I should probably start out
this review by saying that I originally wasn’t planning to read and review One with You any time soon, but reading the
second book in Christina Lauren’s Beautiful
series, Beautiful Stranger,
and writing my review for the book really got me thinking about the Crossfire series again quite a bit, so I
decided that it would probably be very fitting for me to go ahead and read One with You now. That being said here
are my thoughts on One with You.
Because I feel like I’ve
been repeatedly disappointed by Sylvia Day, and the Crossfire series as a whole, I’ve definitely been putting off
reading One with You ever since it
was released back in April of this year. Since this is the last book in the
series, I was really hoping that I would enjoy One with You, and that the Crossfire
series would end on a good note. Sadly, that definitely didn’t happen. While One with You does have some elements
that I enjoyed, I was ultimately extremely disappointed with the book,
especially when it comes to the fact that this is the final book in the series.
To me, One with You came across as
being the book equivalent of a TV show having a season finale where the writers
have the season end with multiple cliffhangers, leave storylines open to be
continued in the following season, and introduce whole new storylines, because
they’re confident, or at least fairly optimistic about the show’s chances to be
renewed for another season, only to have the network cancel the show. However,
the fact that this or any final book in a series would have that kind of vibe
to it is absolutely infuriating to me, since an author has the luxury of
knowing whether or not a book is actually going to be the final book in a
series. If an author who’s writing a book series knows that a book is going to
be the last book in the series, they can and should write it as such, which Sylvia
Day unfortunately didn’t do when it comes to this book.
One of the many problems
that I’ve had with the Crossfire
series is a lot of the writing and character development for Gideon, or rather
the lack of character development and growth for him throughout the series. As
I’ve read each book in the series, I constantly found myself thinking that I
didn’t fully understand why Gideon is the way he is. Sure, we were given some
information throughout the series about his past and the abuse he suffered when
he was younger, but the character development and growth for Gideon still always
felt rather incomplete, in my opinion. I feel that way even more so after
reading One with You, and the fact
that the series ends without Gideon truly working through and overcoming all of
his issues, particularly his sexual parasomnia. The lack of character
development and answers regarding Gideon’s past is one of the reasons why I
would liken One with You and the Crossfire series as a whole to a TV show
that’s abruptly canceled, leaving various storylines unresolved. However, I’ll
admit that there was one “revelation” that’s revealed in this book, which I’ll
talk about later on in this review, that does make me feel a little more
understanding when it comes to the fact that Gideon doesn’t truly work through
all of his issues by the end of the series.
While I don’t think that
Gideon Cross is as creepy, despicable and altogether unlikable as Christian
Grey from the Fifty Shades series is,
there have still been times throughout the Crossfire
series where I really didn’t like Gideon very much at all. The most disturbing
scene in the entire series for me personally was the part in Bared to You where Eva wanted to give
Gideon a blowjob after she ended up kissing her ex-boyfriend, Brett, in order
to “wash away” the kiss that they had shared, and then the blow job evolved
into a really weird and disturbing
sex scene. In case you’ve forgotten about that scene; basically what happened
in the scene, is that Eva starts by giving Gideon a blow job, and then the
scene transitions into them repeatedly having sex. Even though it eventually
becomes clear in Eva’s internal narrative that she wants to stop having sex
with Gideon, she doesn’t think that she can do that because Gideon was really
upset about her having kissed Brett. Eva just kept having sex with him until he
was finally ready to stop. There was absolutely nothing about that scene that I
thought was sexy and erotic, and that entire scene was very uncomfortable and
difficult for me to get through.
As much as the writing for
Gideon has really pissed me off and frustrated me at times throughout the
series, especially when I read the fourth book in the series, Captivated by You, where Sylvia Day
started featuring chapters that were written from Gideon’s point of view; the
frustration and anger I felt regarding Gideon as I was reading Captivated by You doesn’t even begin to
compare to how much he frustrated me as I was reading this book, though. For
starters, Gideon’s entire reaction to Eva telling him that she didn’t want them
to have sex again until after their vow renewal ceremony really made me mad,
and it made me think even less of Gideon than I already did. That being said, at
the risk of sounding like I’m trying to slut shame Eva, the fact that she
ultimately didn’t stick to her guns about not wanting them to have sex again
until after they renewed their vows was rather disappointing for me personally,
and it made me think even less of Eva and Gideon’s relationship than I already
did. Eva deciding that she didn’t want them to wait until they renewed their
vows for them to have sex again after all was just another one of the many,
many, many things that made think that there isn’t really anything truly
meaningful about their relationship. It’s pretty much all about sex and not
much else when it comes to Eva and Gideon’s relationship. I know they’re
constantly talking about how much they love each other, but I honestly just
don’t buy it any more.
