User blog:Jacked Maverick/Onus Probandi: Fine, I’ll Read Laws of Attraction (Book 1)

The following contains spoilers only for Laws of Attraction, Book 1.



Despite the big fuss I made about being done with Pixelberry as a company and to have “already closed that chapter of my life”, I’ve still gotten numerous (“very popular”) requests to return reading new stuff. Laws of Attraction is the only one I’ve gotten the most messages to review. Out of all the books post-Distant Shores I’ve had no intention of reading (or at least finishing), I guess it could have been a worse choice that Laws of Attraction.

No gimmick this time. No top ten, “vs”, no predictions, or a critical review in an extreme analysis in either direction. I’m just going to marathon this book over the next few days and in between each chapter give my thoughts from that chapter and give an overall analysis at the end.

I’m writing this introduction before reading just to get some initial thoughts. Going into the first chronological book over a year since I stopped; I’m a little skeptical. As I said in the Fifth Anniversary essay, Crimes of PASSION, Foreign AFFAIRS, Laws of ATTRACTION all sound the same and more or less get the same reception quality.



Also, before I begin the marathon; I know absolutely *nothing* about this book going in which is nice. I’ve been so apathetic and reclusive towards Choices that I couldn’t absorb any information. The only things I know going in are:

1.    People just LOVE Gabe Ricci and Aislinn Tanaka. I’ve been seeing them get overwhelming love.

2.    Chapter 14 is where the “Attraction” from the title really takes flight. Where you get shot using an evidence gun and you have to pay diamonds to “crawl” towards someone so they can comfort you as you’re bleeding out (sigh).

3.    It takes place in New York! :D My city. My family. There’s no way this lawyer content could be better than Netflix’s Daredevil.

Other than that, I have no idea what the main case(s) is about, if winning the case is heavily dependent on diamonds choices, whether or not there is a cliffhanger at the end to set up book 2, a twist villain or anything major. I don’t even know if this will be a positive review that will slightly restore my faith in Choices or a negative review that will sink the nails even deeper into my flesh.

I really hope this is another Open Heart instead of a Veil of Secrets.

I’m doing this for you guys! I love getting comments and writing essays. I am a people pleaser. This would make a good end of the year gift to all of you.

=Chapter Marathon=

Chapter I: Jury of Your Peers


One thing I forgot to mention in the intro was that I also knew it was gender of choice. Getting to play as my gender felt like a breath of fresh air.

I liked how we got to choose what type of lawyer we wanted to be (pure law, anti-bully, little guy). Since there aren’t any points or XP, it doesn’t feel “as interactive”. But I still like it.

The opening scene when we got recruited by Sadie made me smile for the wrong reasons. Yeah, I really missed this. A first act that lasts less five minutes before you’re whisked away from a small town to a large urban city without anything more than minimal rushed exposition. Because we have never, never, ever seen that before.

I don’t really follow the legal talk of it. But it’s something I can suspend my comprehension about. I didn’t understand the medical talk in Open Heart, yet I still like that.

Having said that along with Gabe Ricci’s introduction (I’m saving what I have to say about him because I feel he can take up an entire essay section by the end of reading) makes me feel I really should have done a prediction essay before I started. The competition thing I could tell was going to happen the minute it was revealed other senior associates besides yourself got in. I’m pretty sure Beau will be an antagonist and not another Aurora Emery if you know what I mean.

Overall, the first chapter technically gave me exactly what I was expecting. Doesn’t do anything new and I’m starting to regret checking it out. The only saving grace is that it is not genderlocked and it isn’t one of the other 2020-2021 books (that shall all remain nameless). I really wanted to play It Lives for the fifth time. Or Ocarina of Time 3D.

Chapter II: Burden of Proof
"ONUS PROBANDI" means "Burden of Proof" in Latin. Which is what I named the title after.

This one was slightly better. I liked how the book was finally starting to treat us like intelligent people. I like how there is no correct answer on who to choose as the head plaintiff (except for Mr. Arquette). You actually have to stop and think on who to choose without having it spelt out for you.

Could it be that after a bad first chapter, this second chapter is a taste that this book is a diamond in the rough?

Having said that, I am not excited about the case. I get not all cases are exciting and pushes your moral compass to the max, but so far I found the actual case and discussion to be lackluster. I hope this is not the “main” case and there are more exciting stuff.

Other than the notable upgrade, there’s nothing significant left to say, so lets move on.

Chapter III: Parentis Loco
I rolled my eyes when it was revealed Willow was a strong anti-vaxxer. Not only that, but the entire firm seem to really hate her because of that.



Look, I was okay with the predictable annoyance of a first chapter. But when you strip away the NUANCE away from “maybe both sides are right”, reminds me why I left the Left Choices. Before you hate on me, I am *both* pro-vaxx and anti-vax. Yes vaccines save lives, but looking at history I also believe they cause stuff like ADHD and autism. Even by believing the latter, I’d *still* vaccinate myself and my kids because I still want them to be safe. But stripping the chance for a healthy debate *gahh!*.



Correct me if I’m wrong (it’s been a long time since I last read it), but not even the medical drama Open Heart tackled this!

Also, “Serenity! What have I said about interrupting Mommy when she’s filming?” made me laugh out loud. Like, “this is how you know you’re supposed to be against her”. Because subtly showing she cares more about her business than her innocent daughter is out the window. I’m the type of person to not let personal conflicts get in the way of the professional job, but this feels made for a younger audience. Also, I highly doubt this is the first time the mother and the daughter have ever had a discussion like this.

Anyway, it was nice to see that an intellectual approach was taken in court instead of an emotional one. Willow didn’t push her views on others. Just her daughter (who’s like, 6).

Other than that, female Robin’s face from the Nanny Affair returned in the form of “Lina Reyes” (no relation to David Reyes, I’m afraid D: ). It felt like she was being built up as a love interest, but I know she won’t. :’( Not because of spoilers, but because she’s a reused face. Which is a shame. I really wanted to romance her more than Aislinn! But hey; it won’t be the first time someone with the first name “Lina” and the last name of “Reyes” will be done dirty by Choices.

(I didn’t get her diamond scene because I HATE BDSM)

Chapter IV: The Issue is Moot
It was fun preparing for the Moot Court. That’s about all I have to say about this chapter.

It wasn’t until now that I “remembered” Gabe is supposed to be one of the most well loved LI’s in all of history and we barely get any interaction with him for the past four chapters. Neither a good nor bad thing. I’m sure we’d get more time with him.

And at least we’re finally spending time with Aislinn. I like her, but not as much as Charlie Smith from Distant Shores. Aislinn (and I also guess Gabe) don’t do anything new. They don’t break off from the norm. It wasn’t until this chapter I realized their “feel”. They feel just like yet another person of the firm. No more important than Beau, Gigi, or Marty. I really wish Gigi could be a love interest. DX

Chapter V: Day in (Moot) Court
This one’s a doozy.

As I implied in the introduction, I had a feeling cases would be paywalled to win. I didn’t get any diamond options, so of course I lost the moot court. I’m not bias, but it isn’t fair that even if you get all points right you still lose because of the diamonds. But I am happy the rival team wasn’t obnoxious about their victory.

The second half of this chapter made me want to go back to chapter one before Sadie approached us. I miss taking on smaller more intimate cases. It makes me relate to them more when the stakes are kept low. I was pretty excited to take on this new pro bono case! But I got way less excited when Tyler was introduced with a lot of sexual tension. First Lina and now him? At least we had a connection to her, and we made small talk that got to know each other personally. But Tyler and I just met! We just met and the book wanted us to hook up right away?!



As for the closing scene of the chapter, it felt it was just added there to have a cliffhanger.

Yeah, so far this book is giving me more or less what I expected. The only reason I’m even going is because I’m too far in deep writing this essay to back out now. That and I am going by comparison. “At least this doesn’t have any double standards like The Nanny Affair. At least this book doesn’t ruin something I used to love like Class Act. At least nobody here is an incompetent unlikable person that causes me physical pain to read on like Ride or Die!” You get the idea.

Chapter VI: Age of Majority
This one was better. It was nice to make connections with people again. Even though they were so rich it made them super unrelatable.

I surprisingly felt closer to our group than I thought I would from back in chapter one. I thought the non-LI’s were going to be unlikable and would lie, cheat, and steal to get ahead. Sure, there’s still time for them to do that, but I feel all the cases we’ve taken on helped us grow closer! I sure didn’t think I was going to like Beau or Marty, but their stories were actually pretty nice showing how they relate to the case at hand.

If it wasn’t for the whole “our firm’s financials” depend on it, I wouldn’t really care that much about Lydia and Joey. “Rich people mess up their lives all the time”.

