C. J. Bahr

It had the potential to be great, but then it was totally ruined (at about 80% in). It was good enough early on that I cared enough to be disappointed when it went downhill. I started out pretty good and I was invested in both the plot, characters, and developing romance. That’s why it was so disappointing when the romance turned borderline-abusive and unhealthy, the male love interest turned manipulative and domineering, the strong female protagonist turned into a submissive damsel in distress, and the action plot anticlimactically ended in a way that didn’t really ring true or hold any emotional resonance. The male love interest clearly wasn't intended to come off as abusive, but he just did for me at about 80% into the book and on. (I'm probably in the minority on that opinion.) I hate giving bad reviews, but this just totally ruined the book for me.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Discussions/descriptions of past sexual assault and interrupted rape attempt (in jail), kidnapping, death, violence, cursing

The plot was intriguing, but the resolution was anticlimactic and not very believable in the end. The plot did keep my interest for most of the book and the serial killer storyline wasn’t excessively creepy or graphically violent enough to be too disturbing or excessive for me. There’s a bunch of Cajun integrated into the story that are a bit confusing at first, but there’s a handy glossary of all the Cajun phrases and their meanings at the end of the book. The book was a bit flat, unrealistic, and stereotypical at times. Injuries are unrealistically fast to heal or not even close to as crippling as they would be in real life. The only notable gay character is kind of stereotypical male gay best friend in fiction: sensitive, perceptive, supportive, loyal, defined by his relationship with the straight main character, and killed off very early on in the story. I could see past these things if the book was otherwise good.

Unfortunately, it seemed to me that the main character’s love interest turned abusive, controlling, and emotionally manipulative. This doesn’t really make them riding off into the sunset together a happy ending. The author clearly didn’t intend for this relationship to come off this way, but it just did for me. It was clearly supposed to seem like the characters had their first big argument, made some mistakes, made up, and worked it out. Later, I’ll explain why, to me, this came off as abusive behavior, followed by further unhealthy relationship dynamics.

The main character, Casi, was a fake psychic that didn’t believe in magic until a serial killer with magical powers targeted her. For the male love interest, we have a cop, Luc, that was quick to believe in magic. There seems to be the assumption that all Cajuns are superstitious and believe in the supernatural. So, the only explanation for this is that Luc’s lack of skepticism is that he’s Cajun. Not really sure I buy that reasoning there, but it’s not a dealbreaker.

The female protagonist, Casi, started out strong, 3-dimensional, and likable, but turned weak, pitiable, and flat by the end of the story. Casi was intelligent, resourceful, interesting, complicated, independent, and haunted by both past trauma and present trust issues. At first, she was far from weak. She was perceptive, street-smart, made her own smart plans, actively executed them, and only obeyed orders when she decided it was the right move. She had an interesting backstory that was handled thoughtfully (at first) and shaped her traits and behaviors (at first). In the beginning, she seemed strong enough to be a main character that saves herself, with a little help from others. By the end, she was a damsel in distress that gets saved by men, who technically had a little help from her. Once she started dating the male love interest, she stopped standing up for herself, got emotionally manipulated into taking orders that she knew were bad ideas. She had started to forgive and excuse her boyfriend’s controlling, domineering, and manipulative behavior. This is dark and sad. It’s certainly not positive or inspiring character growth.

The male love interest, Luc, started out as selfless, protective, supportive, caring, strategic, disciplined, and intuitive. At first he seemed like a great love interest: smart, competent, brave, loyal, intuitive, and a bit of a rebel. He respected Casi’s boundaries, autonomy, and right to make her own choices. He was understanding of her trauma and the fact that he needed to earn her trust if he wanted to get it. He got attached to Casi and grew protective. Then came romance, but not a healthy one.

Despite the time taken on romance, it still felt a bit rushed and abrupt to me. Casi’s reason for not trusting cops was creative, believable, and (unfortunately) realistic. It was compelling to watch her grow to trust certain cops bit by bit as they earned her trust. Once she finally did come to trust Luc though, things went pretty abruptly from her and Luc trusting each other to them being totally in love. I liked them together (at first), but it just felt a bit rushed. Then it just felt rushed into a dark place home to unhealthy, abusive “romantic” relationships with selfish, controlling, emotionally abusive men that only fully show their true colors after they enter into a romantic relationship and try to explain away their harmful behavior as acts of love or protection.

