Retro-Post: You’re gonna get yours…

Posted December 15, 2017 by Holly in Discussions | 12 Comments

*****As part of our 10 year anniversary celebration, we’ll be re-posting old reviews and posts that make us cringe, laugh or sigh all over again.*****

Holly: This post was originally published in 2008. I still love it when annoying/bad/terrible characters get their comeuppance. There’s something very satisfying about a hated character getting their just desserts.

This post was originally posted on July 3, 2008.

It’s confession time once again here at Book Binge. That’s right, dear readers, I feel the need to confess one of my dirtier secrets (remember, confession is good for the soul):

I’m bloodthirsty.

It’s true. Nothing gets me worked up quite like a sleazy ex, or a rotten family member, or whoever. And nothing makes my day quite like when one of those sleazy people gets what’s coming to them.

Sherrilyn Kenyon
is an author that excels at writing revenge-of-the-ex scenes. I remember reading Night Play for the first time several years ago and cheering out loud when Vane shows up Bride’s ex on the street. I love that. Kyrian showed up Amanda’s ex in Night Pleasures, too.

In one of the more recent In Death novels by J.D. Robb one of Roarke’s exes shows up and Eve has to put her in her place. I absolutely adored that scene. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read it.

I’m an equal opportunity revenge lover, though. It’s not just exes I like to see put in their place. It’s parents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, bosses, whoever. In Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie the heroine’s (Min) mom is obsessive about weight and constantly berates Min for it. My favorite scene of the book is when Cal basically tells her to shut up and leave Min alone. I still snicker when I think of it.

In a Harlequin Presents novel I read recently, the h/h’s parents had a hand in keeping them separated for several years and in the end the hero refuses to have anything to do with them. In the epilogue it’s been more than a year and he still refuses to talk to them. I love that.

So, tell me. Am I alone? Am I the only one who gets a wonderful feeling of satisfaction when a not-so-great character really gets what’s coming to them? Do you have a favorite “They got theirs” scene you’d like to share with me?

Tell me I’m not the only one…


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12 responses to “Retro-Post: You’re gonna get yours…

  1. Dev

    Nope you’re not alone 🙂 Oh, and on Bet Me after Cal told Min’s mom to shut up and then he told Min to eat a roll 🙂 Loved it!!!!

  2. M.

    not only do i agree with you and love those kinds of scenes, but if the reverse (well,sort of) annoys me to the point of possibly not finishing a book: situations where the protagonists allow themselves to be walked all over, usually by demanding/immature family members. wendy markham and claire calman both have books like this, which pretty much killed my enjoyment of what would otherwise have been an entertaining story.

  3. What goes around comes around! I like those scenes too and the one where Vane shows up Bride’s ex is awesome. 🙂

  4. Aymless,
    EXACTLY! I love it.

    Dev,
    Bet Me is such a wonderful example. I love that David gets his, too. 😛

    M.,
    Excellent point. I agree stories are ruined when the characters don’t stand up for themselves. I absolutely HATE it when I read an entire book hoping they grow a backbone and they don’t. Ugh.

  5. For me it’s not so much about someone getting his or her comeuppance. I love these scenes because the h/h stands up for and defends his or her love. It’s a united front against the world: soul mates who make the declaration in this scene that they will stand up for each other through thick and thin. That’s what we all want isn’t it? someone who will always be there for us. Who loves us despite our insecurities and flaws. Excuse me while I reread some of my favorite scenes…

  6. It depends on how it’s done, but I like them when they show personal growth instead of gratuitous bitchiness. If it’s earned and well delivered, it’s priceless, really.

    Now I’m trying to remember at least one such scene, and coming blank 🙁

  7. This reminds me of the song Schadenfreude from the musical Avenue Q. There is a line about feeling good when exes get STDs. I love to read about the bad ex getting his or her just desserts.

    hee hee! Schadenfreude. “…watching a frat boy realize just what he put his dick in!” Gotta love that show!

  8. Yep, and I agree with M. I have read a few books where the ‘evil’ just gets ignored or patted on the head. Which I guess is the way I deal with things too but I still like to see a good put down.

    CindyS

  9. Nope, I’m like you too. There was one book I was loving – Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor. I was loving it until the end when at the end the Very Evil stepmother is completely forgiven for the horrible horrible things she did to the hero. I felt so let-down by that scene.
    I like the sounds of the HP book where the hero still isn’t talking to the parents. I wish more authors would take that route rather than the all is forgiven one

  10. I cheered along with you in Night Pleasures and Night Play. I’m one of those people who stays speechless when someone insults me or wrongs me, and only think of a good repartee the following night when it keeps me awake. So to see people who snigger or denigrate people be put in their place make me jubilant :).

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