My spoiler-free, general train of thought while reading Biting Cold: Oooh, sexy times commence!...Damn, that's horrible...I hate Mallory...Yay, they're finally getting it on!...Wait, what?...Please no more love triangles!...Oh, phew, false alert....EXCUSE ME, YOU DID NOT JUST GO THERE, ETHAN!!!...I'mma DNF it...Never mind, go, Merit!...Wow, this is so interesting...Maybe I'll finish it after all...Ugh, how predictable...But wait, that was awesome!...Best ending ever!
The slightly longer version:
The main problem I had for about 60% of the book, and the reason I came this close to dropping the series altogether, was Ethan being a coward and a jerkface again, despite all that he and Merit have gone through. I HATE him. Not "strongly dislike" him, hate him with a seething passion because he's just that big of an asshole. I've never really liked him (except for a short while at the end of Hard Bitten) but now I'm sure I hate him.
Merit is another character I've never gotten the appeal of. She's always come across as unrelatable and cold to me, but ironically, it's Biting Cold that has made me finally like her. I'm not entirely sure why, and maybe it's simply because I was spending so much energy on hating Ethan that I just didn't have any left over for hating Merit, but I genuinely care for her now.
Of course, that only goes so far. I still hate how she was lusting after Ethan for the entire book, when she really should've dumped him as soon as he started sprouting all that crap about why he couldn't be with her. I mean, really, what the hell does she even see in the guy except for a perfectly chiseled face and bod?! He's been an absolute jerk to her since the very beginning even after all she's sacrificed for him, and on top of that, it's not like she doesn't have any other options (*coughJonahcough*)! She's blind to all that, however, and still chases after Ethan like he's her freakin' puppeteer or something. GAHH!!!
So. Why did I finish this book? No, it's not because I'm a masochist (I don't think...). It's because I really, really enjoyed the plot. It says a lot about Neill's writing style (and my masochism...) that I've managed to stick to this series for so long, even after hating more than half of it. And even when I'd firmly convinced myself that this'd be the absolute LAST chance I was giving this series, I still managed to finish it, and now I'm actually excited about reading on.
Believe me, I'm just as surprised as the rest of you.
Favorite passage:
“That’s tough. Anything I can do?”
“Just stay in play as my backup.”
I nearly swerved the car off the road. “I’m sorry—your backup?”
“You know, in case it doesn’t work out with Fallon.”
“And what about Ethan?”
Jeff chuckled. “I just figured he was your backup for me.”
*Buddy read with Anzu. You can read her review here.*
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