine that she was in on the scheme and the Hero (the pack's Alpha) would never treat anyone in his pack with such disrespect as to use a pack member (the OW) for such a scheme without their consent. This whole conversation went downhill fast for me. I was loving it because there was no woman-on-woman hate but the OW's above response about the Alpha never disrespecting someone was so off because her statement was directly contradicted by the scheme the Hero was asking her to partake in: pretending they were going to get it on, in the Heroine's face, to purposefully hurt, humiliate and antagonize her (without her permission). It had a very "he doesn't hurt me" vibe that everyone uses to defend men when they're accused of assault.
(4) Writing this review made me think how the Heroine's worth and value to the pack was directly tied to her mating with their Alpha. No one offered to protect her and/or invite her into the pack without that string attached. And, given that she appeared on the pack's borders drugged, starved, and naked and was shown no kindness by them (you can still be suspicious of her without treating her like she's inhuman)... I still don't understand how the Alpha (the Hero) could be pissed at the Heroine for jumping to conclusions. The Hero makes every hurt, trauma and disrespect the Heroine has experienced about him.
(5) the Hero ranting on and on about the stupidity of her plan to run away from the packs because she didn't want to be forced into a mating (and in her original pack that would've been accompanied by being continually r@ped). I mention in the spoiler in the 'Possible Triggers' spoiler, but the Hero looks at the situation from the perspective of someone who has never been a woman (in this world, even Alpha Females must submit to the Alpha Males) or someone who is not the apex predator. It doesn't click that running away and risking going rogue is better than the fate she faces if she stays in the pack.
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions... could be Not Safe for some
• No cheating
— But, Hero purposefully flirts with OW *after* he mates the Heroine to hurt her.
• Does have OW drama
— See above. Hero does it in the hopes of triggering the Heroine’s wolf, who would then force the Heroine to officially claim the Hero and complete their mating. Yeah, not controlling at all.
• No OM drama
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing each other away
• No separation
Possible Triggers: Yes
• Murder
• Blood and gore
• Death of parents
• Attempted r@pe
• Starvation, abduction and confinement
• SO much sexism
• Minimization and gaslighting of Heroine's trauma by the Hero, including suicide ideations
Ending:
SPOILER Warning: the following includes quotations from a conversation between the Hero and Heroine at ~50% of the book. It includes a discussion of r@pe, suicidal ideation and minimization of trauma (see above trigger warning list too):
So, days before meeting the Hero, the Heroine is almost r@ped, forcefully joins with her wolf (and is physically violated in that process), almost killed, starved, confined, and thinks her mother's best friend is dead. Oh and her mom (her only family and only friend) died a week before the world ceremony! She's also trying to reconcile her wolf's instinct with her brain.
When the Heroine's trauma becomes too much (compounded by her new mate being an ass), she looks over a cliff and it's insinuated she might jump. The Hero finds her and (obviously) becomes wary. The Heroine starts ranting about the unfairness of her trauma and how hurt and broken she feels. And, the Hero? He then makes her hurt about him and her (mistaken) assumptions of him (even though he builds up that reputation because it makes other packs stay away, so I don't get why he's judging? Like, just explain yourself if you're so bothered!).
"Right. So you're throwing yourself a pity party> Going to throw yourself off this mountain because life didn't give you what you wanted?" ~ Our lovely Hero in response to the Heroine's trauma!
"News flash, everyone in Ruin Falls [her mate's pack] has shit that's happened to them. Maybe instead of listening to gossip and making assumptions, you should ask me."~ The Hero again!
Now, this comment of his infuriated me because (1) you CANNOT compare trauma or how people deal with it. It wouldn't matter if the Heroine had a year or the 4-days she had in this book: her response to trauma is not a freaking pity party!! LIKE WHAT THE HELL, and (2) the Heroine's in surivial-mode and if all I ever knew about the Ruin Falls pack was bad things (which says a lot given what the Heroine's original pack did to her), I would never stay around to figure out if it's true. Again, if the Hero was so bothered by her assumptions, just freaking tell her the truth.
"You want to stand there like you're so much better than Ruin Falls, even though you don't know shit? You want to walk around like the world should be apologizing to you?" He makes a face of disgust. "Maybe you should take a good look at yourself and stop behaving like you're ashamed of your shifter nature." ~ The HERO
– Interesting how the Hero thinks the Heroine is posturing as if she's better than Ruin Falls when really she's always been told they kill indiscriminately, so really she's showing her morals where indiscriminate murder is bad. 🙄
– LOVE *sarcasm* how he insinuates she should just get over her trauma and her feelings. Also, low-blow with the bit about her wolf – especially considering it's been 4 DAYS sharing her body with its spirit!
