So... lab has blown up, and Eden, her father, and Furry!Bramford are now on the run in his private jet. A military jet's chasing them and shooting at them, and Eden's father's holding her hand to comfort her and trying to stop his own bleeding at the same time. Despite his flaws and his obnoxious "mad scientist" speech the author's foisted on him, I like this guy. Why isn't he the protagonist? Oh, right, because we have to have our Romeo/Juliet, Beauty-and-the-Beast romance... ugh...
Disgusted Starscream is disgusted
For the first time in her life, she wished there was a God. But that idea had disappeared in The Meltdown. - p. 77
Religion disappearing from a culture isn't new in sci-fi. One of my favorite book series, The Dragonriders of Pern, doesn't give the characters and culture any religion whatsoever. They've been settled on Pern for so long they've forgotten their origins, and when they uncover a computer that tells them about Earth the concept of religion baffles them. But there, it works. Here, it feels tossed in to be further nihilistic and depressing.
Also, if the idea of God has disappeared, why is she still bringing it up? Who needs logic, I guess...
Bramford sits with them, "his powerful body dominating the small space like a mountain cramped in a cave" (ugh), and plays holos of the battle. Eden considers him "a strange mix of contradictions" because how can he still be intelligent when looking like a cat, I guess. Seriously, girl? If you know so much about this experiment already, how could you not know the subject was going to keep their human intelligence? Or is it just that a black guy got the procedure done and not a precious Pearl, so automatically he has to have reverted to animal intelligence?
The jet's hit and they spiral down. Bramford keeps his head and gives orders to the pilot (mostly randomly shouting "one o' clock" and "six o'clock" and such), but Eden freaks out. Somehow this jet is able to go into reverse (um... planes don't do that), and the military jet hits the flames.
Eden screams at Bramford for almost killing them, and to his credit he doesn't even respond to that. He just asks for her father's coat so he can make a tourniquet for her father's leg. If I remember my first aid right, tourniquets are only to be used as a last resort to reduce the risk of damaging the wounded limb, but apparently Foyt thinks they're standard practice. Though to be fair, most of Hollywood and popular literature think the same thing...
Again, this mysterious creature was one step ahead of her and her father. Was he a man trapped inside a beastly form, or a beast with a human mind? Eden suspected even he might not know the answer. - p. 79
Ugh, can you STOP THIS? You've made your point, he looks like a jaguar furry now, stop hammering it in! Readers aren't idiots!
Bramford makes the tourniquet, using his teeth to rip the coat apart (no scissors or knife on the plane? Or are we just needing yet another reminder that he's a SAVAGE BEAST OMG???) and gives it to Eden to tie around her father's leg. She asks where they're going, and apparently it's "out of bounds," whatever that means. Eden's first thought is how they're going to survive without the Uni-Gov to take care of them, which is weird because she seemed convinced that the government didn't care whether she lived or died before.
Then we get THIS:
She felt a twinge of compassion as she considered how drmatically [Bramford's] life had turned. And something else also warmed her heart.
Oh? Is Eden finally feeling a bit of sympathy for Bramford? Realizing that despite everything he's a good man just trying to do the right thing?
She traced his broad chest down to slim hips and muscled thighs. The raw animal power coiled within him, just waiting to explode, fascinated her.
"Crikey, mates! Looks like the Designated Heroine's got an eye on our Designated Love Interest! See how she's attracted not to his good nature but his smashing good looks? Bit shallow, innit? Who cares if he's a nice guy or a jerk, huh? Let's hang around a lil' an' see what happens."
Oh hey, welcome back, Steve
And just a few lines later Eden's hating him and thinking he's a beast again. Seriously, girl, you're still convinced that he's a jerk and an animal, but are only attracted to him because he's hot? What is WRONG with you? You, Bella Swan, Anastasia Steel, Nora Grey*, and every other fictional woman who thinks hot looks trump all? You are messing up a whole generation of young women who think this kind of thing is NORMAL. Ugh.
