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bookishchef's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Okay okay. I have some thoughts.
Let's talk about them.
The main thing I didn't like is the blatant paedophilia and grooming committed by Silvia the Duchessa. I feel like it's completely glossed over because she's a woman.
The story never addresses it, just mentions it all the time.
This middle aged woman has a school of people who steer her boats, and these people always have to be young, pretty boys. She picks them herself and is known to take the prettiest boys as her lovers. These boys are aged somewhere between 15 and 25, if I remember correctly. And it's so so so creepy.
One of our main characters, Lucien, a 15 year old boy, gets picked by the Duchessa and has to withstand her vaguely sexual advances the entire time he's in her presence. During this, he constantly remarks on how creepy and imposing Silvia is, and how uncomfortable he feels.
Then, he gets whisked away by Rudolfo, the Duchessa's more age-appropriate lover, and the plot truly gets going. Rudolfo basically saves Lucien from a life of sexual slavery? And it is never mentioned again. What. the. hell.
If the gender roles were reversed and Silvia was a middle aged man handpicking underage girls as lovers, people would definitely talk about this weird plot point more.
When I started the book and this came up, I thought the author was going for an intentional role reversal. Showing that a paedophilic female villain is still a villain and still just as creepy but NO.
The story later tries to get the reader to pity and understand Silvia for some of her other actions AND SHE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THE VILLAIN.
Every time the author tried to get me to feel for her my brain would go "This woman is a paedophile. Whatever she had to suffer through or endure can't be as bad as what she does to those boys".
Lucien even does a full 180 on his opinion. Gone is the fear, the uncomfortableness and the awkwardness. When the plot needs him to suddenly forget about the sexual advances of this middle aged woman, he does.
I genuinely liked the rest of the story. Some plottwists happened without any foreshadowing, which I tend to dislike but besides that, I was intrigued throughout the entire book.
But what in the actual fuck was that paedophilia plotpoint??
Also also also by the end Lucien gets a fake identity in Bellezza and they want to have him identify as Arianna's brother, but because there's some romance between them that would be gross, so he takes on an identity as her cousin instead???? Like that's so much better????
Let's talk about them.
The main thing I didn't like is the blatant paedophilia and grooming committed by Silvia the Duchessa. I feel like it's completely glossed over because she's a woman.
The story never addresses it, just mentions it all the time.
This middle aged woman has a school of people who steer her boats, and these people always have to be young, pretty boys. She picks them herself and is known to take the prettiest boys as her lovers. These boys are aged somewhere between 15 and 25, if I remember correctly. And it's so so so creepy.
One of our main characters, Lucien, a 15 year old boy, gets picked by the Duchessa and has to withstand her vaguely sexual advances the entire time he's in her presence. During this, he constantly remarks on how creepy and imposing Silvia is, and how uncomfortable he feels.
Then, he gets whisked away by Rudolfo, the Duchessa's more age-appropriate lover, and the plot truly gets going. Rudolfo basically saves Lucien from a life of sexual slavery? And it is never mentioned again. What. the. hell.
If the gender roles were reversed and Silvia was a middle aged man handpicking underage girls as lovers, people would definitely talk about this weird plot point more.
When I started the book and this came up, I thought the author was going for an intentional role reversal. Showing that a paedophilic female villain is still a villain and still just as creepy but NO.
The story later tries to get the reader to pity and understand Silvia for some of her other actions AND SHE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THE VILLAIN.
Every time the author tried to get me to feel for her my brain would go "This woman is a paedophile. Whatever she had to suffer through or endure can't be as bad as what she does to those boys".
Lucien even does a full 180 on his opinion. Gone is the fear, the uncomfortableness and the awkwardness. When the plot needs him to suddenly forget about the sexual advances of this middle aged woman, he does.
I genuinely liked the rest of the story. Some plottwists happened without any foreshadowing, which I tend to dislike but besides that, I was intrigued throughout the entire book.
But what in the actual fuck was that paedophilia plotpoint??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Child death, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Sexism, Confinement, and Kidnapping
Minor: Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Infidelity, and Pedophilia
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