I finished The Hallmarked M*n, I'm losing my mind. I'm beside myself. Click for screaming.
I can't believe this shit!!!! I can't believe he proposed to her, then tried to force her into cheating on Murphy, I mean POOR ROBIN she had to deal with all that! Like she didn't have enough on her plate! But I am riveting for how much Strike deserved things to go this monumentally bad, this was perfection, the ending of the book is like a gift, because he fucked up so bad!!!! He looked and acted like a crazy lunatic, Robin would have been right to punch him, pepper spray him, beat him up then file a restraining order. It would have been justified!!!
This was the worst confession in the history of confessions, he lost all of his marbles and it was hilarious. As bad as I feel for Robin, poor thing, I wish I could comfort her, I feel victorious that he fucked up so bad. When he said 'Marry me' I paused to laugh myself into tears. I needed 20 minutes to collect myself and resume reading, only to find out that horiffically, his next move was even worst, trying to force her into a kiss! Her who gets attacked every 5 minutes and has rape trauma!!! You're gonna forcefully touch her? And while she's in a relationship as well? She had to push him off and be disgusted that he thought she'd do that! As if she'd ever.
It is fundamentally disrespectful to confess to someone while they're in a serious relationship! And she was so right, she was single for so long, he had thousands of chances and he just slept around – and oh god he had the NERVE to imply it was BECAUSE OF HER he slept around, almost framing it like it was her fault!!! I was ready to strangle him.
There's never gonna be a funnier scenario than Strike going 'I'm in love with you' and Robin being like 'you're full of shit and I don't belive you and this is a manipulation, here's what you're really thinking,' and she showcases that she knew exactly whats in his mind! She can read his thoughts! She knew he expected her to quit and is trying to keep her! He was thinking it literally the whole book! And then he denies it like a big fat liar that he is. Robin deserves honesty! And respect for her ongoing relationship! And for what she has to deal with!!!
On the other hand, I'm so relieved she found herself a therapist, I want to be a fly on the wall for her therapy sessions so badly, therapist better be good and remind Robin every 10 seconds that she is a fucking hero, she has nothing to be ashamed of, she fucking saved everyone and everything so many times and having ptsd from being continuously attacked and threatened is as normal because she's basically been in a warzone for such a big part of her life now, but even worse because she was the sole target of the war.
Also I thought it was a great scene when Strike got attacked by both a dog and bunch of people and was completely helpless while she sorted that entire thing out with one (1) homemade spray bottle. I didn't even know you could make pepper spray at home! JKR did that on purpose, she put the entire ingretient list on there on purpose (chilli peppers, cayene peppers, garlic and vinegar, mixed in a plastic spray bottle) so women would know they could DIY this and get it without ever having to buy it, and she even makes a point of saying 'ok its illegal to carry it in britain but look how it can save your life. deal with legal ramifications later, save your life first'. I'm considering making that, I have most ingredients already. I would feel better knowing that if anyone puts a hand on me they can be sprayed like a nasty bug.
Okay so the resolution to the mystery had me gasping and swearing. Rupert left Decima because he discovered they were half siblings. That was fucked up. I don't even know what to say. It reminds me of all of those cases where males donate sperm and then some are picked more often and end up having 100+ offspring and then those siblings find each other and marry, unknowing they're siblings. It just shows how much problems males manage to cause with their stupid gunk. And it showcases why you should always tell kids who their true parents are. This can happen otherwise. I still found it cowardly that Rupert left without explanation, as if he didn't know it would cause hell for Decima. I'm glad she at least knows what's going on now. Though I was very amused when she demanded that they find him dead, the woman wanted him dead. I wish all women were so eager for death of anyone who abanonds them in that situation.
The pimping/sex slavery situation was gut wrenching, my blood froze at the conditions they kept the poor girl in, and how terrified she was of being killed off any second. I know it's only a story but that felt real, that felt like it happened to a real women – and I do know of real stories where this did in fact, happen.
I think it's the end-game of male fantasy, after they've taken everything else from a woman, they want her to be restrained and treated as if her only use is to exist for whatever they want. I feel like deep down all of them fantasize about having the ultimate power of enslaving and imprisoning women to that point, because everything they do to women now is a step towards that, isn't it?
Imprisoning them in the home, building the cities and the environment to make it as inconvenient and difficult as possible for women to move around, first not allowing women to have jobs, then making it so they have as much difficulty as possible with the wage gap and being kept in low level positions. And then trapping them with children, marital rape, having the power of knowing women don't have anywhere else to go because m*n predominately inherit property, and own almost all property. Where can women even go if m*n own everything, and they're taught their whole life they only exist to be an asset to males? Looking at this extreme, chained and raped in the basement scenario, it still reminds me of the whole patriarchy.
