I read this for the first time last year. I remembered not particularly loving it, but I couldn’t pin down the reasons why, not after so much time had passed. So I decided to give it a second read.

I must love myself more than I used to, because I made it to 46% and just couldn’t do another second of this book. (I dropped my rating to one star because I couldn’t make it through to the end of this book)

I hated Thea. Absolutely hated her. I feel like the author is trying to get you to relate to Thea and her tragic past, but nope. Thea is awful. She’s unnecessarily cruel to Gavin. She plays games. She tells him to move out, and then when he does as she’s told him to, she accuses him of leaving her. I have already counted at least two instances of Thea using the “you should know” line when it comes to Gavin learning something that was going on in their marriage. The dude isn’t a mind reader. Thea is very “not like other girls”. She used to be someone who wears band T-shirts and Chucks. Now she wears cardigans or something like that. And she didn’t finish her art degree. Because, of course she’s an artist. She was wild and carefree. She was passionate. You can’t be a housewife and be passionate, after all (seriously?). I feel like the author wanted us to see Thea as some strong, feminist badass.

She wasn’t. If anything Thea is quite the anti-feminist. She judges other women because they didn’t make the choices she thinks strong women should make. She judges the women in the WAGS (the ball players wives and girlfriends) because some of them are just happy to have that going on in their life.

Feminism is about choices. And about not judging others because they chose something you’ve decided you don’t want for yourself. Thea and her self righteousness isn’t in any way feminist.

Thea is supposed to be so strong, yet she makes a deal with Gavin in order to keep her house and get whatever she wants from their divorce? Kinda contradictory there, ole Thea. I honestly wouldn’t have hated this plot point so much, but Thea is constantly saying how she doesn’t need Gavin, but she isn’t above keeping the house and having him pay it off.

There’s also the fact that Thea and Gavin have been married for three years. And their twins are not even three. Now, my point isn’t that she was pregnant when they got married. This is actually a big plot point. My point is that the troubles Thea and Gavin are having, and the twins ages, literally all of it reads like they should be older. Thea is acting like Gavin should know everything about her. As though they’ve been together way longer than three years. While you should know someone you marry, they didn’t spend much time together prior to getting married. Had they been together longer, maybe. But even then part of being s mature adult in a relationship is knowing that people change. You have to learn who your spouse is again and again. And the twins? Has this author ever met TODDLERS? If Thea and Gavin have been married three years, and got married because she was pregnant, that would make the twins out to be around two and a half. Why do they talk like they are at least in kindergarten? And why is Thea all “they know their traditions” when it comes to the holidays? No. They were not even two last Thanksgiving. They do not remember what they did. They have zero idea what their last holidays were like.

Oh? And the catalyst that started this whole issue with Thea and Gavin’s marriage? Thea had an orgasm, and Gavin realizes she’s been “faking it” for three years. He freaks out. He moves into the guest room. And rather than Thea try talking to her husband, or Gavin act like an adult and not run to his own room, Thea just decides that love isn’t enough for them. She lets Gavin pout for a week and then she’s “had enough” and tells him to move out. Again, she gets mad at him for leaving her and not knowing what she wanted. I get that the orgasm thing was only the surface issue. They had other problems. But, again they are married adults with two children. Of course at one point Gavin is remembering how great it used to be between them and he fondly recalls how Thea would pick a fight with him just for the makeup sex. So, yeah, maturity wasn’t their strong suit.

We also have Thea’s sister who is also cruel and awful to Gavin. She hates him because he left Thea, again, even though Thea told him to leave. She also blames him because Thea became someone that she didn’t recognize. Again, it wasn’t Gavin’s fault that Thea gave up her band shirts and was no longer so wild and carefree. Because, again, we’re told how spirited Thea used to be.

I’m a proud feminist. And maybe that’s why I hated the character of Thea so much. Not only does she just flat out treat Gavin poorly, but she seems to be used as a message from the author. And, sadly that message seems to be that you can only be a feminist if you “aren’t like other girls” and if you choose a career over being a full time housewife. Oh, and you regret dropping out of college to have your kids. (Gavin is wealthy. A lot of people with way less than Thea have families and finish their degree. This part of the story really bothered me because it seemed like it was there just to say that there is more value in a degree and a career than there is in raising a family. Both are valid choices)

I know that, by the end, Gavin comes to understand Thea’s issues. And Thea finally realizes that it’s okay to trust. They both realize they contributed to their problems. The thing is, I found Thea so insufferable that I just couldn’t bring myself to finish the book.

Full disclosure: I read the second book in this series after reading this one. Again, I remember not loving it. And I had some issues with some of it. I may give it another go, just to see if my feelings remain the same. I haven’t decided. It’s gonna take something really good to get the bad taste this one has left me with out of here.