darlingfox (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
darlingfox) wrote2009-08-26 11:19 pm
darlingfox) wrote2009-08-26 11:19 pm
Entry tags:
paranormal romance: fucked up - Y/Y?
In order to broaden my horizons, I'm currently reading The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance. It's a collection of short paranormal romances written by various authors. I'm somewhere around story nine (writing short reviews as I go, so I'll post them when I'm finished), and only one hasn't left me rolling my eyes and/or wanting to bash the author's skull in.
I've understood that these stories are increasingly popular among (young) women, and I can't help wondering why. They're certainly not feministic, or if they are, it's only the surface covering horrible caveman-like attitude. The authors don't even seem to realise the real, serious issues their writing may have.
For example, there's this one story about a woman who's more or less a zookeeper of mythological creatures. Fine, except that some of them are highly intelligent creatures. The author/protagonist mentions offhandedly that the resident vampire has gone through every possible test save being set free. I don't know about you, but I can easily imagine what kind of tests those were. Seems to me that the author wasn't able to decide whether the creatures were animals or, for the lack of a better word, humans. When the protagonist did finally get it on with a selkie man, I didn't know whether she was doing it with an animal or a human prisoner/guinea pig. I'm not sure which option disturbs me more.
Still, there's the possibility that the author would've explored that particular subject more if she could've written a longer story (damn it, I want to believe that). It's only 19 pages as it is, and there's a limit of how much stuff you can put in that. The "relationship" between the protagonist and the selkie certainly was delightfully selfish and twisted.
I've understood that these stories are increasingly popular among (young) women, and I can't help wondering why. They're certainly not feministic, or if they are, it's only the surface covering horrible caveman-like attitude. The authors don't even seem to realise the real, serious issues their writing may have.
For example, there's this one story about a woman who's more or less a zookeeper of mythological creatures. Fine, except that some of them are highly intelligent creatures. The author/protagonist mentions offhandedly that the resident vampire has gone through every possible test save being set free. I don't know about you, but I can easily imagine what kind of tests those were. Seems to me that the author wasn't able to decide whether the creatures were animals or, for the lack of a better word, humans. When the protagonist did finally get it on with a selkie man, I didn't know whether she was doing it with an animal or a human prisoner/guinea pig. I'm not sure which option disturbs me more.
Still, there's the possibility that the author would've explored that particular subject more if she could've written a longer story (damn it, I want to believe that). It's only 19 pages as it is, and there's a limit of how much stuff you can put in that. The "relationship" between the protagonist and the selkie certainly was delightfully selfish and twisted.