|
Post by Crystal on Jul 1, 2015 3:15:08 GMT
I'm a big fan of Jenny's blog, especially the FSoG recaps, and I really enjoyed the first three books in The Boss series, despite not being much into romance novels. When "The Ex" came out, with its trigger warning, I had mixed feelings. Gratitude for the kindness and compassion that let to putting the warning on there. Sadness that I wouldn't be continuing the story, because I'm a sensitive soul and reading about sexual violence upsets me a lot, to the point that it wrecks my enjoyment of a story. I particularly don't want sexual violence in close proximity to the BDSM erotica I enjoy. Aargh. [NB I am not criticizing Jenny for writing it, and I am not criticizing any reader for enjoying it. These are all my personal feelings and responses, nothing more.]
Those were my thoughts six months ago, but I'm in a better emotional place lately, I'm really enjoying re-reading The Boss, and damn it, I want to know what happens to Neil and Sophie in the fourth book. So, can anyone tell me, how bad is it? Are there graphic descriptions of rape, of sadism or cruelty on the part of the rapist? Spoilers are WELCOME. Before I watch a movie I always read IMDb's "parents' guide section, including all the spoilers. I like to be prepared.
Many thanks.
|
|
|
Post by glasschmetterling on Jul 1, 2015 8:51:11 GMT
I think we don't have any spoiler tags around here, so I'm writing the following in white on white, for those who don't want to be spoilered. Just highlight it to read. But it wasn't nearly as dark as I expected when I saw the trigger warning. In fact, if you've read the three books before, you're already familiar with the reason for the trigger warning, it's only finally acknowledged and dealt with.
The title, "The Ex", refers to Valerie Stern's brother, with whom Neil was in a BDSM relationship some decades in the past. He was the Dom who raped Neil (which was already mention in the books before). Neil ended the relationship (immediately, I think?), but Neil, being a man of his generation, has a rather hard time about accepting what has happened and calling it what it was (as we've already seen in the books before). The issue is dragged up again when, shortly after Neil's mom's funeral (when he's already in a very vulnerable state of mind), Valerie's brother Stephen announces a book that will also cover his intimate relationship with Neil. And Stephen, being the dick that he is, doesn't think that he raped Neil and is totally uncaring about the damage his book might do to Neil. So Neil's dealing with the fallout of what happened decades in the past during the course of the book, and with incorporating what has happened into his image of self, and also with some pretty self-destructing tendencies of his. But these are both things we as the readers already knew about from the books before, and we're only seeing Sophie and Neil finally dealing with those ramifications. Also, Neil isn't alone in this, but he's in therapy and Sophie is with him, and that was very important to me while reading.
And now I'm going back to reading the whole series again as soon as I've got the time!
|
|
|
Post by Crystal on Jul 1, 2015 14:03:35 GMT
Thank you very much, that's really helpful.
|
|