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Morgan ♓︎'s Reviews > Wanted
Wanted (Wrong Side of the Tracks #5)
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dnf @21% - Jesus Christ, I can’t with these authors.
The POV errors I was willing to look past. A chapter would be titled “Knox” to show we’re in Knox’s POV, but midway the POV would change to tell us things we could only know if we were in Liv’s POV.
And none of the jokes were landing, but, whatever, humor is hard to nail in writing so I wanted to look past that too.
But I fear these authors have lost my trust in handling heavy topics after how badly the pedophile subplot was in “Dickhead” so this was a DNF after seeing a similar theme come up.
On page 97, the character Liv compares sleeping with his best friend as being “the hottest fucking experience ever. Hotter even than his first time with Mrs. Williams from the trailer next door when he was a hormonal fourteen-year-old. Next. Fucking. Level.”
HUH? Like this the “Mrs.” is obviously implying that he slept with an older married women. At fourteen. BRO YOU WERE MOLESTED.
This is something that is GENUINELY already normalized in society today, teen boys getting high fives and slaps on the back instead of therapy when they tell about sexual experiences with older women, so unless this is expanded on later in the book, it just comes off as wrong.
The story isn’t about the effects of being abused or anything of that regard so I’m assuming it’s just a one off sentence, but let me know if isn’t. From the blurb and zero mention of it in other people’s reviews It seems like a throw away line and not an actual subplot in the making.
If the book addresses it somewhere down the line, then let me know and that will clear up my worries, but after how atrociously these authors handled a plot line with a pedophile in their book “Dickhead” AND the weird consent stuff that was in that book, I don’t trust them with heavy topics like that anymore. So I’m dnfing.
I really love the tropes used in this book, like best friends to lovers, but I can’t move past the weirdness. Like I feel queasy. BYE!!!
The POV errors I was willing to look past. A chapter would be titled “Knox” to show we’re in Knox’s POV, but midway the POV would change to tell us things we could only know if we were in Liv’s POV.
And none of the jokes were landing, but, whatever, humor is hard to nail in writing so I wanted to look past that too.
But I fear these authors have lost my trust in handling heavy topics after how badly the pedophile subplot was in “Dickhead” so this was a DNF after seeing a similar theme come up.
On page 97, the character Liv compares sleeping with his best friend as being “the hottest fucking experience ever. Hotter even than his first time with Mrs. Williams from the trailer next door when he was a hormonal fourteen-year-old. Next. Fucking. Level.”
HUH? Like this the “Mrs.” is obviously implying that he slept with an older married women. At fourteen. BRO YOU WERE MOLESTED.
This is something that is GENUINELY already normalized in society today, teen boys getting high fives and slaps on the back instead of therapy when they tell about sexual experiences with older women, so unless this is expanded on later in the book, it just comes off as wrong.
The story isn’t about the effects of being abused or anything of that regard so I’m assuming it’s just a one off sentence, but let me know if isn’t. From the blurb and zero mention of it in other people’s reviews It seems like a throw away line and not an actual subplot in the making.
If the book addresses it somewhere down the line, then let me know and that will clear up my worries, but after how atrociously these authors handled a plot line with a pedophile in their book “Dickhead” AND the weird consent stuff that was in that book, I don’t trust them with heavy topics like that anymore. So I’m dnfing.
I really love the tropes used in this book, like best friends to lovers, but I can’t move past the weirdness. Like I feel queasy. BYE!!!
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Mug
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rated it 3 stars
Mar 21, 2024 10:47PM
i totally agree with you, that sentence made me upset too bc i’m like ??? that’s not some cute anecdote, that’s a CRIME…..weird and unsettling to add things like that, esp in a clearly bragging tone from the VICTIM, who has no idea he’s a victim, and it’s not ever addressed and made clear to the reader or him that he’s a victim bc it has no other relevance to the story as it IS a throwaway sentence. distasteful and unnecessary. i completely understand your decision to dnf🧡
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this kinda thing would make me feel so uncomfortable too so i get what you mean😭 completely get why you’d dnf after that!!!
