Adam and Carly - Romantic or Dangerously Romanticized?

[Howlan]

I get the fact that were destined for each other. But, love is a strong word. Even in a book of fiction, it's hard to belief that the communication between Adam and Carly was genuine. It just seemed so forced, but it makes for a good read.

Yes, definitely it is a match made by force. For one I feel no chemistry going on. And Adam is always angry at her for all the wrong reasons!

[Howlan]

Initial of their relationship was a bit toxic, adam being jealous and overprotective. But over time they mature, so does their love.

I am at the start of the second book and spoilers Adam is still the same...jealous and overprotective.

[Howlan]

Initial of their relationship was a bit toxic, adam being jealous and overprotective. But over time they mature, so does their love.

But that is my issue... The book doesn't cover a lot of time... it's maybe a month-month and a half and Adam and Carly are still going full throttle ahead. I did appreciate that Adam didn't capitalize on Carly's situation when she wanted to have sex, but Adam remains toxic for her the whole time (I think) He's overprotective and jealous, yes, but he is condescending in his feelings of HIM protecting HER considering that Carly is much stronger and has more experience with her powers.

He also unapologetically eavesdrops on her conversations with other people... at least 3 times. I didn't notice any maturing on his end (other than not having sex with her)...

Adam may have found peace of mind over his incestuous feeling but despite all these revelations, he is still hot-tempered and jealous as ever.

[Howlan]

This is definitely a very dangerous message to send to young impressionable minds. People like this rarely change, no matter how many fresh starts they get.

Yeah, exactly... their relationship should not be normalized and it is incredibly dangerous to give high schoolers the idea that someone who has done terrible things just needs love to change.

That may be true for some cases and there should be consequences for all actions but some people do change over love and care.

[Howlan]

I completely agree with how disturbing this relationship is. It was everything but healthy. Here we have this guy that at the beginning of the book is described as a sexual abuser if not a serial killer. I mean, a den, come on! And the fact that Carly finds the Den and acts like it’s not so bad, even to the point that Carly thinks of Adam as a victim to his own actions!!!

But the thing that gets me more than anything is that the Den, Terry’s accidental murder and the obsession of his mother don’t actually have anything to do with the plot. It frustrates me so much, it feels like the whole thing was only for shock value and to get readers.

IT'S SO TRUE! That's the part that drives me mad, they contributed NOTHING to the overall plot and story. He could have accidentally shattered a window or blown up a car to realize he had powers. He could have just been very emotionally close and protective of his mother, without having to want to f*ck her!! So, so creeping.

Imagining my husband having a creepy sex den with chloroform, and sex toys, and WEAPONS in the middle of the damn woods not only with pictures of his mother EVERYWHERE, but also a diary that has him admitting he wants to f*ck her!? HELL NO, THAT'S NOT AN INSIGNIFICANT DEAL. I would be out of there SO fast! I'd be calling the police SO. FAST.

But all in the name of true, young love, right? *vomits*

According to Carly, you can't judge Adam because no one is perfect!!

And according to the author, just another YA.

[Jocelyn Eastman]

I get the fact that were destined for each other. But, love is a strong word. Even in a book of fiction, it's hard to belief that the communication between Adam and Carly was genuine. It just seemed so forced, but it makes for a good read.

Yes, definitely it is a match made by force. For one I feel no chemistry going on. And Adam is always angry at her for all the wrong reasons!

Well she feels destined to him because of their powers and having found him by accident. Young people come up with these kinds of scenarios in their minds all the time.

Of course Adam isn’t going to change. People rarely actually change.

[Howlan]

I get the fact that were destined for each other. But, love is a strong word. Even in a book of fiction, it's hard to belief that the communication between Adam and Carly was genuine. It just seemed so forced, but it makes for a good read.

Yes, definitely it is a match made by force. For one I feel no chemistry going on. And Adam is always angry at her for all the wrong reasons!

Well she feels destined to him because of their powers and having found him by accident. Young people come up with these kinds of scenarios in their minds all the time.

Of course Adam isn’t going to change. People rarely actually change.

Yes, that's true. It feels really odd though.

[gilliansisley]

I completely agree with how disturbing this relationship is. It was everything but healthy. Here we have this guy that at the beginning of the book is described as a sexual abuser if not a serial killer. I mean, a den, come on! And the fact that Carly finds the Den and acts like it’s not so bad, even to the point that Carly thinks of Adam as a victim to his own actions!!!

But the thing that gets me more than anything is that the Den, Terry’s accidental murder and the obsession of his mother don’t actually have anything to do with the plot. It frustrates me so much, it feels like the whole thing was only for shock value and to get readers.

