this will include some spoilers from the novel so proceed at your own risk.
hoping to avoid responses about “if you don’t like it don’t read it” or “did you not like what kind of story this was?” this story perplexes me for many reasons. there are many overlapping plot points yet i still struggle to see what the “point” of it is. often in fiction when you have yandere type characters the general idea is that their love interest is an exception to their violence, at least to some degree. that doesnt ever excuse their violence, but at times does offer their love interest some degree of autonomy.
in this partnership, Taeui does not have any autonomy and he never has. there isn’t revenge, there isnt really any emotion at all aside from Ilay’s desire to conquer and possess him. their relationship is largely unchanged from the beginning to now, insofar as Taeui has grown but Ilay is the same emotionally stunted violent loser. it gets to a point where you wonder… what is the point? what message is the author trying to convey? because it’s certainly not romantic or erotic; that doesn’t seem to be the intent.
i often stick around with darker stories to see what the larger message or goal is, but this doesn’t seem to have one. from where i stopped on the novel, this scene was physically nauseating. what we see here is actually less graphic and more tame than the novel. but thankfully (for now) seems to be honoring the original depiction insofar as Taeui is NOT enjoying this and he is fully aware he is being raped (this is important because this is often glossed over in fiction). it goes on for MANY chapters. and by the time it finishes and Taeui gets to speak, Ilay is not remorseful. Taeui basically just accepts his fate as being the only one who can “manage” Ilay so that he doesn’t kill his entire family. like i didnt think i was signing up for graphic DV and IPV but here we are…
this will include some spoilers from the novel so proceed at your own risk.
hoping to avoid responses about “if you don’t like it don’t read it” or “did you not like what kind of story this was?” this story perplexes me for many reasons. there are many overlapping plot points yet i still struggle to see what the “point” of it is. often in fiction when you have yandere type characters the general idea is that their love interest is an exception to their violence, at least to some degree. that doesnt ever excuse their violence, but at times does offer their love interest some degree of autonomy.
in this partnership, Taeui does not have any autonomy and he never has. there isn’t revenge, there isnt really any emotion at all aside from Ilay’s desire to conquer and possess him. their relationship is largely unchanged from the beginning to now, insofar as Taeui has grown but Ilay is the same emotionally stunted violent loser. it gets to a point where you wonder… what is the point? what message is the author trying to convey? because it’s certainly not romantic or erotic; that doesn’t seem to be the intent.
i often stick around with darker stories to see what the larger message or goal is, but this doesn’t seem to have one. from where i stopped on the novel, this scene was physically nauseating. what we see here is actually less graphic and more tame than the novel. but thankfully (for now) seems to be honoring the original depiction insofar as Taeui is NOT enjoying this and he is fully aware he is being raped (this is important because this is often glossed over in fiction). it goes on for MANY chapters. and by the time it finishes and Taeui gets to speak, Ilay is not remorseful. Taeui basically just accepts his fate as being the only one who can “manage” Ilay so that he doesn’t kill his entire family. like i didnt think i was signing up for graphic DV and IPV but here we are…