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**Captivated**chapter discussion (spoiler alert)


jmhope

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Probably been discussed before - but did anyone feel Gideon was becoming weak and needy in CBY?

Bringing this up as I've read quite a few reviews and comments on other sites that readers felt he was falling apart and not the strong person he was in the first books.

His father killed himself and there's a comment from Gideon in one book about a father not loving a child enough to stay (and of course not loving their wife either, not just their child).  Then when he tells his mum about the abuse she disbelieves him and somehow Christopher is involved as Elizabeth says that Christopher was there and says nothing happened.  So Gideon's relationship with his mother and brother falls apart because of this - did Christopher genuinely not see anything or was he getting back at Gideon for something (bearing in mind he is only 5(?)?  And I think this left Gideon still at the mercy of the abuser (not sure, but one would expect even if an accusation was unfounded, the person accused would be removed from having access to the child  - depends if Gideon told his mum when the abuse started, or did he only tell her after suffering for a year?)

He also thought that his stepfather knew about the abuse and disbelieved him as well.  Not conducive to a happy home life, bet he was glad to escape.  He buries his abuse and the outcome of it deep in his mind and as that first bit of One With You points out, whilst awake his control is there but asleep the nightmares and worries appear.

He goes out with Corinne, she asks him to marry her but ultimately they split because how could he marry someone that he could only have sex with in a fuckpad and certainly could not sleep in the same bed, nor tell her about his past.

Then he meets Eva who has also suffered abuse, but has a mother who believed her and took immediate action to remove any access the abuser had to her child.  Plus Eva's father even not knowing what had happened to his daughter, had the sense to spot she needed counselling.  Eva understands, accepts what she knows of his past, loves him and ultimately realises that for Gideon to come to terms with his abuse he has to admit it to Dr Peterson.

So throughout CBY we see Gideon and Eva enjoying time together, meeting up with friends, Eva seemingly resolving the Brett situation, then Gideon has that one day where so many things occur he snaps and we have the elevator scene.  I found that a slightly out of character scene when recalling the author saying this was a vanilla couple as there do seem to be some non-vanilla things in Gideon's background.  I realised that the therapy Gideon did go through was anger management and if I understood it correctly Hugh was teaching him that sex was the way to go when angry along with the image of women physically like his mother.  So when he became extremely angry after those events, because he loves Eva and does not want to use her in an angry manner he stays at his apartment and uses alcohol to try and alleviate his anger.  Eva turns up and we know what happens then.

Then we have the sex swing scene and they seem to be very close during that.  Perhaps because she felt they were very much 'entwined' when Eva discovered what Gideon had done about Mark, knowing that at some point she would have to make the moves to make him break, and because it actually is not that big a deal so although she agonises over what he did it was an easy thing to forgive him over, she leaves him.  And ultimately she gets the result she wanted, he opens up to Dr Peterson which cannot have been an easy thing to do.  Instead of opening up in his own time he was forced into doing it if he wanted to keep her.

And of course he needs her, he's 28, since he was 11 he has not felt anyone in his family really loved him for himself, his one real relationship had been a non-starter and he's said how happy he has been since meeting Eva, despite her leaving him.  So I didn't see him as being weak, just desperate not to lose the one person that seemed to understand him, challenge him, that he loved obsessively - needy may come into it as he does need her if he is going to continue being happy.

 

Not sure I've covered everything, or even explained my thoughts well.  Feel free to pick holes in what I've said as I could well have misunderstood parts of the book or even mis-remembered. 

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I thought the same thing  - that it made him look like he was having a breakdown or something.  But I realized the strength that he showed by telling  Dr. Peterson about being abused as a child.   Keeping that to himself had been eating at him for so long that finally telling someone (other than Eva) has a huge step for him.  I'm sure that was the start of his healing process, 

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  • 4 months later...

During my re-read today I found a few notes I had made about each chapter first time round and never shared. I know we aren't about to start another chapter discussion about CBY right now but I thought some people may have some thoughts in the wait for release. 

