What did you like least about "Deceptive Calm" by Patricia Skipper?

Post by **Judy Burr** » 07 Dec 2024, 23:51

I least liked reading the sexual content. I was shocked that it was so graphic. I think most readers would have agreed.

Stephanie Reida · Post by **Stephanie Reida** » 09 Dec 2024, 21:39

The thing I disliked most was that Barry, in his own way, was just as controlling and abusive as Tod. He pushed Vanessa past her boundaries and ignored her when she said no. The author says nothing about this behavior. Instead the reader is supposed to cheer for the "love" between Barry and Vanessa, but dislike Tod. I'm not excusing Tod for a second; both of the men acted horrendously. The reader is supposed to accept that Vanessa and Barry are going to live happily ever after with no exploration of his behavior or suggestions of growth or change. Everything is okay because he had never stopped "loving" her. It was disgusting. If a woman I loved was involved with someone like either of them, I would tell her to run. That is not love.

ChrissyN13 · Post by **ChrissyN13** » 10 Dec 2024, 10:09

I was shocked by the high level of sexual content. If there had been a warning about it in the book's description, I wouldn't have been surprised, but there wasn't one. I also can't get over the sexual assault that the author simply described without any action being taken. To me, it seemed like it wasn't a big deal when the author wrote the scene, which is extremely concerning.

Post by **Esther Lichtenberger** » 11 Dec 2024, 12:51

I didn't love the sex scenes in the book, but mostly because the style they are written in was exactly the same for both of Vanessa's partners. Her first experience with Barry threw me off because it didn't initially seem like she was really a willing participant. It was very clinical and there was no emotion. Barry ends up doing better as the author then is clear about Barry asking for consent, but I think the scenes with Barry could have been more vague and romantic. Her experiences with Tod fit clinical and detached that style as they are more graphic and crude. It is not love nor romance, she doesn't want or enjoy the sexual encounters, even though people are telling her that it is what is expected of her now. The sex scenes were a bit jarring and uncomfortable even though I don't think they were all supposed to feel that way.

Honestly, I think the ending bothered me more than anything else. There were so many questions left unanswered that I thought there was an error with my Ebook when I couldn't scroll to the next page!

Leslie Keener 1 · Post by **Leslie Keener 1** » 12 Dec 2024, 08:14

The intensity of the sexual scenes was shocking. It felt like I was way too involved in the character’s bodily functions during those moments. I much more prefer a bit of mystery in those scenes. Also, it felt like the ending was forced or hurried, and the events were rushed to finalization.

Chris Sharon · Post by **Chris Sharon** » 15 Dec 2024, 20:17

The actions and decisions some of the characters took in this book was really frustrating. I couldn't help but read to the last page.

AJ Baggio · Post by **AJ Baggio** » 17 Dec 2024, 08:19

Deceptive Calm was a good read, but I believe some improvements could be made. There were many references to US history that didn't seem relevant to the story. I also thought some storylines could have been developed more. For example, the book starts with a dramatic scene with the KKK. The group was never heard from again. Also, the main character had a lot of passion for her job and later became perfectly fine not going to work when she had a baby. I think she would have fought to keep her job more or this could have added more tension between her and her husband. While there was plenty of drama, there were opportunities to build more throughout the story.

Post by **Alida Spies** » 19 Dec 2024, 08:16

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The sex scenes were unnecessarily explicit, the same messages could have been conveyed without all the details. The ending was also not great unless a sequel was planned. I found the historical details quite interesting as I don't know much about American history; I don't live or have ever lived in America.

AmberJ2024 · Post by **AmberJ2024** » 19 Dec 2024, 14:06

I felt the first sex scene came out of nowhere I wasn't expecting it and then they got more graphic but were not needed. I agree that if there was less sex this book would be more open to a wider audience. I did not like the racial slurs.

Loueva Wynn · Post by **Loueva Wynn** » 20 Dec 2024, 14:34

The racial slander.

Loueva Wynn · Post by **Loueva Wynn** » 20 Dec 2024, 14:50

I did not like the racial slander. Itc was alot.

Post by **Meghan Sica** » 20 Dec 2024, 16:00

I feel there could have been a lot more added detail and descriptions. The book jumped several years at a time and skipped some very important information. I wanted to know more about the relationship Vanessa and Barry had. If he was so in love with her, why did he get a girlfriend when he went away to college and then pretend he didn't have a girlfriend when she returned with him? Some of the storyline was confusing. I really disliked how sister Rosalie only spouted off history facts, until the book neared the end of her life, I started to understand her character more.

Elbronice Ellablu Hanse · Post by **Elbronice Ellablu Hanse** » 04 Mar 2025, 05:03

Mradushi Singhal wrote: ↑22 Aug 2024, 09:25 The book contains too much information about US history some of which could have been avoided. It makes the book unsuitable for people not from USA. It is getting hard for me to properly understand what the book is trying to convey.
Secondly, the vocabulary also seems to be a bit advanced for me. I have to keep a dictionary by my side while reading the book.

I totally agree. I found it very challenging not to skim over the history parts. It got in the way of the story and made me annoyed with Sister Rosalie's character, although she was one of the more interesting characters in the book.

Post by **Tina Keefover** » 19 Mar 2025, 15:12

The story didn’t come across to me as being a romance novel. I didn’t root for Vanessa and Barry. I think it would be better suited under the category of historical fiction.

Rosario M · Post by **Rosario M** » 19 Mar 2025, 21:21

Rachel Birchenough wrote: ↑16 Sep 2024, 07:19 The book had too much filler in it. I love details, but this was the wrong kind of detail. We didn’t need to read so much about history that it felt like a text book or have a drawn out description of medical situations. It just felt pretentious and boring. I found myself skimming paragraphs and sometimes even entire pages to get through those sections.
I was also frustrated with the ending! What happened with Tricia? Were Tod and his father ever charged? I can’t stand when it’s left unanswered. There definitely wasn’t enough for a sequel so it couldn’t be that.

I totally agree!