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mcf 's review for:
Conspiracy of Ravens
by Lila Bowen
This series is so, so important to me. Yes, it's YA fantasy and, yes, there are all sorts of monsters and big bads and amazing supernatural abilities. And, yes, it's wonderfully full of people of color who constantly deal with and confront the racism of the world around them. But, at its core, this is a series about a transman figuring out who he is, exploring his own sexuality and, ultimately, coming to love himself and the makeshift family he's made. It's wonderful and important and an absolute gift.
All of which makes me even sadder that this book featured a major scene of nonconsensual sex (think sex pollen, except god juice) that is never, ever fully address. The scene itself is horribly uncomfortable (the kind of thing you read while quietly saying "no, no, no, no" to yourself) because, in their right minds, none of the four characters involved would have participated in the acts. Yet, when it's over, it's addressed by making three of the four FORGET WHAT HAPPENED, while the one who remembers (Rhett, the main character) references the experience constantly in his own mind, never with any concern for the other participants or regret about the decision he made to help remove the event from their minds. It's profoundly troubling, and disappointing that Bowen -- who is so good on so many other important issues -- seems to have had a blind spot here.
All of which makes me even sadder that this book featured a major scene of nonconsensual sex (think sex pollen, except god juice) that is never, ever fully address. The scene itself is horribly uncomfortable (the kind of thing you read while quietly saying "no, no, no, no" to yourself) because, in their right minds, none of the four characters involved would have participated in the acts. Yet, when it's over, it's addressed by making three of the four FORGET WHAT HAPPENED, while the one who remembers (Rhett, the main character) references the experience constantly in his own mind, never with any concern for the other participants or regret about the decision he made to help remove the event from their minds. It's profoundly troubling, and disappointing that Bowen -- who is so good on so many other important issues -- seems to have had a blind spot here.