evesdown's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
morvoren's review against another edition
3.0
Some of the stories I really loved, especially Carrie Vaughn's and Brandon Sanderson's, and if they were all like that this would definitely get five stars, but for a book titled dangerous women, it was funny how many of the stories were written from the male perspective, treating women as some other creature, and in this instance I didn't see dangerous women, I saw men blaming women for their own mistakes. Offering the view of a women through the male gaze could have worked if it wasn't so typical. Even Wrestling Jesus, which was a pretty cool tale overall, focused too much on this beautiful woman that men were captivated by, and the real reason for her danger was not really on her part at all.
But overall a good read, and you do get a bit of Westeros history at the start :D
But overall a good read, and you do get a bit of Westeros history at the start :D
teresathistle's review
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Martin and Sanderson were the only ones who stuck to the theme of the collection. Some of these stories are truly awful. Who writes aboug violence against women for an anthology supposedly about dangerous women?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy
sataanaperkele's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
Truly awful. For a book that's meant to be a collection of short stories featuring empowered women, a lot of the stories are sexist.
R.R. Martins work is the what you would expect from an A Song of Ice and Fire novella, though may as well have been presented as a list of bullet points for its lack of structure.
The short story 'I know how to pick them' by Lawrence Block exemplifies everything wrong with this collection. Lawrence, you write like a dinosaur. Do us all a favour and don't waste any more good paper on your garbage.
Sanderson's 'Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell' is the only good work in this collection, but given the terrible quality of the other stories, it fails to make the book worth reading.
R.R. Martins work is the what you would expect from an A Song of Ice and Fire novella, though may as well have been presented as a list of bullet points for its lack of structure.
The short story 'I know how to pick them' by Lawrence Block exemplifies everything wrong with this collection. Lawrence, you write like a dinosaur. Do us all a favour and don't waste any more good paper on your garbage.
Sanderson's 'Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell' is the only good work in this collection, but given the terrible quality of the other stories, it fails to make the book worth reading.
slipperbunny's review against another edition
3.0
3,21/5. Not the kind of stories I had hoped for. Some were good but didn't really fit to the theme.
lar_an_layn's review against another edition
2.0
For most of the book I was looking for either dangerous or women, sometimes even both.
The Princess and the Queen was the reason I bought this book. It was nice to read - though more of an overview than a story. It includes lots of women and dragons but not enough women on dragons doing dangerous things.
Instead it includes the deaths of quite a lot of people whose names I couldn't remember because there were simply too many. And most of the important decision makers were men; that was not what I expected in a book called Dangerous Women. Calling female dragons "she-dragon" but male dragons only "dragon" also seems rather strange to me.
Still, all in all, I liked the story.
Raisa Stepanova is not a story I would have thought I would enjoy, but I did! A group of women, definitely in danger but also being dangerous - that is what I signed up for.
Second Arabesque, Very Slowly has a very disturbing worldbuilding and the story focusses on that: women are either breeders or midwives/healers. There is a sort of rebellion against this system but I had hoped for something more extreme.
I Know How to Pick 'Em - I don't even know where to start with this one. It includes a woman, yes - however, she is not dangerous. The protagonist/narrator clearly thinks so but I do certainly not trust him on anything. She's rather in danger.
This story made me question the whole book: it is the story of a man with a troubling past who meets a woman, deduces stuff about her - might be right, might be wrong - and makes strange decisions. No idea why it's in this book.
My Heart Is Either Broken - interesting, but again: Why this book? The story certainly includes women and they can be described as dangerous but I was rather expecting fantasy and a lot of really dangerous women. I also didn't appreciate that a lot things are alluded but never explained but that might just be because of my curiosity.
Wrestling Jesus is definitely a nice story but it severely lacked women. It takes five pages for one of the two women to appear and neither of them do much besides being the object of desire or spurring on the plot by kicking her son out of the house. I also did not appreciate that one of the main characters insulted other men by calling them girls (not the actual insult, but I'm not sure if goodreads appreciates swearwords).
However, it was nice as a story - just had nothing to with Dangerous Women.
Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell - now that is what I was hoping for when I bought this book! I enjoyed every page it; the worldbuilding, the character - EVERYTHING!
I had nearly given up on this book but this story made me glad that I bought it.
