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A review by anam_ali
Elite by Mercedes Lackey
3.0
Spoilers, beware. This could've been an easy 4 star but Lackey's writing style leaves something to be desired, some of the plot points felt like a checklist being ticked off, and I could've done without the boring as cardboard romance. I skim-read every single portion where Josh appeared and believe you me I didn't miss a single thing.
The hunting bits were my favorite, especially the ones with Hammer and Steel, and god was I happy Steel survived. A hint of misogyny comes through sometimes when Joy talks about other females like Mark's wife or Psimon Drift (calling her ferret-faced? C'mon! Do better!). The series could also do with a healthy dose of introducing more female characters especially since it touched 'Bury Your Gays' trope in book 1 with Karly's death (which still rankles a lot, thanks for nothing Lackey!). At the moment there are zero female characters of significance in the series. Except for Joy.
Another thing I would like to touch is about people calling Joy a Mary Sue (which tf?) or calling her timid and mousy and yet able to do everything: Joy is a lot of things but that girl is neither timid nor mousy nor a Mary Sue. Did we even read the same book? She's confident but she knows her limits, she's quick on her feet, responds well in tight situations, kicks ass regularly, is respectful to elders and seniors but won't be bullied by anyone be it a Folk Mage or a Senior Psimon or a Ranker Hunter. This girl knows her end-goals, knows where she wants to go, what she wants to be, and is pretty unapologetic in doing all that. As a protagonist I really loved her.
Now if I never see the words Psimon Josh again that would be Ace (whoop, I punned xD).
Anyway, this is the first Lackey series I'm reading and the writing style is so different from contemporary, it takes a little while to get used to it, but I loved the worldbuilding and I'm totally not averse to reading more books set in this universe.
The hunting bits were my favorite, especially the ones with Hammer and Steel, and god was I happy Steel survived. A hint of misogyny comes through sometimes when Joy talks about other females like Mark's wife or Psimon Drift (calling her ferret-faced? C'mon! Do better!). The series could also do with a healthy dose of introducing more female characters especially since it touched 'Bury Your Gays' trope in book 1 with Karly's death (which still rankles a lot, thanks for nothing Lackey!). At the moment there are zero female characters of significance in the series. Except for Joy.
Another thing I would like to touch is about people calling Joy a Mary Sue (which tf?) or calling her timid and mousy and yet able to do everything: Joy is a lot of things but that girl is neither timid nor mousy nor a Mary Sue. Did we even read the same book? She's confident but she knows her limits, she's quick on her feet, responds well in tight situations, kicks ass regularly, is respectful to elders and seniors but won't be bullied by anyone be it a Folk Mage or a Senior Psimon or a Ranker Hunter. This girl knows her end-goals, knows where she wants to go, what she wants to be, and is pretty unapologetic in doing all that. As a protagonist I really loved her.
Now if I never see the words Psimon Josh again that would be Ace (whoop, I punned xD).
Anyway, this is the first Lackey series I'm reading and the writing style is so different from contemporary, it takes a little while to get used to it, but I loved the worldbuilding and I'm totally not averse to reading more books set in this universe.