beta
The more I read the more I feel like Carcel’s sleeping around is justified in a way. I don’t think it was the “right” or “moral” thing to do considering he was technically engaged but it makes sense. He was in a forced engagement with someone that could care less about him and had his relationship freedom taken from him at a very young age. I can see how for him sex was the one thing in his life he had control over. I think it might be the fact that we got Ines’ pov first that so many still think Cárcel is irredeemable but had he been the main character there might not have been as much hate towards him. I read a novel with a female character having a slightly similar backstory as Cárcel who used sex as a means of feeling control in her life and people seemed to sympathize with her much more than I’ve seen for cárcel. That’s not to say I think Ines is an antagonist or horrible person in any way, she’s gone through horrific past lives that make her current actions make sense. I don’t think her manipulation and (seemingly) gaslighting of Cárcel is a good thing but given her past I can see why she does it.
I genuinely love both of these characters because they seem to be much more complex than you first expect.