The book is not primarily about the effects of abuse, but it’s obviously a part of it. Especially for Knox, actually, but Liv clearly also has a lot of mental health issues regarding confidence and needing validation that stem from his traumatic childhood, and he does have his own journey to get over that. I understand why you feel uncomfortable with the line, but I don’t think it normalizes the situation. The line mostly just shows that it’s normal FOR Liv, but that could just be cus he was the one who lived through it, which only makes it more sad in my eyes… Regardless, I totally understand why it would bug you and you would need more attention towards the subject. That’s completely valid!!And yes, don’t even get me started on some editing issues; it’s a common problem with these authors, so I literally just don’t even notice it anymore, but it does annoy me when I think about it. I mean, how hard can it be to double-check your writing, especially if you’re writing as a duo like they are!🙄
Mug wrote: "i totally agree with you, that sentence made me upset too bc i’m like ??? that’s not some cute anecdote, that’s a CRIME…..weird and unsettling to add things like that, esp in a clearly bragging ton..."YES! People genuinely normalize that stuff so it’s not a line you can just drop and then never bring up again in my opinion. Thank you for clarifying that is was just a throwaway sentence, I’m glad I dnfed then.
Imme wrote: "The book is not primarily about the effects of abuse, but it’s obviously a part of it. Especially for Knox, actually, but Liv clearly also has a lot of mental health issues regarding confidence and..."I knew about their other abuse, but was specifically wondering about that scene and if it was expanded on. With how badly the consent stuff and pedophile subplot was in Dickhead and how normalized the sexual assault of teen boys is, I didn’t feel confident that it would be brought up again. My fear was that people do genuinely make comments like that about teen boys and how it’s “awesome” that they hooked up with an older women, so I was side-eying the authors a bit. I feel like if that’s going to be a part in the story then you need to circle back on it otherwise it looks bad. I can see your perspective though and obviously I didn’t finish the book so maybe it resolves itself. But I agree that maybe it wasnt the authors normalizing it, but rather something that’s already normalized so I edited my review to reflect that.
And yeah this definitely needed another round of editing 😭 it felt pretty rushed
♥Milica♥ wrote: "Omg yeah that's hella weird"I thought so too 😭
lila ✽ wrote: "this kinda thing would make me feel so uncomfortable too so i get what you mean😭 completely get why you’d dnf after that!!!"thank you!!
@Morgan — Oh my god, YES, D!ckhead made me sooo angry! I honestly could not finish that one and had to DNF because of how problematic and offensive it was. The pedophile subplot made me rage fr and the way they talked about consent was disgusting. I couldn’t stand it! I can promise you that this book was nothing like that one though, but I completely understand why you feared it might be like that after this thoughtless, unexpended comment about a boy and an older woman. I’m sorry you couldn’t enjoy it after that, but I totally get it xx
Imme wrote: "@Morgan — Oh my god, YES, D!ckhead made me sooo angry! I honestly could not finish that one and had to DNF because of how problematic and offensive it was. The pedophile subplot made me rage fr and..."LOL yeah Dickhead was messy 😭 maybe I’ll give this book another try keeping in mind that it’s not as offensive as Dickhead was 😂 but idk I’m still apprehensive. I think this author duo just isn’t for me
sorry you didn’t like this, morgan! honestly i haven’t read much of this duo but a line like that wouldn’t even surprise me anymore, as bad as that can sound. it’s not that it wouldn’t make me uncomfortable or be weird though. honestly i haven’t heard the best about dickhead, so i don’t have hope for that one, but as excited as i’ve been for this one, the mixed reviews i’ve seen so far aren’t making me too hopeful anymore. 😂 great review though! hope your next read is much better! 🧡
elena ❀ wrote: "sorry you didn’t like this, morgan! honestly i haven’t read much of this duo but a line like that wouldn’t even surprise me anymore, as bad as that can sound. it’s not that it wouldn’t make me unco..."Thank you!! A lot of their books seem to be pretty polarizing.
