{"id":12354,"date":"2018-12-04T14:05:21","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T19:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jennytrout.com\/?p=12354"},"modified":"2018-12-04T14:06:04","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T19:06:04","slug":"jealous-haters-book-club-beautiful-disaster-chapter-one-red-flag-or-no-shit-ya-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jennytrout.com\/?p=12354","title":{"rendered":"Jealous Haters Book Club: Beautiful Disaster chapter one, “Red Flag” or “No shit, ya think?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, here we are again. I guess it must be fate, etc. I was going to try to make that into a Peter Cetera joke but I couldn’t ultimately make it land. I’m almost 100% sure that half my readership wouldn’t get it, anyway, because I am a thousand years old. And I am also 100% likely to have made that joke before.<\/p>\n

We find ourselves at the beginning of yet another Jealous Haters Book Club selection. Now, before we get started, I would like to remind everyone reading this that I did not pick this book. The people of Trout Nation nominated and voted for it. I am putting this disclaimer here because someone warned me that the author has diehard fans who will come\u00a0in droves to attack me, but honestly, do any of the big name pioneers of New Adult romance even have diehard fans anymore? Not even the E.L. James devotees are a mobilized army anymore. And aside from James, a lot of the New Adult authors who dominated the lists four years ago aren’t even hitting #1 in their very specific Amazon categories. New Adult isn’t dead (at least, I hope, because that’s what I’m writing next), but it’s not breaking down walls the way it did once upon a time. I can’t imagine these authors wield the same influence they once did.<\/p>\n

Anyway, as I said, I really don’t like this author, her clique, or anybody having anything to do with her, but this wasn’t my choice. Especially after reading one of her other books. That said, I went into this trying hard to be objective. Almost contrarily so. Because so many people insisted to me over the years that this book is terrible, I was sure they were all exaggerating.<\/p>\n

So far, it’s looking like I’m super wrong.<\/p>\n

Let’s get into the first chapter, which yes, really is titled “Red Flag.” So, at least the author appears to be cognizant of what she’s doing.<\/p>\n

Does that make it worse?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Everything in the room screamed that I didn’t belong. The stairs were crumbling, the rowdy patrons were shoulder to shoulder, and the air was a medely of sweat, blood, and mold. Voices blurred as they yelled numbers and names back and forth, and arms flailed about, exchanging money and gestures to communicate over the noise.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, this where we join the story, with our heroine, Abby, following her friends, America and Shepley, though this environment. Someone gets on a bullhorn and says:<\/p>\n

“Welcome to the bloodbath! If you are looking for Economics 101…you are in the wrong fucking place, my friend!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Good, because if I paid for Econ 101 and it was held in a moldy basement full of screaming people, I would be\u00a0very<\/em> put out.<\/p>\n

If you seek the Circle, this is Mecca! My name is Adam. I make the rules and I call the fight. Betting ends once the opponents are on the floor. No touching the fighters, no assistance, no bet switching, and no encroachment of the ring. If you break these rules, you will get the piss beat out of you and you will be thrown out on your ass without your money. That includes you, ladies! So don’t use your hos to scam the system, boys!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s not misogynist to refer to women as hoes if you’ve got an equal opportunity policy on physical assault.<\/p>\n

Shepley shook his head. “Jesus, Adam!” he yelled ot the emcee over the noise, clearly disapproving of his friend’s choice of words.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dude, why are you friends with someone who threatens to beat up women and calls them hoes? Also…why is the heroine of this novel friends with a guy who’s friends with a guy who threatens to beat up women and calls them hoes? Is this the red flag?<\/p>\n

Abby notes that she’s wearing a pink cashmere cardigan and pearl earrings, so she looks really out of place at fight club this week.<\/p>\n

I promised American that I could handle whatever we happened upon, but at ground zero I felt the urge to grip her toothpick of an arm with both hands. She wouldn’t put me in any danger, but being in a basement with fifty or so drunken college boys intent on bloodshed and capital, I wasn’t exactly confident of our chances to leave unscathed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What do you mean, she wouldn’t put you in danger? A basement full of drunk college boys\u00a0is<\/em> danger. Let’s note the toothpick-arm here. I have this wild feeling that there will be a lot of subtle criticism about the bodies of women who are not the heroine throughout the book.<\/p>\n

After America met Shepley at freshman orientation, she frequently accompanied him to the secret fights held in different basements of Eastern University.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To keep the fights so super secret, you guys, the location is only ever announced an hour before the fight starts. But it can’t work too well…<\/p>\n

Because I ran in somewhat tamer circles, I was surprised to learn of an underground world at Eastern; but Shepley knew about it before he had ever enrolled.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Like, how secret is this club, really? I’m not trying to be nitpicky on the second page of the book, but come on. It’s super, intensely secret, but people know about it before they even set foot on campus?<\/p>\n

While we spent all of\u00a0Apolonia<\/em> wondering if the heroine was immortal or not, I’m going to spend this entire book wondering what year of college all these people are in. I tried to do the math, but…<\/p>\n

Travis, Shepley’s roommate and cousin, entered his first fight seven months before. As a freshman, he was rumored to be the most lethal competitor Adam had seen in the three years since creating the Circle. Beginning his sophomore year, Travis was unbeatable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay, setting aside for the moment that “lethal” means students have\u00a0died<\/em> at these underground fights that are super secret and haven’t been found out yet, I wanna try to put all this stuff together. In the first chapter, the ages of these characters are never made remotely clear.<\/p>\n

We know that:<\/p>\n