A review by mburnsides
Deceived by Bertrice Small

Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
DNF  ~114 pages

CW: Rape, Child Molestation, Victim Blaming, Death by Childbirth

I'm not finishing this book because the treatment of the "bad" female characters by the main characters is disgusting and astonishing. Main man, Valerian, literally gags and rapes his wife, Calandra, because he wants children and <i> its her duty as his wife</i> immediately after she tells him she doesn’t like sex because she was molested at 8 years old. The other characters, including main woman, Aurora, constantly shit on Calandra for being feminine and caring about ‘frivolous’ things (despite that being what was encouraged for her to like) and for not wanting children. The main family also owns slaves. There was an attempt to make the historical presence of slaves palatable for a modern audience, but it comes across as more of a "yes we own slaves, but it's ok cause we care for them, but no we won't let them go free, cause we need them to make money."

None of the characters, except George, are likable or half-way decent people. The plot is slow and boring. The treatment of Calandra is horrible.

There’s a lot of victim-blamey stuff in this book, as well as sister masturbation and rape. I don't care about either Valerian or Aurora anymore, and don't wanna read through the insanity Cally is being put through. I don't care if the book is "historically accurate." It’s fiction; anything could happen. Rape and victim abuse/ hate does not need to be included.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings