So about reading that book...
tw for discussions of sexual assault in fiction
so i probably can't finish reading Mate. not because of how poorly it was written, but because it handled the topic of sexual assault in what i regard as a poor manner. but then again, the book was probably also meant for an audience that finds dangerous men hot in fictional scenarios?
i'll admit that i am mixed on the topic of how rape and SA should be depicted in fiction. for context, i have experienced sexual abuse on the internet as a minor, and that has left me with several conflicting feelings about the topic. while i do like enjoying the topic in fiction, if it catches me off guard, i am prone to being triggered. while i want topics like these to be treated more or less ethically, my sister told me in a recent (if somewhat triggering) exchange that such ethics might not exist in fiction.
i am anti-censorship, but so often i find myself censoring myself and falling into thought patterns that are more focused what is the "correct" way of doing things. well i know some of it is living in a censorship focused society, i can't help but feel like some of it is linked to living with PTSD around such a delicate subject matter.
i don't want to be treated like a child in regards to my own trauma. that's not what i want, and being talked down to in regards to my trauma is more triggering than anything else. but how can we let erotica and romance authors who want to experiment with non-con/CNC elements in their fiction without triggering readers like me or censoring their work?
i really don't know. all i know is that i am never picking up a book i know nothing about ever again.