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I loved flawed characters, I really do, but for some reason, I just could not bring myself to like Cynthia's character, yes she did win some of my sympathy towards the middle and the end of the book, but still, I did not like or empathize with her character. I believe my reasons for this were: (1) When she had cheated on Dan there was no hint f a sour relationship and, she did not express much regret for cheating or even pity the man she claimed to love (I mean she even says she loves him on her license plate ) after cheating on him and (2) she is often framed in a way that puts her in the moral high ground and I think this kind of framing along with her flaws didn't do her character any favours. So I was wondering do you share a similar opinion on Cynthia or do you have a completely different one?

Yes, I do share the same sentiments about Cynthia's character. Not just her though, but I do feel these things with the rest. Flawed characters are only good when they are well-written. I mean do the flaws contribute to the depth of her character? I don't think so. It just makes her shallow.

I agree with you. The cheating aspect really bothered me because it seemed like the author was trying to justify it. I feel like for most of the story Cynthia was just the "damsel in distress" that needed to be saved by others. I couldn't really connect or empathize with her.

I really don't like Cynthia's character because I believe she lacks common sense and she is insensitive to others. Anyone who would cheat on someone like that is seriously flawed in my opinion. She should have had the decency to tell Dan as soon as it happened, but instead, she strung him along.

BuzzingQuill wrote: ↑03 Jun 2019, 12:36 I loved flawed characters, I really do, but for some reason, I just could not bring myself to like Cynthia's character, yes she did win some of my sympathy towards the middle and the end of the book, but still, I did not like or empathize with her character. I believe my reasons for this were: (1) When she had cheated on Dan there was no hint f a sour relationship and, she did not express much regret for cheating or even pity the man she claimed to love (I mean she even says she loves him on her license plate ) after cheating on him and (2) she is often framed in a way that puts her in the moral high ground and I think this kind of framing along with her flaws didn't do her character any favours. So I was wondering do you share a similar opinion on Cynthia or do you have a completely different one?

I completely agree. She wasn't the most likable character. I hated the way she treated Dan. Very shady! I also didn't like how easily she was led by men. For example, who in their right mind would leave their car in the middle of the street and go have lunch with a strange (and pushy) man? And then go back to his apartment? For a woman that is supposed to be highly intelligent, she acts pretty foolish and puts herself in dangerous situations.

Julie Petitbon wrote: ↑04 Jun 2019, 19:43 I completely agree. She wasn't the most likable character. I hated the way she treated Dan. Very shady! I also didn't like how easily she was led by men. For example, who in their right mind would leave their car in the middle of the street and go have lunch with a strange (and pushy) man? And then go back to his apartment? For a woman that is supposed to be highly intelligent, she acts pretty foolish and puts herself in dangerous situations.

I am so there with you. I am not done with the book yet, but right now, I feel like Cynthia is two different characters. I seriously don't know how to reconcile this young woman who thinks of her ass as cute, is driving her first new car (which is apparently brand new), and allows herself to be pushed around by a man, who takes her to his apartment and makes her a drink out of her sight with the woman who is supposed to be head of security for a Senator.
You don't get to be head of Security for a Senator at 25. You just don't. But the rest of her character, at least so far (and I am not super far into the book), feels more like 25 would a stretch for how old she is. I mean, she doesn't even know what Plan B is?

I am having a hard time with my suspension of disbelief.

briellejee wrote: ↑03 Jun 2019, 22:55 Yes, I do share the same sentiments about Cynthia's character. Not just her though, but I do feel these things with the rest. Flawed characters are only good when they are well-written. I mean do the flaws contribute to the depth of her character? I don't think so. It just makes her shallow.

I agree, the other characters lacked depth a well. I think Sky had the potential to be a great character and I did enjoy Glenn's character at surface value despite lacking much depth

maggi3 wrote: ↑04 Jun 2019, 00:13 I agree with you. The cheating aspect really bothered me because it seemed like the author was trying to justify it. I feel like for most of the story Cynthia was just the "damsel in distress" that needed to be saved by others. I couldn't really connect or empathize with her.

Yes, your damsel in distress point is bang on. This is particularly annoying when you consider Cynthia's line of work

Stephanie Elizabeth wrote: ↑04 Jun 2019, 12:57 I really don't like Cynthia's character because I believe she lacks common sense and she is insensitive to others. Anyone who would cheat on someone like that is seriously flawed in my opinion. She should have had the decency to tell Dan as soon as it happened, but instead, she strung him along.

You're right, Cynthia did come off as quite clueless, which is particularly frustrating when considering her job. A part of me wants to believe that by portraying Cynthia as incompetent the author is trying to make a comment on
nepotism, but I doubt that's the case here

Julie Petitbon wrote: ↑04 Jun 2019, 19:43

BuzzingQuill wrote: ↑03 Jun 2019, 12:36 I loved flawed characters, I really do, but for some reason, I just could not bring myself to like Cynthia's character, yes she did win some of my sympathy towards the middle and the end of the book, but still, I did not like or empathize with her character. I believe my reasons for this were: (1) When she had cheated on Dan there was no hint f a sour relationship and, she did not express much regret for cheating or even pity the man she claimed to love (I mean she even says she loves him on her license plate ) after cheating on him and (2) she is often framed in a way that puts her in the moral high ground and I think this kind of framing along with her flaws didn't do her character any favours. So I was wondering do you share a similar opinion on Cynthia or do you have a completely different one?

