JEM’s answer to “Why was Rye such a jerk, especially considering he was one of Finlay's best friends and he treats h…” > Likes and Comments

God I needed this . I have been feeling the same way .

I felt the same way. I do think he loved her, his showing up after the Tet offensive was the proof for me along with re-upping. But, he never told her he loved her! Was he holding back the words because of his guilt?

It's just the author's style of writing, she writes drama and tragedies. Her books are tear jerkers, it almost borderlines soap-opera tbh. Knowing about Firefly Lane, I knew immediately to expect for everyone to be miserable and no happy endings. I'm not a fan of this type of tragedy writing which is just making book characters suffering for the sake of making readers cry, it borderlines unrealism. It's a DNF for me.

Totally agree. I can’t hate Rye. He was a player in the past, but he fell in love with Frankie. He is completely broken at the end. There wasn’t a HEA for them, but there was with Frankie and Jaimie, and they are probably a better match anyway.

I'm so glad for your vent. I read this last week and I've been thinking about Rye ever since, wondering did he really love her or was he playing her the whole time? It sure seemed like love, he wanted to date her before, so their crush was mutual. He is drawn to and tries to be with her but seems to respect her hesitation when she thinks he's engaged. And more significantly, he risks their lives to get her a Christmas tree, he risks his life to go check on her after the direct hit to her site, he goes to her as soon as he can after her SOS call after a rough day, shows up for her promotion and her departure. And he re-ups to stay in Nam with her, knowing the danger! I can't believe it was all lust, she was his best friend's brother! That would make him the worst. BUT, he does lie to her from the very beginning. I'm choosing to believe the combo of his upbringing, limited choices after getting Missy pregnant and wanting someone at home given he had no reason to believe he'd see Frankie again and she'd marry rich and settle down like she was meant to - it all left him stuck. Plus he was traumatized from war, being a POW, coming back disabled and unable to fly.

I have a hard time excusing his behavior upon return, however. He saw her on the tarmac!! What would he have done if she'd run out to him? He knew she was there, he could have looked her up after to explain knowing how hurt she must be, from thinking he was dead to thinking he was returning to her to finding out he was married with a child. He implied they were getting divorced - was that true at all? He didn't have to continue sleeping with his wife, he could have used PTSD as an excuse to need time. Or he could have insisted on protection so as not to risk another pregnancy right away. There's alot he could have done differently to avoid lying to Frankie. And his wife.

Ugh. I hated that Rye ended up being a bad guy. Whether he was a victim of circumstance and timing from the beginning or not, he was lying all along to both women, and he did use them both, too. And ultimately Frankie almost died due to trauma of war plus heartbreak.

I appreciated your big controversial vent, it helped me because I've been struggling with the same questions and thoughts! Clearly I'm not the only one haunted by their relationship turning out this way.

Wait what? weak sauce? Please read up on the actual history. Letters did make it through to the Hanoi Hilton. Look at McCain- there was a lot of communication during certain points in the conflict.

Also are you saying it was impossible to be in a POW camp for years? Again- do you know the history of the Vietnam War?!

Finally reading this book. Idk, I respect your take, but I think it's a little wild. I don't hate Rye, per se. He's been through a lot. War sucks. That time period sucked. Here's the thing though - some people rise above their circumstances and some don't. I think, for me, I'm cautious about Rye and Frankie's "love story" because it was under duress. Sure - he was only married to his wife for 5 days, but it's implied that they had been together for some time, no? Frankie's "Love" is based on a teenager crush, further amplified by wartime environment. I don't doubt their feelings for each other, but call my cynical - I don't buy that that necessarily spells "Forever" either. For me, if Rye REALLY, TRULY loved Frankie - he would have told her the truth. If you love a person, they deserve your honesty and respect. You withhold information like that because you're "protecting them." Especially when you've got a kid involved. I don't necessarily that there is a right or wrong answer for Rye (as in, stay with his wife or be with Frankie), but I think he definitely should have started with telling her the truth. The denial of that is the biggest red flag for me. Such a big flag, in fact, that at the end...I felt like -- well, sir, this is the bed you've made. You've gotta deal with it.

As for Frankie -- I have very mixed feelings about. I'm trying to be empathetic, but this book was so hard for me! She simply wasn't...likeable for me. I know she's been through so much, but I guess I was frustrated by her reluctancy to do anything that would even remotely help herself to grow or heal. I think the book was fantastic in presenting nuances and differing realities during Vietnam, but at the same time, lol, it felt like rage reading because I would get so frustrated with Frankie. Honestly, she is SO lucky she had Barb and Ethel - to the point, that I often wished I could have heard their stories instead. Frankie was a very flimsy FMC for me.

I 100% believe your take but what if he wasn’t shot down, nothing would have changed he would have gone home to his wife who would have been pregnant the first week. He should have been honest with Frankie in Hawaii.