Little Stranger

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content, physical and emotional abuse, rape, and sexual assault.

When Olivia and Malachi first begin their sexual relationship, Olivia fears that her attraction to her brother indicates some form of inherent moral corruption, even though there is no genetic link between them. However, even as she fears that her fascination indicates “something wrong” with her, she finds the idea of engaging in a taboo sexual relationship alluring and arousing. Even as her approach toward her relationship with Malachi changes, Olivia finds that a sense of taboo remains a central part of her sexual identity and approach to kink, and through her character. The novel explores the boundaries of taboo through both Olivia’s sexual experience and the reader’s experience of enjoying the enactment of that experience.

Though the primary social taboo that Olivia and Malachi transgress is their sibling and sexual relationships, Olivia’s journal (which Malachi reads) reveals a desire for other sexual experiences that mimic or reenact taboos. She fantasizes about various scenarios that involve consent in the guise of non-consent, such as being chased through the woods as a form of violent foreplay. Later, when Malachi kidnaps Olivia, she finds that his aggression satisfies her desire for forceful sex that imitates assault, even though she does not give the prearranged consent that is a necessary part of consenting non-consent.