IT'S SO TRUE! That's the part that drives me mad, they contributed NOTHING to the overall plot and story. He could have accidentally shattered a window or blown up a car to realize he had powers. He could have just been very emotionally close and protective of his mother, without having to want to f*ck her!! So, so creeping.

Imagining my husband having a creepy sex den with chloroform, and sex toys, and WEAPONS in the middle of the damn woods not only with pictures of his mother EVERYWHERE, but also a diary that has him admitting he wants to f*ck her!? HELL NO, THAT'S NOT AN INSIGNIFICANT DEAL. I would be out of there SO fast! I'd be calling the police SO. FAST.

But all in the name of true, young love, right? *vomits*

According to Carly, you can't judge Adam because no one is perfect!!

Sure, no one is perfect... but also, not everyone is a psychopathic abuser with an Oedipus Complex, and those are the people one should steer clear of!

[writestuff]

Oh man Adam and Carly make me cringe. She has all this power and then weakens herself to be his fan girl. Have a serial killer bachelor pad...no problem. Find a dead girl's hairpin? It's ok because of love. No,no and no I would keep this well hidden from teens. This is an abusive relationship but this time he doesn't sparkle, he glows.

[nfdoughe]

I wish I would have remembered all these parts while reviewing this book. Part of the problem is that "true love/soul mate" aspect where all the bad stuff is just swept under the rug because they're truly destined to be together and whatnot. I can't remember how many times I cringed at their relationship just to forget it all by the end because it's unfortunately so normal in a book like this. That is what makes it even scarier to me.

[OfficialEmma]

Oh. My. Gosh.

This was my absolute biggest pet peeve. And this is supposed to be for young, pre-pubescent readers, ages 11-17? HELL NO.

Their relationship is unhealthy as hell, but it's portrayed as totally normal, which is wildly dangerous. I liked Carly as a character, but completely detested Adam.

Apart from the most obvious concerning things going on in their relationship in general, the time when I was actually most upset was when Carly describes finding the Den. She describes how disturbed she is by the pictures of JoAnn, and the journal, and all that. She's overwhelmed, and yet she says "This isn't the time to be a weak little girl and run away". So she burns down the Den.

Yes. Because apparently, thinking your boyfriend is sick and perverted is WEAK. Because STRONG girls find evidence of their boyfriend having a f*cking scary-ass torture Den in the middle of the woods with CHLOROFORM, and WEAPONS, and SEX TOYS which "make it obvious what this structure was meant to be used for", and they burn down all of the evidence to protect their sociopathic, murderous and possessive boyfriend.

What an absolutely horrific message to give to young, impressionable girls.

And after burning down the Den, Carly says something along the lines of, "Adam deserves a fresh start, and I'm going to give it to him. He's made mistakes, but he's still a really good guy. I'm going to dedicate my life to healing and fixing him."

Horrifying. Truly, truly, disturbing. This is NOT a healthy example for how a relationship should be. If you find out your BF kidnapped and murdered (by accident, but still) some innocent girl just because he was uncontrollably horny, you take that sh*t straight to the police. You don't destroy evidence and cover it up in the name of "love".

In all honesty, I was in an emotionally abusive relationship with a guy who sexually assaulted me, and this book was a trigger for me. Red flags everywhere. There are points in the book where Adam says, "I'm not a monster", and I was in my reading chair saying, "YES YOU ARE, you psychopath!".

So sorry about your negative experience, dear. Did you report him to the cops?

[OfficialEmma]

Well, let's not get too emotional about it. Try to see from the author's perspective. I think these reactions show that the author, through this story, was trying to communicate the potential harm or emotional stress of teen romantic relationships. That's what I think, though.

[Savage3]

Its 2020, I wish we could move past the trope of "my boyfriend's a horrible monster therefore I'll put up with everything so I can FIX HIM". Forget that. Why are women, especially teenage girls, supposed to be encouraged to support and give up everything because a guy they like has issues. Why are they now responsible for changing a terrible human into a better human? Dude's a sexual predator. It's not sexy. Please stop encouraging young girls to romanticize abusive behavior.

[Jezebelle84]

Their relationship was toxic from the beginning. I don't understand how Carly is so understanding and forgiving of Adam after she finds the den. That sh*t is disturbing! Adam is completely obsessed with her and jealous beyond reason. He resents the time she spends away from him like she's some kind of possession. When he sees her, he has to hug her like she's going to run away if he doesn't hold on to her. Their relationship is not the least bit healthy.

[Cristina Chifane]

Teenagers do have the tedency to exaggerate things and first love is usually romanticized and lived as if the world would end if s/he didn't answer your call. However, in this case, Adam's behavior becomes obssessive. In fact, I guess he just traded one obsession for another in the sense that he transferred his obsession for Jo to his feelings for Carly.