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A review by perfectsham
The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin
Having grown up in the same city this was written in, the entire vibe of this book gave me PTSD from the truly crappy men I knew and dated there. I wouldn't be surprised if this author was someone I dodged at parties. The Australian male commitment to casual racism as just fun banter that minorities need to play along with (the Indian priest is constantly called racial slurs in a way the author clearly thinks paints an endearing and delightful relationship, but is really just horrifyingly ignorant), and raging misogyny/overwhelming fear of women's sexuality is on full display here. The fact that the main character is totally unable to keep his dick in his pants even when he KNOWS a woman is evil is just a baffling choice. Also the moment the pretty, innocent looking "girl" becomes a more sexual and in control woman, is the moment we're supposed to realise she's bad. Paging Dr Freud...
It's pretty hard to have sympathy for the main character when he's not only stupid, but also a colossal arsehole to everyone who could possibly help him. The whole vibe of the book is anti-woman and reeks of "men are stupid morons who are helplessly in thrall to their urges and can't be held responsible for anything". Are we still doing this in fiction? 5 out of 5 exhausted eyerolls.
It's pretty hard to have sympathy for the main character when he's not only stupid, but also a colossal arsehole to everyone who could possibly help him. The whole vibe of the book is anti-woman and reeks of "men are stupid morons who are helplessly in thrall to their urges and can't be held responsible for anything". Are we still doing this in fiction? 5 out of 5 exhausted eyerolls.