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lanean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pensnfeathers's review against another edition
1.0
I wrote a whole big long review about how bad this book was, and then Goodreads crashed. I'll take that as a sign and keep this short-ish.
This book should have been so good. A gritty, pulpy private eye novel, except the private eye is a wizard? Awesome premise. Sign me up.
But it's awful. I mean, just awful. Harry Dresden is a chauvinist. Nearly every interaction he has with a female character (and most of the other characters are female) is accompanied by a self-narration about how beautiful they are, how they need to be protected (even when they clearly don't), or how beguilingly they use their sexuality to their advantage. He is one part Neo, one part John McClane, and three parts Philip Marlowe, minus anything that makes any of those characters compelling. He literally wears a duster, and his first interaction with a female character is him racing to open the door for her, because she is a feminist and he wants to remind her that chivalry isn't dead.
Storm Front reads like an 11th grade English assignment and self-insert anti-hero wet dream fantasy written by the kid who calls himself a Nice Guy, says m'lady, and tells anyone who will listen about all of the different switchblades he owns.
I can not fathom how this book got published, let alone how it spawned a wildly popular and critically acclaimed series. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Truly terrible.
This book should have been so good. A gritty, pulpy private eye novel, except the private eye is a wizard? Awesome premise. Sign me up.
But it's awful. I mean, just awful. Harry Dresden is a chauvinist. Nearly every interaction he has with a female character (and most of the other characters are female) is accompanied by a self-narration about how beautiful they are, how they need to be protected (even when they clearly don't), or how beguilingly they use their sexuality to their advantage. He is one part Neo, one part John McClane, and three parts Philip Marlowe, minus anything that makes any of those characters compelling. He literally wears a duster, and his first interaction with a female character is him racing to open the door for her, because she is a feminist and he wants to remind her that chivalry isn't dead.
Storm Front reads like an 11th grade English assignment and self-insert anti-hero wet dream fantasy written by the kid who calls himself a Nice Guy, says m'lady, and tells anyone who will listen about all of the different switchblades he owns.
I can not fathom how this book got published, let alone how it spawned a wildly popular and critically acclaimed series. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Truly terrible.
lizziestudieshistory's review against another edition
1.0
This does come with a disclaimer as I didn't finish the book. However, I just couldn't bring myself to read the rest because of the two major problems I had with it.
Firstly, Dresden had the most misogynistic internal monologue I've ever had the misfortune to read. It left me seriously uncomfortable throughout the first 80ish pages. That itself I could deal with as not all characters are meant to be likeable, but clearly Butcher was uninterested in challenging Dresden's attitudes. This was particularly noticable with Butcher's portrayal of the women his sexist prig of a hero came into contact with.
Secondly, the writing style itself was painful to read. I'm not the biggest fan if first person narratives but this was laughable. Dresden literally went through a whole thought process about his appearance for several pages in the first couple of chapters. It was an info-dump to end all info-dumps. If the writing had developed out if this I perhaps could have forgiven Butcher, but the amount of similar, badly written passages was ridiculous.
Firstly, Dresden had the most misogynistic internal monologue I've ever had the misfortune to read. It left me seriously uncomfortable throughout the first 80ish pages. That itself I could deal with as not all characters are meant to be likeable, but clearly Butcher was uninterested in challenging Dresden's attitudes. This was particularly noticable with Butcher's portrayal of the women his sexist prig of a hero came into contact with.
Secondly, the writing style itself was painful to read. I'm not the biggest fan if first person narratives but this was laughable. Dresden literally went through a whole thought process about his appearance for several pages in the first couple of chapters. It was an info-dump to end all info-dumps. If the writing had developed out if this I perhaps could have forgiven Butcher, but the amount of similar, badly written passages was ridiculous.
kd4864's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
marlalalala's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
weirdmom40's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
libraryofconnor's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Very sexualised regarding the women characters. Decent book to get through with lighthearted jokes and plot, but very cringe worthy when every woman character that is introduced or revisited is done so in a sexual way. No sexualisation of the guys though.
lakea's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Police brutality and Stalking
valek's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0