The first book made me think that the author was edgy and had balls like GRRM. Not that I particularly liked the first book, but the taboo themes the author was trying to tackle showed balls of steel, because it's very hard to make characters that get involved in incest, murder, blackmail, dealing, and so on, likable and relatable.
I was wrong. So wrong. Because the author was not trying to tackle these themes at all. If she was, I really dislike the point she's trying to make.
Like Rylin says into her essay (which, as a a filmmaking student, I actually liked), real life is messy and we want things to be neat. Real life is chaos, while stories are not. Stories are supposed to be uplifting and we want them to be uplifting to make ourselves feel better about life.
This book does not make me feel better about life.
It makes me feel worse.
When GRRM creates a flawed character that acts stupid, they don't get a reward. They get punished. In the worst possible way.
This author gives them a reward.
And that pissed me off.
In book 2, I was sad to see that the Calliope character never paid off. I thought she would get involved in the general plot somehow - find out who killed Eris, and all the other secrets that the golden foursome were keeping, but no. She just had dirt on Avery, decided that this allowed her to stay in New York, and that was it.
Which meant that Calliope's character was completely unnecessary in this book. Her storyline never connected with the other storylines, and her newfound family drama was ridiculous. So, Calliope's adoptive sister is overbearing and overprotective. Okay. But she was also a goody two shoes. You're telling me that Livya (or whatever her name was), never tried to rebel against her father's ridiculous no-going-out rules? Come on. And the way the truth about Calliope and her mom came out... really? You're telling me that these two con artists couldn't get away with lying? Elise could have totally gotten out of that particular situation (not that I wanted her to), and it made no sense that she would have chosen that particular moment to stammer and be honest?
There was a low key familial abuse there, between Calliope and Elise, that never came into light, or a bigger light, at least. For me, their story was the story of a selfish mother who didn't mind physically harming her daughter to achieve her own goals, and this continued in this novel, because Elise's mother was still selfish. Calliope thought her mom stayed to see the con through because of her, but it turns out, Elise fell in love. Aw.
Not.
Also, was it supposed to be refreshing that there was really no drama between Calliope and Brice? He knew or suspected everything this whole time, and he was fine with it? After making Rylin go away in the first book for being a possible gold digger/theaf, now he's fine dating a real one?
Ah well. Not to mention that Brice was such a periphery character. Everyone said how Brice and Cord were close. I never saw it.
Rylin. She was yet another miss in this book, because she was so detached from the rest of the group, and the rest of the plot too. Her drama revolved fully around Cord and Hiral, and it irked me how she went all 'woe is me' because the 'boys in her life never let her make any of the decisions' even though she makes ALL the decisions. Also, excuse me Rylin, but even when you're in a relationship with someone, you don't get to dictate his life. I was fine with Hiral wanting to leave - he had a record and a crappy life, so I could totally see the guy trying to get out of it, with or without her. And he did ask nicely if she wanted to leave New York, however, it was obvious she wasn't, because after all, she needed to take care of Chrissa. But it was Rylin who kissed Cord two days later, not Cord. Cord was simply in love with her. Although, this wasn't really shown. Cord was in love with the idea of Rylin, but he never really tried to know her more in this book. And when Rylin mentions her mother, and Cord is all uninterested, it struck me as wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Rylin should have ended up alone, not with Hiral and not with Cord either.
Maybe then she would have realized that she was making her decisions all along, she just didn't care about the consequences. That, does not deserve a reward.
Leda: Finally, we get to see what Leda does after learning the truth about Eris. Predictably, she goes on a bender, ends up in rehab, again, and then is trying to pick up the pieces. Again. I felt for Leda, I had no doubt that she did not kill Mariel, but I also did not think that Leda deserved her ending. You killed your sister. Unintentionally or not, you did. And you did not come clean, you blackmailed people to keep it hush hush. Leda deserved punishment. No, not her own punishment, but a real world punishment. Her parents finding out and looking at her with disgust, her classmates calling her a murderer, everything. Instead, she got off clean and free to live her life. Poor Eris.