However, the thing that
probably frustrated me the most about Gideon in this book was not only the
messed up way that he tried to deal with Monica getting killed and having to
break the news to Eva in chapter fourteen, but the absolutely cringe inducing
writing for Gideon’s internal narrative throughout that chapter. For the
record, I think it’s definitely a good thing that Gideon’s not some kind of
pathological liar who doesn’t have any qualms about waiting to break the news
of Monica’s death to Eva and kind of lying to her in the process. That being
said, I felt like Gideon was being way
too overly dramatic when he was going on and on and on in his internal
narrative about how bad it made him feel to kind of lie to Eva about the whole situation
at first.
Plus, it really pissed me
off when he said that he would need to read Monica’s diaries before he would give
them to Eva so she read them. Honestly, I don’t know where to begin with that.
First off, I think it’s safe to say that Monica wouldn’t have wanted him to do
that. Just because Monica is dead, it still doesn’t give Gideon the right to
violate her privacy. Second, I get that Gideon wanting to read them first was
just another example of his messed up and misguided need to protect Eva, but
Gideon is definitely way too overly protective of Eva at times; sometimes to
the point where it comes across more as him being creepy and acting
inappropriately than it comes across as a good thing. As far as I’m concerned,
Gideon wanting to read Monica’s diaries before he lets Eva read them is
definitely an example of Gideon’s obsessive need to protect Eva causing him to
do something incredibly inappropriate.
As I said earlier, there was
one revelation in this book that makes it somewhat easier for me to understand
and deal with the lack of resolution to all of Gideon’s issues that he has struggled
with throughout the series. Pretty much the only reason I’m willing to be at
least somewhat, and I’m putting a great deal of emphasis on the word,
“somewhat”, when it comes to being a little more lenient about my criticisms regarding
the fact that the series ends without Gideon undergoing very much growth and character
development is the fact that it’s established in chapter two of the book that
it had only been three months since Eva and Gideon met each other for the very
first time; meaning that the entire Crossfire
series only takes place in the timespan of about three, maybe four, months, by
the end of the book. I could be wrong, but I didn’t get the impression that
very much time had passed by the end of the book, so I doubt that the timespan
of the series would have ended up taking place over a span of four or more
months when all is said and done.
While I really would have
liked Gideon to have worked through his emotional issues by the end of the
series, or to have at least made significant progress by the end of the series,
I don’t think all of Gideon’s emotional and psychological issues are the kind
of thing that he could have truly overcome in the span of just three months.
I’d say Gideon’s issues are the kind of thing that could possibly take a person
years to truly work through and overcome, which is why I’m somewhat willing to
cut Sylvia Day some slack for the lack of resolution regarding Gideon’s emotional
and psychological issues; as well as the total lack of character development
for Gideon throughout the series. That’s still something that I’m rather
frustrated and disappointed by when it comes to One with You being the last book in the Crossfire series, though.
Honestly, I was absolutely
baffled and beyond surprised when I got to the part where Dr. Petersen mentions
that Eva and Gideon have only known each other for three months. As much as
I’ve always wanted to joke about how Eva and Gideon’s relationship reminds me a
lot of the description that Gloria Pritchett from Modern Family gave of what her marriage to her first husband,
Javier, was like back in the series premiere, in the sense that Eva and Gideon
are constantly having sex with each other or fighting about something; I still
think that more than enough has happened throughout the series that could
realistically take place in the span of just three months. I honestly don’t
think that Sylvia Day was really thinking things through when she decided to
establish in this book that Eva and Gideon have only known each other for three
months, and it all just comes across to me as really bad writing.
The fact that the entire Crossfire series takes place in the span
of just three months once again raises all kinds of problems that I have with
Eva and Gideon’s relationship, and the way it’s written; as well as the way the
series in general is written. The main reason that I find it almost impossible
to believe that the entire series takes place in the span of about three months
is that Gideon’s entire plan to kill Eva’s stepbrother, Nathan, and get away
with it back in the second book in the series, Reflected in You, seems like that alone would take at least three
or more months to successfully carry out. As bizarre as the idea of somebody
concocting a plan to murder someone and get away with it, either in real life
or in a work of fiction like the Crossfire
series sounds, that still doesn’t seem like something that Gideon, or anybody
for that matter, could pull off in the span of just a few weeks. Even if I try
my absolute best to suspend my disbelief and just go along with the idea that
the entire series takes place in the span of only three months, I still
honestly think that everything that happens in Reflected in You would have to take place over the span of several,
or perhaps many months, rather than just a few weeks. It almost feels like the
entire Crossfire series is taking
place in the same kind of weird time warp that soap operas seem to take place
in, where a single conversation between two characters can go on for two or
three episodes, but characters can fly from one place to the other on an
airplane in the span of a single commercial break for an episode that also features
a conversation that lasts for several episodes.