Chapter 1

"Do we need to take a break already? Take some time for Kline to clear up your confusion? Maybe I should do the same and help Corinne with hers." - Gideon 
- if the positions were reversed Eva would have reacted in a similar way. In fact she did, she kissed Brett (same tactic) to make Gideon understand how she felt about Corinne. 

"Why don't you understand how much I love you? Brett's got nothing on you. Nothing." - Eva 
"I think of nothing but you. All day. Every day. Everything I do, I do with you in mind. There's no room for anyone else. It kills me that you have room for him." - Gideon
- the contrast between these 2 statements is telling. Considering Eva's previous jealousy how can she not see the difference? Gideon clearly has much more cause to be jealous and lashing out considering she's admitting to having feelings for another man, no matter how insignificant they are when compared to her feelings for Gideon. 
 

Reading through this forum in the last day or so it struck me that people seemed to be more annoyed at Gideon than Eva during this conversation. Clearly I had the opposite reaction! 

ETA These notes I found in Chapter 2 relevant to his topic. 

I understood that Gideon wanted to make me feel what he was feeling, so he'd leveraged Corinne against me. I'd known talking about Brett was going to be a problem, which was why I'd put it off, but I hadn't had an ulterior motive in bringing it up or when I'd kissed Brett, either. I had hurt Gideon, yes, but could sincerely say I hadn't intended to do so. On the flip side Gideon had deliberately set out to hurt me. 
- does he though, or was he reacting to the hurt she was causing and lashing out in return? I also think she's downplaying how she would have reacted if the tables were turned. Saying she didn't have an ulterior motive when she kissed Brett is a lie. She already admitted it was to make him understand her jealousy of Corinne. Also saying she had sincerely never intended to hurt Gideon when she kissed Brett - eh what? How did she think he was going to feel about it? Happy?

And found some more notes on Chapter 3 relevant to this topic.... 

"Angel, you're worried. I don't think you'd sleep with him, but I do think you're anxious about crossing a line you shouldn't. You needed a strong reaction from me so you were blunt and you got it. You needed to see what it would do to me." - Gideon
- A very plausible ulterior motive for Eva bringing up the conversation about Brett. Something she swore she didn't have.

"You manipulate me. You do things... Say things... Just to get a particular response out of me" - Eva
My arms crossed as I remembered her kissing Kline. "As do you, which we just discussed." - Gideon 
She faced me. "I'm allowed to, I'm a woman." - Eva
- The hypocrisy of that statement baffles me. It's the core of all her anger at Gideon from this recent fight. However she can employ the exact same tactic and that's acceptable because she's a woman. Emm... NO

As you can probably tell from my reading notes I was really unimpressed with Eva's attitude in a lot of this book. Right from the beginning her behaviour was frustrating me. 

Edited by Rogue
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And from Chapter 4: 

He loved me so much more than he loved himself. I remembered what he'd said to me once, that he'd live with me loving another man, just so long as he had me.
- Eva, however, would never tolerate this in reverse. Gideon's insecurities are so much greater than hers and she needs to remember that and stop thinking it's okay for her to hurt him because she's a woman. She also needs to remember that if anyone's jealousy is greater or more justified it is Gideon's because he is not nor has he ever been in love with Corinne. Eva cannot say the same about Brett.

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And from Chapter 7, these are my notes on the first time we see Corinne from Gideon's POV. The differences between his reactions to Corinne and Eva's to Brett are what struck me most! 

I steeled myself to deal with my mother again. Then her head turned and I saw it was Corinne.
- Emphasises just how similar these 2 women are in appearance.

...her eyes brightened with a look I'd come to recognise, having seen it on Eva's face. It gave me no pleasure to see that warmth in Corinne's eyes. Unease slid down my spine, stiffening my back. 
- Consider the difference in Gideon's reaction to affection from Corinne in comparison to Eva's reaction with Brett.

I kept the glass clear and didn't remove my jacket, sending her every signal that she shouldn't settle in for long.
- Eva on the other hand, having attended the video premiere with Brett, then had dinner with him and then invited him up to her apartment because she "can't think of a reason not to". How about I'm tired, goodnight. Would have been perfectly acceptable. 

