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I just remembered that I have read ICoS a few years ago and it came back to me how fucked up that book series is so I’m going to rant about it, but I will put it under a read more because some aspects are so disgusting and highly triggering that I don’t want people to get exposed to it without giving them the chance to evade it.
Trigger warnings for rape, incest, sexism, racism, drug abuse, murder, homophobia, etc. pp.
What is ICoS?
ICoS (In the Company of Shadows) is a book series about two spies, Hsin and Boyd, who become a couple, and them dealing with various missions and dangers. The series was written by two authors; both of them have tumblr accounts, too.
Who are the two main characters?
Hsin Liu Vega is a Mexican/Chinese agent in his late twenties working for “the agency”, an American agent service which does lots of dirty shady business. Due to childhood trauma and various experimentations that are being made on him, Hsin is unstable and needs to be observed 24/7 to prevent him from lashing out and going on a killing spree, something he has already done multiple times.
Boyd Beaulieu is a gay white boy in his early twenties who is recruited by his mother to work as Hsin’s partner (a job that so far nobody survived) after spending a year chained to his bed by his mother to prevent him from committing suicide after his boyfriend was brutally murdered in front of him.
Why do you consider the series to be fucked up?
The list of why I dislike this book and consider it to be fucked up as well as bad gay representation is long. Here are my favorite (🙄) aspects of the book:
Hsin
Hsin is kept drugged and in a cage outside of missions to keep him from attacking others.
During these times, he is often (sexually) assaulted by the guards, and at one point when he was just a teenager he was even assaulted by the psychologist assigned to him.
Generally, other characters compare him to a wild animal.
Various “animalistic” traits are assigned to him: unstable, violent, has a high/uncontrollable sex drive, murderous, incapable of making his own decisions, etc. pp.
The agency views him solely as a tool, not a human being, and they only “care” about him when they need to make sure that he remains “usable”.
There is a 24/7 surveillance on him in his home that he does not know of when they don’t lock him up in the cage.
People get assigned to watch him (he’s 27) as if he were a child.
At one point he had to carry a dog collar that would electrocute him as a warning and inject sedatives in graver scenarios.
Boyd
Boyd (19/20) was literally kept changed to his bed and locked in his house by his own mother to prevent him from committing suicide.
Boyd’s character can be summed up as “bitchy twink” because (1) his inner monologue is just complaining about everything and (2) no two chapters pass without Boyd being fucked by someone that’s at least five years older than him.
His boyfriend was brutally stabbed to death in front of him, and the book details this in a very graphic fashion.
Boyd is white and nearly ten years younger than Hsin yet he is given systematic power over him.
Racism
Hsin’s Chinese mother is stereotyped as a drug-addict and whore.
Hsin’s Mexican father, Emilio, is stereotyped as sex-addicted, drug-addicted, irresponsible and violent.
Later in the series, a pair of evil Japanese twin spies is introduced and they have an incestuous relationship.
There is a whole scene set in Mexico where two Mexican guys discuss kidnapping and assaulting Boyd.
Multiple characters of color are introduced only to (1) die soon after or (2) serve as the villains.
Sexism
The only thing that prevented the series to turn into a horror show for the female characters is that the authors critically underdeveloped all of the female characters.
The male to female characters ratio is probably 20:1.
Boyd’s mother is the stereotype of the emotionally cold-hearted blonde who would sacrifice her own son for the victory.
Rape and Incest
There are Japanese twin sisters who have sex with each other.
There is a scene where Emilio and Hsin (father and son) make-out to cater to a client.
Multiple rape scenes.
Exploitative gay sex (all sex scenes are brutal and written in a very voyeuristic fashion).
Child sexual abuse.
Drug abuse
A general glorification of drug abuse (smoking and alcohol consumption especially).
There is a whole arc which involves Boyd being drugged non-stop by a group of traffickers who also sell young adults and children into porn and snuff videos.
Violence
There is a lot of torture involved.
There are several mass killings.
Children, women, and people of color are always quickest to die.
Other (not triggering aspects)
Bad writing.
The authors created an elaborate post-war world where crime groups and spy agencies control resources and other things, and they just didn’t use it.
There is a stronger focus on exploitative sex scenes and dehumanizing characters than on good story-telling.
Somehow the authors – a white woman, and a gay Latino – decided that the best they could come up with is a sexist and racist book which also manages to have a voyeuristic and exploitative gaze on the gay characters and their relationship.
There is way too much drama and sex in that book series.
Bonus 1: The book didn’t start with the idea of “let’s write a book together!”, no, the authors turned their roleplay chats into a book series, which is why aside from the dialogue few things make sense and Boyd complains all the time.
Bonus 2: It’s literally the longest book series I have ever read. When I read it I already hated it for being so long and wordy. The longest book in the series has over a thousand pages.
TL;DR: ICoS is a drawn-out book series where the shock factor was more important to the authors than good writing, which resulted in racist, sexist and even homophobic mess. Do yourself a favor by not reading it.
