perthy
This book says it was inspired by the tv show Hannibal and while I can see that in some aspects with the obsession and yearning of the characters, but it just not done as good unfortunately. I wanted so badly to like this book but the main character in particular seriously makes it impossible.
First of all, the main character? Insufferable. She is overbearing and needy (and uses so many big words almost haphazardly thrown in there, trying to make it seem like she has a personality when shes actually just annoying. Someone, anyone, please take the thesaurus away from Delilah.) and normally that doesn’t bother me if it’s done well but she also constantly oversteps on the boundaries of Ash. And the book makes it seem like Ro is in the right, that she’s justified??? That is something I can’t fathom. One moment in particular that made me so angry is when Ro goes to the farmers market to see Ash. And she acts like she’s not busy helping a customer. Like she is WORKING, she can’t give you her attention 100% of the time. And then Ro has the nerve to feel sad and devastated like Ash hates her and wants her to die, when she just literally told her that she’s busy and will be with her after. It almost made me rip my hair out. Ro is constantly doing this and it’s made to be seen as she’s the normal one when it just makes her fucking weird. If you can’t respect your partners boundaries, no matter how weird YOU think they are, then you leave. It’s so simple that I couldn’t even lay it out anymore plainly. That’s why I don’t have any empathy for her when the book ends. Which makes the book not have any impact on me and leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.
If we disregard the ending reveal, (which I could see from a mile coming, so it has predictable on its list as well) Ro would be one with red flags when she constantly crosses her girlfriend’s boundaries. Very simple and clear boundaries.
Somebody else said that this is a queer romance for straight people and I couldn’t agree more. Where’s the queerness?? The main character constantly brings up men in her thoughts and makes comparisons between them and women constantly and makes it so clear that there’s no queer perspective on this. It’s very “there’s differences between men and women and I need to tell you about them.” Which is so annoying when she is putting men at the forefront of all her thoughts, even in a relationship with a woman. Aside from the fact that it’s two women this book really is a nothing burger about the exploration of someone figuring out their sexuality and their queerness late in life. It had potential, I wish anyone else had gotten their hands on this plot. Maybe not a straight cis women next time though (not to say that straight cis women can’t write queer stories, but that Delilah S. Dawson shouldn’t.)
Hate read this, made me so frustrated. But also I couldn’t look away so there’s that.
This book says it was inspired by the tv show Hannibal and while I can see that in some aspects with the obsession and yearning of the characters, but it just not done as good unfortunately. I wanted so badly to like this book but the main character in particular seriously makes it impossible.
First of all, the main character? Insufferable. She is overbearing and needy (and uses so many big words almost haphazardly thrown in there, trying to make it seem like she has a personality when shes actually just annoying. Someone, anyone, please take the thesaurus away from Delilah.) and normally that doesn’t bother me if it’s done well but she also constantly oversteps on the boundaries of Ash. And the book makes it seem like Ro is in the right, that she’s justified??? That is something I can’t fathom. One moment in particular that made me so angry is when Ro goes to the farmers market to see Ash. And she acts like she’s not busy helping a customer. Like she is WORKING, she can’t give you her attention 100% of the time. And then Ro has the nerve to feel sad and devastated like Ash hates her and wants her to die, when she just literally told her that she’s busy and will be with her after. It almost made me rip my hair out. Ro is constantly doing this and it’s made to be seen as she’s the normal one when it just makes her fucking weird. If you can’t respect your partners boundaries, no matter how weird YOU think they are, then you leave. It’s so simple that I couldn’t even lay it out anymore plainly. That’s why I don’t have any empathy for her when the book ends. Which makes the book not have any impact on me and leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.
If we disregard the ending reveal, (which I could see from a mile coming, so it has predictable on its list as well) Ro would be one with red flags when she constantly crosses her girlfriend’s boundaries. Very simple and clear boundaries.
Somebody else said that this is a queer romance for straight people and I couldn’t agree more. Where’s the queerness?? The main character constantly brings up men in her thoughts and makes comparisons between them and women constantly and makes it so clear that there’s no queer perspective on this. It’s very “there’s differences between men and women and I need to tell you about them.” Which is so annoying when she is putting men at the forefront of all her thoughts, even in a relationship with a woman. Aside from the fact that it’s two women this book really is a nothing burger about the exploration of someone figuring out their sexuality and their queerness late in life. It had potential, I wish anyone else had gotten their hands on this plot. Maybe not a straight cis women next time though (not to say that straight cis women can’t write queer stories, but that Delilah S. Dawson shouldn’t.)
Hate read this, made me so frustrated. But also I couldn’t look away so there’s that.