Not only did the whole
revelation that the entire series pretty much only takes place in the span of
about three months make me question how believable the idea that everything
that has happened throughout the series had all taken place in that short
amount of time; it also made it even more difficult for me to root for Eva and
Gideon as a couple than it already was. I’m no relationship expert, but I feel
like even after being a couple for three months, I could still possibly think
of them as being in the honeymoon stage of the relationship, when the
relationship feels new and fresh, and a couple is acting all lovey dovey with
each other. The novelty of the relationship hasn’t had a chance to wear off,
and yet Eva and Gideon have already been married for what I would consider to
be a decent chunk of the time that they’ve known each other.
Eva told Dr. Petersen that
she felt like them getting married was essentially an inevitability, so she
didn’t think that there was any reason why they should have waited to get
married; which I thought was a rather stupid thing for her to say. Personally,
I just don’t think that Eva and Gideon’s relationship has enough genuine
emotional depth to it to actually last for the rest of their lives, and yet
Sylvia Day seems to expect the reader to simply believe that Eva and Gideon are
soul mates, and that they will be madly in love with each other for the rest of
their lives. I honestly don’t buy it, though. As far as I’m concerned, Eva and
Gideon’s relationship has ultimately ended up being one of the absolute worst
cases of instalove that I have ever seen, in either a standalone book or in a
book series.
To be fair, Dr. Petersen
does acknowledge that Eva and Gideon’s relationship has definitely moved at an
incredibly accelerated rate in chapter two of the book, but I’m still pretty
frustrated by the whole revelation regarding the Crossfire series’ timeline. It’s definitely a good thing that I’m
not Eva and Gideon’s therapist, though, because I probably wouldn’t be very
nice or able to withhold a great deal of judgment when it comes to talking to
them about their relationship. Dr. Petersen has always been a lot nicer and
understanding than I think any therapist in their right mind should be when it
comes to being their therapist, or the therapist of any couple with a
relationship like theirs. Maybe I’m wrong for feeling this way, but honestly, I
feel like Eva and Gideon could definitely benefit from seeing a therapist who
wouldn’t be afraid to be much more blunt at times when it comes to discussing
their relationship in couple’s therapy.
As I said earlier, one of
the many, many, many problems that I have with One with You is the fact that Day didn’t really provide any resolution
for quite a few of the storylines in the book; namely the whole thing with
Corinne trying to publish a tell-all book about her relationship with Gideon,
and the whole situation with Cary: Tatiana being pregnant with his baby, and whether
or not things were going to actually work out between him and Trey. Regarding
the whole situation with Corinne, we never find out whether or not her book
actually got published. That whole subplot petered out rather quickly and was
pretty much dropped without any fanfare whatsoever.
Cary’s storyline was
probably left with the most unanswered questions. Is Tatiana going to have the
baby? At one point in the book, Cary told Eva that Tatiana was apparently
considering having an abortion since he had told her that he didn’t want them
to live together. I also have to wonder if the baby is even Cary’s, because
based on what we saw of Tatiana and what we were told about her throughout the
series, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if she was lying about the baby actually
being Cary’s. There was also one point in the book where it seemed like Cary’s
boyfriend, Trey, might be willing to get back together with Cary and make their
relationship work. This especially seemed to be the case after Eva and Trey
talked to each other about Cary, but we never get any resolution on whether or
not Cary and Trey actually get back together.
The whole revelation about
Eva’s mom, Monica, and her past with her sister really seemed to come out of
nowhere, and it all felt rather pointless, in my opinion. I honestly don’t know
why Day felt the need to introduce that whole thing to Monica’s backstory all
of the sudden in this book; when she could have used the time she devoted to
that subplot to resolve at least one of the numerous other subplots that was
already going on in the book instead, preferably Cary’s since Cary is my
favorite character in the series. However, I do like the fact that learning the
truth about her mother’s past and her mother’s sister helped Eva to gain some
insight into why her mother was the way she was, and why she had done the
things she did over the years, namely why she had married so many rich men over
the years.
There’s no denying that
Monica’s actions were rather questionable, if not incredibly messed up, at
times throughout the series. I just thought that it was way too late in the
series for Sylvia Day to introduce the whole subplot with Monica dying and Eva
subsequently learning about her mom’s secret past. The fact that Day was
constantly introducing new subplots throughout One with You, only to end up completely dropping a lot of them
later on in the book, or resolving them in a rather sloppy manner, is
definitely one of the book’s biggest problems. Plus, it also didn’t help that the
writing for Gideon in chapter fourteen of the book where he was dealing with
the immediate aftermath of Monica getting killed was absolutely cringe
inducing.
