I wanted to like this book. Normally when I get 70% into a book I'll just finish it but this was 40+ chapters of the same scene on repeat.

Hurt/comfort is a great trope and I understand the FMC was meant to be healing from traumas that would tie into the broader plot. But I don't think this trope was used successfully. There was no character development in the nearly 400 pages I read and it was taking way too long to get to the point. This is part of a duet but it definitely could have been one book.

I wound up skimming most of it by the end because I already knew what was happening - the same insecurities appearing in the exact same way and the MMCs reassuring her in the exact same way, just for her to be insecure about the exact same things and be reassured in the exact same way in the next chapter.