And overall, I can't take his character seriously because he seems like Clare dreamed him up out of one of her fan fictions. He's just this brooding, mysterious, ~dark (but not really), "bad boy" whose characterization lacks any depth and is so contrived and laughable that I'm forced to roll my eyes at every new "revelation" about him. I feel that he exists solely to fulfill the "teen dream" ideal. And I resent that his whole backstory was shoved down our throats and I'm supposed to care about things that I'm hearing about secondhand, never actually witnessed, and are told in a completely unimaginative way. AND I'M SUPPOSED TO EMPATHIZE.