Abusive Relationships in YA Fiction
Self-explanatory, really. I've noticed this trend in YA fiction, and this list will hopefully put them all in one place. Please DO NOT include books that feature healthy, consensual BDSM relationships or books meant for an adult audience. Otherwise, feel free to add.
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Gab
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Jun 17, 2013 06:35PM

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I agree. I think that some of them portray an abusive relationship without being consciously aware of it, and the others ARE consciously aware of it.

There's a line between BDSM and abuse. This video's a good way to explain it:

I haven't read the book completely (I'm too young according to parents and not quite comfortable with the idea of reading erotica) but from all the reviews I've gotten from people, sometimes Anastasia is repressed when she tries to voice her opinion about not liking some aspects of what's going on, and sometimes she doesn't know what she's getting into until she's smack in the middle of a BDSM session (which is a big no-no).

Regardless it doesn't belong on this list, since it isn't YA.

No, it's still an abusive relationship.

Yes, it does demonstrate abuse. BDSM is about safe, sane, consensual. Ana has her consent ignored or overridden numerous times and, at another point, Christian says that an orgasm counts as consent which it does not.

um no. it is abusive as shit, emotionally and physically because Ana frequently is pressured into sex under the threat of losing him. He also won't take no for an answer a lot of the time. Christian is also a stalker, emotionally manipulative, callous and conceited.

I read Nineteen Minutes for school when I was 17. I don't remember the details, but I really enjoyed it. There is an abusive relationship, but it isn't romanticized like it is in Twilight or Fifty Shades. It's from the point of view of the girl being abused and from what I remember it seemed very realistic and scary to me when I read it about 4 years ago. Also, the abuser dies in the end. Karmaaaaa.

There's a line between BDSM and abuse. This video's a good way to explain it: ..."
There is bdsm AND abuse in that book. However, they're not YA books; they are clearly aimed towards adults. I am wondering if they are on here because they began as Twilight fanfiction.

It demonstrates emotional abuse and manipulation. Ana is forced by Christian at every turn, either through intimidation, outright physical force, or misinformation. Look at how he handles her transition into BDSM � he informs her as little as possible, and his contract is worded in the most unclear way possible (and of course the contract has no legal weight but that's besides the point).
Abuse is not necessarily physical.
Although, in the particular case of 50 Shades, Ana's consent to the BDSM is dubious at best and you could claim that the abuse *is* also physical, but that's a whole different debate.





Some people need this list not because the books in question romanticize abuse, but because they could be triggered by reading the books.



Fifty Shades of Gray is to BDSM what Pink Flamingo lawn ornaments are to fashion...
But it's not YA so shouldn't be on this list.

Oh yes! I think that you may be right on that account. But the question still is, does it still belong on this list? From Book One it's clean cut that Valentine is not a good person- unlike Twilight in which these abusive relationships pass as love.

Everyone in the BDSM community is appalled at how the lifestyle is misrepresented in these books, there's nothing safe, sane or consensual about them.



Perhaps instead of a listopia list this should be a discussion thread somewhere. What would make it more valuable would be to hear people's opinion about the behaviors that make these books abusive.

This would work better as a discussion thread so we can hear why people think a book deserves to be on the list. Here is my discussion thread:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

It didn't occur to me to put a trigger warning, but I'll fix that shortly.
I was trying to put both books that romanticize abuse and ones that didn't romanticize abuse into one place. I noticed a trend and wanted to accumulate the books I thought qualified into one place, for reference or compare-and-contrast or whatever.

It's definitely an abusive relationship. I couldn't even finish the first book; Jace is manipulative, hostile, and an outright bully. He insults Clary at every turn, insists that she's a "mundie," and makes her feel worthless. He is more powerful than her, and he knows and uses it to control her. It was sickening.
Also, some of the books like Nineteen Minutes don't really belong on the list. They deal with domestic abuse, but it is deliberately put there. That's one of the main conflicts of the book. Unlike books like Twilight or City of Bones, where the abuse is seen as a healthy, ideal "romance."


I think that's the problem right there. It's one thing to write a book that deals with the issue of abusive relationships seriously. It's another to write a book where the leading man is a controlling, manipulative jerk and this is treated as normal or even desirable behavior.

Isn't that the whole point of the title? That it's a list for abusive relationships in YA, whether the relationship is meant to be romanticized or not?


There's a line between BDSM and abuse. This video's a good way to explain it: ..."
I'm not saying it's NOT a love story... but it's definitely abuse and it definitely features abuse. Christian very clearly violates Ana's consent and the limits that she agreed to. In the Twilight series (the series that the fanfiction 50 Shades was based on before the author changed all the names and got 50 Shades published) Edward also abuses Bella on several occasions. (Remember when he disabled her car so she couldn't see Jacob? That is abuse.)

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Anyone can add books to this list.