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sawyerbell's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic guide for writers exploring the hero's quest from a feminine POV.
wendylioness's review against another edition
4.0
I actually read this book a year or two ago but wasn't sure I wanted to document it on Goodreads, but recently I've been thinking about the things the book had taught me about the feminine story structure, and I began searching for this book again because I couldn't remember what it was called.
Note: I don't remember why I had not initially documented the book except that it's written from a secular perspective and said a few strange things. I want to reread the book to see if my perspective on it has changed, and I'm going to be looking for other books on this topic to see if I can find a better one out there, but what I did learn from this book has stayed with me.
I've been seeing the "feminine" story structure in different places now and it is a beautiful kind of story--if the Hero's Journey was about the external journey, the Heroine's Journey is about the internal journey and awakening of personal identity and significance. The Hero's Journey is driven by external conflict, while the Heroine's Journey is driven by discovery and character growth.
Something this book points out is that while the Hero's Journey is called masculine and the Heroine's Journey is called feminine, they're more used in mythological terms rather than literal terms. For instance, there are stories that follow the Hero's Journey but have a female main character who goes on that journey, and vice versa, there are stories that follow the Heroine's Journey story structure that have a male main character going on the internal journey.
I read this book more for the information about the different story structure and gleaned some gems from it.
Note: I don't remember why I had not initially documented the book except that it's written from a secular perspective and said a few strange things. I want to reread the book to see if my perspective on it has changed, and I'm going to be looking for other books on this topic to see if I can find a better one out there, but what I did learn from this book has stayed with me.
I've been seeing the "feminine" story structure in different places now and it is a beautiful kind of story--if the Hero's Journey was about the external journey, the Heroine's Journey is about the internal journey and awakening of personal identity and significance. The Hero's Journey is driven by external conflict, while the Heroine's Journey is driven by discovery and character growth.
Something this book points out is that while the Hero's Journey is called masculine and the Heroine's Journey is called feminine, they're more used in mythological terms rather than literal terms. For instance, there are stories that follow the Hero's Journey but have a female main character who goes on that journey, and vice versa, there are stories that follow the Heroine's Journey story structure that have a male main character going on the internal journey.
I read this book more for the information about the different story structure and gleaned some gems from it.
emlovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting look at the different archetypes in story-telling over and above the hero’s journey. It’s very clear and easy to recognise, with excellent popular examples. Some sections towards the end feel repetitive but it’s unavoidable when showing how different beats in different character journey’s differ or overlap. A great reference book, which I’m sure will help me with initial plotting.
jun_shi's review against another edition
5.0
I got a lot out of this book. It's more broadly applicable than its title suggests. That is, it applies to male characters as much as female characters, and the author consistently demonstrates that with examples. So if you're thinking, "But my MC is a guy," that's not a reason to skip past this book, which provides a thought-provoking analogue to the hero's journey.
I have a couple issues with the book that made that fifth star flicker on and off in my head while I was reading:
1. It _did_ bog down a bit for me in the middle, when there was a lot of what, at the time, I considered rehashing of the hero's journey. Candidly, I wondered if the author had just run out of new things to say and very nearly put the book on my DNF pile. Persevering through that, however, I found that it was setup for very insightful comparison of the virgin and hero archetypes. I'm not 100% convinced it was all necessary background--I question how many people picking this up are unfamiliar with the hero archetype, but it _would_ be critical for those readers, I suppose, and ultimately, it was harmless (though a "just trust me for this next bit" may have kept me from almost putting it down).
2. I read the Kindle version, so I can't speak to the print version, but wow--the typos. I've never seen so many in a published work. However, I'm not inclined to blame the author. They were all of the same sort, which makes me think there may have been a conversion issue in producing the Kindle file. All of them were of the form: break the correct word into two pieces, or join two correct words into one incorrect one. For example: in _many_ places "a new" was rendered as "anew", "often" was rendered as "of ten", or the amusing "femme fatale" becoming "femme fat ale". This happened at a rate of about every few pages, so it became somewhat distracting. It didn't exclusively produce valid words: for example: "service" sometimes became "ser vice" or "form" became "for m". It has the feel of a machine-produced error rather than a human one, so I'm hopeful that readers of the print version weren't subjected to this distraction.
Those two issues would have been enough to knock my rating down to 4 stars. However, I reserve 5 stars for those books that I believe will have a significant and lasting impact on me, and this book absolutely will, making the issues trivial compared to the benefit I received from reading this book.
I have a couple issues with the book that made that fifth star flicker on and off in my head while I was reading:
1. It _did_ bog down a bit for me in the middle, when there was a lot of what, at the time, I considered rehashing of the hero's journey. Candidly, I wondered if the author had just run out of new things to say and very nearly put the book on my DNF pile. Persevering through that, however, I found that it was setup for very insightful comparison of the virgin and hero archetypes. I'm not 100% convinced it was all necessary background--I question how many people picking this up are unfamiliar with the hero archetype, but it _would_ be critical for those readers, I suppose, and ultimately, it was harmless (though a "just trust me for this next bit" may have kept me from almost putting it down).
2. I read the Kindle version, so I can't speak to the print version, but wow--the typos. I've never seen so many in a published work. However, I'm not inclined to blame the author. They were all of the same sort, which makes me think there may have been a conversion issue in producing the Kindle file. All of them were of the form: break the correct word into two pieces, or join two correct words into one incorrect one. For example: in _many_ places "a new" was rendered as "anew", "often" was rendered as "of ten", or the amusing "femme fatale" becoming "femme fat ale". This happened at a rate of about every few pages, so it became somewhat distracting. It didn't exclusively produce valid words: for example: "service" sometimes became "ser vice" or "form" became "for m". It has the feel of a machine-produced error rather than a human one, so I'm hopeful that readers of the print version weren't subjected to this distraction.
Those two issues would have been enough to knock my rating down to 4 stars. However, I reserve 5 stars for those books that I believe will have a significant and lasting impact on me, and this book absolutely will, making the issues trivial compared to the benefit I received from reading this book.
oliviaedwords's review
4.0
review to come, but generally: check this out, it has a great take on feminine archetypes and the feminine complement to the hero's journey. also an argument for why emotional journeys are just as moving and essential as stories where the hero levels up physically.
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