Bruh Bro

Bought this book on a small whim to begin building up my adult-oriented fiction collection, and to be quite honest, I'm disappointed. Disappointed it exists at all. Full disclosure; my fault for not fully reading the trigger warnings, but even then, there are some lines you do not cross. Romanticizing stalking, rape and abuse is one of them. The excuse that it's "only fiction" doesn't really hold water. I could not finish this book, not because of the realities it presents, but because of the main characters and the abusive dynamic between them was so horrendously sexualized. The audacity to try to make any kind of meaningful statement about the horrifying underbelly of the trafficking world is tone-deaf, disrespectful and insincere after that. I can only imagine what actual victims of these crimes feel about something like this existing. I tried my best to get through this book, but ultimately, I decided it is not worth my time or any kind of deep thought, because it itself is shallow and edgy for the sake of it. Hypocrisy runs rampant through this story, which, again, is just bad writing if you're trying to get anyone to like or be attached to your characters. Everyone, and I mean everyone in this book is unlikeable. I am now left with the dilemma of trying to figure out how to return this book and wipe off the gross feeling of having touched it at all.