Harlequin chapter 39

So Anita gets discharged from an unidentified hospital of no definite nature. Her doctor is very confused by the fact that she's a panwere, and she goes on about how Chimera was more of a were than she was.

Quick tangent, folks: Were means "man". As in the species, not the gender. Werewolf is literally "Man wolf". Calling a werewolf a wolf would be a little bit like denying the humanity of the werewolf and reducing them to just their inner animal, which, you know, would be insulting and dehumanizing and the kind of thing a REALLY GOOD writer would do, that LKH can't be arsed about because it ain't shiny or sexy enough for her. A panwere, linguistically, is an everything-man. Anita is all humanity. You wanna be accurate, something like a pan-therian would be closer than a pan-were.

 So now we're going to Peter's room with Olaf in tow. And Olaf is creeping Anita out because she knows he either wants to kill her, rape her, or both. And she's very scared because she doesn't like having a potential killer plan her death while she is in the room.

And again: Nate picked out her clothes. So she's in lace up boots with heels, skintight black pants and a very, VERY scouped necked shirt that shows all her mounds of creamy goodness. We also MUST know that Anita's underwear match both each other and the outfit perfectly. Oh, and you know how saying that Anita dresses like she raided a hooker's closet is frowned upon? Well, the text has finally addressed that, and we're all wrong. A stripper has raided her closet.

Nathaniel was twenty and male and often looked at clothes from the perspective of his job.

Yes, sports fans. Anita dresses inappropretely in unsafe ways because she's being dressed by a stripper. That's what the book says.

Have I mentioned yet how much I hate this series?

My favorite bit is how Olaf is shown oggling Anita's breasts because they're on display. That's bad on his part, but again, we've got a total lack of anything resembling reality. If I knew that I were on a serial killer's menu, and there was no way on earth to get rid of him? I WOULD NOT BE WEARING A REVEALING BLOUSE. No. No way. No how. Uh-uh. I would BURN that fucking shirt and steal a lab coat or something. The thought of being in that situation--being oggled by a serial killer rapist while in revealing clothing--makes me feel very, VERY dirty. This isn't bad form on Anita's part because Anita isn't real. This is LKH writing a scene so that Anita is in revealing clothes being oggled by a serial killer because THERE IS NO SENSE LEFT IN THE UNIVERSE.

I felt heat, or air movement, or… something. I turned and must have done it fast enough to catch Olaf in midmotion, pulling his hand back. He had almost touched me.

Anita is being molested by a serial killer. It goes on for pages.

Fuck this book.

Then there's a little bit of fun slut-shaming from Olaf about how Anita bought those clothes so she can't blame Nate for picking them out, and yes you CAN blame Nate because a twenty fucking year old man should know better than to dress Anita in her clubbing clothes when she's working. He knows that Olaf is a murdering piece of shit, he knows that Anita is on Olaf's list of things to do, he ought to have taken three minutes to think this through and realize that maybe dressing his girlfriend like a side of beef isn't the smartest thing he can do right now. Unless we're killing Olaf, a move I completely support and pray for, Anita has to protect herself. Picking clothes that don't antagonize the son of a bitch is a good idea. Putting a bullet in his brain is a better one.

And Anita isn't defending herself. At all. She knows EXACTLY what Olaf is thinking and all she does is tell him not to look at her. NOT TO LOOK AT HER. YES. THIS IS EFFECTIVE. AVOID THE MURDERER BECAUSE MAYBE HE'LL PICK SOMEBODY ELSE.

At one point Edward reveals that when Anita was out, Olaf snuck into her hospital room and touched her wounds before they were stitched up. She looks up after this revelation and Olaf is standing there biting his lip and looking all hot and bothered.

And he somehow gets to walk out of the building alive.

Anita motherfucking ordered Joseph killed for refusing to have sex with her. Olaf molested her. He plans to kill her. Every time he looks at her he objectifies her. HE TOUCHED HER IN HER SLEEP.

He gets to walk out of the building alive.

  Nate, Micah and the unfortunately named Cherry all snuggle Anita and make the bad touch all better. She goes into Peter's room. The chapter ends with him blushing because Anita is just that fucking sexy.

I. Hate. This. Book.