A review by mousegoddess
Alien Commander's Chosen by Celia Kyle, Erin Tate
3.0
In spite of the typical "Terran=American!" bullshit (why do people insist on following this INCREDIBLY idiotic idea that English must be the future default btw? I mean, yeah, I get it, English language book but... English is the third most spoken language on Earth today and not by a small margin either. It makes no sense.) I thoroughly enjoyed this book, silliness and all. Why? Because it was INTENTIONAL. The parts that were funny were SUPPOSED to be, not because the author didn't know how to use the English language they're SO SURE is/will be dominant. She may have made some borderline word choices, she may have bought into the American culture is the future trope, but at least my enjoyment fit the author's goals.
ETA: So something was squirming in the back of my brain and once it floated to the surface I had to come back and take the rating down a notch. I understand that this is an (apparently) heterosexual romance, I get that. But the way things are framed in this is super white savior and painfully heteronormative. White savior is my least favourite trope, but the give and take in the story balances it out. The heteronormativity on the other hand... When you frame an alien species as a more evolved form of humanity and THEN present them as purely heterosexual to the extent that even relationships of convenience between two men aren't even a possibility even though they never have contact with females... That's kind of a problem. Because that presents heterosexuality as the more evolved state. I'm not asking that the author write sex scenes between two guys, but the absolutist manner in which she uses the tropes makes me uncomfortable. The fact that I'm pretty certain it was not conscious or malicious doesn't ameliorate that.
ETA: So something was squirming in the back of my brain and once it floated to the surface I had to come back and take the rating down a notch. I understand that this is an (apparently) heterosexual romance, I get that. But the way things are framed in this is super white savior and painfully heteronormative. White savior is my least favourite trope, but the give and take in the story balances it out. The heteronormativity on the other hand... When you frame an alien species as a more evolved form of humanity and THEN present them as purely heterosexual to the extent that even relationships of convenience between two men aren't even a possibility even though they never have contact with females... That's kind of a problem. Because that presents heterosexuality as the more evolved state. I'm not asking that the author write sex scenes between two guys, but the absolutist manner in which she uses the tropes makes me uncomfortable. The fact that I'm pretty certain it was not conscious or malicious doesn't ameliorate that.