Even if you're not physically chained, when you have nowhere else to go, no way of reaching independence and you don't know marital rape is illegal, or it fails to even be illegal, what can you do? You can't even call yourself imprisoned because it's so normal, you see women in this position constantly and it's just called 'marriage'. If you rebel against it you get drugged and institutionalized.
I think until women own most of the property, most of the land, most of the money, most of the jobs and resources, and the level of control and power that comes with that – we are chained in one way or another, to servitude and entrapment for survival. Even if it comes with 'being allowed outside ocassionally when endless chores allow for it'. It's not the same as being free.
Anyway, that part of the ending was bone chilling and made me sick. I didn't expect that, even if I do expect only the worse of males, I didn't realize they were holding that young woman in slavery. Them pretending she 'liked it because of bdsm' was especially nauseating, I think jkr made a point of bringing that up, to remind people it's a real excuse m*n make when physically abusing women. I wish we heard more about her from the epilogue, I want to know that she got to warmth and safety, that she got therapy and support and that she's not going to have nightmares for the rest of her life. Can you ever heal from something like this? I don't think I could walk the world normally after that kind of experience.
Anyway what a book. The personal issues of all characters interested me more than the actual mystery, though the mystery was super interesting! I suspected Tyler Powell the least because he seemed so young and most unlikely to be wrapped up in that business, and it turns out it was him and they just killed him so they could keep a woman enslaved. It being so hilariously difficult to prove who the body was, was the whole point of the elaborate murder. Interesting how they had to go that far to get rid of a guy while they just disappeared women?
This book also had descriptions of p*rnography and dark web murder videos that made me nauseated and sick. I knew in theory all of that existed on the internet, but never thought about it for more than a few seconds because it just causes helplesness and spiraling, what can possibly be done? But I am reminded again, that this is what males do, in real life, constantly. It's not enough to have a bunch of women raped and filmed, not even bunch of children raped and filmed, they also need a whole network of professionally filmed murders and mutilations. Literally can't imagine in any universe where women would do even 1% of this, and you know what, we should talk about this because this would not be going on if m*n are human in any sort of way. There would be no way for an underground network of sharing footage of most cruel murders and mutilations if we were not living in a world full of monsters. This isn't one or two people, for this to exist it's millions, and they are out there, and I don't want to live on the same planet as them.
It was interesting to see how Strike had nightmares from watching the videos, yet he still kept watching, to solve the case. I couldn't stomach any of that for any reason, it puzzles me how he reasoned to himself that this was necessary. And just to end up giving him an idea of why a guy committed suicide the way he did? It doesn't seem reasonable. I feel like it was in the book to remind us that this exists, to hint at what horrible things lay ahead.
The book itself was hinting at Rupert and Decima being siblings multiple times, it was foreshadowing, Charlotte even considered whether her and Strike could be siblings and Strike thought about it! What an amazing piece of writing.
Anyway I am about 95% sure Robin is gonna turn Murphy down, if she even lets him propose, she's gonna blame Strike for it so she doesn't have to deal with the fact that she doesn't love Murphy, then I think it would be real funny if she starts sleeping around just to show Strike what it's like. I don't think she'd do that. But it'd be fun for me. Maybe she keeps dating Murphy just to keep safe from Strike's crazy confessions? I want Strike to suffer the maximum amount is what I'm saying. I want Robin to put him through everything he put her through and I think it would be funny, deserved, and he should be an apologetic, broken wreck by the end of it and realize he's not good enough for her.
Also Murphy should like. Go get lost. The scene where he obnoxiously watches footbal then berates Robin for TEXTING IN THE BACKGROUND was disgusting. Literally go d*e. If he was doing something for work it would be considered Importand and Praise-Worthy and oh wow he is so serious about his job! He takes no rests! He's a Provider! Everyone clap!! Meanwhile he drinks at his job and gets in trouble and could get sacked. But if Robin is good at her job and takes it seriously that is shameful and worthy of criticism.
Robin should get married to herself being a detective, the only thing she truly cares about, and I support her, and if I was dating her I would prompt her every day to tell me all about the mystery and her leads and conclusions and I would tell her she's soo smart and observant and incredible at being a detective!! Then I would have a back-and-forth with her until she reaches new conclusions and watch her dreamily as she types on her computer and then. Well. Let's stop there. We'd be having a good time is what I'm saying. I'm weak for smart women. What was I saying?
Yeah what a great book!! Thank you jkr for writing another masterpiece, it was realistic to the point where I believe all of this happened in real life, all of the characters feel real and tangible and I can't think of any other book that achieves this. Master at work.
