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kristinhunziker's reviews
432 reviews
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Murder
The Heiress Hunt by Joanna Shupe
lighthearted
medium-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? No
4.0
The Lady Hellion by Joanna Shupe
lighthearted
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Shupe continues to have very good characterization, much more complex than many romance novels. The FMC is headstrong/obstinate/mulish, an affectionate friend, rebellious/reckless/careless, an inquisitive amateur sleuth, and very altruistic/social justice warrior for marginalized, poorer women. She doesn't want to marry, but of course finds herself conflicted wanting to marry the MMC as the plot progresses. The MMC is disabled, dealing with both a serious psychiatric condition and also agoraphobia, a genius cryptographer/code-breaker, grumpy, and private/solitary/reserved. He wants to marry the FMC, but fears passing his psychiatric problems on to any children.
So many books' protagonists are one-dimensional, merely reasonable, perhaps quirky, or worse, a bland reader self-insert. Joanna Shupe has never been interested in that; her characters are always three-dimensional and have serious but relatable flaws.
This book's only potential flaw is that all the primary and secondary characters have very twenty-first century morals and are mostly cosplaying as Regency era beings. This didn't bother me at all; sometimes it's a pleasant suspension of disbelief, especially when Shupe's character development and prose are so elevated.
Also the final villain is kind of corny.
So many books' protagonists are one-dimensional, merely reasonable, perhaps quirky, or worse, a bland reader self-insert. Joanna Shupe has never been interested in that; her characters are always three-dimensional and have serious but relatable flaws.
This book's only potential flaw is that all the primary and secondary characters have very twenty-first century morals and are mostly cosplaying as Regency era beings. This didn't bother me at all; sometimes it's a pleasant suspension of disbelief, especially when Shupe's character development and prose are so elevated.
Also the final villain is kind of corny.
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
0.0
DNF @ 20%.
Search this book for the words “whore,” “trollop,” “strumpet,” and “tart” = 70 results. 357 pages ÷ 70 = this book pointlessly degrades women every 5 pages. Often it's 3-5 times in the same paragraph. The MMC's internal monologue says:
“He lusted for virtually every attractive female he saw. He had a prodigious sexual appetite, inherited, he had no doubt, from his hot-blooded Italian whore of a mother and her family. If he lusted for a whore, he paid her and had her. If he lusted for a respectable female, he found a whore as a substitute, paid her, and had her.” Page 47.
This short paragraph contains 6 references to women, but doesn't use the word “woman” once. We have 3 “whores,” 2 “females,” and one “mother.” The author understands nouns when she can use the derogatory noun “whore,” but as soon as the appropriate noun would be “woman,” she switches instead to the more dehumanizing adjective “female.”
I don't care that the MMC likes to frolic with sex workers; the context is very clear that he has absolutely no respect for these women. He's probably an absolute nightmare of a customer. If your aristocratic mother didn't start out as a sex worker, why are you calling her a whore?? And if she *was* a sex worker, how come you have absolutely no respect for the world's oldest profession?? Disgusting. I understand that Dain's mother was cold and loveless, but why not just characterize her as cold and loveless?! Why you gotta bring whores into it? They did nothing to you.
From page 95: “[Dain's ideal] bride, beyond doubt, would be the mistress, widow, or daughter of a notorious traitor or murderer. She would also be a famous whore. The ideal would be a half-Irish mulatto Jewess brothel keeper whose last lover had been hanged for sodomizing and strangling the Duke of Kent’s only legitimate offspring, the nine-year-old Alexandrina Victoria.”
Good. God. This book was published in Nineteen NINETY FIVE. Two cringe racial epithets and a reference to child sexual assault in 1 sentence????!! I don't care how cruel you want your characterization to be, it was inappropriate for a publisher to let this go to print.
I understand that this is loosely a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and yes, I agree that the MMC Dain is very beastly. What I am saying is that “(alleged) feminist falls in love with a horrid misogynist racist, but don't worry, she can fix him” is a terrible plot, and Loretta Chase should feel terrible for writing it. Stop 👏🏻 telling 👏🏻 women 👏🏻 that 👏🏻 misogynists 👏🏻 deserve 👏🏻 love.
