I think that's depending too much on authorial intent. There are plenty of instances where what the author intends is not actually what the author writes, and this is one of them. I don't think that the author intended to write a realistic portrayal of an abusive D/s relationship -- but that is exactly what she did.
The way that it's treated as consensual and healthy is IMO part of what makes it realistic. Because that is part of the symptom of abusive relationships; abusers rarely tell their victims that they're being abusive. Everything they say and do is designed to gaslight the victim and make her believe that she's crazy, and that the relationship is, in fact, healthy and normal.
Pretty much every person I have known in an abusive D/s relationship truly believed that their relationship was healthy and consensual, because their dom told them it was. Often, they were new to the scene and didn't know any better; they trusted what this (supposedly) really nice sweet guy was telling them.
If you're trying to say that the novel's premise, which is that this is a totally healthy and consensual romantic relationship, is unrealistic, I'll definitely agree with you there. But I don't think that anything in the actual book itself supports the premise; in fact, I'm pretty sure it completely negates it.
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I think that's depending too much on authorial intent. There are plenty of instances where what the author intends is not actually what the author writes, and this is one of them. I don't think that the author intended to write a realistic portrayal of an abusive D/s relationship -- but that is exactly what she did.
The way that it's treated as consensual and healthy is IMO part of what makes it realistic. Because that is part of the symptom of abusive relationships; abusers rarely tell their victims that they're being abusive. Everything they say and do is designed to gaslight the victim and make her believe that she's crazy, and that the relationship is, in fact, healthy and normal.
Pretty much every person I have known in an abusive D/s relationship truly believed that their relationship was healthy and consensual, because their dom told them it was. Often, they were new to the scene and didn't know any better; they trusted what this (supposedly) really nice sweet guy was telling them.
If you're trying to say that the novel's premise, which is that this is a totally healthy and consensual romantic relationship, is unrealistic, I'll definitely agree with you there. But I don't think that anything in the actual book itself supports the premise; in fact, I'm pretty sure it completely negates it.