Responding to Comments on A Scot in the Dark

A Scot in the Dark by Sarah MacLean is the first book I've finished in a while, and it's one of the better historical romances I've read lately. So there I was, basking in the fact that I'd finished a book for the first time since, say, summer break, when I decided to check out some reviews on goodreads. Clearly, that was an awful decision, as I went to bed quite angry, and yes, ranting.

I won't name names - partly because I can't remember the reviewer's name - but she wrote that she hated the novel because she absolutely couldn't stand the main character, Lily. She said that she lost all respect for Lily when she was "stupid enough" to pose nude for a guy, and also she hated how "whiny" the main character was. Lily was sad about being lonely, she was beautiful and yet had no self confidence, and she was preoccupied with the idea that she could never be loved; oh, how unrealistic - I may be paraphrasing a bit, but I am so offended on behalf of Lily.

First of all, I fail to understand how you can hate a girl because she chose to pose in the nude for an artist that she was in love with and fully expected to marry? And not only that, but the reviewer is basically judging her the same way English society would and does in the book, and in fact, I don't believe that the reviewer said anything at all about the scum of an artist. I shudder at the double standards. So yes, sexism was one hundred percent a part of why the first part of that review riled me up. The second part of the review, however, is just as unconceivable to me, and I'm still shocked that there wasn't a single comment that disagreed with the review: just lots of thumbs ups and "wow, you said that so solidly, I totally agree"'s.

My problem with the other part of the review is, again, a lack of empathy, except not just with the main character, but mankind. This might just be me, but personally, I feel like it's quite normal for a person to feel like he or she doesn't belong. In fact, a lot of people probably feel this almost every day. Furthermore, you can't possibly tell me that the majority of people in this world haven't at least once worried about not being lovable or being desired and keep a straight face - it doesn't even have to be in a romantic context. Not everyone is fully confident in the fact that they'll find someone they want to marry some day in the future, and that that person will feel the same way. I believe this worry about the future is a perfectly plausible thing. And it's not like Lily was actually complaining about it - no, she was content to live alone and unloved, no matter how lonely it would be.

The essential part of all this is that I'm not exaggerating when I say that Lily is unloved. Her relatives are all dead, literally nobody loves her or acknowledges her until the annoyed and also mostly unloved Scot comes into town, and now this new scandal will most certainly further her isolation. So the fact that this reviewer and all the people who commented on the review are in agreement that Lily is unrealistic or weak or boring, it just frustrates me.