Divide & Conquer

Divide & Conquer - Abigail Roux, Madeleine Urban Mild spoilers below. However, I can argue it's abuse with elements of cheating (sucking face with an old friend while in a relationship) and therefore my review is a warning.

--------------

I can't help it. The more I read, the more it's bothering me: is Zane in an abusive relationship? I get that Ty, a boy wonder (he sings, he dances, he speaks Farsi, he ...I wouldn't be surprised if he macrames), is unpredictable, but he is very consistent where it comes to punishing Zane for one thing or another. Verbally, physically. Lash out first, think/talk/explain later. Scratch the think part. It never occurs to Ty that holding a drunk person under water may result in serious damage. It also never occurs to Ty that hitting a person with a fresh head injury in the jaw and sending him into a wall may also result in serious damage.

Ty is also needy and selfish. They've been together just a handful of months and Ty is already freaking out because Zane can't say the L word out loud.
- It doesn't matter that Zane loved his wife deeply, had wicked hard time after her death and is still grieving.
- It doesn't matter that every person functions at a different pace.
- It doesn't matter that Zane is more about showing his love rather than telling. Actually Zane did admit to Ty as much, just didn't use the L word itself.
- It doesn't matter that Zane cares and saves Ty's ass over and over again.
None if it apparently counts in Ty's mind.

To me, Ty comes off as a selfish abusive insecure jerk. Who, by the way, was sucking face with Nick right after their conversation about how Ty wasn't sure about Zane being monogamous. He dismisses Zane at almost every turn yet still expects iloveyous from him. The prick. Ty, not Zane.

Maybe it's because I am not into sex scenes. I skip those. And so the rest of it, the out-of-bed relationship, is in. my. face.

I can continue on about this mess of the series, but the list is too long. The bottom line tho, I am now convinced that all the characters in these books are jumping through the hoops to accommodate the authors, although some to lesser degree than others. That's never a good thing and therefore I am done with this series. However, I will re-read [b:Warrior's Cross|6782412|Warrior's Cross|Madeleine Urban|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1355864076s/6782412.jpg|6916543] if only to compare my own notes from 5 years ago.

*

PS I was just cheering for Zane when he slogged Ty, but dammit, what a disappointment it was when he started grovelling right after it.

Like I said, DONE.

Mammarella

Currently reading

Cursed: Broken: A M/M Modern Retelling of Beauty & The Beast (Book 1)
X. Aratare
Progress: 10 %
Brethren
W.A. Hoffman
Progress: 3 %
The Virtu
Sarah Monette
Progress: 30 %
Orochi no Kishi
Itoshi, Lehanan Aida
Progress: 80 %