Chapter VII: What's Mine is Yours
Going to Las Vegas was fun. I feel it was nice there wasn’t a huge focus on the gambling part. It was also nice to close the case in a satisfying way.

I don’t have more to say with this chapter until the end. Beau being a snake wasn’t unexpected, but I was still disappointed. I really thought we were all bonding and becoming family. But I figure something had to happen since he was mentioned to be Sadie’s nephew all the back in Chapter 1 and nothing turned up on that again. Aurora had a better relationship with the MC in Open Heart, Book and Aurora and Harper had a better dynamic as well.

Chapter VIII: Commingling
Yeah, I really liked the first part of this chapter. 😊

I love going to places like this outdoor playground in the trees all the time in real life. I liked how this chapter was more focused on team builing even though I just know this is setting up for an even bigger betrayal from one of the non-LI’s.

I liked Beau’s little growth when he realized the impact his snake actions had last chapter. He actually felt bad. It was fun to be a grifter with him by our side to make connections. Beau is my new favorite!



Seeing Vanessa Blackwood (or at least her face model, we don’t know if that’s really her) from Mother of the Year made me want to squeal in delight! Lmao.



But the biggest thing that made me happy was seeing Lina Reyes again. I still didn’t get her scene and to be honest she felt sudden and abrupt. She just showed up, said she was going to go up to her room and that’s it. You could remove her and *nothing* would change.

Overall, this was a nice chapter. Nothing here made me infuriated and after chapter five, its nice there was nothing too bad here.

Chapter IX: Scene of the Crime
Thankfully, aside from one throw away comment at the beginning, this has nothing to do with race. I really like that. And in all fairness, they didn’t treat Marcus like his race caused the turmoil. It was the fact that he was famous that he was believed for murder.

Aside from that, this is where it starts to get really interesting. I hope this is the case that will take up the rest of the book. I can see why the writers weren’t assigning us to criminal cases before. They were saving the big guns for this case. I really like Marcus! He is relatable and just felt he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t know whether or not he actually did it, but it’s fun to investigate. “Innocent until proven guilty”. I cannot empathize enough how terrific it is the answer is not made clear right away. He remains likable and relatable enough to sympathize with that his lover passed, but there are still bits & pieces in his story that seem suspicious. I’m sure there is logical explanation that makes his innocent or his a good performer (he is a Hollywood actor after all). This is the first time since Veil of Secrets that I am not sure how the story will turn out. Where I am kept guessing. (Even though I didn’t like Veil of Secrets that much, I admire what it was)



All of that combined with the fact that this was Los Angeles… made me miss Most Wanted all the more and what it could have been as a franchise. Seeing and judging the 1%... taking part in shows while investigating… having a fish out of water…

Chapter X: Strategic Retreat
I spent both diamond scenes. One to search Aliana’s house and the other to walk with Marcus. It was nice to think in a Choices book for once. Heh.

I don’t have anything to say except for I have a bad feeling I’m being set up for disappointment. I’m not talking about Marcus. I would not be disappointed or upset if he actually did it (or did not murder Aliana). That’s all I can say about this chapter. Laws of Attraction started out exactly like how I thought a 2021 Choices book about lawyers would go, but since Chapter 9 it’s starting to get unironically good.

Chapter XI: Reasonable Doubt
Not much to say here, either. I liked how blurred the line between black and white was. I actually agreed with where the MC did not want to go. I also did not want to slut-shame Aliana just because we were desperate and had no better leads. I bought the diamond scene because this case really speaks to me in a way none of the others (except the very first case and the houses on fire one) did. I’m kind of happy this case wasn’t brought up in an earlier chapter. This is paced well. Having said that, in retrospect all the previous “main” cases have been paced well. They all got enough time as they should have and none of them overstayed their welcome.

Chapter XII: Probative Value
I’m so happy we saw Tyler again. 😑 I could have lived without the sexual tension we had with him and Will. I don’t even dislike Tyler as a person, but he seems way more forced than Gabe and Aislinn were! That’s really saying something since I thought Gabe was going to be forced throughout the book and he isn’t.

I don’t have anything else to say other than aside from Tyler & Will, this is still another solid chapter. I still got both diamond scenes. Where we went to that Japanese restaurant with our team and to investigate with Gabe.

Also, it’s good to know Gigi would screw us regardless of our gender. 👀



I chose to screw Sadie (she looks good for her age), dump Gabe, and marry Aislinn. Sadie may be more attractive, but Aislinn is more wife material.

