Ruined Secrets

Rating: 2 stars.Ohhh! This book was… rough.Normally, I’m a big fan of the age-gap trope, the first three books pulled it off really well, and I never once felt weird about it. But with Ruined Secrets, I kept stopping to ask myself: Do I even like this trope anymore?The age gap here 19/35 was handled in such an unsettling way. Luca constantly reminded himself, “She’s a teenager, I can’t sleep with her,” and then, surprise, ends up with her anyway. It just felt icky.As for Isabella… she drove me absolutely insane. She wouldn’t stop complaining, always going, “Why does he treat me like I’m a kid?” Well, maybe because you actually are one?? like gurl are serious right now? STOP ALREADY! Her immaturity was exhausting, and I couldn’t connect with her at all.What really made me uncomfortable, though, was when she said she’d been in love with him since she was six years old, while he was twenty-four. Like, absolutely not.Like how are we supposed to buy into a six-year-old child being “in love” with a grown man?? At that age you barely know the difference between liking your favorite stuffed animal and liking a person, you’re not out here developing romantic love. It just doesn’t make sense, and honestly it crosses into really icky territory. A little girl that young might admire someone, look up to them, or feel safe around them, but love in the way the book is trying to frame it? Absolutely not. It’s unrealistic, unsettling, and makes the whole dynamic feel way creepier than it ever needed to be.I was leaning toward giving this 3 stars, but honestly, I just can’t. The constant “teenage wife” comments (he said it about ten too many times) completely killed the vibe for me.Unfortunately, this was the first book in the series that was a solid “no” for me.

Really, really good2nd read:5 loved it