Honestly the only good books with disabled characters I’ve read are Helen Hoang’s books, her main characters are autistic with various support needs and traits, she’s autistic herself so they’re done very well.

The part I loved was that all of her MC’s are independent and treated as adults- but they also have support needs that are shown and met by those around them.

And when I say it felt like pedophilia, I mean by the way she views him- as you said, she infantilises him a disturbed by amount and the way his disability is shown is horriblely written.

Yes! This is the biggest part- Bree herself saw and treated him like an invalid. She acted like he was a toddler and was incapable of living without her.

Even disregarding whether or not he’s mentally ready for a relationship, the fact that she saw him in that way alone makes the entire relationship unhealthy.

Yeah, he’s not deaf, but he is mute. He speaks sign and she either knows it or learns it during the book, I can’t recall which.

I probably didn’t use the best example with that statement, what I meant was… I was attempting to show that if he’s entirely dependent on her and can’t do anything for himself then the relationship would any healthy, I definitely didn’t say that very well.

Of course, and I don’t disagree with that at all, but during the book Archer is very codependent, he’s been an ‘outsider’ for years and has minimal experience interacting. The FMC is one of very few personal relationships he actually has, and it’s very obvious that he’s dependent on her in many ways.

None of that in particular would suggest he’s not suited to a relationship, it’s more the dynamics between them when you actually read the book.

It’s been a while since I read it (a few months maybe), so it’s not super fresh in my mind, but I’m not saying he could never have a romantic/sexual relationship, but I definitely believe he wasn’t ready for one at that point.

He relied on her for everything, literally.

As I said in my other comment (or at least I think I did), I’m autistic and considered mentally disabled by my government, I know plenty of other people with mental disabilities with varying support needs due to support groups and such, and I have no doubt that most of them, if not all, are very capable of making their own decisions in relationships.

I don’t think I’m articulating this very well, but to summarise, he was far too dependent on her and the power dynamics in the relationship are very one-sided, it’s very obvious that she has all the power in the relationship and I don’t think their relationship was very healthy at all, especially since they entered a long term commitment after a few weeks, and seeing as she’s (from what i recall) the only person to have shown him that kind of love and affection.

I would like to clarify because this same post was removed in r/romancebooks..

I am not discriminating against him based on disability, I’m literally mentally disabled myself.

I do not care that he is clearly underdeveloped in some form mentally/emotionally, or that he can’t speak, what I’m saying is that he is no where near independent or mentally okay enough for a relationship.

Personally I feel that the FMC took advantage of him in a way, even if it wasn’t her intention.

He acted like a child in many ways, and regardless of whether or not he was ready for a relationship or whether or not he was codependent, he was certainly not at all in a good space to start a sexual relationship.