Evangeline Anderson ~ Broken Boundaries
From: Ellora’s Cave
Huge fully documented review with my opinion with LBea at Nose In A Book.
Short Summary: A solid and well deserved Grade F.
Dear Ellora’s Cave,
Don’t sell me a “Gay Romance” and throw in bullying, threats of suicide and acts of rape as part of the story. It’s not a Romance in my opinion.
What do you guys out there think?
Tags: Ellora's Cave, Evangeline Anderson, Gay Romance, Grade F, SciFi
Tina wrote,
There’s a term for all of those: It’s called MAS [male abuse stuff] or what some fans call ‘darkfic’. It’s niche within a niche, and it has its fans – but nothing on the cover of that book indicates anything remotely MASish. Where a trickle of blood from a punched mouth? No bruises on the back? No tear stained face?
I hard recently that EC lamented that m/m was a dying trend for them–they weren’t making money on it. I think perhaps hiring a better marketing director for their m/m properties might be a step in the right direction? You can’t just throw a batch of mixed pasta m/m spaghetti at the romance wall to see which noodle has the most stick. :(
Link | March 30th, 2009 at 9:53 am
TeddyPig wrote,
You are right Tina and I should have pointed that out.
I am upset because this was sold to me as M/M Romance.
I am not saying that writers should not write these type of stories if that is what turns them on or that is what sells.
But yeah, no warning, just is wrong in my opinion. There are expectations concerning things sold as Romance..
Link | March 30th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Tina wrote,
There are expectations concerning things sold as Romance..
I agree 100% There seems to be a trend recently in what I sum up as just plain-ass marketing gaffs.
One mistake many publishers made when it came to ‘yaoi’ manga, those publishers that were unfamiliar with the readership, was this assumption that m/m romance encompasses one recipe for all palates, just make it with two men and sex and it will sell’. :( It doesn’t work that way – not when there are women from vastly different age groups reading the yaoi genre, and gay male manga fans reading the genre. Each aspect of the readership comes with its own expectations.
I see romance pubs making this mistake also. You can’t look at m/m romance as just one unique subset of ‘romance’ and assume one size fits all. Its readership may be a small boat, but it’s a boat with a lot of rooms. I think EC needs to pick a room, and publish and market accordingly.
apologies for the ramble. :)
Link | March 30th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
JenB wrote,
I think it should’ve been sold as “hardcore yaoi-inspired erotic sci-fi” with a warning that it contains non-consensual sex and the possibly disturbing topic of suicide.
Full disclosure and proper marketing could have saved this book from what I imagine will be a flood of negative, angry reviews.
But I liked it. Once I switched from my “m/m romance” brain to my “boy smut” brain (which happened in the first chapter), it worked really well. I thought this was some of EA’s tightest, most solid writing. The content might be questionable, but the writing felt fresh and inspired. I enjoyed it very much.
Link | April 1st, 2009 at 8:42 am
Ingrid wrote,
I did not see ( still don’t ) the problem. It is an Evangeline Anderson story, they are not completely rosy and moonshine (Pledge Slave, the Assignment, Slave Boy). Knowing those you could have been warned up front.
I enjoyed it, it had all the familiar topics she puts in every book but as JenB said it felt fresh and inspired. I can’t wait for her next m/m book.
Link | April 12th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
Because it was sold as Gay Romance Ingrid and it is not. I don’t consider rape fresh. They used to have it used in Straight Romance all the time in the 70s and 80s and as you can tell it is not accepted anymore.
Link | April 12th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
L.E. Bryce wrote,
That review, with pictures, was a lot of fun. You’re always welcome to skewer something of mine.
Link | April 21st, 2009 at 11:04 pm