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honestlyicba t1_j6i3e9r wrote

Reply to comment by camilla_reads in How do you feel about CoHo? by bishrexual

I found it horrifying when I saw CoHo in the YA section of my local bookstore.

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camilla_reads t1_j6i4mrm wrote

Noooooooooo. Although saying that, she DOES have some YA books apparently. I've only ever read her adult ones though so I couldn't comment on what kind of relationships they portray but I think I'll go with: probably also toxic and problematic 🙃

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honestlyicba t1_j6i4xzb wrote

Funny you said that because the one person who recommended CoHo to me (she said it’s her fav author) is in an incredibly abusive and controlling relationship.

There are real life consequences when you portray abuse and manipulation as romantic.

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camilla_reads t1_j6i5ji7 wrote

This is the issue here, exactly. Not that she writes about these toxic relationships but that they're normalised and even romanticised. Imagine reading her books as an impressionable young teenager and thinking that's how relationships work, that it's oh-so-dreamy when a guy loves you SO much he flies into a jealous rage of another man so much as glances at you.

There are absolutely real life consequences to this kind of book being popularised and hyped as much as CoHo's are.

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honestlyicba t1_j6i8bev wrote

You are exactly right. It’s not the subject matter itself (toxic and problematic relationships) but writing them in a way that makes it seems romantic to impressionable young minds.

When we are young we are like blank sheets of paper and if we start believing at that age that it’s okay to be with someone who lies and gaslights and manipulated, we would think it’s normal.

It’s not the young readers fault, the books are overhyped and honestly they don’t know any better.

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