Chapter XIII: Prior Restraint


Marcus is now a love interest. I’ll say it did not feel forced, at least (not sarcasm). Compare him to Tyler, Marcus’ turn was subtle. I still meant what I said a few chapters ago; I still would not be disappointed if Marcus did or did not murder Aliana. From the way these last few chapters have been going, they’re certainly building him up to be innocent which was nice.

Really, my only complaints here are that Marcus going public with the information which in turn made Sadie mad at you felt unnatural. Not forced but it felt unnatural especially after the high we’ve gone through. Luckily, Beau took the fall for us on his own terms. That is character development. Kind of like the growth Groose went through in Skyward Sword HD.

Another thing I didn’t like was how paywalled this chapter was. In order to succeed, you had to pay for two different diamond scenes (that weren’t going to give you clues) to have a good press conference. Who cares what the press has to say? I’d rather get clues to verify he is innocent in an actual court of law.



As I’m writing this, I’m waiting for my key to refresh to read the next chapter. If you remember from the introduction, I hear Chapter 14 is where everything falls apart. I’ll see for myself. Good thing they weren’t one chapter early as the number 13 has historical bad connotations. Heh.

Chapter XIV: Nondisclosure
This is the chapter I was waiting for! And I’ll be up front with you, I was disappointed it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Heh. I still liked this chapter in the beginning. It still falls victim to the biggest problem I had before in that it is too reliant on diamond choices to make good progress.

In terms of new criticism I cringed so hard when Alejandro (who looks like a fully grown man in his late 20’s) referred to his mother and father as “mommy and daddy”. It’s okay if you still call your parents mommy & daddy in private, but not when talking with other people. I know that is so minor to bring up but I had to get it out there.



I liked going out to the countryside to bond with Alianna’s family. I may call New York my city, my family, but I actually do like the countryside more. It’s quieter and you could enjoy the wonders of nature.

With all of that out of the way, let’s talk about the worst scene in the book (so far).

Robbery Gun Scene


I was going to put this section at the very end to go with the overall stuff, but I figure it’s best put here.

Now that I got context for the scene I said in the intro, I have to clarify. The robber did not hurt us, it was not even an evidence gun; it was the masked man’s, and (worst of all) the diamond choice… was not to comfort. I could forgive all of that except the last statement. It had good buildup and the stakes were high. The scene was so tense as the man got away with our smoking gun (pun not intended). Sadly the thing that ruined everything was that you could pay diamonds not to be comforted… but to hook up. In a public library. After the big scare you had. In front of the person you did not choose.

The context for the scene was not as bad as I thought, and that’s good. But me realizing the diamond scene was not to be comforted but to hook up was way worse. My expectations were already low, yet it still managed to make me feel like banging my head against the wall. It reminded me that this is -- in fact – a 2021 Choices book and their priorities are shown. This wasn’t Surrender. Nor was it Shipwrecked or Wolf Bride. Hooking up in a public area after a traumatic event like that with a love interest that did not feel forced at all was so unnatural it killed all positivity I had.

This one scene forced me to rethink a already planned conclusion I had for this essay as a whole (we’ll get there). And to think, we only have two more chapters to go.

Before I go on, let me remind you all: “Not. Even. Open. Heart. Especially. Not. With. Ethan. Ramsey.”

Chapter XV: Clear and Present Danger
Yeah, that was pretty good. Sadie was the absolute last person I was expecting to be the perpetrator. I thought it was going to be Marty or Ryan. The former still seems too full of himself (it doesn’t make him unlikable) and Ryan we have not heard from in a long time.

For it to be Sadie proved Pixelberry can still make mysteries with a good payoff… once every 15-ish attempts.

I don’t have anything else to say other than that. I’m just happy it wasn’t Beau or Gigi.

Chapter XVI: Collusion


Finished. I don’t have anything to say about this last chapter other than I didn’t mind Marty’s ascension. Sure the part where he said “I’m in charge now and there are going to be some big changes. And you won’t have a say in the manner” was pretty douchey. But everything before that made sense. Since not even we thought to make Sadie sign an NDA, Marty had to do what he could for damage control. This is presented like a bad thing, but it was pretty smart.

“How we are shown something and what it looks like is more important than what we are told it’s supposed to be. Always, always, always.”

Another thing is that for being so heavily dependent on diamond choices to win, that is not really carried over to this last chapter. All that mattered was outing Sadie. Thanks for scamming me out of diamonds yet again, Pixelberry.

