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A review by scarletine6
The Garçonnière by Ali MacLagan
1.0
No. I just couldn't do it. I got as far as the prompt.
The lack of understanding of the historical context of the subject matter, by even requesting this story be written beggars belief. The author is not only naive, but her story-line is deeply offensive. No matter how 'well written' five star reviewers purport this story to be,there can be no 'Romance' if one party is enslaved and cannot walk away. The sexual content is ALWAYS rape.
The fact that many people can't see why this story is a problem is horrifying. It really disturbs me that there are readers who purposely pick up books because of violence, slavery and hurt. I don't get why anyone would seek to rehash pain that a community still feels keenly, for the sake of 'entertainment'.
I actually kinda feel a little sorry for the author. I 'doubt' hurt was her intention, but when it comes to contentious subjects like this, she-and the M/M group moderators should have realized there would be a backlash.
I was so happy to have got a prompt myself this year and written for LOR. The volunteer editors and proofreaders are amazing and work so hard on each story. Which is why i feel so saddened that the whole event is being tarnished by some unbelievably poor 'blinkered' decision making (or putting your head in the sand) Is keeping one book-that has caused so much hurt- available really worth the reputation of the group as a whole?
All 'publishing houses' have editorial standards that authors must adhere to. The M/M romance group acts as publisher- and generally produces work that is of a very high standard. Authors can write what they want, but that doesn't mean that all stories 'need' to be published. I am in no way endorsing censorship, what I am looking for 'curation' of stories. Sensible professional guidelines- on the same lines of Riptide, Dreamspinner etc, are most obviously needed. I do hope that eventually, there are some positive outcomes to this whole sorry affair.
The lack of understanding of the historical context of the subject matter, by even requesting this story be written beggars belief. The author is not only naive, but her story-line is deeply offensive. No matter how 'well written' five star reviewers purport this story to be,there can be no 'Romance' if one party is enslaved and cannot walk away. The sexual content is ALWAYS rape.
The fact that many people can't see why this story is a problem is horrifying. It really disturbs me that there are readers who purposely pick up books because of violence, slavery and hurt. I don't get why anyone would seek to rehash pain that a community still feels keenly, for the sake of 'entertainment'.
I actually kinda feel a little sorry for the author. I 'doubt' hurt was her intention, but when it comes to contentious subjects like this, she-and the M/M group moderators should have realized there would be a backlash.
I was so happy to have got a prompt myself this year and written for LOR. The volunteer editors and proofreaders are amazing and work so hard on each story. Which is why i feel so saddened that the whole event is being tarnished by some unbelievably poor 'blinkered' decision making (or putting your head in the sand) Is keeping one book-that has caused so much hurt- available really worth the reputation of the group as a whole?
All 'publishing houses' have editorial standards that authors must adhere to. The M/M romance group acts as publisher- and generally produces work that is of a very high standard. Authors can write what they want, but that doesn't mean that all stories 'need' to be published. I am in no way endorsing censorship, what I am looking for 'curation' of stories. Sensible professional guidelines- on the same lines of Riptide, Dreamspinner etc, are most obviously needed. I do hope that eventually, there are some positive outcomes to this whole sorry affair.