Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

1 review

vrtlz0's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


this is my opinion.

things i liked:
  1. christian and lily's relationship at the start of the book. don't get me wrong- i ALREADY got a bad feeling ab them bc reading lily's coldness and then sudden softness always seemed purposeful. we also never get to read lily's perspective, and christian almost ALWAYS assumes, "she doesn't know any better", despite him knowing that lily is like this certified genius. like. it's kind of cool though, because so often we seen in popular reads that a woman falls in love with a manipulative/villainous man, but seeing it flipped on its head is refreshing. it's also canon that lily is smarter than christian, so idk i just like seeing actually pretty well written evil women.
  2. the pace was great and matched the plot well. 

things i hated:
  1. ok. this needs to be the top thing: lily being white and always being described as insanely gorgeous and then nina being non-white and not being described in nearly the same way, and having nina almost wish she was as pretty as lily. also a lot of "beautiful, milky, pale skin", "beautiful brown eyes", and "brown hair that pooled when she bent on the table" and then you google the author and it's almost as if mary kubica was trying to write about herself. mary kubica may be poc, but the emphasized eurocentric beauty was just kinda weird. it would've been different if we somehow got a description of nina in a similar fashion, but we never do. in fact, lily only envies nina's body, but not particularly her face. never liked the implications of that.
  2. it always felt like the plot was leaning into nina v.s. christian rather than nina v.s. her life, and it kinda sucked because it always felt like nina existed to serve the plot rather than being this fully fleshed out character. i know this novel was written by a woman, but nina felt more like a charicature of criticsm rather than a complex survivor of abuse (speaking from experience). moreover, i always felt like she was painted out to be this stupid, naive deer that couldn't fend herself at all, but it's also canon that she worked at a young age to help her mom, grew up poor, has known discrimination, etc. it just felt gross that she just largely ended up playing the "helpless, desperate rich woman" but "sHE hApPens tO Be PoC so DiVeRsITY is COoL!!" (i'm poc) and only broke through the ceiling when the man in her life died. it was predictable. we as the readers KNEW she was going to "wake up" and be depressed and probably be very bitter by the end, but it felt unrealistic. healing is hard, and hard to write, but the "badass resentment" nina had in the end felt like a cheap trick in order to avoid writing about the reality of survivors. "no mental health issues, no loss of money, no troubles in the world. now nina's just gonna travel the world with her mom- her NEW best friend- and forget about the past!", it was just too quick of a resolution. too triumphant for somebody who most certainly had a lifetime's worth of troubles to untangle. too romantic for such a dark and cruel ending with a character that's almost only known grief.
  3. lily and jake's affair felt unreal in a bad way. like, when the reveal happened and lily confessed about cheating, it was so frustrating to read. i never liked the reason as to WHY it happened, either. "he was lonely and i sympathized with him" aaa response, like-- WHY DID SHE KEEP THE BABY, TOO? if only we got some canon info that explained lily's psyche, but we never do. christian for some reason trusts her enough to let her be around their kid. like, christian is the father who stepped up but he better step on lily's face because WHY IS SHE FORGIVEN SO EASILY??? recovering as a couple after cheating is one thing. actively lying to your partner about cheating and ending your affair by murdering your side thing and then also lying to your best friend and everyone you know, and then keeping the baby from a practical r*pist and abuser while actively enduring the stress caused by your own psychomanipulation and letting it affect your baby, and then getting out of jail early??? lily is a GREAT VILLAIN, but she should not have had an easy ending, and christian deserved better than to still be half-in-love with her. also manipulative pregnancy is CRAZY--- it was an INSANE plot twist, but again--- i feel like the consequences of her actions should've been handled better. i do like the idea of lily and christian mending their relationship bc tbfr they've been through so much together, but over a longer period of time. i wish the end of the book was more somber, too. like why are they so happy bro they went through so much bullshit and now they have more bullshit 😭 WHY IS THE ENDING SO HAPPY I'M SOBBING, i feel like a poignant yet tragic ending would've been just fine tbh, even if it meant we never got to see lily and christian repair things.

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