Stacy (Gotham City Librarian)’s review of I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom > Likes and Comments

awwww, dang. I love Jason! I'll still give it a shot, but your review is great!

Drea wrote: "awwww, dang. I love Jason! I'll still give it a shot, but your review is great!"

Thank you!! Yeah, I was very disappointed. :(

😶

I think Abbott is supposed to be insufferable as character. He’s meant to grow and change despite his “brain washing” if you want to call it that. I think his acts of kindness are believable because that’s the real him, the good human that can exist outside of the “black box of doom”
And I thought Ethers insights were spot on and well.. insightful. Made me want to go without my phone for a while

Pamela wrote: "I think Abbott is supposed to be insufferable as character. He’s meant to grow and change despite his “brain washing” if you want to call it that. I think his acts of kindness are believable becaus..."

I'm glad you liked it! Ether was definitely a better character.

Good review! I agree with you. I struggled for all the same reasons. I finished it but it wasn’t easy.

Saltygalreads wrote: "Good review! I agree with you. I struggled for all the same reasons. I finished it but it wasn’t easy."

I'm glad it wasn't just me! It has so many five star reviews already. I feel bad that I didn't love it. Thank you for the comment!

It's not surprising to me that the character of Abbott was lost on Stacy with the dyed red hair, and that her favorite character was the hard nosed female FBI agent.

I’m just reading it and got to the first incel stream, I was really hoping this would turn out to be a mistake down the line… if it’s not getting better I might quit right now

I am with you on almost all accounts here. The story is somehow Pargin’s least believable, which is ironic since it is the most grounded in reality in terms of possibility. The conversations are just characters ranting to each other. The flaws become more and more grating, and I cannot root for anyone involved. It starts so strong, and it is well written enough to be a pretty breezy read. Still, I am having trouble picking it back up even if I have been flying through it up to this point.

100% with you. There was no growth and nothing redeeming about Abbott. I know it wasn’t the intent, but this almost felt like it was in the defense of deeply brain-rotted internet men like him.

Ooh ok ok I’m gonna stand up for Abbot. This is only an experiment Stacy so don’t freak out.

But… aren’t you proving Abbot right? Women don’t want to hear men’s complaints? Be they accurate or exaggerated we always listen to women. I’m a decently attractive, though older, woman. Everyone tries to help me, with a smile. Would they if I was a dumpy guy? You wouldn’t even read my complaints in a story if I was a guy. You know there’s a double standard. Most women just don’t care and blame the guys for being losers or weak. It’s ok to admit that. It’s life.

Abbot may sound annoying, but most of the things he said are true. If a woman emotionally abuses a man for twenty years, breaks him down, destroys him (and please don’t pretend this doesn’t happen). One day he hits her. That’s the end for him. Jail. Life over. Woman does it and we get the Depp/Heard debacle. Almost ruined Johnny’s life and he didn’t do anything wrong. But everyone WANTED TO BELIEVE HE DID BECAUSE MAN.

See what I’m saying?

And the important point that I almost forgot!! Of course Abbot WANTS to help women!!!!! He’s not a bad person. He’s lonely. Being isolated and in your own mind makes you pretty much intolerable to others. So yeah he’s whiny and annoying. But that doesn’t make him a woman hater. He freaks on Esther because she doesn’t really respond to him. She gives him the “men are stronger than women so women lie to stay safe” crap or “if this didn’t happen to you it’s not true/important” crap. He feels invalidated. In 2024 doesn’t everyone have a right to “be seen” and “feel valid?” That’s what social media tells me, movies tell me, news tells me, comment sections tell me. Do men deserve that too? I say yes.

About is SCARED of women hurting him. He’s scared of rejection. Being hurt to the point your curl up defensively doesn’t not make you evil. He LOVES women he just wants them to treat him as a human worth listening to and loving too.

I don't think Abbot was ever the 'Hero' or 'Protagonist' in that sense.
But I feel like the not so subtle message of the book was lost, maybe to your reaction to Abbott, idk.

Also as far as Pargin's characters, none of them have been saints, by any means.

They all struggled with ideology, and adjustment.

Still reading this and in two minds about it but some of these comments… yikes. ‘Women don’t listen to men’? Saying what, the same angry, self-serving and usually completely wrong messages again and again? There’s a difference between listening and validating, and there’s a difference between validating the way someone feels and the accuracy of what they’re actually saying.

I had the same feeling. Even knowing it's just a book and that him being an incel was meant to show how the internet can influence people, it made the book painful to read instead of fun. So many of the men in my family and social circle openly say their wives and daughters should legally not be allowed to vote, have a job, use birth control, or wear anything but skirts and dresses - I use books to escape them, so why would I want to encounter them there too?

Clap emoji. Did you like the Zoey Ashe books as much as the JDATE series? (I did.)