After Luc began dating Casi, he turned alarmingly controlling, abusive, creepy, manipulative, selfish, narcissistic, shortsighted, blinded by hot-headedness, and idiotically impulsive. More alarmingly, the story was still written as if these characters were still likable and admirable.

At first, Luc seemed to treat her like an equal. Later, he treated her as a possession for him to protect however he saw fit. A pretty prized possession that should not cause him undue distress by disagreeing with him, disobeying him, or recklessly and selfishly daring to attempt to protect herself (the way she thinks will be most effective).

THE SHORT VERSION OF THE EVENT THAT RUINED THE BOOK FOR ME:

The first time Casi seriously disagreed with Luc on the smartest plan to save her from the serial killer, Luc resorted to physical intimidation and emotional manipulation to try and get his way. (They were dating at the time.) A third party intervened and he threw a tantrum. Then, he apologized and managed to convince Casi to forgive his troubling behavior by claiming his bad behavior was purely because of how intensely he loved her. (The classic pattern of an abuser: An abuser acts manipulative, controlling, domineering, threatening, or otherwise abusive. Then, they trick the person they abused into thinking the abusive behavior came from love and protectiveness. The tricked person stays. Abusive behavior repeats….)

THE LONG VERSION:

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

(I tried to keep the spoilers minor and vague as much as possible.)

In retrospect, there were some red flags before this. He choose to pursue her romantically, with him as the initiator for the relationship, despite the troubling power dynamics. I don’t mean a cop/civilian or protector/protectee relationship. I’m talking about how Luc and his partner were the only people Casi thought she could safely turn to for protection after Luc told her the serial killer hunting her had a mole in the police department. She was basically on the run, completely relying on Luc and his partner, Vince, to protect her from a serial killer with both super-powers and access to police information. She was essentially at their mercy with literally no loved ones or other authorities that could help her. He didn’t seem to have the self control required to wait until she wasn’t in mortal peril and the power dynamics were less troubling before he pursued a romantic relationship with her.

At about 80% in, Luc suddenly became controlling, tried to physically intimidate Casi, and stopped respecting the word no. (Keep in mind this is a woman he was dating, that he knew was sexually assaulted in jail, and that he knew was usually afraid of cops.) All of this was simply because he didn’t like her plan to stop the serial killer after her. He said he wouldn’t allow it, tried to physically intimidate her by looming over her until she had no more room to back away, didn’t back off when Casi showed signs of fear and told him to stop, and demanded that she hand over to him the only weapon she had to defend herself against the magical serial killer that was after her. A weapon that was entrusted specifically to her. The only weapon she had that might work on such a powerful magical killer. Casi would have been defenseless and entirely reliant on Luc and Vince to protect her from the serial killer if she handed the weapon over to Luc. All so she couldn’t defy him by going through with her plan to defend herself. A plan that was both reasonable, smart, and her best chance of survival. It gets worse. Luc refused to back off until his cop partner, Vince, (who he knew could wipe the floor with him in a fight anytime) not only repeatedly told him to back off, but gripped his shoulder to restrain him. To me, this left some uncertainty about whether or not he would have backed off without third-party intervention. All the while, Luc claimed he was “not being a d*ck” and that this behavior was “to protect her”. If someone else has to physically intervene to stop you from physically intimidating your girlfriend or prevent violence, then YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND AT ALL.

Towering over someone and demanding they surrender one of their possessions as they try to back away and repeatedly tell you to back off is physical intimidation. It carries an implied threat that you might take said possession by force or escalate the conflict to violence. At the very least, it’s meant to intimidate or scare. That is not acceptable or loving behavior in a romantic relationship. That’s control and coercion, not protection and affection.

When physical intimidation didn’t work, he tried emotional manipulation. He tried to guilt her. When that didn’t work, he left and threw a temper tantrum. Then he returned, told his girlfriend that his bad behavior was because of how intensely he loved her, and (properly manipulated) she caved. She apologized to him and agreed not to go through with her plan. (At least she didn’t hand over her only weapon, so that’s something. She just promised not to use it to enact her plan.) I would also like to point out that not enacting her plan (on account of her boyfriend's temper-tantrum and guilt-trip) caused her to be taken by surprise, kidnapped, and nearly killed.

