Niq was pregnant, not defenseless. The way the author suddenly made her weak made no sense. One minute she’s strong, outspoken, and capable, and the next she’s just standing there while Madeline pulls her hair and drags her around. That was completely out of character. This is actually a pattern I’ve noticed in this author’s books. The female leads usually start off strong, then once the plot needs it, they’re softened, weakened, and stripped of their backbone to fit the narrative. You can’t switch a character back and forth like that without it disrupting the flow. She’s either a fighter or she’s not.
The conflict with Paul also felt forced. Niq had multiple chances to tell Terror about him and didn’t. She had the opportunity in the restaurant, then again later, and instead she stalls, saying she wants to shower first. That made no sense. She hates Paul, knows Terror would handle it, and still chooses silence. If the author wanted tension, there were better ways to do it. Paul could’ve been written as harder to find, more dangerous, or replaced with a new threat entirely. Instead, the story relies on Niq suddenly acting irrational and out of character.
Later on, she snaps right back into being tough and ready to fight again, which just highlights how inconsistent the writing is.
I was honestly glad when Terror finally laid out her actions and called her out, because her reasoning wasn’t adding up at all.
Her explanation to Verna lost me. Saying she was scared to tell terror because she’d never had a boyfriend, worried about pleasing Terror after the baby, or feared he might cheat had absolutely nothing to do with not telling him about a predator from her past. That justification didn’t fit the situation at all.
Earlier in the story, Niq practically strong-armed Terror into sleeping with her and was ready to go to war over him. Now suddenly, she’s framed as fragile, traumatized, and paralyzed by her childhood because of her mother. It doesn’t land. She doesn’t come off as traumatized. She comes off as avoiding accountability and using her past as an excuse instead of communicating like an adult. 3.5.