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A review by prose_mortem
American Queen by Sierra Simone
2.0
Pretty disappointed in this one.
Things I did like:
1. The main character kind of reminded me of Sansa, even though she doesn't go through anything nearly as bad as the GOT character. I just mean that even though some reviews say she is a weakling, she does exude a quiet strength and pursuit of her own happiness in spite of the bad things that have happened to her.
2. There is some LGBTQIA+ rep with two male characters also in love with each other. I did not expect that, and it was a pleasant surprise, even though it was pretty watered down.
Things I had problems with:
1. This was flat-out hateful toward Slavic people for no reason. (The author also randomly describes an evil character's smile as "so very Slavic." ?? What on earth does that mean?)
2. For the love of sexual wellness... If anyone young or impressionable is reading this book, PLEASE understand that the way the main character makes her sexual debut is not normal. It is one of my biggest pet peeves in romance books where the male character is having sex with a woman (and it's the woman's first time), and the man literally shoves himself in really fast and hard in one fell swoop. This will cause major trauma to soft tissue for absolutely no reason other than the man being a piece of impatient sh*t. This is not normal or sexy. The main character in the book also bleeds a lot during the interaction, which also is not normal if you are going slow and doing things a little bit at a time. Again, a man going as fast as he can to seem sexy is dangerous for a partner who is new to penetrative sex. I'm really tired of books perpetuating this. I realize that no one has to follow rules in fiction, but can female authors please stop writing scenes like that? People who are receiving penetration in real life: Do not ever let someone behave this way if you can help it. It's abusive.
3. It seemed a bit slow at first and then a little bit rushed in the end, but that could have just been me. All in all, the bad outweighed the good. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, but I just wasn't feeling super connected to the characters and didn't feel the urge to continue the series. The Slavic hate itself is enough for me to discontinue the series. If the author was going to pit people against each other, she could have easily made this into a book with made-up countries.
Things I did like:
1. The main character kind of reminded me of Sansa, even though she doesn't go through anything nearly as bad as the GOT character. I just mean that even though some reviews say she is a weakling, she does exude a quiet strength and pursuit of her own happiness in spite of the bad things that have happened to her.
2. There is some LGBTQIA+ rep with two male characters also in love with each other. I did not expect that, and it was a pleasant surprise, even though it was pretty watered down.
Things I had problems with:
1. This was flat-out hateful toward Slavic people for no reason. (The author also randomly describes an evil character's smile as "so very Slavic." ?? What on earth does that mean?)
2. For the love of sexual wellness... If anyone young or impressionable is reading this book, PLEASE understand that the way the main character makes her sexual debut is not normal. It is one of my biggest pet peeves in romance books where the male character is having sex with a woman (and it's the woman's first time), and the man literally shoves himself in really fast and hard in one fell swoop. This will cause major trauma to soft tissue for absolutely no reason other than the man being a piece of impatient sh*t. This is not normal or sexy. The main character in the book also bleeds a lot during the interaction, which also is not normal if you are going slow and doing things a little bit at a time. Again, a man going as fast as he can to seem sexy is dangerous for a partner who is new to penetrative sex. I'm really tired of books perpetuating this. I realize that no one has to follow rules in fiction, but can female authors please stop writing scenes like that? People who are receiving penetration in real life: Do not ever let someone behave this way if you can help it. It's abusive.
3. It seemed a bit slow at first and then a little bit rushed in the end, but that could have just been me. All in all, the bad outweighed the good. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, but I just wasn't feeling super connected to the characters and didn't feel the urge to continue the series. The Slavic hate itself is enough for me to discontinue the series. If the author was going to pit people against each other, she could have easily made this into a book with made-up countries.