We’re supposed to romanticize this?

I ultimately couldn’t finish this book, even though I was nearing the end. What made it difficult to continue was the way the story portrayed its female lead. She’s introduced as a successful, beautiful, and accomplished 32-year-old woman, yet the narrative repeatedly reduces her strength when it comes to a man who previously abandoned her without warning.

I found it frustrating that her supposed weakness is someone who once left her high and dry. Despite his past behavior, he’s written with a strange kind of emotional power over her, and the story seems to frame this dynamic as romantic. Personally, that didn’t sit well with me. While I appreciate themes of forgiveness and second chances when they’re thoughtfully earned, this character never felt redeeming enough to justify the hold he had over her.

What bothered me most was how easily she seemed swayed—how the smallest gesture or moment could make her reconsider everything. For a woman depicted as confident and successful, I expected more emotional depth and self-respect in how she handled someone who had treated her so poorly. Instead, it felt as though the story asked the reader to romanticize a dynamic where she simply tolerates behavior she deserved better than.

In the end, I struggled with the message it seemed to send. Women—especially modern women portrayed as capable and accomplished—deserve stories where their standards and self-worth are taken seriously. Unfortunately, this one didn’t do that for me.