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A review by mstufail19
The Sheik by E. M. Hull
2.0
SO you have to take into context the time this book was written (Number 5 in my self-imposed history of romance curriculum, written in 1919) because it was problematic AF.
For starters, they refer to all the Arabs around them as "Orientals". There are a lot of references to pretty ugly stereotypes.
The main character is a feisty and adventurous young woman and of course, her persistence in going out into the desert without an appropriate male chaperone is the reason she was kidnapped. She was traveling with a full-on caravan of guards, supplies, and a guide, but they were all Arabs and sold her to the Sheik, which of course would never have happened if there had been even one white male chaperone to protect her (eye roll emoji).
There is off-page, but heavily implied, rape. Which is indicative of the time, when it was believed rape was the only way a woman would accept premarital sex and of course she eventually falls in love with her rapist (puke emoji).
I was optimistic that the main characters were of different races. It's not often in 1919 historical romances you see a white woman and a non-white man together. However, it turns out The Sheik is actually a white man who had been adopted by an Arab sheik.
There were some suspenseful and entertaining parts. If you can ignore or take the problematicness within context it was an entertaining read.
For starters, they refer to all the Arabs around them as "Orientals". There are a lot of references to pretty ugly stereotypes.
The main character is a feisty and adventurous young woman and of course, her persistence in going out into the desert without an appropriate male chaperone is the reason she was kidnapped. She was traveling with a full-on caravan of guards, supplies, and a guide, but they were all Arabs and sold her to the Sheik, which of course would never have happened if there had been even one white male chaperone to protect her (eye roll emoji).
There is off-page, but heavily implied, rape. Which is indicative of the time, when it was believed rape was the only way a woman would accept premarital sex and of course she eventually falls in love with her rapist (puke emoji).
I was optimistic that the main characters were of different races. It's not often in 1919 historical romances you see a white woman and a non-white man together. However, it turns out The Sheik is actually a white man who had been adopted by an Arab sheik.
There were some suspenseful and entertaining parts. If you can ignore or take the problematicness within context it was an entertaining read.