thank you for saying all this.
Her going to the wizard/magic tower/school and her time there were the last fun parts in the novel.
Even the way he doesn't act like an adult and never replies to her letters but kept them in a box, it shows how emotionally absent he is. Everything that follows is even worse, flat out ignoring her and only when she is in danger he pays attention.
It was even so bad I stopped 20 chapters before the novel's ending because I just couldn't anymore. (Feel free to tell me what happens in the last arc, I don't want to support the author but still am curious to know how it ends).
No character development and the author has such a misogynistic mind.
So thank you for calling it out as well.
So him beating the hell out of Maxi's father is quite possibly the only redeemable action he's ever taken on Maxi’s behalf, because everything he says and does after THIS, will only continue to justify my loathing of him. Even after being a live witness to Maxi's abuse, even after Maxi finally verbally confesses to him of said abuse... he never improves his aggressive and abusive behavior for the rest of the story. It's clear to me that the author sexualizes brolic, aggressive, and intimidating men like Riftan, while traumatized and abused women like Maxi are simply expected to adapt to the man's temperament. Maxi is expected to be responsible for Riftan's emotional volatility, yet Riftan is never expected by the narrative to meet Maxi halfway. And since many love to use this as a defense, this has nothing to do with the time period the story takes place in, as we've seen other male characters like Ruth and Hebaron behave reasonably and cordially with Maxi, and even actively call out and question Riftan's immature behavior, yet still you expect me to believe that her own husband, who's allegedly been "in love" with her since childhood, can't be fucked to express the bare minimum of emotional maturity and respect for *her* sake? The author's internalized misogyny is very apparent, as we've seen with many Korean novelists who romanticize toxic power dynamics in far too many "romance" novels/manhwas. Frankly, it's sick.