The Arrangement was not what I expected

Early this afternoon I finished reading “The Arrangement” by Robyn Harding, it’s about Natalie a young college art student in New York struggling to pay her rent and school. One day Natalie’s friend Ava suggests she goes online and find a sugar daddy. Natalie finds a man named Gabe who is 30 years older than her. He’s an attractive older lawyer and a gentlemen. Natalie enjoys spending time with Gabe and after a while she starts to fall in love with him and he falls in love with her in his sick way, or rather he loves what she could give him to boost his ego. Gabe almost told his wife Celeste about wanting to divorce her until he finds out something shocking and he tries to grow a conscience and breaks things off with Natalie. Natalie won’t except his dumping her however and becomes a borderline psycho you’d see in a Lifetime film. When Gabe ends up dead Natalie becomes the main suspect…..

Pros and Cons

I’m doing something a little different. Instead of doing separate sections for pros and cons I’m going to group them all up together because there’s a lot to talk  about. This book was entertaining I’m not going to lie. I like that the setting was in New York City. You could picture everything. Even though you know that Natalie and Gabe’s relationship obviously wouldn’t last, the story had a weird way of making you want to root for their relationship to work that is till you’re reminded of its seedy beginning.

Most of the characters fit stereotypes while others were three dimensional.

One character that was an obvious stereotype is Violet, Gabe and Celestes daughter. Violet is a far left social justice warrior and Gabe even remembers at one point Violet saying he has white privilege and that he’s conservative and backward.

Gabe fits the narcissistic rich man stereotype but he does have some depth to him. Gabe has a charming side and at one point he did consider leaving his wife for Natalie and that shows he did care for her but obviously not enough. Something happens that he tries to grow a conscience and do the right thing by breaking things off. It also seems that he settled for the life he has now and that’s why he’s doing what he’s doing. Gabe also has a dark side because he will do anything to keep his name from being tarnished.

Celeste actually is three dimensional and knows more than what she’s letting on, she will do anything to protect her daughter and forgives Natalie for some for some of the things she did. I also like the character of Oleg the limo driver. Oleg treats Natalie with dignity and respect and doesn’t judge her for being a sugar baby.

As immature as Natalie is, there were times you felt bad for her and that’s partly for her father being absent, and her stepfather not attempting to be close to her at the same time her mother is also to blame as well. At the same time Natalie does mature toward the end.

Ava the friend of Natalie matured and after something violent  happened to her, she realizes that she should stop and tells Natalie to get out of it while she still could and apologizes for getting Natalie caught up into the sugar baby/sugar daddy world.

The ending I have to give credit through me for a loop. I had so many scenarios as to who killed Gabe, and how and why. Till I got to the end it did shock me. There might have been a few things I would have changed with it but I give it credit for throwing a big twist.

Overall

Overall there was a lot to talk about with “The Arrangement.” It shows how dangerous seeking people online whether if it’s a real relationship or not, actually is.  It also tells the audience a hard lesson that if something is too good to be true it is and if someone presents their real selves to you, believe it don’t overlook it. I wished we’d see more of Ava, because after what happened to her it gave her a wake-up call, and I think Ava could have been Natalie’s support system throughout the rest of the story. This book definitely would work for a lifetime movie, however I think it could possibly pass for a not too expensive movie in theaters or on Netflix or perhaps on the movie channels like HBO, Showtime, Starz etc. because Natalie does show maturity toward the end where as in a lifetime movie they’d throw out the character development. Although the story wasn’t perfect I did enjoy it its entertaining if farfetched and even though some of the characters are stereotypes or unlikeable. The Arrangement is worth reading at least once and if you don’t feel like spending money buying it, check and see if your local library has it.