Badass women sneaking around at night through dark forests with potentially murderous ghosts to do morally highly questionable things because they want to protect their family - this story was awesome and captivating.
The Princess and the Queen was the reason I bought this book. It was nice to read - though more of an overview than a story. It includes lots of women and dragons but not enough women on dragons doing dangerous things.
Instead it includes the deaths of quite a lot of people whose names I couldn't remember because there were simply too many. And most of the important decision makers were men; that was not what I expected in a book called Dangerous Women. Calling female dragons "she-dragon" but male dragons only "dragon" also seems rather strange to me.
Still, all in all, I liked the story.
Raisa Stepanova is not a story I would have thought I would enjoy, but I did! A group of women, definitely in danger but also being dangerous - that is what I signed up for.
Second Arabesque, Very Slowly has a very disturbing worldbuilding and the story focusses on that: women are either breeders or midwives/healers. There is a sort of rebellion against this system but I had hoped for something more extreme.
I Know How to Pick 'Em - I don't even know where to start with this one. It includes a woman, yes - however, she is not dangerous. The protagonist/narrator clearly thinks so but I do certainly not trust him on anything. She's rather in danger.
This story made me question the whole book: it is the story of a man with a troubling past who meets a woman, deduces stuff about her - might be right, might be wrong - and makes strange decisions. No idea why it's in this book.
My Heart Is Either Broken - interesting, but again: Why this book? The story certainly includes women and they can be described as dangerous but I was rather expecting fantasy and a lot of really dangerous women. I also didn't appreciate that a lot things are alluded but never explained but that might just be because of my curiosity.
Wrestling Jesus is definitely a nice story but it severely lacked women. It takes five pages for one of the two women to appear and neither of them do much besides being the object of desire or spurring on the plot by kicking her son out of the house. I also did not appreciate that one of the main characters insulted other men by calling them girls (not the actual insult, but I'm not sure if goodreads appreciates swearwords).
However, it was nice as a story - just had nothing to with Dangerous Women.
Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell - now that is what I was hoping for when I bought this book! I enjoyed every page it; the worldbuilding, the character - EVERYTHING!
I had nearly given up on this book but this story made me glad that I bought it.
Badass women sneaking around at night through dark forests with potentially murderous ghosts to do morally highly questionable things because they want to protect their family - this story was awesome and captivating.
ajones9543's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
auti_me's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed 'The Princess and the Queen', 'Raisa Stepanova', 'Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell' and certain aspects of 'Second Arabesque, Very Slowly'. The other stories just left a bad taste in my mouth. Besides that, I would say this is false advertising: Aside from TPatQ and SfSitFoH, I wouldn't exactly categorize these women as dangerous, and some of the other stories are just downright mysoginistic. I'm glad I got this as a present and didn't actually spend money on it.
flightyzeus's review
4.0
The Princess and the Queen- 1/5: so unfortunate, I expected this to be a clear favourite. I appreciate that it was supposed to be written like a history record, but it was just a mish-mash of constant new character names, and overall was tedious to get through... :(
Raisa Stepenova- 4/5: Enjoyed it, an easy and interesting read.
Second Arabesque, Very Slowley- 5/5 Loved this, would love to read more in this universe.
I Know How to Pick 'Em- 1/5: Wasn't my usual style to start with, but the unnecessary backstory toward the main character just made for uncomfortable reading, and didn't add anything to the story.
My Heart is Either Broken- 4/5: Along the lines of Gone Baby Gone, nicely paced and intriguing.
Wrestling Jesus- 3/5: No major feelings either way toward this one.
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell- 5/5: Loved it, 100% need a full story out of this one.
Raisa Stepenova- 4/5: Enjoyed it, an easy and interesting read.
Second Arabesque, Very Slowley- 5/5 Loved this, would love to read more in this universe.
I Know How to Pick 'Em- 1/5: Wasn't my usual style to start with, but the unnecessary backstory toward the main character just made for uncomfortable reading, and didn't add anything to the story.
My Heart is Either Broken- 4/5: Along the lines of Gone Baby Gone, nicely paced and intriguing.
Wrestling Jesus- 3/5: No major feelings either way toward this one.
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell- 5/5: Loved it, 100% need a full story out of this one.