....And Then The Fandoms Came

So, I had a few problems with this book. 

•  Consistency. I'll bring this up in another point I'm about to make but the heroine wasn't consistent. Which is usually a good thing! You want the characters to change to not be what they were when they started off in the beginning of the novel or whatever you're reading. However, her changes just occurred. One minute, she was saying how she had no control over her sexuality, and that her sexuality was controlled by the sex work industry she was in as well as her husband, so, basically everyone but her. The next minute she was saying pretty much the opposite of that, sometimes even going into how she knew men wanted her(or the former her). I had more so had issue with the, what felt like, back tracking and saying she didn't have control over her sexuality. Then there was the fact that at one point it seems as though she's saying that she hates the sex work industry she's in, and that she felt forced to do it by her husband (who is in the same industry, although he is no longer as successful as she is). And she spends a good majority going into detail how force she feels to do it, and etc. And even going so far to insult/name call her fellow workers/co-stars (in her head). However, later on, she's talking to another character, and explains that she has nothing against the industry, but it's time for her to go. And then explains how she has nothing against sex workers and etc. It was just this really bad back and forth thing. Another thing was that there was the section where the heroine basically talks about how she met her husband, and how she used to speak. Which I have no issue with. It' just that when she first meets him, she's speaking like she does now/in the present narrative, then she says "Oh, I use to speak like this.", and then her sentences change to AAVE (African-American Vernacular English). 

• Sex Work/Sex Workers. I know that I'm not as knowledgeable about sex work as some others. I will go ahead and freely admit that. However, I don't like how the main character insulted sex workers, including herself. Granted, this was mostly done in her head. But it still made me side-eye, if not get a little annoyed. She used the word wh*re(s) a lot, and if I remember correctly, this only applied to the female sex workers. She said nothing of the men. But still. And sex workers weren't even really given any agency or considered as good as non-sex workers until the end of the novel almost. And even with that, it was more so of her(and I guess) them coming to the knowledge that they have validity because they see more of the world or more of people's reactions due to how people treat them, both as in an objectified and "they're considered dirty" manner. I think that's the point that was trying to be made. I'm not really sure. 

• Sexuality. So, sexuality was a big part of this novel, and I felt that was a good thing. However, how that sexuality was handled was either a) confusing for me or b) just rubbed me the wrong way entirely. I stated the confusion and inconsistencies above. So, here I'm going to focus on the stuff I didn't like. There were a few times to where the heroine placed or commented on other people sexuality/ sexual appeal (and even in my opinion, sexual worth) based upon how they were dressed. There were times that she met other characters, again, this mostly, if only, happened with the women, and talked about how they were plainly dressed/frumpy/etc. and thus considered not that sexual. Or something like that. It was something along those lines. She then compared herself to them, and I even believe, if I remember correctly, said how she was more sexual or more embracing or something of her sexuality than the woman she was comparing herself to. So, that I didn't like. 

• Racism/ Anti-Blackness. I have no problem with racism being discussed in books. However, this book kind of treated it weirdly. Like there was one moment, when the heroine/FMC is visiting her mother-in-law that racism is acknowledged/discussed and etc. However, there are a few other incidences where it isn't. It's not even mentioned in the heroine's head. There is one moment when the FMC is visiting one of her friends who is a hairstylist, and the friend casually calls her boyfriend a racial slur in front of her. The friend is white. I shouldn't have to say why that's wrong. The FMC doesn't say or even think anything. She just kept on moving. It wasn't even discussed or brought up. As you notice from the cover, the heroine has a blonde hair (which is dyed then is later a wig), blue contacts, and white circular tattoo under her eye. While the tattoo can't be really discussed, in my opinion, the blonde hair and blue eyes is a great example of anti-blackness and her having to wear those things to be more attractive. That didn't happen. At all. It wasn't mentioned with the exception of her removing it to show she was no longer going to work in sex work and no longer be that person. There was a part where she's discussing how her husband made her take etiquette classes to better her speech. Again, I shouldn't have to say why that's wrong. Then there's this character that says "You were nothing but a hood kid when I first met you". Yeah....no.

So, you're probably asking why did I give 3 1/2 stars then? Because the writing itself wasn't bad, i.e, the actual prose, not the events. There were even points where it got very poetic and was extremely descriptive. I admit that I liked the last bit of the book more than a good majority of it. So, yeah. 

Those my thoughts on it. With the exception of the writing/prose, I really kind of didn't like a lot of what occurred.