Moving on before I hurt myself...
The jet touches down at Bramford Industries, where they... transfer to another jet? What was wrong with the one they were in? It didn't seem damaged, and if they're in a hurry, what benefit is swapping planes going to do them?
Eden's rationale for not going in the other jet is "they wouldn't be safe anywhere on this godforsaken planet so why not stay there, on the ground?" Seriously? And this chick is supposed to be super-smart? Also what happened to there being no concept of God?
Bramford carries Eden's father into the plane while Eden ogles his legs, only to resent him a minute later when he demands to know what's the matter with her. (Want a list, buddy?) I'm getting VERY tired of this whole Belligerent Sexual Tension deal going on, especially as poorly written as this. Bickering sweethearts like this CAN be pulled off if done right (look at Star Wars), but this isn't done remotely well.
A flight attendant balks at seeing Bramford, and Eden figures that Bramford doesn't realize that people are shocked by his new appearance, or he's forgotten what he looks like. Um... he's not STUPID, I'm sure he realizes what he looks like to people, he just recognizes that there are more important things to worry about.
Eden also goes off about how she "was never a Pearl" inside, and sometimes she feels like "the Real Eden." Not a good time to start fantasizing about this, girl...
Foyt also uses "damming" instead of "damning" here. The characters aren't building a dam, Foyt, learn how to actually use words instead of leaning on spell check...
The jet prepares to take off, and Eden worries that no one will ever see the Real Eden now. Girl, we've seen plenty of the Real Eden, and it's ugly as sin. Maybe you're better off in the wilds...
Already, [Bramford had] turned his attention away from her. Dismissed, as usual - p. 82
Girl, don't you think Bramford has more important things to do than spend every second hovering over you? Stop assuming all this is about you. My Primus, I've never met such a self-absorbed protagonist in my LIFE, or at least one that wasn't meant to be a parody.
At least this one was MEANT to be a jerk
and managed to also be funny...
Eden wonders what's going to become of Bramford's empire now that he's a beast, because "being different was the kiss of death, which meant he was a marked man." I dunno, he's seeming pretty capable of being able to control things regardless of now being a furry. But we'll see how this goes...
She gets an oxy-cap to get her fix of drugs (again, why doesn't everyone just get pills or injections, it seems less hassle), and is desperate for a kick, thinking she's "experienced more emotion in a single night than she had in her whole dismal life." Sorry, not feeling much sympathy for you, girl.
The flight attendant's name is Daisy, and my first thought is "yay, finally, a Coal with a non-ridiculous, non-stereotypical name!" But apparently Eden can sense this woman's a Pearl in dark coating, and wonders how she got such a cushy job. So much for breaking the tradition of stupid names for black people in this book...
And of course the flight attendant is nice to her, because only Pearls can be nice to other Pearls. Really NOT helping your "racism is bad" cause here, Foyt...
Eden practices some breathing exercises her mother taught her, which involve letting your stomach "rise like a balloon" and letting your breath "carry your awareness through the body." Apparently animals breathe like this, though watching the dog and cat from across the room I don't see how they breathe much differently from us humans. And I seriously doubt a dog or cat is going to practice yoga-like breathing practices such as "breath carrying your awareness through your body."
Not sure why this chapter couldn't have been merged with the preceding chapter or the next chapter. I'm really confused as to why an airplane ride needs its own separate chapter, unless Foyt just wants to use these chapters as an excuse to pack in more of Eden's self-loathing and love/hate attitude toward Bramford (though it's more like lust/hate, to be honest). All these chapters do is make me loathe Eden more and more, and I honestly cannot understand how Foyt can think her protagonist is so relatable to young women when she's one of the most aggressively selfish, whiny, and hateful characters I've come across in a book in a long time.
Next spork will come along sooner, I swear...
* Nora Grey being the female protagonist of Hush, Hush, a YA fantasy series that apparently follows in Twilight's footsteps in portraying an abusive relationship as romantic and desirable. Stephanie Meyer, look what you started...