What is most significant to me is that he acted this way the first time (since they started dating and in general) that she defied him and refused to cave when confronted about it. The first time she refused to cave to his will upon prodding, it triggered this abusive, controlling, and threatening behavior. All supposedly in the name of him trying to protect her, apparently by completely disregarding her right to choose what risks she takes, what choices she makes, and what manner she thinks is the best bet to protect herself. You can’t disregard consent or free will because you think you know what’s best for someone. That’s selfish. It’s trying to override someone’s judgment to save yourself the suffering you think you’ll have to go through if they’re wrong and their plan gets them hurt. It’s selfishness masquerading and affection. This sends a terrible message. People aren’t entitled to control others “for their own good”.

The most disturbing thing is what comes next: Casi thanks Luc for trying to protect her and says she trusts Luc. And then she says she feels safe with him. That kind of behavior doesn’t make someone feel safe.

She tells him these things to calm him down and get him to stop “being a dim-witted, stubborn misogynist”. He then tries guilt where intimidation failed. He claims she’s going to get him and his partner killed. When that doesn’t work he leaves and throws a temper tantrum with firm belief that Casi and Vince are the ones in the wrong. In his stewing, he actually thinks to himself that “if he had to tie her up and lock her in a room, he’d do so. He wouldn’t lose the woman he loved.” Holding someone captive because you put your fear of losing them above their consent and rights is selfish, abusive, and criminal. Even if that thought was meant to be colorful hyperbole, this behavior and thinking reveals Luc to have controlling and abusive tendencies.

This is not romantic. It’s not endearing protectiveness. It’s abusive behavior in response to him not getting what he wants and not being in control of everything. Apparently, he just couldn’t handle that. Being protective and being controlling are two very different things. This behavior was controlling.

Fearing that you may lose someone you care about is not a justification for abusing, controlling, or manipulating that person. You’re entitled to feel your feelings about other peoples’ choices: fear, anger, etc. You’re not entitled to take away peoples’ right or ability to make their own choices, intimidate or manipulate them into changing their minds, or abuse them because of how you feel about their choices.

He later cools off and tries to apologize. He lays on the compliments. He calmly explains that his abusive behavior was because he loves her and men in his family fall in love fast and intensely. You see they fall in love at first sight, persistently woo the women they fall for until they get them, and of course the women end up “exceedingly happy”. So, obviously his “protective, possessive, and primitive” behavior came from love. Clearly, we should find his abusive behavior romantic because it comes from his intense love. Naturally, Casi is charmed and everything's better now that she knows his abusive behavior is how he shows his love (when things get scary or she disobeys him). It’s right out of the abuser’s playbook: control = protection = love.

Spoiler alert: that’s not how real love works. No one acts perfect all the time. But controlling, manipulative, domineering, and intimidating behaviors aren’t acts of love. Those are acts of selfishness. Behaviors fed by fear, anger, obsession, or a need for control.

Casi accepted Luc’s apology and they rode off into the sunset together at the end of the book. That’s just not the kind happy ending I’m looking for in fiction.

***END OF SPOILERS***… (lisätietoja)

Walking Through Fire follows the story of Simon MacKay, the last earl of Cleitmuir, who died a horrific death over two hundred years ago but still haunts his family's historic home in search of the treasure his family has been divinely tasked with protecting. Laurel Saville is an intelligent, spirited expert on antiques from Chicago who has been persuaded by her best friend, Beth, to come visit the beautiful Highlands to get over the betrayal of her former beau. Once there, however, Laurel finds more than she's looking for as she reluctantly embarks on a dangerous adventure fraught with scheming enemies, spooky places, and one surly but handsome Scottish ghost.

This was definitely an interesting twist on the typical Highland romance! The overall concept was incredibly unique and certainly nothing I had ever encountered before in this genre. However, as much as I enjoyed the creative aspect of this novel, I struggled to get past a lot of the writing/grammar issues and typos that cropped up frequently throughout the book. There were quite a few instances where commas were used incorrectly, the wrong word was used (i.e., 'gleam' instead of 'glean' or 'worst' instead of 'worse') or the writing just didn't seem to flow all that well. It felt a little stilted at times and when we were given glimpses into the past, it also felt like the characters weren't really speaking as one did in the time period. Ultimately though, the ending wasn't predictable, the characters were interesting, and there were some good plot twists thrown in, so I could overlook those aforementioned issues.

*I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway… (lisätietoja)