Pregnancy (Spoilers)

Use this forum to discuss the June 2019 Book of the month, "Cynthia and Dan: Cyber War" by Dorothy May Mercer.
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Nena_Morena
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Re: Pregnancy (Spoilers)

Post by Nena_Morena »

heatherashley7 wrote: 02 Jun 2019, 15:58 I personally think it was Dan, this may sound far fetched but he did change her sheets so he had to see the letters. One of the letters mentioned the pregnancy and then he was in her bathroom and could have easily crushed the one prescription to mix it in with medicine. I think the author missed a golden opportunity to pin it on the villain in this book.

The situation as a whole was very hard to read after already reading about the Plan B and the second prescription. This plot line was HORRIBLE in my opinion.
I agree. When I read how Dan was moving from one room to another in Cynthia's apartment, I thought for sure he was going to find the letters or the pregnancy tests. After all, he is a cop, so he must be very detail-oriented. Unfortunately, this detail along with many others reflects the superficiality of the book.
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Erin Dydek
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Post by Erin Dydek »

cpru68 wrote: 03 Jun 2019, 01:58 The whole situation was odd. I actually got a little upset when it was pretty clear to me with enough clues from the author that she was pregnant and she drank alcohol! That irritated me. While Cynthia kept “forgetting” she could be pregnant, I didn’t due to the constant references to it in the book. I didn’t like it at all.
I was so upset about this too! I just became a mom last year and every time she drank it bothered me. Usually when you even slightly suspect that you are pregnant you immediately stop consuming alcohol because it can cause birth defects. I began expecting some kind of problems to turn up with her pregnancy and wasn't surprised by the miscarriage because Cynthia was careless about this. I did feel bad about the miscarriage because she seemed upset about losing her baby, but she moved on so quickly I had a hard time believing her emotions there. Pregnancy makes you very hormonal and very emotional even if you are a "tough" female working in security and taking down terrorists like Cynthia.
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Post by Nisha Ward »

Everydayadventure15 wrote: 16 Jun 2019, 20:25
cpru68 wrote: 03 Jun 2019, 01:58 The whole situation was odd. I actually got a little upset when it was pretty clear to me with enough clues from the author that she was pregnant and she drank alcohol! That irritated me. While Cynthia kept “forgetting” she could be pregnant, I didn’t due to the constant references to it in the book. I didn’t like it at all.
I was so upset about this too! I just became a mom last year and every time she drank it bothered me. Usually when you even slightly suspect that you are pregnant you immediately stop consuming alcohol because it can cause birth defects. I began expecting some kind of problems to turn up with her pregnancy and wasn't surprised by the miscarriage because Cynthia was careless about this. I did feel bad about the miscarriage because she seemed upset about losing her baby, but she moved on so quickly I had a hard time believing her emotions there. Pregnancy makes you very hormonal and very emotional even if you are a "tough" female working in security and taking down terrorists like Cynthia.
Pretty much, yeah. I felt bad about the miscarriage but at the end of the day, it didn't seem like she thought about the pregnancy enough to earn the events at the Women's Centre. She mostly just seemed to forget about it most of the time and didn't seem concerned before.
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Post by mariana90 »

I thought that the pregnancy was just a lazy plot device to create unnecessary drama for Cynthia. I thought the cyber war and the love triangle were interesting enough without having to add the whole pregnancy/miscarriage storyline.
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Post by Wriley »

I thought it did nothing for the the book sorry myself. A woman also does not forget she's pregnant. She may not tell anyone to have time to process but she doesn't forget and drink alcohol.
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Post by sush_destiny »

I think every woman processes and understands pregnancy differently, so, instead of generalizing that she drank alcohol when she is pregnant, she shouldn't be judged so carelessly
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Post by lisalynn »

A miscarriage is always a sad event, and not as easily understood by those around the woman as something like the trauma from a car wreck. Including an event like this didn't enhance the story, it was just an overcomplicated distraction.
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Post by Chelsey Coles »

Jo689 wrote: 10 Jun 2019, 15:07 I thought the pregnancy would have some significance or be a foreshadowing event that would lead to subsequent events in the book. Like for example, Cynthia's pregnancy, and unfortunate miscarriage could lead to something new, or be a source of strength in her relationships with the other characters in the book (pregnancy loss is hard for a woman, so having that support can do wonders and repair damaged relationships)
You make a good point. It seems as if after the miscarriage she just came back to work like nothing ever happened.... It did not seem like there was much strength gotten from this from the other characters. But at least she had support. I wonder if she will ever tell Sky about it....
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Post by Diana Lowery »

I thought the whole situation was odd. The way she got pregnant so easily with a man she didn't know. The way Sky showed up the next day with a way to prevent the pregnancy. Sky comes across as so prepared and organized, how did he not have condoms in his apartment? Cynthia "forgetting" to pee on the stick. Mike and his knowledge of miscarriages. I even thought the recovery place was creepy.
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Post by iced_sunshine »

I'm not really sure how I feel about the pregnancy. The fact that she kept it hidden was definitely realistic but I think the miscarriage could have been done better. The emotions were definitely raw and believable but it would have been nice to see more growth from the couple.
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Post by s_writing »

I knew that she would be pregnant. I thought it was weird she didn't tell her brother. They seemed so close and he didn't know she was in the hospital. I'm sure she was in there for days and no one called her family. That seemed unrealistic.
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Post by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda »

Sinclairess wrote: 08 Jun 2019, 19:50 I thought it was a great plot twist. I can understand how it was traumatic and she wanted to keep it to herself...

However it upsets me how clueless she was after she had sex with Sky. You are a grown woman, and you don't know what Plan B is? :? It is ironic how in her work life she is so cautious and on top of everything, but it took her forever to take a pregancy test. No one is perfect, but still.
I agree. Even though it's supposed to show us how flawed, human and relatable the character is, some parts of it just don't make much sense for the current day and age.
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Post by tristenb »

As a reader, we could almost assume something related to a pregnancy might happen since Sky came over with Plan B and those prescription pills to get rid of a pregnancy if there was one. This doesn't seem realistic at all. I can see how a guy might want to protect against an unwanted pregnancy and purchase the Plan B and that Cynthia would take it. However, those other pills make absolutely no sense. The book make no mention of whether Cynthia was taking birth control or not. I'm guessing she was probably not since she got pregnant. Either way, I don't know why she would have had unprotected sex with a stranger in the first place. But, I guess it could happen. We are all human.

As far as the miscarriage is concerned, I'm not entirely sure if it was portrayed accurately. I think it might not be completely accurate. I know that when I was pregnant morning sickness, while awful, was not anything like having a stomach bug, but I'm not sure if that would change because it was a miscarriage. She also would have barely been pregnant, so I'm not even sure if her body would have reacted like that. But, like I said, I have no idea. This could have been an accurate depiction.

Overall, I think the pregnancy didn't do anything to enhance the story and actually just made the characters more annoying. I would have preferred the focus of the book to be more about the Cyber War than a dramatized love triangle.
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Post by Saffron »

It was odd that she was trying to hide it, but that’s completely human for her to have behaved that way.
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Post by Chelsey Coles »

Lunastella wrote: 24 Jun 2019, 11:32
I agree. Even though it's supposed to show us how flawed, human and relatable the character is, some parts of it just don't make much sense for the current day and age.
Agreed! If you are going to play on human nature, great. But at least make it logical!
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