Huge thanks to Violet
LeVoit for sending me a copy for an honest review
If you were to ask me what my least favorite genre is, I
would say romance. If you were to ask me what tropes I hate, I would say romantic subplots. However, if you were to ask me why I would say something
along the lines of “Oh it's just not for me" but I am a damned liar,
because the truth is, I have looked down my nose at romance and erotica books.
I am that guy (girl) but I recent read made me acknowledge and rethink my
shitty attitude toward the genre.
I immediately became a fan of Violet LeVoit after reading
her book I MISS THE WORLD. She somehow made a story that is almost entirely a
conversation between two characters in a single setting feel more kinetic and
engaging than it had any right to be, and ended up being one of my top reads of
2018. When I saw her offering eArcs of her upcoming book I jumped at the
chance, and I immediately started to panic because I DO NOT LIKE ROMANCE. I DO
NOT LIKE EROTICA.
I've always associated romance with the cheesy covers, and
assumed they were Mary Sue led wish fulfillment daydreams on paper. As for
erotica I assumed much the same, but with lots of super cringey sex scenes
thrown in for even more uncomfortable reading. The kicker? I've never actually
read a romance OR erotica novel! Straight up for over a DECADE I've been
looking down on romance and erotica novels while having never read either. What
the actual fuck? Where the hell did these prejudices even come from? From the
fact that sneering at Romance is a cool thing to do? From crappy forced romantic
subplots in bland thrillers? Probably both, with a side of outrage at the
popularity of a certain erotic Twilight fanfiction.
But now I have read an erotic romance book. And you know
what I found? I thought it was fucking brilliant.
Scarstruck by Violet LeVoit follows a Hollywood hunk, a
starlet with communist sympathies, and a Mexican bell boy in an unexpected love
triangle in 1960's Hollywood. LeVoit is an expert at subverting expectations,
and here she examines sexuality, gender, power, and love within in the mob like
machine of Hollywood's golden age. The dialogue is every bit as clever and
razor sharp as I expect from LeVoit (I don't know that she could write a
stilted awkward conversation if she tried). The characters weren't shallow
stereotypes, but unique, fleshed out, and incredibly human. Our main man Ron
Dash gave me some strong Rock Hudson vibes, and Lana is easily one of my new
top female characters with her communist sympathies, adventurous ways, and the
perfect balance of toughness and vulnerability. The romance isn't cliché and
saccharine, but real, complex, and more than a little dirty. Levoit fully embraces the complicated nature of love, sex, and sexuality in a way that even this killjoy found incredibly romantic and sweet....even with the cigarette burns. I didn't even skim
the sex scenes as I tend to do, not out of prudishness, but most sex scenes in
books are more awkwardly funny than sexy.
Here the sex scenes offer further depth and insight to the character’s thoughts
and motivations, as well as their relationships with each other, and you know
what? They were damn sexy too. This is stellar example of how genre fiction can
be the perfect vehicle for examining aspects of ourselves and our society while
being wildly entertaining, just leave your preconceived notions at the door, k?
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