I always thought I was gonna feel sorry for takeru at some point and I was right. he still did horrible things to misaki and mamoru especially, but he was just in the circle of abuse that came from his father. thinking he broke that circle by not physically abusing her (even though maritial rape is physical abuse…), he emotionally and psychologically abused her for years.
this book is actually so smart about the patriarchy and gender roles. takeru is an example of a man who is trapped in his expectations as a man and husband, and does not know how to deal with his emotions correctly. it also goes to show how much the pov of a character makes a difference in how the reader experiences and thinks of another character. like it didn't even occur to me takeru could be deeply traumatized from his childhood, I thought he was just an asshole bc misaki (understandably) thought so.
and I also really enjoyed, bc its so unexpected, that the YA trope nice boy robin (whom I still love as a character) is maybe not the one for misaki after all. she could only show her strength fully now with takeru after suppressing so much for so many years. she probably would've never reached her potential as a person (I also liked her musings on her being a grown woman) with robin. I mean, was it worth it? probably not and I'd still choose robin for her, but I do like the idea that the choice of love is not always the one that makes you whole as a person. very interesting thoughts about arranged marriage in this book in general.
and the ending of this chapter was oddly sweet. who would've thought these two could actually like each other?
titsay
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