Necessary Cruelty

by Ashley Gee

[stefu1]

Dark it says and dark you shall receive. I tried to rate the book based on how good it was for its genre this time. It helped to think of this as a melodramatic soap opera or a telenovela instead of a literary classic. There were a couple of way too dark scenes for me but overall, I liked it! I read it all pretty quickly and was very invested in what was going to happen next. I recently have grown to have a dislike for books set in high school but they barely spent time there.

Zaya
At first, Zaya was so irritating. Her spine was as straight as a wet noodle. I hate having to read about little passive women who just go with the crumble. But I did eventually warm up to her as she showed her backbone and demanded her rights. I am pretty much a sucker for enemies to lovers.

Vin
What a drama king! He needs major therapy I tell you. It was nice to see his character growth and that his basis for liking her wasn't just "she's the only girl who doesn't like me" I mean the book was technically a friends to enemies to lovers tale because of their childhood I think of all the silly bully romance books I have read he did have a semi-legitimate reason to dislike Zaya. I mean if someone tried to poison me I would be pretty salty myself. Just saying. At the end of the day it was really nice to see that he was fully willing to give up his wealth for her! Very sweet and not many people would ever even think about it .

All of my complaints are spoilers.

*TRIGGER WARING* The cutting scene and interaction was unnecessary. I don't think the justification for him doing it to her even makes sense. I don't think cutting someone else magically makes them stop cutting. and it just wasn't relevant to the plot. It never came up again, and overall was pretty useless. If you cut this scene out, it wouldn't change the book.

Same for the suicide scene? It felt a little baity to have that happen, just have her run away or something? I don't know it was definitely the highlight of the melodrama! her walking to her doom and him screaming her name, realizing that he does love her. I also don't think that the repeat in chapters was necessary. I felt robbed. It was identical to the intro paragraphs. It should have at least been different! Personally, I think the book would have read better if it was just a short paragraph of her walking into the water. the duo paragraph made me think that I downloaded the book incorrectly.

Even though it wasn't rape, it wasn't consenting either? Silence means no. You can still keep it in the theme of him being a demanding dear, but with a dash of consent. Make her "yes" be the only words he says? Idk honestly it was nice to not see rape in a dark romance.

If you pretend these facts don't exist (just skip them because let's face it, they are not really that important to the plot) then the book is great!


So was it entertaining? Yes, especially if you like dramatic lifetime dramas! should you look up to this couple? Not until the last few pages! They need therapy.