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A review by the_vegan_bookworm
The Wicked and the Willing by Lianyu Tan
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The things I liked about this story, I loved. But the things I disliked, I hated.
The metaphors comparing the vampire and abusive partner to imperialism and white supremacy are brilliant and expertly crafted. I was really compelled by how deeply this story reached into that narrative to criticize the imperial system and how you may think you're immune to its harms when you're really another victim. ("She needs me." "She needs someone like you" will live in my head rent-free forever). This metaphor also explored abusive relationships in a similar way with thinking that you will never become the victim of their rage because you're unique, but truly you're just convenient at the moment. Just truly well-done.
With this being said, the gratuitous and graphic sexual violence was almost made to feel "sexy" in a way that felt deeply upsetting.The non consensual fisting scene goes on for pages and doesn't serve any real and meaningful purpose for the story. By going so into detail with it, it was hard to differentiate it from the other consensual sexual scenes. Focusing on the unwilling orgasms taking place during the rape also seemed to be "sexy" instead of upsetting as they should have been.
Additionally, the torture chapter felt pointless in the greater narrative and, to me, mainly served to add a "horror" element without really furthering the story. It was graphic and hard to sit through, but I admit this might be my personal taste.
If you are interested a heavy and dark book in terms of violence and can handle a lot of graphic sexual violence, you might like this story more than I did. I have high hopes for future works of the author's, and I think the author is supremely talented. I just would like to see some care in the way certain kinds of violence are addressed through these stories.
The metaphors comparing the vampire and abusive partner to imperialism and white supremacy are brilliant and expertly crafted. I was really compelled by how deeply this story reached into that narrative to criticize the imperial system and how you may think you're immune to its harms when you're really another victim. ("She needs me." "She needs someone like you" will live in my head rent-free forever). This metaphor also explored abusive relationships in a similar way with thinking that you will never become the victim of their rage because you're unique, but truly you're just convenient at the moment. Just truly well-done.
With this being said, the gratuitous and graphic sexual violence was almost made to feel "sexy" in a way that felt deeply upsetting.
Additionally, the torture chapter felt pointless in the greater narrative and, to me, mainly served to add a "horror" element without really furthering the story. It was graphic and hard to sit through, but I admit this might be my personal taste.
If you are interested a heavy and dark book in terms of violence and can handle a lot of graphic sexual violence, you might like this story more than I did. I have high hopes for future works of the author's, and I think the author is supremely talented. I just would like to see some care in the way certain kinds of violence are addressed through these stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Pedophilia