"All these years of trying... I thought I couldn't get pregnant." 
- why was she trying to get pregnant by another man, even if he was her husband if she was so in love with Gideon. That would be a permanent tie to the man she doesn't love?! 
- Is there something else here I'm missing?

"Jean-Francois told me you called a couple of times asking about me. I wish you'd called me. Or returned my calls." 
- 1. She's still calling him.
- 2. Even after her suicide attempt, something Gideon feels at least some guilt over. He still is not willing to jeopardise his relationship with Eva by communicating with Corinne directly.

Her eyes weren't the same shade of blue as my mothers, but they were close, and their sense of style was similar. Corinne's elegant blouse and trousers were notably like something I'd once seen my mother wear. 
- is this a coincidence or does Corinne deliberately attempt to emulate Elizabeth? 

"I'm very protective when it comes to her. Tread lightly."
- considering this is only a week or so after Corinne's suicide attempt Gideon is still quick to make his loyalties clear. I would have expected him to treat Corinne more gently, however the way he handles it pleases me.

She'd been a blind spot for me, but no longer.
- I think this is why Gideon tolerated Corinne's stalkerish behaviour for so long.

I wasn't normal and I didn't need to be. Eva accepted me the way I was.
- this is the fundamental truth of their relationship. Understanding and acceptance of each other's pasts as well as of the person that had shaped them to become.

"I would have found Eva eventually. And I would've wanted her, given up everything to have her. I would have left you to be with her. The end was inevitable." 
- A statement like that from a man like Gideon should have been the end. Any normal person would consider that a very definitive answer even if it wasn't what you wanted to hear. Corinne however is deluding herself and living in such deep denial that within minutes she's convinced he'll come back to her. 
"You'll regret this, and I might be too hurt to forgive you." 

"What do I have to live for if I don't have you?"
- this statement combined with her immediate mood swing from devastated to anger indicated the suicide attempt was a deliberate ploy to guilt Gideon back to her. 

"What's wrong with you?" She cried. " this isn't you."
"You wouldn't know." I went to the door and yanked it open. "Go home to your husband, Corinne. Take care of yourself." 
- harsh but again a very definitive answer. 

I hit the controls to frost the glass, carving out a moment alone with my wife.
- Corinne was actually in his office and he didn't afford her the same level of privacy that he gives Eva for a phone call. This speaks to the level of possessiveness he feels for Eva. It also highlights the difference between Eva and Corinne as Corinne once made Eva jealous by alluding to how possessive of her Gideon used to be.

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Thanks for those thoughts Rogue, you read into things much better than I can.  At the moment my main thought is Eva is 24, apart from Brett I think she had other short-term relationships.  And 24 is quite young to be well-versed in how to handle a real relationship?

Gideon is 28 and apart from Corinne has mainly had one night stands, the only 'relationship' was a fairly odd one with Anne Lucas.  Maybe the brunette thing has some influence here, the resemblance to his mother may again be his way of punishing his mother for her rebuttal of him by just having had the one night stands and 'conquering' the women which is something he couldn't really do to his mother. 

 

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Rogue like me you have had too much time on your hands to dwell on this series.  I for one will be sorry when it ends.  I have stated before that I too was irritated with Eva at the beginning of CBY when she was confused about Brett.  If she wanted anything to do with him and( after she got her head together better) she could have always gotten in contact with him.  She didn't even know that his band had changed their name.  Eva sorta has a double standard.  In EWY when she went out with her girlfriends she was dancing with other men, she did get Gideon to come to her, but still she did a lot of so called flirting.  But when in CBY that Gideon stated that he would go out with his guy friends she started asking all these questions and getting jealous, guess because she would be out of town and couldn't be with him when he came home.  I too felt she should not have asked Brett back up to her apartment, like you said.....thanks for the evening see you next time maybe.  But she really didn't like it when Gideon took Deanna to a bar so that he could apologize (sorta) for  the way he treated her  ( at least he did get some important info from her)

Not much longer (for me at least) for OWY.....I am on the East Coast and midnight 4/5/16 can't get here soon enough.  Can't wait to discuss OWY with everyone

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