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A review by juwench
Depravity by Jacob Chance
3.0
I struggled with these books, thouogh this one i liked enough to make me urious and keep reading. I will address the struggle below, but will note that this one didn't hit that wrong note as much because at least the relationship is established before the ethical/power differential relationship is in place. i will refrain from getting on my soapbox about the age difference, but just leave my standard neuropsychological reminder that the human brain is not fully cooked until the mid-20s. So if you're over that an dating someone under that, you're dating a teenager.
While I am a romantic at heart, I am also a big fan of boundaries, considerations of power, personal ethics and consent, and these really play with the edges of this without thinking about it. To use an analogy that is not my own - what if these took place in another setting? If, rather than professor and student these were about prisoner and guard, this would be a legal case, not a romance novel (though yes, i know those novels are written too). But in all three of these books, despite their characters having some likeable traits, there is very little consideration of the ethical questions at play, the very real power and priviledge that a professor holds in relation to students in their university, much less their specific courses, and people talking about this and the very real risks invollved before choosing to enter a relationship. Even if we allow for the romance novel trope of "we just got carried away by the attraction/our love", in each of novels there was a moment after a first physical encounter where a conversation COULD have happened, and distinctly DID NOT. This is either bad writing, or bad character. Either way, it left me caring less about the people involved. In the case of this novel in particular, there was just not enouch character building - so many nice glimpses, but just no depth into them struggling with the really meaty issues at play in their lives. As usual, I was left feeling like yelling "TALK TO EACH OTHER." For real - I love a steamy scene, but TALK just as much!!!
While I am a romantic at heart, I am also a big fan of boundaries, considerations of power, personal ethics and consent, and these really play with the edges of this without thinking about it. To use an analogy that is not my own - what if these took place in another setting? If, rather than professor and student these were about prisoner and guard, this would be a legal case, not a romance novel (though yes, i know those novels are written too). But in all three of these books, despite their characters having some likeable traits, there is very little consideration of the ethical questions at play, the very real power and priviledge that a professor holds in relation to students in their university, much less their specific courses, and people talking about this and the very real risks invollved before choosing to enter a relationship. Even if we allow for the romance novel trope of "we just got carried away by the attraction/our love", in each of novels there was a moment after a first physical encounter where a conversation COULD have happened, and distinctly DID NOT. This is either bad writing, or bad character. Either way, it left me caring less about the people involved. In the case of this novel in particular, there was just not enouch character building - so many nice glimpses, but just no depth into them struggling with the really meaty issues at play in their lives. As usual, I was left feeling like yelling "TALK TO EACH OTHER." For real - I love a steamy scene, but TALK just as much!!!