Kinsale, Laura - Shadowheart

[oyceter]

Not really plot spoilers per se, but I had a lot of fun being surprised by the book, so it's cut just in case.

After getting one brief glimpse of the potential content of the book via melymbrosia's entry, I figured there was some BDSM type activity in the book, ergo the potential controversy on the AAR boards. And I figured it would be some sort of scene like in Untie My Heart or All Through the Night, in which the hero ties the heroine up so she can lose control and enjoy her sexuality that way. I desperately wanted it to be the opposite, because really, every romance basically has that as an underlying trope. The author may not go so far as to tie up the heroine, but most of them are about the heroine losing control, of being willingly ravished by the hero and "forced" to do something she wants to but doesn't dare to do. I mean, how often do you get to see the hero lose control? In the sex scenes, he's always the one who pulls back at the last minute to make her come first. Or if he does lose control, half the time it's while doing the whole deflowering thing, hurts the heroine, etc. Well, obviously I generalize, and I haven't read every single romance out there ;). But off the top of my head I can think of three books in which the hero is tied up (two Johanna Lindseys, and All Through the Night), and in all of those, the hero gets to retaliate later by tying up the heroine. And it seems like only Anne in All Through the Night actually enjoys it (tying up the hero, not being tied up. Although that is seemingly enjoyed all around).

That said, I was very pleasantly surprised when the first sex scene rolled around.

That was the first misgiving... the second was that in the first two or three chapters, Elayne was spirited. Ugh. She was the epitome of the "high spirited" and "feisty" heroine who goes around and messes things up but is ravishingly beautiful and therefore forgiven. And then is caught with men in compromising positions because the guys think she is all wanton and whatnot. And hey, like before, I'm fine with the trope, but after seeing it in almost every romance novel, very sick of it! So I kind of reread the back, with Kinsale's remark that Elena has a "blade hidden in her soul," and rolled my eyes.

Again, very pleasantly surprised when the first sex scene rolled around.

Isn't it awful that half the time I begin romance novel reviews by talking about all the places I was scared they'd go wrong?

I would really like to rave about the sex scenes but can't quite figure out how without dealing with personal kinks versus everyone else's kinks... I have a feeling I'll probably feel something like how Oracne felt about Untie My Heart.

I don't know. The entire book basically clicked for me during the sex scenes -- I understood Allegreto better (I never quite understood his appeal in FMLH), I understood Elena better, and I loved the whole dynamic. Hee, personally, I think it is quite brilliant to have a standard dark, brooding, tortured bastard alpha male (all of which Allegreto is in the beginning) and to not only make him lose control, but to have him get off on it. I also didn't think that Elena was doing it for revenge, or that Allegreto was just letting her do that as a sort of apology type thing for forcing her the first time and the entire abduction thing in general. Definitely came across as something very ingrained in both characters to me. If I had to go into psychological underpinnings, it's probably be something about the sexiness of control, of having control when one normally doesn't, of losing control if one is usually in control.

I also very much liked how Elena had insights about herself because of what she found out she liked during sex, and I think you can even pinpoint that point as a change in her character -- she's no longer Allegreto's prisoner in her head, and being in control of that part of her life maybe gives her the idea or the confidence to grasp control in other parts.

That said, the intense level of involvement I had in the book tapered off a bit when the romance became more of the Lovers Separated by Forces Beyond Their Control thing. I had a sort of lovely dark image in the my head of the complete inversion of almost all romance novels -- instead of having the pureness of the heroine save the hero or bring him back to humanity, the heroine could instead learn to revel in the darkness and maybe in the end overtake the hero there. Okay, so I like my romances dark...

Kinsale didn't quite go there -- Allegreto's soul is saved (I did like how real she made religion, how important it was), land is healed, happy happy. But I also liked how the sex scenes in the beginning, particularly the roleplay one, foreshadow later plot points and let Elena know what she could do with him, how far he could be pushed.

She reminded me of what Melanthe could have been, except Melanthe wanted to run from it, and a big part of me still wants to picture chaos and a ruthless assassin hero checked only by a heroine even more ruthless than he.

What else was I going to say? Hrm. Maybe will think of something later. Anyone else have stuff to add?

Links:
- coffeeandink's review
- rachelmanija's review

Comments

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

I told vonnielake it reminded me of Spuffy -- not of Spuffy on the show, but of a particular kind of romantic fanfic Spuffy -- but it worked for me here because (a) there wasn't a canon for it to contradict; and (b) LK shows that it's basically psychotic to make someone else your moral compass.

I think the roleplay actually *enables* the later plot device, not just foreshadows it. As you say, learning that she's not Allegreto's prisoner during sex is what empowers Elena to take control outside it. And I agree -- it's taking power/giving it up that they both find sexy. Someone in one of the more sensible board comments points out that we only get Allegreto's POV after the scene where he *really* gives up control during sex.

And yeah -- I kind of felt like Kinsale was taking the cliche of the Dumb Feisty Heroine Kidnapped and Ravished Into Sexuality and completely inverting it. Like "Romance scholars say the forced seduction fantasy is really about women being in control? *Okay* then."

[oyceter]

*nods* Heh, you are probably going to lose all respect for me now when I admit I was a Spuffy fan and probably adored those romantic fanfics! Actually, I'm not sure if they were romantic so much as really kinky and very morally messed up. I am probably the only person in existence who wishes the book were darker than it is and regrets that LK didn't carry the insanity of making someone else your moral compass to the extreme.

Now I have Annie Sewell-Jenning's fic "Stealing ALl the Stars" in my head, except with Allegreto and Elena. Disturbing.

Re: roleplay -- yes! That's what I meant to say.

At first I was a little disconcerted to find that we didn't have Allegreto's POV at all, but the relative scarcity of his thoughts make sense with the book as Elena's bildungsroman.

And I'm so glad she did that with the cliche! Despite having giant arguments with myself in my head about who really has power in an s/m relationship, it's awesome finally having a woman being in control of the sex.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I am even more excited to read this now. Ooh! Ooh! Sex scenes advancing character development! They should ALL be that way. ALL THE TIME.

I adore Laura Kinsale!

Must finish rewrite, must finish rewrite...then I can read this book!

[oyceter]

Agreed!! It's kind of annoying when you can cut out the sex scenes of books and not have it influence character or plot arcs at all, or when the only plot arc influenced is the "must get married" plot. And even then it's not how they have sex that's important, just that they did.

I cannot imagine this book without those scenes between Elena and Allegreto.

Hee, and all I want to say is: rewrite faster!!