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I think it was necessary in contributing to Adam's character development. The author tackles this decision with good justifications later on.

Now that you mention the genetic repulsion with Vikki, I'm not sure why Adam wouldn't have also been attracted to her, just like he is to his mother. Vikki was given some of the serum as well, just like JoAnn. I guess the serum didn't overpower genetics because of the low dosage Vikki was given.

On the topic of Adam and his mother, however, I feel like it was necessary to add that darkness and unstable-ness to Adam's character. I just think it wasn't resolved very well. Bot he and JoAnn completely lost those sexual feelings once the truth was out. It felt like an off switch.

Adam really did read like he had some mental health issues. From the very beginning, I found myself marking up my copy with "attachment issues," "depression," "narcissism," and "antisocial behavior." When Carly got introduced, I was adding "dependence," "over-possessiveness," and "aggression," some signs of a potentially toxic relationship. While I understand that the author was trying to portray this growth inside of him, and I even get that she may have exaggerated and inflated his darkness in order to show how big of a difference Carly made and the freedom that he found when he got "answers" of why he was the way that he was, but yeah, the author took it really far and it made for a really uncomfortable read at the beginning.

I was really trying, though, to view it through the eyes of mental health awareness, and tried to see what the author might have been trying to portray. I do know that finding validation and understanding of what makes you tick is extremely freeing. The whole "you have to recognize the demon before you can tame it" (or, you know, kick its booty out) kind of idea. Dauma was able to name his greatest shame and give him understanding, and he started to truly make his own decisions for change after that. Up until then, he was just led by his love (or, rather, his desire?) for Carly; from then, he truly wanted to make a change for himself, for Carly, and for his family. If it was the intention of the author to portray this, I don't know if she was entirely successful, but it made for some interesting thinking.

Milf Fantasies and Mental Health, the very subject title sets my teeth on edge. I don't even think that the plot, the character development etc. with regard to Adam were the only put offs, the entire subject matter is a put off. I am sorry but this definitely is not my cup of tea!

LV2R wrote: ↑02 Feb 2020, 00:26 I think this was part of Adam not understanding who he was and why he would be attracted to his mom. This added to the readers' first impression of Adam as being a dark, moody, and a possibly evil guy, though he fought his feelings. I was glad when Adam found out who his mom was and why he had been attracted to her.

Ya, I have to say that I was pretty turned off of this book when I was reading the first few chapters. I really hated Adam. The more I think about it though, I have to agree with you that this really added to Adam's presence as a dark character in the beginning. But, I think it is genius of the author to create such a strong dislike for this character only to have you eventually liking and cheering for him. I wonder if there isn't something more to the story on the serum in the next books that will explain this disturbing attraction.

I really don't like things like that, I feel that it's more common in new books and movies just to attract readers, but actually, it's making me go away from the book.

I don't think it's so important to the plot, it gives us a view into the personality of the character but beyond that, it's just plain distracting.

Not necessarily integral to the plot itself, but necessary for the reader's understanding. I think it helped the reader to form a wider mental picture.

I read the review for the book and was intrigued by it but the milf aspect of the book didn’t work for me. It was out of my taste.

The Oedipus Complex is a real thing, I believe. It does have this disconcerting element, in that I think it evokes the same feelings as reading about rape, incest or other dark themes. They do add a shock value to stories, but it is something that happens.

Adam's character went through a lot of changes through out the story. At the beginning it was very disturbing but by the end of the book it became okay but still there are voids felt in his character development.

His weird attraction to his mom was explained by the youth serum which Alexandria spiked her tea with when he was getting adopted, it drew him to her because of the biokenetic gene it had. Personally, I think that it was really weird but it also made me interested in finding out more about their relationship, and in a way it was necessary for the start of the plot and made sense in the end.

I guess I took this as face value for what we (the reader) knew at the time. I'm not too sure I agree with the whole "I was attracted to the material in your blood thing and nothing else". To me, it's kind of a cop-out reminiscent of a similar instance in another popular novel series. I always felt this was a weak explanation, and that drift in the story starts to lose me. As for the purpose in the story, I don't think any shock was intended but that it was meant for mere explanation to Adam's physical attraction for his mother. Maybe it was also a way the author intended to make Adam seem more of a good guy and less a villain or monster.

I found it rather disturbing, and personally I don't think genetic based attraction is a good plot point. It feels pretty icky to say that a person can't help to be attracted to someone because it was genetically predestined. And that aside, I really don't think it was a necessary plot point. There were a bunch of other things to show that Adam was deeply disturbed in the beginning of the book. And while I think a preference for his mom would have been fine, a full blown Oedipus complex was too much

It was really disturbing but i think that was the authors intention in order to make Adam seem messed up. When it was explained later on, it made me feel less disgusted with Adam but it was still really odd.