=End of Reading=

That… was… exhausting!

I started off not happy I read this, but after chapter 9 I was happy I gave it a chance… but then the last 3 minutes of Chapter 14 and everything after that made me go back to not being happy about it.

Another reason I didn’t make predictions before I read it is because I know if I did, people would not have believed me if I got a ton of stuff right. “I have never read this before and know nothing about it, but here is what I think will happen,” and then the vast majority of my checklist would be correct. Maybe next time when there is a occupation centered book with romance I will make a checklist prediction post before the book even comes out. Calling it right now, there will be a firefighter book called “Flaming Hearts” or “Heart on Fire” soon.

Gabe & Aislinn


I remember back in Chapter One’s analysis I had strong feelings to say about Gabe Ricci but decided to save for the end? Now I don’t remember what I wanted to say about him. I will say the biggest surprise in the positive direction was that he was certainly not forced. It was surprising because this is, in fact, a 2021 Choices book and the fandom was praising the hell out of him. I’ve made it clear before that as a straight man I didn’t mind the focus Ethan Ramsey got, but at least with him I could see the fandom’s reaction to him. With Gabe? Yeah he was a lot like the honorable doctor with a chip on his shoulder and an actual sweet soft spot when that came out, but Gabe wasn’t in a few chapters for an extended period of time. No focus on him at all. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said Aislinn was the main love interest. But Gabe still does appear significantly enough and he wasn’t heavily paywalled that remind me he is the main LI so it’s not another Charlie over Edward case like Distant Shores.

Aislinn was cute and adorable, but not enough for me to call her a favorite of mine. Congratulations Bianca Sandoval from my top 10 Love Interests list, you’re safe from this amendment. She… had less personality than Gabe. Or maybe since there wasn’t enough focus on her either.

But I am happy Tyler got more development than Aislinn did in two chapters he appeared on! >:(

=Final Thoughts=

As I said in Chapter 14, I was thinking “the masked robber scene can’t be that bad.” I was sure other people were just blowing it out of proportion. After Chapter 9 I was mildly confident this would more or less make me happy about Choices. “Gee this is really shaping up! If the momentum keeps going, I would seriously consider reading the sequel and upcoming projects like Crimes of Passion”. But by that robber scene (more specifically the option to hook up in public after the scare in front of the other person), it didn’t kill the momentum nor did it make me want to rage quit (like the Nia thing in Blades of Light & Shadow) but it made me remember exactly what this company has succumb to and where their priorities really lie. I know I’m harping on that one scene a lot, but really. It felt so out of place; so unnatural given the tone that was being set up that it does not deserve to go unpunished. Now, I think I’m good not checking out Crimes of Passion or Wake the Dead.

That is of course, enough people ask me to review them… I guess that proves I’m susceptible to pressure and requests. Heh.

This book is exactly how you would think a “Choices book in 2021 about lawyers” would go. Aside from the occasional unironic good writing it’s not worth your time especially if you’re one of those people who quit Choices after the Cancelled Franchises blog post in January 2021. Can’t believe it’s been a year already. Even more especially that it is pay to win and yet it still doesn’t even matter as it’s not brought up again after the immediate chapter.

I wish we did still take on smaller cases in a small town like Chapter One. I like the intamacy and the relation we make with our clients.

I hope I did enough to keep all you happy by reviewing something everyone wanted me to. I am not going to be reading Laws of Attraction, Book 2. That’s a certainty.

😭 For the love of God or all you think is holy please don’t ask me to review the second book. 😭

Overall, I’ll give this book a… “C” rating. It’s closer to a “B” if that makes you feel better. A solid… 6/10. I can’t give it too much credit for getting really good in the second half and one true awful scene.

In terms of amending my rankings, Laws of Attraction, Book 1 is the new #33. Under The Nanny Affair, Book 1 (Now #32) and above Blades of Light & Shadow, Book 1 (Now #34).

=Conclusion=



Phew. Good to finish writing another one. Despite the mad demeanor I always give off, I do enjoy writing these essays. No matter how infuriating or boring or depressing the content I review.

I promise to all of you, even though my upload schedule is roughly once every two months I am not out of the game even with hardly anyone being active on the wiki anymore. Even if you don’t hear from me in a while, I am always planning essays unless stated otherwise. My Twitter DMs and Fandom message wall is always open for all of you for talking. 😊

Merry Christmas, lovers! My dear Berrypickers.