As much as I hated this book
and consider it to be one of the worst books that I’ve reviewed for my blog at
this point in time, my favorite thing about One
with You, and the Crossfire
series as a whole, was definitely Cary. I’ve always thought that he was the
most interesting and entertaining character in the series. While I often ended
up finding the Crossfire series as a
whole to be rather frustrating, Cary has always been a rare bright spot in the
series for me personally. The parts of the books that included Cary were always
a welcome, and at times rather entertaining, break from all of the repetitive,
frustrating, boring, and at times outright bad writing that often plagued Eva
and Gideon, both as individual characters, and as a couple.
The Crossfire series is probably the first book series that I’ve ever
read where I honestly like one of the secondary characters in the series more
than the main character, or this case, characters. Even though we, the reader,
never really get to see Cary’s storylines play out for ourselves throughout the
series; and for the most part we’re just told about what’s going on in his
life, what was going on with him oftentimes sounded a lot more interesting to
me than what was going on with Eva and Gideon, and their relationship. As
frustrating as I often ended up finding the Crossfire
series to be, Cary has still always been my favorite thing about the series,
and one the main reasons I stuck with the series and read all five books; even
though I felt like the series just kept getting worse and worse with each book
that followed Bared to You. His
problems usually sounded a lot more interesting to me than whatever was going
on with Eva and Gideon, and I always loved the writing for Cary whenever he was
in a scene. I especially loved Cary’s interactions with Eva, and their
friendship in general.
When it comes to my thoughts
on the Crossfire series as a whole, despite
the fact that the series started out strong with Bared to You, it sadly really just kept going downhill with each
book that followed after that. I’ve most likely completely beaten the people
who read this review over the head with this point, but one of my absolute
biggest problems with the series is that despite the fact that Eva and Gideon
were constantly talking about how much they love each other throughout all five
books in the series; their relationship never came across as actually having very
much depth to it at all. So much of the writing for their relationship revolved
around sex and how attracted they were to each other, rather than being about
them having a genuine romantic and emotional connection with each other. It
just makes their relationship seem so shallow, and honestly, rather boring to
read about. Plus, Gideon’s character development throughout the series also really
suffered as a result of Sylvia Day putting so much emphasis on the sexual
aspect of Eva and Gideon’s relationship. The fact that Sylvia Day put so much
emphasis on the sexual aspect of Eva and Gideon’s relationship throughout the
series is, in my opinion, the Crossfire
series’ greatest flaw.
All things considered, One with You is unfortunately an
extremely frustrating and disappointing end to the Crossfire series, which I already thought was a book series that
was for the most part extremely disappointing, and at times outright bad. While
I really like Eva as a character, looking back on the series, I really can’t
help but feel like Gideon was an incredibly hit or miss character for me.
Sometimes I liked Gideon, and I thought that he was a really intriguing
character that I wanted to learn more about; but the majority of the time, he
just frustrated and annoyed me. That was especially the case with One with You. Plus, I ultimately just
can’t get behind Eva and Gideon’s relationship for many reasons that I hope
I’ve made clear in this review, as well as my reviews for all of the other
books in the series. As I said earlier, Cary is definitely my favorite
character in the series, so I naturally really enjoyed all of the scenes that
he was in throughout One with You.
Personally, I wish that
Sylvia Day had fleshed out Cary’s subplot with Tatiana being pregnant,
supposedly with his baby, as well as the problems that it created for Cary’s
relationship with Trey more than she did. I also really wish that Sylvia Day
provided some actual resolution for Cary’s whole subplot, as well as the
subplot involving Corinne trying to publish a tell-all book about her
relationship with Gideon; instead of leaving those subplots, as well as various
other plot details, unresolved. I have to say, that after being repeatedly
disappointed by Sylvia Day’s writing for the Crossfire series, I don’t really have any interest in reading any
of the other books that Day has written in the past, or any books that she may
write in the future.
With all that said, my final
score for One with You is 1 out of
10, and my final score for the Crossfire
series in its entirety is 4.1 out of 10. For the record, my final score for the
Crossfire series, in its entirety, was
determined by averaging my scores for all five books in the series. Here are my
individual scores for the first four books in the series, along with links to
my reviews for those books in case you’re interested in reading those reviews.
Bared to You: 8 out of 10
Reflected in You: 5 out of 10
Entwined with You: 4.5 out of 10
Captivated by You: 2 out of 10
