saeruh's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
2.0
As someone who LOVES the show and was so incredibly excited when I found out about these books chronicling the teen lives of Mulder and Scully, I was very disappointed while reading this.
The overall story itself is kinda a monster/series killer of the week in book form and was just complex enough to keep me interested and wondering who was the killer. No, what truly disappointed me was the pure sexism displayed in this novel.
About 30-40% through, the reader meets Phoebe, Fox’s best friend whom he has a bit of a friends-with-benefits relationship with. Phoebe is the ONLY female character in the entire book. From her first scene, it’s emphasized how sexy this teenager is (I suppose Garcia was trying to show Mulder’s POV but it just fell flat) and how not like other girls she is. She likes nerdy things like star trek and D and D! She hates how vain girlies who wear makeup are! Mulder’s other best friend, comic relief side character Gimble, tells Mulder how much he loves to look at her ass and she doesn’t mind one bit because she’s not like other girls you know!
I get the source material (that of the show) is not always great, is definitely not progressive by any means, and followed late 20th century society morals rather than early 21st century ones but the writing felt so incredibly lazy and down-putting to women that I considered DNFing it.
The overall story itself is kinda a monster/series killer of the week in book form and was just complex enough to keep me interested and wondering who was the killer. No, what truly disappointed me was the pure sexism displayed in this novel.
About 30-40% through, the reader meets Phoebe, Fox’s best friend whom he has a bit of a friends-with-benefits relationship with. Phoebe is the ONLY female character in the entire book. From her first scene, it’s emphasized how sexy this teenager is (I suppose Garcia was trying to show Mulder’s POV but it just fell flat) and how not like other girls she is. She likes nerdy things like star trek and D and D! She hates how vain girlies who wear makeup are! Mulder’s other best friend, comic relief side character Gimble, tells Mulder how much he loves to look at her ass and she doesn’t mind one bit because she’s not like other girls you know!
I get the source material (that of the show) is not always great, is definitely not progressive by any means, and followed late 20th century society morals rather than early 21st century ones but the writing felt so incredibly lazy and down-putting to women that I considered DNFing it.
hufflepuffmama1629's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
is_marcia's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
mmadill227's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
communistlukedanes's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
antonia_reads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
on_a_sunbeam's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
autumn_foxy's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
renatasnacks's review against another edition
3.0
I almost didn't read this because I felt so meh about the teen Scully book [b:Devil's Advocate|29244734|Devil's Advocate (The X-Files Origins, #2)|Jonathan Maberry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1483454545s/29244734.jpg|49488502], but I figured it's a totally separate author, let me give it a chance. And! I liked it so much more. (BTW- I notice that Goodreads is numbering this one #1 in the series, but I think Goodreads maybe just did that arbitrarily/alphabetically, since they're not really connected. [There is a slight point of crossover but it's not really significant])
I thought Garcia had a much better handle on Mulder's voice, and the mystery was a lot more engaging. I also appreciated the nerdy D&D humor in this one--more in line with what I liked about the tone of the TV show.
Overall, honestly, there probably still is better X-Files fanfiction out there on the internet, but I would recommend this one to an X-Files fan looking for a fun read.
I thought Garcia had a much better handle on Mulder's voice, and the mystery was a lot more engaging. I also appreciated the nerdy D&D humor in this one--more in line with what I liked about the tone of the TV show.
Overall, honestly, there probably still is better X-Files fanfiction out there on the internet, but I would recommend this one to an X-Files fan looking for a fun read.