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I didn't like Nick as a character either. I don't think he deserved to have a psycho murderer as a wife, but still he made some really unwise, arrogant decisions.

He is naive, and a push over. I don't know too many men who would let that kind of an ending happen to them like that. But that's fiction for you.

Hypocrite, but understandable and relatable. At least, to me.

A relationship is always tricky because you are not completely sure if the face you see outside is the face the couple sees in each other. From Nick's journals, we see his pov, but according to Amy, her pov is right. The author has beautifully portrayed this and used this to her advantage, to provide twists in the story. After all, it is open to interpretation if Nick is "good" or "bad" or somewhere in between.

I like Nick and his character, particularly because he has faults. He isn't the perfect man or husband and he appears very real.
I think he has immoral aspects of his character which I don't personally like, but overall I think he is interesting andd portrays a very realistic representation of a real man.

I disliked Nick immensely. His hatred and lies made me extremely upset, and I could not find myself relating to him at all. While I felt that the story did not suffer from him as a character, as he was purposely written that way, I definitely disliked the characters if they stand alone. Outside of the characters, the many twists and drama throughout the story were very entertaining, but I found the end of the story annoying and aggravating and would change that.

I loved the story exactly how it is. Everything blended perfectly with the dark theme. Nick seemed kind of weak though. He seems to act on his desires without consideration for how it would affect others. For the most part I just pitied him. As much as he was a terrible husband, he didn't deserve to be the victim of Amy's manipulation, no matter how much she justified her actions.

Nick is not a great person, but he's not a bad guy either. His biggest mistake is getting so wrapped up in being laid off that he finds comfort in a young student of his. It was an incredibly selfish move. However, by that point, Amy had already shown her true self and he realized he did not marry the woman he fell in love with, as the woman he fell in love with never existed. (I find it interesting that Amy faults him for letting his true self come out, but at the same time, she punishes him for not continuing to love her true self after willfully deceiving him.)

He is definitely a grey type of character. He did bad things, but I don't think he was a bad person.

Being a womanizer is not acceptable, and I felt he is such a pushover. He doesn't know how to deal with his problems (both personal and in his marriage), so it blew up in his face.

Himmelslicht wrote: ↑15 Dec 2014, 09:20

tlgabelman wrote:I agree with Himmelslicht, Nick was portrayed as "the usual guy." It was painful to see such a self involved male character be worked to the nth degree by his female lead. I honestly do think he had an original thought of his own. But the mastery of Amy was that she was so good at manipulation everything he did, he thought he had control over, when in fact it was always her.

That makes me think until what point does one have control over what one does. After a while, how do you know if you like noodles becauseyou like or because he/she made you like it?
Until what point do you know that you developed the habit of being tidy for yourself or because you've been pressured to do it because of your significant other?
Of course these are tiny bits of the problem in general, but in the hands of a really smart and devious person, one could become a toy.
She played him like a fool since the beginning. She wanted a human pet because she has always been Amazing Amy. And she got one, even when he started to slip away, all she had to do was to find the right leash to chain him to her. It's weird as hell but it worked.

Yes. It is quite obvious that she played with his mind, and to be fair, with the minds of everyone around her. But I doubt that he was just your average guy. And I doubt it had everything to do with her. Now, I'm not trying to blame the victim here. It is never the victim's fault. But when someone with sociopathic tendencies and such a clear Narcissistic Personality Disorder picks someone to drain them, they do because of certain qualities of their complements. Not just because. And most of the times, they are not as blind to what's going on as they seem to be. I find it hard to believe that during all those years he really NEVER saw anything that made him think she was not the sweet she claimed to be. Granted, he was under great manipulation. But there's always *something*.
I agree with you on the pet part though. She was treating him more as a lost property than a lost love. It was clear that he was nothing but a breathing object for her.

Nick was nowhere on par with Amy's vindictiveness and was technically victimised by her. This doesn't take away from the fact that he was still unlikable. He doesn't deserve to have a psychotic manipulator for a wife, but his character was lacking.

I didn't particularly like Nick, I thought he seemed quite dumb at times, but then again: who would be prepared to deal with the twisted ways of a psychopathic mind such as Amy's? I really disliked the ending, though.

He seemed foolish. At first, you feel sorry for him. But I think that he was the reason why the marriage fell apart.

Nick was a bit less flawed than Amy and hence more likeable. Despite that, I still found the characters too dark and unrelatable. It made the story less impressive for me.