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friendlymilk 's review for:
Magic Bites - Fernando's
by Gordon Andrews, Ilona Andrews
March 16, Finished.
Pros:
Interesting setting
Little to no info-dumping (as far as I can remember)
Kate's relationship with Mr. Plastic Surgeon --This is difficult to define, but I liked how the difference between their social status put a strain on the relationship. Also, why was he so interested in her? Does he dig women with knives?
Cons:
-Low diplomacy scores (why does pretty much every meeting begin with crude verbal sparring and maybe a brawl?)
-Sexual harassment (most males Kate runs into are like "hey babe, want summa this??" while crudely gesturing to their crotch. I could forgive this when Corwin (I listened to the audiobook so sp?) did it because he might literally have been raised in a barn, but everyone else? Do they mean it or is it just a form of verbal posturing? Is it lazy writing? I don't know and it bothers me!)
-Consistency fail (First, the pack leader's all like "Hey Kate, the pack owes you a debt! You're awesome!" and then when she suggests that, hey, maybe that sorceress wasn't the big bad, he's like "Attention whore! Get thee away!")
So. The gender politics were my biggest problem with the book (I can take misogyny, but please please please make it obvious that you've thought it through and are doing it because it adds something to the worldbuilding and you made a conscious decision to include it). My second biggest problem was pretty much all the other interpersonal interactions. I know that the only reason I finished it was because I had the audiobook and a sweater I'm trying to finish knitting.
March 15, disc 3 of 8:
I'm not even halfway through the book, but there's a few things that're bothering me so I want to get them down before I forget.
First.
Count the women (I'm listening to the audiobook so I can't easily go back and look up characters' names and I've forgotten most of them):
The main character
The secretary at the Order of the Knights place
The morgue technician
Anna
The four missing young women
Count the men:
Greg (who may be gone but his presence is felt)
The head honcho of the Atlanta Knights
The other knight
Jim (a merc)
The journeyman necromancer
The leader of the Pack
The rich shapeshifter
The charitable plastic surgeon
The men are powerful. They are leaders, fighters, and/or highly-educated. The women are underlings, missing (probably kidnapped), or only good for leaving cryptic messages on answering machines.
I don't think it's an exaggeration for me to say that even Jim Butcher's female characters (most of whom are ogled mercilessly by the male gauze of the author) have more agency than this. Seriously. I don't generally notice this sort of thing, but as Kate bounced like a ping-pong ball from one powerful male character to another, I couldn't help but notice the imbalance.
I hope it improves by the end of the novel, but I doubt it.
One thing that I know will not improve is the person narrating the audiobook. She's trying so hard to be pouty and noir that it's driving me crazy. Just talk normally! Plus, I think she should probably use a Southern accent for Kate and the narration because she gives all the other characters accents? Unless Kate is from somewhere else and we just haven't found out yet....
Pros:
Interesting setting
Little to no info-dumping (as far as I can remember)
Kate's relationship with Mr. Plastic Surgeon --
Cons:
-Low diplomacy scores (why does pretty much every meeting begin with crude verbal sparring and maybe a brawl?)
-Sexual harassment (most males Kate runs into are like "hey babe, want summa this??" while crudely gesturing to their crotch. I could forgive this when Corwin (I listened to the audiobook so sp?) did it because he might literally have been raised in a barn, but everyone else? Do they mean it or is it just a form of verbal posturing? Is it lazy writing? I don't know and it bothers me!)
-Consistency fail (First, the pack leader's all like "Hey Kate, the pack owes you a debt! You're awesome!" and then when she suggests that, hey, maybe that sorceress wasn't the big bad, he's like "Attention whore! Get thee away!")
So. The gender politics were my biggest problem with the book (I can take misogyny, but please please please make it obvious that you've thought it through and are doing it because it adds something to the worldbuilding and you made a conscious decision to include it). My second biggest problem was pretty much all the other interpersonal interactions. I know that the only reason I finished it was because I had the audiobook and a sweater I'm trying to finish knitting.
March 15, disc 3 of 8:
I'm not even halfway through the book, but there's a few things that're bothering me so I want to get them down before I forget.
First.
Count the women (I'm listening to the audiobook so I can't easily go back and look up characters' names and I've forgotten most of them):
The main character
The secretary at the Order of the Knights place
The morgue technician
Anna
The four missing young women
Count the men:
Greg (who may be gone but his presence is felt)
The head honcho of the Atlanta Knights
The other knight
Jim (a merc)
The journeyman necromancer
The leader of the Pack
The rich shapeshifter
The charitable plastic surgeon
The men are powerful. They are leaders, fighters, and/or highly-educated. The women are underlings, missing (probably kidnapped), or only good for leaving cryptic messages on answering machines.
I don't think it's an exaggeration for me to say that even Jim Butcher's female characters (most of whom are ogled mercilessly by the male gauze of the author) have more agency than this. Seriously. I don't generally notice this sort of thing, but as Kate bounced like a ping-pong ball from one powerful male character to another, I couldn't help but notice the imbalance.
I hope it improves by the end of the novel, but I doubt it.
One thing that I know will not improve is the person narrating the audiobook. She's trying so hard to be pouty and noir that it's driving me crazy. Just talk normally! Plus, I think she should probably use a Southern accent for Kate and the narration because she gives all the other characters accents? Unless Kate is from somewhere else and we just haven't found out yet....