Watt: I suppose it was obvious who killed Mariel, but even that was a bit too clean for my taste. It would have been so interesting if Watt had been the one to experience blackouts, if Nadia was revealed to have taken over Watt's consciousness and body to do it, not just through hacking a cleaning bot to push Mariel into the river. Then maybe Watt would have understood that it was Nadia who killed Mariel, it was himself. His hands. I suppose though, that murder-by-proxy was enough to make him at least as guilty as Leda, so they have even more in common now?
I was not sad that he let go of Nadia. I was not surprised that this was his ending.
I WAS LIVID that he was rewarded in the end. He didn't deserve that reward, just as neither of the characters deserved their rewards. They did not save the world, after all. Also, I thought the point of Watt's story was for him to learn that there are dark sides to quantum computers. I expected that he would at least NOT get into MIT, and not be sorry about it because he learned his lesson about quantum computing.
But, that didn't happen.
Avery: I mean, Cersei. There was something ridiculous about her storyline. Especially with Max. Max was like this perfect boyfriend who got the fat end of the club. He bought an apartment for them! Although, I still don't understand how a 20-year-old, more or less, could afford an apartment with money he had "saved up." I mean, it would have made sense if Avery could afford it, but Max of the rumpled clothes and academic family having enough money to buy an apartment was ridiculous to me. And why wasn't there a final showdown between him and Avery? He sees Avery and Atlas and just..disappears.
Okay. Whatever.
It's as if the author suddenly started shying away from drama and confrontations.
But let's talk about princess Avery. (Also, I think I see where the author got the idea to write her next novel, American Royals, because the seeds were obviously strewn in this novel with the way Avery was dubbed the Princess of New York). Excuse me while I go barf a little.
And Atlas. Oh my God, Atlas. He was ridiculous. That stint he pulled off when their parents find out about Avery and Atlas' incestuous relationship (HENTAI anyone?) was so pathetic, it was funny. So, let's see here. This person adopted you, gave you a home, and a ridiculously well-paying job running his Dubai branch, and you end up fucking his daughter. And was their Dad supposed to accept this and help them? I loved the reaction of their mother, the barfing and the tears, because yeah. But Atlas falling on his knees and begging them for their help... it just showed that they felt no remorse about any of what happened. Not Atlas, and not Avery either.
And Avery. Oh God, Avery. While I felt for her frustration at having her whole life dictated by her parents: from her genetically engineered beauty to her lovely clothes, I don't think she would have minded at any of that if her parents "allowed" her to have Atlas (if nothing, at least in private). I mean, it would have been a worse ending if their parents sued the tabloid, but allowed these two to be together in secret, secreting them off around the world and out of New York's prying eyes, but what happened was somehow even worse. So, Avery takes the fall for everything, even Mariel, when, no matter how deep the police dug, they wouldn't have found out who killed her. However, Avery, the ever-spoiled one, snaps at not being allowed to have Atlas. So she burns down her home.
Go Avery! Not.
So not.
I thought these novels could be/would be edgy, and show some important - albeit dark - lessons about life, the universe, and everything. But that never happened. If the author was trying to tackle themes, her reasoning is that it's a pretty good thing in life to be rich. When you're rich, you can:
- get away with involuntary manslaughter
- have an incestuous relationship with your adoptive brother (ugh and ewww)
- steal and sell drugs
- create a murderous AI
- hurt countless people by conning them
- Burn your parents' house
- blackmail people
You can get away with everything. Literally. No, you'll not only get away, you will be REWARDED.
I am wondering, how did this thing get even published? I am trying to understand. It's not about being PC and whatnot, it's about the actual messages that these novels send out into the world, into the minds of children because this is still YA, and teenagers are still children. I don't really mind the edgy stuff of the novel, I really don't, I mean, Game of Thrones is a hit, and it's as edgy as you can, revealing the darkest sides of human nature. But here, I am supposed to believe that these teenagers are all good - deep down? They just make mistakes? What happens when Leda goes to visit Watt at MIT and realizes a girl is crushing on her man, and her man is really interested? Will another girl accidentally fall from the top of a building again?
I'm starting to think yes.