1.5 stars. I really thought I would like this a lot more.It might have been a 2 or even a 3 without all of the casual misogyny and slut shaming. But damn, did that ever ruin the book for me. Don't get me wrong. That it is not all, by far, what is wrong here, but it's a good portion.Some choice excerpts of said misogyny: "I need Aislin, I say to my mother". "Aislin is a drunken slut," she replies, without looking up from her laptopCute slut shaming! And it also serves to set up Eve's mother as the "villain" which, as it turns out, is not at all necessary. Even without the blatant misogyny and slut shaming I think I would still be unhappy with this professional businesswoman cast as a villain. I am/have been a professional businesswoman. I know all too well the dangers of life as a woman in the business world. When you're "too soft" you're regarded as "a woman" and something along the lines of "too soft to handle this business world." Then, when you catch on to this, and realize that you should start acting more "like a man", i.e. assertive, like a boss, etc...you're still punished! When you act like a man you are a "bitch", you're "cold" and "frigid". "Bossy". Words that are never ascribed to a man for having the same exact characteristics. And it is really infuriating and I have suffered for it already in my professional life. I don't need it in my fiction, you know?Let's move on: I also don't understand why I should let some guy fondle me when I know the relationship has no future. I don't need to be groped that badly.Yeah, so, you should *never* "let" a guy fondle you. It should be purely consensual. It really, really worries me when these sort of rape culture run rampant memes permeate in YA literature. We need to let younger readers know, unequivocally, that this behavior is unacceptable. Sexual activity should be exciting and consensual! Accept no substitutes!Other than the misogyny and slut shaming, this book still just wasn't that awesome. For someone who didn't enjoy it, the plus side is that it was a really quick read. The downside is that it was a quick read because it was *ridiculously* fast paced. Honestly, it felt like a whirlwind. Everything of the actual plot sequential happens because the story demands it.I feel like if the book were longer and the chance was there to develop the characters more and know them better it would have been a vastly different book. But, that's not the case.And alllll of that demonizing of Eve's mother just for her to not be the big bad we thought she was . Wow, the bad guys were actually Solo's parents. "What a shock", I say to myself, dryly.The only upside here for me is that I've heard such good things of Grant's Gone series. I really hope the casual misogyny problem is not there for those novels.
