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A review by katyanaish
Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong
4.0
I liked it very much. That said, sometimes I want to punch Oliveden.
Mostly as it relates to Gabriel. Here's my beef:
Look, I get that Gabriel is a challenging personality. I didn't much like him in the first book, and I don't know that I'd have the patience to handle him. But if she's going to choose to be friends with him - as she has, over and over - she has to choose to try and understand him, rather than fly off the handle every time his response to her seems a little flat. She always thinks he's pissed at her and/or judging her, and thus far, he never has been. Gabriel is the guy who has taken everything she's said as legit, and has never doubted her word.
Further, in this book she lies to him twice. Okay, lie by omission, but still lie... both times with disastrous consequences.
Lie / Secret 1 - Her mother said that she knew concretely that Gabriel killed James.
This was a big deal. Her mom got that info from somewhere, and it was an indication that they needed to be wary. Honestly, how dare she not tell him. And then he gets arrested in the most humiliating way possible... with this seeming to come out of left field for him. All while she could have given him the heads up.
Lie / Secret 2 - That Gabriel is Gwynn.
This one really is ... well, to me it is unforgivable. He's been so supportive of her, and she makes him think he's the only one she shares all the visions / secrets with ... when she is holding back a huge one that actually pertains to him?! He needed to know. And as soon as she decided to keep it from him, I knew that he was going to find out in the worst possible way, and it would blow up their relationship. Which of-fucking-course it did. Even worse, in this instance she didn't even give him a little bit of time to work through the information. They're riding back together in the car, and he says he doesn't believe it, and she leaps to all kinds of shitty conclusions about him ... again. That they're not friends, that he's saying she's crazy, blah blah fucking blah. She gets out of the car in the middle of nowhere, and then is mad that he left her there. Hey, fucking Oliveden: don't make this about you. You aren't the victim here. You fucked up. You let him be blindsided by an enemy - again - and you are taking personally his immediate reaction to this insane news. Get the fuck over yourself.
Now, Gabriel did go over the top on this a little - cutting off contact with her?? - and I wasn't entirely sure from the narrative... was Tristan mind-fucking him? Because in his chapter, even as he's doing these things, his voice (in his head) is staying, no, stop, don't do this.
Regardless, though, he's allowed to react badly for a couple days. I mean, come on. That's some shit-tastic news.
But overall, I love the unfolding of the story, and I am dying to continue onwards. I also loved that I was right
Hooray!
Mostly as it relates to Gabriel. Here's my beef:
Spoiler
I feel like she's not making any effort to get to know him. Like, the man is freaking terrible at expressing emotion, so he comes across as cool and/or judgmental. Even when he utterly does not intend to. Oliveden has learned this repeatedly - many times she's gotten pissed while he's left not understanding what he did, and then it gets resolved and she gets he doesn't mean it that way ... only until the next time where she overreacts to something similar and the cycle starts all over again.Look, I get that Gabriel is a challenging personality. I didn't much like him in the first book, and I don't know that I'd have the patience to handle him. But if she's going to choose to be friends with him - as she has, over and over - she has to choose to try and understand him, rather than fly off the handle every time his response to her seems a little flat. She always thinks he's pissed at her and/or judging her, and thus far, he never has been. Gabriel is the guy who has taken everything she's said as legit, and has never doubted her word.
Further, in this book she lies to him twice. Okay, lie by omission, but still lie... both times with disastrous consequences.
Lie / Secret 1 - Her mother said that she knew concretely that Gabriel killed James.
This was a big deal. Her mom got that info from somewhere, and it was an indication that they needed to be wary. Honestly, how dare she not tell him. And then he gets arrested in the most humiliating way possible... with this seeming to come out of left field for him. All while she could have given him the heads up.
Lie / Secret 2 - That Gabriel is Gwynn.
This one really is ... well, to me it is unforgivable. He's been so supportive of her, and she makes him think he's the only one she shares all the visions / secrets with ... when she is holding back a huge one that actually pertains to him?! He needed to know. And as soon as she decided to keep it from him, I knew that he was going to find out in the worst possible way, and it would blow up their relationship. Which of-fucking-course it did. Even worse, in this instance she didn't even give him a little bit of time to work through the information. They're riding back together in the car, and he says he doesn't believe it, and she leaps to all kinds of shitty conclusions about him ... again. That they're not friends, that he's saying she's crazy, blah blah fucking blah. She gets out of the car in the middle of nowhere, and then is mad that he left her there. Hey, fucking Oliveden: don't make this about you. You aren't the victim here. You fucked up. You let him be blindsided by an enemy - again - and you are taking personally his immediate reaction to this insane news. Get the fuck over yourself.
Now, Gabriel did go over the top on this a little - cutting off contact with her?? - and I wasn't entirely sure from the narrative... was Tristan mind-fucking him? Because in his chapter, even as he's doing these things, his voice (in his head) is staying, no, stop, don't do this.
Regardless, though, he's allowed to react badly for a couple days. I mean, come on. That's some shit-tastic news.
But overall, I love the unfolding of the story, and I am dying to continue onwards. I also loved that I was right
Spoiler
that her parents did in fact do some shit to fix her spine ... so they aren't totally innocent, making this all an interestingly complicated plot. Also, the Mommy twist was also awesome.Hooray!