"I could barely stop my alpha from trying to rape me in the middle of my Flux [ceremony that gives her people their wolf spirit]. I couldn't stop him from drugging me and tossing me here to die. I couldn't stop him from murdering my mom or setting up my dad to be killed in the pack was," ~ Heroine telling the Hero about her trauma.
– Hero then goes on a rant about how she needs to accept her wolf (her past) and embrace who she is. He then goes on to insinuate that his claiming of her answers all her problems. WTF. Also, the Hero uses her participation in the claiming hunt as "evidence" to her true desire to be his mate BUT she was tricked into shifting by one of his pack members (again, why WOULDN'T she trust the pack??) and her wolf's instincts did the rest. So, NO there was no consent; the Heroine – the human – did not want him as her mate; she didn't want any mate.
– Hero actually says to her, "you want to pretend that you had no choice..." Um, see the above comments! The Heroine wouldn't have shifted if she had known.
Hero then makes fun and belittles her plan for survival (running away from the packs):
"You were going to just go out and be a lone shifter in some piece of shit town, with your wolf half-rabid and you without any kin or resources? You'd have gone crazy within a year trying to pass as human, and probably killed some innocent in the process. All because you'd rather run away than face things and be something better than this moping, spoiled little shit you're acting like." ~ Hero
– Notice how he never acknowledges how bad her life in either pack must be for her to risk this future coming to fruition. The risk of maybe going rogue is better than being r@ped for the rest of her life in a forced mating.
– These quotes are listed chronologically, so the Hero knows about her trauma and why she's acting the way she is... yet he calls her a "moping, spoiled little shit"? Apparently, she's not allowed to have negative emotions? She's only allowed to be so THANKFUL the alpha of Ruin Falls DEIGNED to choose her as his mate.
THE SEXISM, THE GASLIGHTING, THE MINIMIZATION.
The Hero once again states that his claim could be the answer to all her problems. 🙄
Now time for the worst statement by the Hero:
"My wolf and I saw something in your spirits last night. But we don't want this," he says, his arms gesturing to the cliff's edge we're both standing on [insinuating her suicidal ideation]. "We don't want the shame and the doubt. We don't want your insecure, pitying weakness."
– He goes onto say he likes her rabid... but that's also a euphemism for only liking his mate when she's STRONG: capable of murder and emotionally hardened. He REJECTS her when she shows doubt and hurt. So, he doesn't actually want her then because he doesn't want all of her.
– I found this out of the Hero's SO offensive (and honestly triggering because he's her love interest - they're going to end up together despite how, if a boyfriend said this to me IRL I would never speak to them ever again).
– So many people who get depressed, sad, and/or hurt turn away from their loved ones because they think they're less than and that they aren't worthy of their love... which is EXACTLY what the Hero is telling the Heroine! He's confirming every single fear of the Heroine's – that she's worth nothing if she's not strong and kicking ass all the time – and, if the Heroine was suicidal, I 100% believe she would've jumped after he said this to her.
"Decide what the fuck you want and who you want to be, and then come find me... or go run away with that tail tucked between your legs. I won't stop you." ~ Hero's parting comment.
– The Hero honestly attempt to have a trauma competition and because the Heroine's past wasn't the worst he heard, he told her to get over it. He insinuates to not accept him, she's a coward and a spoiled brat.
...And, worse of all, the Heroine chooses to interpret this whole conversation as a metaphorical kick in the pants – to get over herself. The next thing we know, she's felling a mountain goat and gifts it to her Alpha mate as a prize to win him back. And, they decide to become a couple!
"We can do this. We can be everything Tyran [the pack Alpha and Heroine's mate] said. Not bitter, not ashamed, but strong and proud of what we are. Capable of getting our retribution." ~ The Heroine deciding to "suck it up."
– Notice the Heroine's cherry-picking? She only focuses on "not bitter, not ashamed" which are two emotions everyone finds unhealthy. Yet, there's no acknowledgement of how he minimized her trauma.
– Also, the statement insinuates that to be strong and be worthy of her mate's pride, she needs to be capable of getting her revenge. What if she was unwilling to get revenge? Or, what if she honestly couldn't because of either PTSD or lack of physical ability? Is the survivor not strong?
–– There needed to be self-awareness and recognition that doing what she needed to do to survive is strong.
Despite there being recourse over the OW games the Hero plays (see Safety Rating), there is NO discussion about how hurtful and messed up that whole conversation was on the mountain. He basically dared her to commit suicide.