The Decoy Princess Duo

Happy September people! So I may not be at Hogwarts getting sorted into a house (way past my time unfortunately), but I still have another review to share with you. Dawn Cook, also known as Kim Harrison, wrote The Decoy Princess and Princess at Sea. Although an enjoyable read, both books had a couple of things missing…

Firstly, the whole premise of the book is that there are people called Players who basically control their countries behind their monarchs – kind of like a power-behind-the-throne set-up. However, Cook does not quite explain this well enough. Simply mentioning this kind of power dynamic just wasn’t enough for me. I wanted details and illustrated situations to show me how these Players managed to control entire courts and countries without anyone realizing it. Yes, she does explain how they get extra-human powers and sixth senses through the build up of tolerance to a certain kind of animal poison, but those powers did not fully explain their ability to secretly rule and manipulate everyone around them. Furthermore, the heroine (Tess) receives training from her mentor (Kavenlow), but it all happens ‘off stage.’ As a major premise of both novels, I really felt like I needed more to work with in order to fully suspend my disbelief.

Secondly, both romances that Tess experiences are similarly flat. I simply did not believe the chemistry between Tess and Duncan, her card shark and accidental sidekick. It felt like Cook was expecting the reader to just accept that they had chemistry without really giving us convincing episodes of growing attraction. Yes, there are moments when Tess very blatantly is physically attracted to Duncan, but even she admits that she is inexperienced in this arena. In contrast, I think Cook developed the chemistry between Tess and Jeck (the Misdev captain and secret Player) much more thoroughly. They are thrown into highly emotional and stressful situations together and slowly learn how to interact successfully. The second novel ends in a pseudo-cliffhanger that left their romance half-baked though. Kavenlow, obviously a third party in this relationship, tells both Tess and the reader that Jeck is in love with her but that’s all we get. The book ends. And that’s it. Come on! Their romance was just starting to pick up when she decides to cut it off? That’s simply unfair.

So while I enjoyed both of these books, I ultimately wouldn’t recommend them. I was left dissatisfied by the ending, both plot-wise and romance-wise. Moreover, Tess as a heroine was simply not strong enough to pull of the kind of stunts that the plot required of her for me.

 

What did you guys think? Were you as dissatisfied as I was?

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Twilight – More Incest Than Romance

Here’s a clip from the movie that I think demonstrates Edward’s paternalism – he’s patting her on the head!

After writing my thoughts on Fifty Shades of Grey, I started thinking about how E.L. James initially wrote it as a Twilight fan-fic. I hadn’t read the first novel in Stephenie Meyer’s series in years and decided to take another go at it. I noticed some things this time around that I definitely did NOT catch back in my tweenage years.

What struck me the most while reading it now was how creepy the relationship between Bella and Edward actually is. Yes, I can see why it has become such a phenomenon – it is clearly a love story that overcomes all odds. But beyond that, Meyer endeavored to create the perfect boyfriend in the form of Edward and, my question is, why does she portray “the perfect boyfriend” as a semi-pedophilic stalker? Sure, Edward is a vampire so he’s instantly glorified in his stoic mysteriousness, but that does not change the fact that he is so much older and more experienced than Bella – he constantly takes advantage of and condescends down to her because of her unquestionable naïveté! This creates an imbalance in their relationship that, in actuality, gives Edward the role of father more than boyfriend…

Meyer reinforces throughout Twilight that Bella is effectually parentless – her mom lives on the other side of the country and Bella takes care of her dad more than he takes care of her. Thus, Edward takes on the role of Bella’s father as both teacher and protector. He is the one who introduces Bella to new worldviews and experiences. He is the one who, let’s be blunt, stalks her in order to make sure she’s safe. Throughout the first book and the entire series, Edward obsesses over Bella’s safety – he’s really the one with the proverbial shotgun on the porch, not Charlie. He goes to such extreme extents to ensure she’s safe that it even makes Bella uncomfortable at times! Sure, she’s relieved when he saves her from the thugs in the back alley, but she does question why he was there and how he knew where she was. Edward’s vampire ability to read minds only helps him “protect” Bella all the more effectively – in my opinion, this seems like it would be more stifling than reassuring. Through Edward’s obsession as her protector, Bella really loses all personal freedom not only in their relationship, but also in her entire life.

What I find the creepiest of all, though, is Edward’s paternal reluctance to have sex with Bella. Ok, I get it – he’s afraid he’s going to hurt her or eat her alive, but that doesn’t explain his stubborn inability to even talk about sex with Bella. In Twilight, Bella is the one who pushes for sex but, in the only conversation that they actually have about it, they don’t even mention sex! They dance around the word itself, making the conversation feel more like an awkward “birds and the bees” type of talk than a conversation about mutual sexual attraction. Even more, Edward doesn’t really listen to Bella at all – he just resolutely sticks to his own decision on the subject and refuses to even consider Bella’s wants and needs. Does that really sound like a conversation held among equals? I didn’t think so…It gets worse though! During this rather uncomfortable conversation, Edward physically treats Bella like a child – while she expresses her sexual frustrations, all Edward does is pat her on the head. Because, you know, that’s neither paternal nor condescending, right?

Ultimately, I find Meyer’s portrayal of Edward and Bella’s relationship problematic at best. I obviously thought Edward’s paternalism the most disturbing, as it suggests an aspect of incest that I don’t think belongs to “the perfect boyfriend,” but there’s more to it. Even Bella’s extreme dependence and obsession with Edward is disturbing. I can see why Twilight is considered the quintessential love story in today’s pop culture but, after re-reading it, I honestly wish it wasn’t. I also am not sure what I think about the movies – while I don’t think the pedophilic/paternal/incestual aspects of the relationship are on the forefront in the films, I can’t help but feeling that they can’t (and perhaps even don’t want to) escape Meyer’s original vision of Edward as “the perfect boyfriend” completely.

What do you guys think? Am I reading too much into this? Or is the relationship really more creepy and off-putting than it is romantic?

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