Daughter of Smoke and Bone
I've fucking had it. Laini Taylor wrote another love story that makes me so angry I threw the book across the room. Twice. In this version of the abusive love story the sexy guy is an angel who tries to tries to kill the main character more than once, tosses her family into a magical prison, stalks her, and then attacks her in front of people she knows. Oh, he's 50 and she's 17. THIS IS NOT FUCKING OKAY! Why do we keep thinking this story is sweet and lovely? Why do we keep thinking that the star crossed lovers are some sort of ideal match?
Books like this normalize stalking and abusive behavior. Authors shove it out under the guise of it being a love story, but it boils down to excuse making. Oddly, we don't question it as readers. This book has over four stars on Amazon, it's being praised by other authors, and it's fodder for reading summer reading lists. I'm exasperated. I'm not asking authors to be perfect, but I'm asking them to stop making this seem like it's the ideal. Give a young woman a partner not a stalker.
I'm moving on to Light in August by William Faulkner. Yes, I realize this book may be sexist and misogynistic, but Faulkner's excuse is that he wrote in the 1930's. Taylor doesn't get one. She should know better.
I've fucking had it. Laini Taylor wrote another love story that makes me so angry I threw the book across the room. Twice. In this version of the abusive love story the sexy guy is an angel who tries to tries to kill the main character more than once, tosses her family into a magical prison, stalks her, and then attacks her in front of people she knows. Oh, he's 50 and she's 17. THIS IS NOT FUCKING OKAY! Why do we keep thinking this story is sweet and lovely? Why do we keep thinking that the star crossed lovers are some sort of ideal match?
Books like this normalize stalking and abusive behavior. Authors shove it out under the guise of it being a love story, but it boils down to excuse making. Oddly, we don't question it as readers. This book has over four stars on Amazon, it's being praised by other authors, and it's fodder for reading summer reading lists. I'm exasperated. I'm not asking authors to be perfect, but I'm asking them to stop making this seem like it's the ideal. Give a young woman a partner not a stalker.
I'm moving on to Light in August by William Faulkner. Yes, I realize this book may be sexist and misogynistic, but Faulkner's excuse is that he wrote in the 1930's. Taylor doesn't get one. She should know better.
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