I’m only on chapter 4, but I’m kind of over it. The (probably) ml who appears on the cover was introduced, and I am thoroughly underwhelmed. I dislike the common narrative where the main male love interest completely transgresses the fl’s boundaries, inconveniences them, potentially or actually puts them in danger, and acts like a nonchalant asshole. In the very first scene, he interrupts her hunt, grabs her and refuses to let go despite multiple protests, ignores her obvious and voiced anger and irritation, and then leaves without so much as an apology. And of course the powerful confident girl boss just rolls over because wow a few minutes of protest didn’t get him to adjust his behavior so she guesses it’s just her life now. Never mind her being an S rank mercenary, who apparently can’t/won’t try to fight off an armed stranger who started manhandling her out of nowhere. It’s just lazy writing. I’m tired of authors pretending to write strong female leads, only to use them as accessories to the male lead. It’s an insidious trope that glosses over a lot of toxic behavior on the male lead’s part, and dehumanizes the female lead by overriding her personality and character by forcing her to tolerate the ml for the sake of pushing an incompatible romance with a self centered, arrogant, toxic, disrespectful and/or abusive partner.
I’m only on chapter 4, but I’m kind of over it. The (probably) ml who appears on the cover was introduced, and I am thoroughly underwhelmed. I dislike the common narrative where the main male love interest completely transgresses the fl’s boundaries, inconveniences them, potentially or actually puts them in danger, and acts like a nonchalant asshole. In the very first scene, he interrupts her hunt, grabs her and refuses to let go despite multiple protests, ignores her obvious and voiced anger and irritation, and then leaves without so much as an apology.
And of course the powerful confident girl boss just rolls over because wow a few minutes of protest didn’t get him to adjust his behavior so she guesses it’s just her life now. Never mind her being an S rank mercenary, who apparently can’t/won’t try to fight off an armed stranger who started manhandling her out of nowhere. It’s just lazy writing. I’m tired of authors pretending to write strong female leads, only to use them as accessories to the male lead.
It’s an insidious trope that glosses over a lot of toxic behavior on the male lead’s part, and dehumanizes the female lead by overriding her personality and character by forcing her to tolerate the ml for the sake of pushing an incompatible romance with a self centered, arrogant, toxic, disrespectful and/or abusive partner.