Review: Collide by Gail McHugh

Collide
Gail McHugh
Series: Collide #1
Publication date:
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

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A missed first encounter…

Colliding with a second chance…

On the heels of graduating college and trying to cope with her mother’s death, Emily Cooper moves to New York City for a fresh start.

While harboring secrets of his own, Dillon Parker takes care of Emily through her grief. Knowing he can’t live without her by his side, he’s sweet, thoughtful, and everything Emily has ever wanted in a man.

Until she meets Gavin Blake—a rich and notorious playboy who is dangerously sexy and charming as hell. Emily tries to deny the instant connection she feels, but Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome is not inclined to let go so easily. Recovering from his own painful past, Gavin will stop at nothing to win Emily over. 

This unexpected encounter compels Emily to question her decisions, forcing her to make a choice that will destroy friendships, shatter hearts, and forever change her life.

No.

That could honestly be my entire review of this book. Just a big, fat, no.

I have absolutely no idea how this book go so many positive reviews. No. Idea.

The writing itself wasn't bad, if you don't count how the author sometimes went from Emily's point of view to Gavin's in the space of two chapters. It didn't take me a long time to finish this, and I didn't feel like I was slowly dragging my feet while reading it, but aside from that, there were just so many things wrong with it, oh my god.

The main character, Emily, was so incredibly oblivious to everything around her that I just wanted to slap her in the face. She was also pretty inconsistent and had no backbone at all, with one minute being mad at her boyfriend, Dillon, and on the other just throwing caution to the wind and forgiving him for whatever it was he did that time. It made me angry to read about Emily going to change just because Dillon told her to, or saying she was sorry when he was the one in the wrong. She needed to stand up for herself, and she didn't do that once throughout the entire book.

Dillon was a complete and utter douchebag. There was no more to him than that. The author gave us no reason as to why he was the way he was with Emily, why the sudden change of being the sweet boyfriend Emily thought he was when they were in a long distance relationship, or why he was so determinate to date her and marry her. It was like she just wrote him for the sake of him being a possessive and controlling bastard and stand between the two people she wanted to be together, Emily and Gavin.

As for Gavin, his behavior was stalker-ish. I found it unbelievable that he falls in love with Emily the second after he sees her. That doesn't happen. And the fact that he used that excuse, of him not being able to stop thinking about her, to chase her around everywhere was not okay.

And for the most NOT OKAY part of it all... goes under the cut because of spoilers and upsetting subjects.

[Trigger Warning: Rape]

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Yeah, that happened.

Right at the end of the story Dillon raped Emily.

He justified it as being some sort of proof for him to know that Emily and Gavin didn't have sex. That if she had sex with him, he would know Emily didn't cheat on him.

Emily didn't consent to it.

We didn't need her not saying the word 'no' for it to be evident that she did not want that to happen.

It's never ever okay for someone to demand sex of another person. You don't own anyone anything, and certainly not that.

And it was so upsetting to read it because it blind-sided me. There where no warnings whatsoever when I read the blurb, or an Author's Note at the beginning to let everyone know that the story contained a scene of sexual abuse and it might upset some readers...

I just.. ugh.

I'm so disappointed. And mad that I'm never getting my money back.

This was an awful book, and you'll probably never see me picking up something this author wrote ever again.