Belle Brett

I was worried that given the premise, this book would be an Orientalist dumpster fire - thankfully, it managed to avoid that, though at times, just barely. Instead, I found a common thread through the book of rationalizing abusive and asshole behavior. There was one scene where attempted rape was waved off as cultural differences. The author tried to show female empowerment through sex, but the story came across as an apologist tale for misogyny and treating women like objects.

This quote was meant to be profound and an excuse for a male character's less-than-stellar behavior:
"Love makes us so vulnerable to hurt, we can be afraid of it and behave in strange ways, to the point of acting the opposite of love."

The more I thought about it, the more sinister this quote was, as it was presented as an excuse for said character's behavior towards the protagonist.

Also, considering that others have classified this as erotica, I have to warn that this isn't it. The sex scenes were oddly clinical.… (altro)