Julian and Wren (Help) - For those who have finished the book!

[Sarah]

First off, I want to say that I love this book. And I cannot wait for the sequel. I want so badly to give it 5 stars because, honestly, it deserves it. But I feel I cannot do that until I voice something I haven't seen anyone else notice.

I was on the Julian and Wren ship pretty hard but now I'm not sure if I can stay on it. Wren is painted as incredibly flawed and Julian is painted as perfect in every way. Except Julian is INCREDIBLY cruel to Wren. The author clearly wants to paint this as "he's just being honest and she's clearly flawed." But that simply isn't the case.

Julian closes the window on Wren to "protect her" and she isn't mean to him about it. Wren "betrays" him to protect him and he is so incredibly and unnecessarily cruel. While she tries to understand his perspective, he consistently chooses to paint her as selfish and stupid. The author is clearly on Julian's side, having Wren apologize and say he was right. It's so messed up.

Julian doesn't know Wren like he thinks he does and I wish she would stick up for herself. She and the Prince had to return to the Breachfort to get answers and that is exactly what they got. She WAS protecting Julian and he instead threw it in her face and showed up anyway. Despite her refusing to do the same when the situation was reversed.

Wren showed more kindness to Julian than Julian ever showed her in the end. Especially when Julian was betrayed by his family. But when Wren is betrayed? He just sits in his self-righteous smugness. Wren doesn't deserve his cruelty and has been through so much more than he cares to know.

Can anyone help me with this? Perhaps to see it from another perspective? Because I love this book and these characters, especially Wren. I guess I feel protective of her because she had no one and was ever only trying to seek her family's love and praise. That doesn't make her selfish. It makes her human and sympathetic. Why is she denied the sympathy that the author readily gives Julian and his cause? And don't get me started on how Julian holds her personally responsible for every bad thing the House of Bone had done to his people, as if she personally is at fault. As soon as she knew the truth, she did the right thing and that should count for something.

Anyway, thanks for listening, fellow readers! I literally created a GoodReads account for the first time to talk about this book, lol. I hope the second book can make Julian more likable to me. I really would like to stay on this ship because it has so much potential.