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A review by desth
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
It's important to me to highlight a certain aspect of this book:
It has scenes of sexual harassment, and they're not taken very seriously.
This is not really a review, but mostly a trigger warning for sexual harassment scenes, and how they're handled (mild spoiler alert is in order).
There were a handful of non consensual interactions of the sexual nature in this book, and the way they were dealt with didn't really sit right with me.
A male co-worker of the protagonist (on top of busting into her office and asking her if she's a virgin and how many guys she's been with), later in the book kisses her without her consent (in the workplace, might I add). He does that again later on, while on a date with her, refusing to take no for an answer. Both incidents are colored in a negative way in the book. The thing is, that negative viewpoint focuses much more on the jealousy the love interest (Michael) feels when learning of/witnessing said kisses, the possessiveness he feels over the main character. At the same time, from the main character's (Stella's) pov, the vibe was more 'this feels wrong because he's not the guy I'm interested in' rather than being taken more seriously as something actually punishable by law and potentially even traumatizing. There's a mention of the possibility of her reporting him, but it's one sentence, and that's on that.
The same guy, a while after the second time he kisses her without her consent, touches another woman's butt in front of Stella (once again, in their place of work). Note that we're not told that the other girl gave any kind of indication she welcomed such behavior, she just doesn't "smack him as Stella would". That leads Stella to believe that "apparently [the girl] didn't care that [the co-worker] was a complete hound when it came to women" which "worked just fine for Stella. She didn't have to feel bad for not asking him out again." !!!
The same pattern is displayed between Michael and one of his former clients. In one scene she kisses him, and in another he touches the length of his leg going upwards, both acts without his consent. The lack of consent is taken even less seriously in this case. The focal point of the situation is, again, the emotions it evokes Stella, as she doesn't want another woman to touch (posses?) Michael. One could say there's even a tone of relief when she understands it was non consensual, because that means he only wants Stella, and not the other woman (jfc).
I don't think the author of any book is here to teach the reader about any particular subject, nor to give a how-to guide on how to handle any type of situation. Plus, obviously, each person experiences, processes and deals with sexual harassment differently. But nonetheless, I do believe there is a sensitive and a mindful way of handling non-consensual scenes of the sexual nature, especially when the larger part of one's audience is women. I'm sad to say the author did not handle them well at all, which disturbed the reading experience a fair amount.
It has scenes of sexual harassment, and they're not taken very seriously.
This is not really a review, but mostly a trigger warning for sexual harassment scenes, and how they're handled (mild spoiler alert is in order).
There were a handful of non consensual interactions of the sexual nature in this book, and the way they were dealt with didn't really sit right with me.
A male co-worker of the protagonist (on top of busting into her office and asking her if she's a virgin and how many guys she's been with), later in the book kisses her without her consent (in the workplace, might I add). He does that again later on, while on a date with her, refusing to take no for an answer. Both incidents are colored in a negative way in the book. The thing is, that negative viewpoint focuses much more on the jealousy the love interest (Michael) feels when learning of/witnessing said kisses, the possessiveness he feels over the main character. At the same time, from the main character's (Stella's) pov, the vibe was more 'this feels wrong because he's not the guy I'm interested in' rather than being taken more seriously as something actually punishable by law and potentially even traumatizing. There's a mention of the possibility of her reporting him, but it's one sentence, and that's on that.
The same guy, a while after the second time he kisses her without her consent, touches another woman's butt in front of Stella (once again, in their place of work). Note that we're not told that the other girl gave any kind of indication she welcomed such behavior, she just doesn't "smack him as Stella would". That leads Stella to believe that "apparently [the girl] didn't care that [the co-worker] was a complete hound when it came to women" which "worked just fine for Stella. She didn't have to feel bad for not asking him out again." !!!
The same pattern is displayed between Michael and one of his former clients. In one scene she kisses him, and in another he touches the length of his leg going upwards, both acts without his consent. The lack of consent is taken even less seriously in this case. The focal point of the situation is, again, the emotions it evokes Stella, as she doesn't want another woman to touch (posses?) Michael. One could say there's even a tone of relief when she understands it was non consensual, because that means he only wants Stella, and not the other woman (jfc).
I don't think the author of any book is here to teach the reader about any particular subject, nor to give a how-to guide on how to handle any type of situation. Plus, obviously, each person experiences, processes and deals with sexual harassment differently. But nonetheless, I do believe there is a sensitive and a mindful way of handling non-consensual scenes of the sexual nature, especially when the larger part of one's audience is women. I'm sad to say the author did not handle them well at all, which disturbed the reading experience a fair amount.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment