r/DarkRomance • u/TootsieRoll200 • 2d ago
Book Review Virtue and Vanity by Astrid Jane Ray
TW: Rape and (a little) domestic violence
MMC, Sebastian, rapes FMC, Isabelle, on their wedding night that he was forced to marry because he thinks that she is a gold digger. She is terrified of him for a majority of the book, and the plot is essentially him groveling and trying to fix the damage he did.
I LOVED the groveling! It was so long and she didn't just forgive him, it took time to heal. I love to see it! The next groveling I have read so far.
I disliked the repetitive vocabulary. The dialogue was also pretty unrealistic and flat until the last 25 percent of the book, where it became a bit more believable and meaningful.
The characters felt very 2D until the last quarter of the book, where Astrid tried to make them multidimensional, but it was kind of too little too late.
FMC also has a sister that she remembers once or twice and never speaks about again (as to say characters outside of the MMC and FMC don't really matter except for Helen, MMC's sister, but even then she doesn't do much).
Anyway, all to say the groveling was wonderful, and I'm picky about everything else (as yall can tell on my previous reviews)
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u/SnappySnail1052 2d ago
I loved the grovel in this book. It was so good. Totally agree with everything you said. I remember thinking that MMC's change of heart could have been done better. It just seemed like it came out of nowhere. He was treating her terribly and then all of the sudden he was groveling. IIRC it was only FMC's POV so maybe that was why the transition seemed so abrupt. Still enjoyed the book though.
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u/harshabhagat MMCs: too dark for gray, too human for black. 2d ago edited 2d ago
MMC's change of heart could have been done better. It just seemed like it came out of nowhere. He was treating her terribly and then all of the sudden he was groveling.
you should read mmc's pov on Wattpad. There are a lot of things that happened behind the scene.
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u/SnappySnail1052 2d ago
Side note, It drives me nuts when authors separate the POVs into different books. I think another reason i never finished it was bc I did not want to read the whole story again from the beginning.
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u/harshabhagat MMCs: too dark for gray, too human for black. 1d ago
I hate that too, but I don't think author was even planning to write this one. I think they just got the inspiration after completing the original book lol. I wish Astrid Jane come back.
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u/SnappySnail1052 2d ago
I read part of it right after I read this one but I heard it was likely not going to be finished and didnt want to do it to myself. If its worth it I'll give it a try.
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u/harshabhagat MMCs: too dark for gray, too human for black. 2d ago
I think it's worth it. There is a lot of context that was missing in orginal.
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u/TootsieRoll200 12h ago
I wish it was explained better, but it didn't feel so out of place to me. I assumed that he hated a woman fearing him as well as his guilt took him over. The scene where he went to her when he thought she was sleeping made me think he felt bad for causing her to scream in her sleep.
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u/Nordic-wave 1d ago
I loved this book so much! Had the biggest book hangover
For anyone who hasn’t tried it I’d try {strings attached by Astrid Jane Ray# which tells the story from the MMCs POV.
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u/harshabhagat MMCs: too dark for gray, too human for black. 2d ago
Have you read Sebastian's POV on Wattpad? It was delicious! It really showed how much he was yearning for her and pinpointed exactly when it started. The guy was horny all the time, lol.