"We are in a cultural moment that demands purity of characters, particularly characters in romantic narratives (whether the romantic storylines are primary or secondary). In book reviews, readers bemoan the “problematic,” and unequal power dynamics make them “uncomfortable.”[1] This insistence on only the most upstanding and unblemished unions erases all possibility of person-making, which is to say, growth and change. Instead, we end up with narrative corn syrup: an uncomplicated, saccharine meal that goes down fast but is, at the end of the day, unsatisfying."
I'm so damn impressed by CL Clark for saying this outright and refusing (despite the intense controlling behavior fans display toward queer writers, especially of canon sapphic love stories) to soften the sharp edges in the main love story of Magic of the Lost.