Status Updates From Espelhos de água

I’m enjoying the world, but the romance is definitely falling flat so far. It feels forced.

And she doesn’t even think of changing the system herself. Her Dad suggests it instead of the brutal betrayal and likely destruction of her (however unbelievable) love interest; she doesn’t think of it herself.

In a different book, on a different page, the main character revealing that she’s just been stringing the love interest along for the entire story so far, and intends to use him as a bargaining chip for the family with the monsters who have pursued them the entire book and are beating down the door would be quite a moment. Here it isn’t; it could have been a great moment but falls flat, unearned.