A review by hyleore
The Heroine's Journey: For Writers, Readers, and Fans of Pop Culture by Gail Carriger
informative
inspiring
4.75
I made important realisations about why I like the stories I like, and learned things that will no doubt be useful and inspiring in my own fiction writing.
Carriger's analysis of the Hero and Heroine's journey makes tons of good points - it actually seems strange to me (as it seemed to Carriger with the people she talked to) that I've never heard of this alternate story structure to the Hero's journey in my story structure wanderings and research, given how ever-present it is in the media we consume (and given that, as the Hero's journey, it is also grounded in ancient mythology). Before this, I knew everything couldn't be the Hero's journey (which I didn't relate to that much) and I had taken my distance from it - and obviously the Heroine's journey doesn't cover 'everything' either - but the Heroine's journey as described by Carriger still fills a gap, and happens to describe the stories I love! (As I read I kept thinking of my favourite book series, the Graceling Realm books by Kristin Cashore - it just fits.)
This book can be a useful tool for writers because it is valuable, as Carriger argues, to be aware of the character journeys, tropes, and archetypes that populate our stories (because they are likely to pop up in yours in some form too).
Carriger's witty and self-proclaimed flippant tone throughout make it surprisingly enjoyable for a non-fiction read, and I especially liked the analyses of the myths of Demeter, Isis, and Inanna which did a great job at establishing the basis of the Heroine's journey. I will definitely come back to this book for reference, and I will recommend it when I can.
Carriger's analysis of the Hero and Heroine's journey makes tons of good points - it actually seems strange to me (as it seemed to Carriger with the people she talked to) that I've never heard of this alternate story structure to the Hero's journey in my story structure wanderings and research, given how ever-present it is in the media we consume (and given that, as the Hero's journey, it is also grounded in ancient mythology). Before this, I knew everything couldn't be the Hero's journey (which I didn't relate to that much) and I had taken my distance from it - and obviously the Heroine's journey doesn't cover 'everything' either - but the Heroine's journey as described by Carriger still fills a gap, and happens to describe the stories I love! (As I read I kept thinking of my favourite book series, the Graceling Realm books by Kristin Cashore - it just fits.)
This book can be a useful tool for writers because it is valuable, as Carriger argues, to be aware of the character journeys, tropes, and archetypes that populate our stories (because they are likely to pop up in yours in some form too).
Carriger's witty and self-proclaimed flippant tone throughout make it surprisingly enjoyable for a non-fiction read, and I especially liked the analyses of the myths of Demeter, Isis, and Inanna which did a great job at establishing the basis of the Heroine's journey. I will definitely come back to this book for reference, and I will recommend it when I can.