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A review by theduchess93
The Sting of Victory by S.D. Simper
2.0
The dissonance between how much I WANTED to like this book and how upsetting this book was to me instead is...fairly large. Gay dark fantasy? Super into it! It wasn't terribly written and the characters were all fairly multi-faceted and not just stock characters, with some development throughout. HOWEVER.
The relationship between the protag and her love interest was just riddled with red flags of abuse, to the point where I had to stop reading it and pick it up again a week or two later because it was genuinely triggering given my history with abusive relationships. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for realistic portrayals of abusive relationships! They're important to show and, while painful, can be really cathartic for some! Unfortunately, this one was just...not handled in a way that I could personally deal with very well. Rather than making it clear that this situation was Bad and Abusive, it seemed as though the protag /finally got her abuser to change/ which is an incredibly dangerous move, considering that's the emotionally manipulative hook that often convinces folks to stay in abusive relationships. Honestly, this portrayal felt a lot like how I would explain away and describe my own abusive relationship while I was in it -- ie., my friends were all just wrong, they didn't see who I saw, he didn't mean to hurt me, he was just troubled -- without really challenging that. If anything, it seemed to encourage it. I really wish I could have liked it, and I am really genuinely glad this book worked for others and was cathartic for them, but it was just triggering for me.
The relationship between the protag and her love interest was just riddled with red flags of abuse, to the point where I had to stop reading it and pick it up again a week or two later because it was genuinely triggering given my history with abusive relationships. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for realistic portrayals of abusive relationships! They're important to show and, while painful, can be really cathartic for some! Unfortunately, this one was just...not handled in a way that I could personally deal with very well. Rather than making it clear that this situation was Bad and Abusive, it seemed as though the protag /finally got her abuser to change/ which is an incredibly dangerous move, considering that's the emotionally manipulative hook that often convinces folks to stay in abusive relationships. Honestly, this portrayal felt a lot like how I would explain away and describe my own abusive relationship while I was in it -- ie., my friends were all just wrong, they didn't see who I saw, he didn't mean to hurt me, he was just troubled -- without really challenging that. If anything, it seemed to encourage it. I really wish I could have liked it, and I am really genuinely glad this book worked for others and was cathartic for them, but it was just triggering for me.