Responses
Since you dropped it at ch 7, I'm just gonna say it. This 'therapist' needs his own actual therapist. Bro's been fcked up since he was a child, and his environment did not help him get through it at all, coping and coming up with conclusions on his own, without a proper adult to rely on, while being desperate for love.
Sadly, I’m stopping at chapter 7. For a story about sex work that keeps highlighting the dangers of power dynamics and asymmetrical relationships, it starts gaslighting the reader pretty quickly.
Why do I use the word gaslighting? Because of the end of the chapter. The author tries to justify herself by making the young guy (sexworker) explain (almost like you’re reading a content warning) that he’s fully in control, acting of his own free will, and very clear about his boundaries.
Just two pages earlier, he points out that he’s older (21) than the protagonist was when she was in financial trouble (20). So apparently a one-year gap is enough to highlight a difference in mindset, but a 15 year gap isn’t enough to create a power imbalance?
And you know what, if it were treated as a flaw, that would be fine. But like I said, this reads more like an attempt at justification. For someone THAT aware of the issue, the explanation feels nonsensical and honestly a bit creepy. It sounds like a groomer’s argument.