...as in both men should trigger your fight/flight instincts and disgust you.
I remember reading HMR's work when I was younger, mainly during middle school iirc, and even then thinking something was a little off in the "romance". This coming from a kid who later read all of Twilight.
I've been re-reading some older series though, and decided to try giving this a shot again. I mean, maybe I stopped reading it bc I got busy. Maybe it wasn't that bad.
I was wrong. It IS that bad. It's terrible. It's horrific.
Even disregarding the body shaming, which is a humongous elephant to shove aside, the romanticized abuse is nauseating. The main character isn't the sharpest tool in the drawer (she's not smart, okay), and she definitely has no concept of "self care", but she doesn't deserve This.
I'd say after decades reading shoujo, I'm fairly desensitized (read: numbed) to the horrors of Shoujo Alpha Male tendencies, but.
This male lead is honestly one of the worst romantic interests I have EVER read.
Here are a couple things he does in the first couple of chapters:
- He has his friends hold her in place so he can "test" his new pens by playing five finger fillet with her hands. He laughs and verbally abuses her while she sobs and shakes.
- He bumps into her outside of school and promptly forces her into an alley with his friends. He then takes her bags of snacks and spills them onto the ground. He forces her onto all fours and threatens her with a beating by wooden stick unless she eats from the ground. He takes pictures.
Actual quotes from chapters 1-2: "Since pigs taste the best when they're made fun of." "That b**** has three years until she's free." "Yo! Super pig!!" "I live by bullying this girl." I think that's enough.
I can only assume that his wealth/family background and looks are supposed to eclipse his violence, verbal/physical abuse, and repugnant personality.
But no thanks. I'mma take a Hard Pass on this, yet again, and hope no young minds are actually being influenced by this drivel.