As for the alleged feminist, the FMC. I'd like to talk about her as well. She is just as sexist as the MMC is.
“As to the tarts, if she [the FMC] had been a man, she supposed she’d fancy one now and then, too—but she would certainly not pay a farthing above the going rate.” Page 68. So you'd deign to visit a sex worker, but the concept of generosity to them is inconceivable. Great.
“The only disturbing sensation she [the FMC] experienced was an altogether irrational urge to rip those two strumpets’ hair out by the dyed roots and break all their fingers.” Page 72.
When leaving a scene where she has just interrupted the MMC in flagrante delicto with several sex workers, the FMC parts with, “Adieu, Lord Dain,’ she answered without turning her head. ‘Have a pleasant evening with your cows.” Page 77.
All I have to say is Belle would never. Belle would understand that until all women are liberated, none are.
This isn't a romance; this is just patriarchy with extra steps.
Search this book for the words “whore,” “trollop,” “strumpet,” and “tart” = 70 results. 357 pages ÷ 70 = this book pointlessly degrades women every 5 pages. Often it's 3-5 times in the same paragraph. The MMC's internal monologue says:
“He lusted for virtually every attractive female he saw. He had a prodigious sexual appetite, inherited, he had no doubt, from his hot-blooded Italian whore of a mother and her family. If he lusted for a whore, he paid her and had her. If he lusted for a respectable female, he found a whore as a substitute, paid her, and had her.” Page 47.
This short paragraph contains 6 references to women, but doesn't use the word “woman” once. We have 3 “whores,” 2 “females,” and one “mother.” The author understands nouns when she can use the derogatory noun “whore,” but as soon as the appropriate noun would be “woman,” she switches instead to the more dehumanizing adjective “female.”
I don't care that the MMC likes to frolic with sex workers; the context is very clear that he has absolutely no respect for these women. He's probably an absolute nightmare of a customer. If your aristocratic mother didn't start out as a sex worker, why are you calling her a whore?? And if she *was* a sex worker, how come you have absolutely no respect for the world's oldest profession?? Disgusting. I understand that Dain's mother was cold and loveless, but why not just characterize her as cold and loveless?! Why you gotta bring whores into it? They did nothing to you.
From page 95: “[Dain's ideal] bride, beyond doubt, would be the mistress, widow, or daughter of a notorious traitor or murderer. She would also be a famous whore. The ideal would be a half-Irish mulatto Jewess brothel keeper whose last lover had been hanged for sodomizing and strangling the Duke of Kent’s only legitimate offspring, the nine-year-old Alexandrina Victoria.”
Good. God. This book was published in Nineteen NINETY FIVE. Two cringe racial epithets and a reference to child sexual assault in 1 sentence????!! I don't care how cruel you want your characterization to be, it was inappropriate for a publisher to let this go to print.
I understand that this is loosely a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and yes, I agree that the MMC Dain is very beastly. What I am saying is that “(alleged) feminist falls in love with a horrid misogynist racist, but don't worry, she can fix him” is a terrible plot, and Loretta Chase should feel terrible for writing it. Stop 👏🏻 telling 👏🏻 women 👏🏻 that 👏🏻 misogynists 👏🏻 deserve 👏🏻 love.
As for the alleged feminist, the FMC. I'd like to talk about her as well. She is just as sexist as the MMC is.
“As to the tarts, if she [the FMC] had been a man, she supposed she’d fancy one now and then, too—but she would certainly not pay a farthing above the going rate.” Page 68. So you'd deign to visit a sex worker, but the concept of generosity to them is inconceivable. Great.
“The only disturbing sensation she [the FMC] experienced was an altogether irrational urge to rip those two strumpets’ hair out by the dyed roots and break all their fingers.” Page 72.
When leaving a scene where she has just interrupted the MMC in flagrante delicto with several sex workers, the FMC parts with, “Adieu, Lord Dain,’ she answered without turning her head. ‘Have a pleasant evening with your cows.” Page 77.
All I have to say is Belle would never. Belle would understand that until all women are liberated, none are.
This isn't a romance; this is just patriarchy with extra steps.
Cassiel's Servant by Jacqueline Carey
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No