No. Nope. Excellent writing, but no.

I love drama and badness. I want the MCs’ enormous problems to make me sweat. But then—importantly—I want the problems to get solved.

And that’s the thing. My issue wasn’t the violence, misogyny, or the baddy MMC—this gets a star just for how compelling the drama was. My issue was that this story created life-destroying problems for the heroine.. and left them unresolved. Basically, I don’t think this story had an HEA. And I’m not alone, Posy doubts this HEA too.

I loved Posy, flaws and all. Her entire character arc was about breaking the cycle of misogynistic, degrading, and abusive relationships in her life. And I was rooting for her!

But Dario had an Antisocial Personality Disorder. Colloquially, he was a psychopath. That’s not bad, per se. Except his APD destroyed Posy’s arc.

Because what was to stop him from emotionally and physically abusing Posy? That’s not a hypothetical question—abuse was the inciting incident of the book, he genuinely thought cruelty and manipulation was a good strategy for making their relationship work (and never changed his mind), and he was mean and aggressive towards her whenever he “lost his control.”

There was an attempt at growth for Dario with the sociopath vs psychopath moment—except it was utter bullcrap. Neither term is used in APD diagnosis. But even as unofficial terms, you don’t get downgraded from psychopath to sociopath when you see someone as a person and he still checked off more boxes as a psychopath than the latter.

Either way, Dario hardly changed and there was little emphasis on his mental health. Instead, Posy’s “emotional neediness” was the problem, and their primary focus as a couple 🫠

How about: don’t put the girl who needs therapy for her anxious attachment style with the guy who needs therapy to manage his lack of empathy! Are there two more incompatible people in existence?? 

Near the end, Posy asks, “What’s the difference between degrading myself for crumbs of affection and whatever this is that you’re offering me?” The response: ‘Silence.’ Because there was no difference. And Dario was banking on it.