i had hope because the preface started with a message from Dr. Ramani in which she wanted to make a dedicated effort to move away from the loaded "narcissistic" label and call behaviors "antagonistic", but then the rest of the book didn't really commit to that and continued to use narcissism/narcissistic abuse as blanket terms. i wish these books would simply talk about emotional abuse and manipulation and gaslighting without attaching them to the "narcissist" label which has become more of a buzzword that flattens NPD with abuse.

that being said, this would be an okay book if you are just in the beginning of understanding that you are in an emotionally abusive relationship. i understand that this more accessible language is a lot easier to digest. this is a good validation for victims that they are not capable of changing their abuser's behavior, only their own. there's a lot about radical acceptance, affirmations, and setting boundaries which is useful.

i think for those already well-informed on emotional abuse, the title and therefore the content risk becoming a thought-terminating cliche that can keep someone stuck in the cycle longer. "it's not you" is a great affirmation when you are just starting to detach from an emotionally abusive relationship, but imo is not a great mentality for long-term healing, and not what i was searching for at this point in my journey.

Ok fine I liked this. Even with the truck nuts and the country music.

It’s finally here — the last in the Dangerous Damsels series, and of course, I loved it. Holton brings the series home in a fun, beautiful, explosive novel. This may be my favourite of the three!

I loved our main characters and their neurodivergent rep, I think Holton did an excellent job of creating their dynamic. As usual, her plot is unique and fun. Through all my reading, I’ve never come across an author with Holton’s astute, engaging writing style and it really shines through in this novel.

My only slight critique of this one is that I feel Daniel and Alice perhaps didn’t receive as much ‘screen-time’ or exploration as the last two couples, as I think there were so many things Holton was attempting to resolve that they got just a little neglected.

If you’ve read any of the others in the series (if you haven't, what are you doing??), then you have to give this one a go. It rounds out the universe beautifully and I loved every minute of it. I gave this one 4/5 stars.