Full House 3

The mystery surrounding Full House is a good one.  Who is Henry, and how did ownership of Full House get transferred from Elle’s Father/Elle to Henry to Ryder?  It’s a strange plot element, and as bizarre as it is, I’m glad the story is taking its time about having Elle uncover the truth.  Elle finds herself in a lot of trouble when she tries to figure out who Henry is this time around, so it looks like the truth is still a little ways off.  There is the problem of why exactly Elle doesn’t just ask Ryder about this, but I can understand that things would be a lot less fun that way.

I’m glad the story is still pursuing this, because quite frankly, I was a little upset when the series opened with Elle finding out she didn’t legally own the house she’d been living in all her life.  I’m not sure why I can’t suspend disbelief for that.   I just can’t, and I’m sorry.  The fact that Elle sees this as a real problem worth investigating is a huge plus though, because that means the series is a little more grounded than it initially seems.

The bad thing, as of this volume, is that Elle needs to learn when to keep her mouth shut sometimes.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that she’s comfortable speaking her mind to whomever she pleases, be it Ryder, the most famous actor in Britain, or Ryder’s rich family consisting of a handful of people that go out of their way to insult her.  It’s actually a refreshing change of pace to see a heroine like Elle with some backbone.

The problem is that these scenes where she performs admirably are few and far between.  Much of this volume consists of Elle arguing with Ryder, and while there are a few situations where her anger is justified, most of the time she is just berating Ryder with the most selfish and childish arguments imaginable, and usually the reasons are not good ones.

The story tries to set misunderstandings up, like when Elle goes off in a snit and locks herself out of the house, and has to sit outside in the rain because Ryder can’t hear her knocking over some music.  A few hours later, she throws a brick through a window, and when Ryder unlocks the door, she goes off on a tirade without letting Ryder explain himself, then retires to her room.  This would be fine every once in awhile (after all, it’s a romantic comedy, full of romantic misunderstandings), but this literally happens ALL THE TIME.  Very rarely does Ryder actually do something malicious to her, and most of the time she holds him up to a childish double standard without letting Ryder get a word in edgewise.  Ryder reacts childishly sometimes as well, but the majority of the infuriating dialogue usually comes from Elle.  Ryder very rarely gets a word or explanation in edgewise.

At the end of the volume, Elle finds herself in a situation where Ryder has every right to be furious at her, since some facts have come to light that make him think she sold her house and is trying to scam him out of it in order to get it back in her possession.  She doesn’t feel the need to explain herself in the face of his anger, despite the fact he invites an explanation, and she actually makes the situation worse by firing off a series of snide comments.

Basically, Elle is infuriating and selfish.  I keep hoping I’ll get to see her treating Ryder civilly before I have to stop reading, but given the mess things are in at the end of this volume, I’m guessing that won’t happen.