I completely agree. She wasn't the most likable character. I hated the way she treated Dan. Very shady! I also didn't like how easily she was led by men. For example, who in their right mind would leave their car in the middle of the street and go have lunch with a strange (and pushy) man? And then go back to his apartment? For a woman that is supposed to be highly intelligent, she acts pretty foolish and puts herself in dangerous situations.

Yes, exactly! She was a bit mad when it came to men in my opinion. The one thing that really made me feel weird throughout the story despite how briefly it was mentioned was her license plate, why would she do that? It just didn't make sense for the character Mercer was trying to portray

[/quote]

I am so there with you. I am not done with the book yet, but right now, I feel like Cynthia is two different characters. I seriously don't know how to reconcile this young woman who thinks of her ass as cute, is driving her first new car (which is apparently brand new), and allows herself to be pushed around by a man, who takes her to his apartment and makes her a drink out of her sight with the woman who is supposed to be head of security for a Senator.
You don't get to be head of Security for a Senator at 25. You just don't. But the rest of her character, at least so far (and I am not super far into the book), feels more like 25 would a stretch for how old she is. I mean, she doesn't even know what Plan B is?

I am having a hard time with my suspension of disbelief.
[/quote]

I never actually considered her job title and the fact that she is only 25! Great point, it would be incredibly unlikely for her to receive that position.

Julie Petitbon wrote: ↑04 Jun 2019, 19:43

BuzzingQuill wrote: ↑03 Jun 2019, 12:36 I loved flawed characters, I really do, but for some reason, I just could not bring myself to like Cynthia's character, yes she did win some of my sympathy towards the middle and the end of the book, but still, I did not like or empathize with her character. I believe my reasons for this were: (1) When she had cheated on Dan there was no hint f a sour relationship and, she did not express much regret for cheating or even pity the man she claimed to love (I mean she even says she loves him on her license plate ) after cheating on him and (2) she is often framed in a way that puts her in the moral high ground and I think this kind of framing along with her flaws didn't do her character any favours. So I was wondering do you share a similar opinion on Cynthia or do you have a completely different one?

I completely agree. She wasn't the most likable character. I hated the way she treated Dan. Very shady! I also didn't like how easily she was led by men. For example, who in their right mind would leave their car in the middle of the street and go have lunch with a strange (and pushy) man? And then go back to his apartment? For a woman that is supposed to be highly intelligent, she acts pretty foolish and puts herself in dangerous situations.

I felt the same way about Cynthia's character, that she was not much flawed as extremely confused about life and the way things actually work. You don't go to lunch with absolute strangers, or give them information on your car, or go to their apartment...so many things were wrong in just the first couple of chapters I had to force myself to read the whole book.

Well Cynthia is definitely flawed. I feel like she has somewhat has a cunning nature to her side, and will cheat/take advantage of others to get her way. But on the other hand, she seems very brilliant. I liked the little love triangle scenario that she had between Sky and Dan. Was interesting.

BuzzingQuill wrote: ↑05 Jun 2019, 06:01

briellejee wrote: ↑03 Jun 2019, 22:55 Yes, I do share the same sentiments about Cynthia's character. Not just her though, but I do feel these things with the rest. Flawed characters are only good when they are well-written. I mean do the flaws contribute to the depth of her character? I don't think so. It just makes her shallow.

I agree, the other characters lacked depth a well. I think Sky had the potential to be a great character and I did enjoy Glenn's character at surface value despite lacking much depth

On another topic, I just agreed to someone that compared to everyone, Glenn seems to be the only one likable and fit well to the story. I had a good first impression with Sky but then he keeps on changing like, I don't even know what he is supposed to be. Ugh. It was frustrating.

Julie Petitbon wrote: ↑04 Jun 2019, 19:43

BuzzingQuill wrote: ↑03 Jun 2019, 12:36 I loved flawed characters, I really do, but for some reason, I just could not bring myself to like Cynthia's character, yes she did win some of my sympathy towards the middle and the end of the book, but still, I did not like or empathize with her character. I believe my reasons for this were: (1) When she had cheated on Dan there was no hint f a sour relationship and, she did not express much regret for cheating or even pity the man she claimed to love (I mean she even says she loves him on her license plate ) after cheating on him and (2) she is often framed in a way that puts her in the moral high ground and I think this kind of framing along with her flaws didn't do her character any favours. So I was wondering do you share a similar opinion on Cynthia or do you have a completely different one?

I completely agree. She wasn't the most likable character. I hated the way she treated Dan. Very shady! I also didn't like how easily she was led by men. For example, who in their right mind would leave their car in the middle of the street and go have lunch with a strange (and pushy) man? And then go back to his apartment? For a woman that is supposed to be highly intelligent, she acts pretty foolish and puts herself in dangerous situations.

I am so glad that you brought this up. I mean, at the first part, she was angry for Glenn for not thinking about Dan as a potential partner, but then she goes off having lunch with some guy and actually thinks he's hot??? The story felt like pieces of puzzle that do not belong together for me. Frustrating.