Tag: Paranormal Romance

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Posted August 9, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Romance / 0 Comments

Title: Twilight (Goodreads)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Series: Twilight #1
Published: Little Brown and Company, 2005
Pages: 434
Genres: Romance, Young Adult
My Copy: Library Book

Buy: Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

I don’t think I need to tell people what this book is about; rather I need to explain my actions,which I have done in a blog post called Reading Twilight, where you can read what made me pick this book up and just how crazy I was. Also you can read my live tweeting of the book which was the only way I was able to get through the story without rage quitting.

Twilight is an escapist book, plain and simple; I don’t fit in the demographic of this book so I’m reading it and looking at how this would translate in real life and not the fantasy. I want to take the time and look at the book as well as the difference between reality and the fantasy. I might be a little harsh and I’m not trying to make anyone that enjoys this book and the fantasy feel bad; this is just how I see the book.

First of all let’s look at Isabella Swan; the everywoman of the book but this is assuming that women are post-feminist, co-dependent, quick to fall in love women that are full of angst or have a morbid obsession with death. I’ve been told that women do fantasise about the post-feminist lifestyle but in reality most of them don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen. The little descriptions we do have about Bella has been made out to be a needy woman with no notion of independence and what she really wants; I hated her from the start. Apparently the lack of descriptions about Belle is so that female readers can put themselves in her shoes and live out this fantasy but really do people even like Bella, let alone be in her shoes?

Then you have the love interest, Edward Cullen who I tend to associate with Mr Rochester (whose name is also Edward) since I know there is this link to the Brontë sisters that tries to be made but really comparing the two feels futile, the only links I see have to do with sexuality and proto/post-feminism. I get the sense that Edward Cullen is supposed to be this Byronic hero but all I see is the type of man woman need to run away from; a jealous, controlling asshole that stalks his girlfriend. Now the Byronic hero is as Lord Macaulay describes it “a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection.” While there are similarities between Edward Cullen and the Byronic hero (to me anyway) he doesn’t really fit the mould.

Someone told me that the blood in Twilight is a metaphor of adolescent sexuality which is interesting and explains why Stephenie Meyer went to all that effort in explaining why Belle got nauseous at the sight and smell of blood. This brings up another fantasy; the older more experienced man. While I don’t really want to compare this book to other novels (I’m sorry Brontë’s and the whole Romantic era) but this is almost like a polar opposite to Tampa. One explores the fantasy of a younger partner; getting them before they have been tainted by the world which is problematic because that person ends up being the one to corrupt and break that young man. Twilight looks at the older partner; but not in the same in-depth way. this plays out the fantasy and it’s up to the reader to look for the problems with a naive woman dating an older man (hint reverse the roles in Tampa or read Lolita). I’m not saying it doesn’t work, because it does work; I’m just looking at Twilight critically and wanted to look at fantasy verses reality.

I’m sure there are positive themes within this novel that you can explore like, sacrifices you make for the one you love, true love conquers all and even overcoming the bad within you to be a better person or vampire. I think those themes are in the book but for me they feel problematic, firstly Edward continues to tell Bella that she should run away but they never do and I got frustrated with them repeating the same conversation over and over and never making the sacrifice for the good of the other. Then I don’t believe this is a good example of true love, they hardly knew each other and they were madly in love, they never sacrifice for the good of the other and they are co-dependant, jealous, stalkers; to me this is not true love, this is a teenage relationship or something creepy. Finally overcoming the bad within to be a better person, the only example of that is the vampires eat animals rather than humans.

I’m going to overlook the obvious problem with the vampire mythology because it’s been done to death but I want to leave you with one thought (which you can answer in the comments if you like). Stephenie Meyer obviously has an interest in the romantic era and the Brontë sisters but is Twilight reflecting the ideas made by the romantic poets or has it missed the point completely? As you can see I didn’t like this book at all and I read it too fast to try and pull any more critical thoughts from the novel, but I think I have enough ammunition against Twilight. I hope I didn’t offend the people that enjoy this book, it’s escapism and I’m reading it critically so that might be my problem.

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Posted November 22, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Romance, Science Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: Soulless (Goodreads)
Author: Gail Carriger
Series: Parasol Protectorate #1
Published: Orbit, 2009
Pages: 365
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Alexia Tarabotti may only be a spinster with no soul but when a she is so rudely attacked by a pack of vampires she discovers just how useful being soulless is. With the ability to negate supernatural powers, she is asked by Lord Maccon, who has been sent by Queen Victoria to investigate what is actually happening with London’s high society. Soulless is a book on social etiquette with a mixture of steampunk, werewolves, vampires, and tea-drinking.

Admittedly, this is not something I would normally read but the mixture of steampunk and Victorian high society did seem to appeal to me. However I was reluctant to try something that sounded very much like paranormal romance. Being a literary explorer, sometimes you just have to suck it up and read something way out of your comfort zone. I know I haven’t read many chick lit/romance novels so I thought maybe it was time to give Soulless ago.

One thing I did enjoy about this book was the Victorian elements; Gail Carriger is an archaeologist and it feels like she has taken all the elements from Victorian literature and society, mixed it with her love of science fiction and formed what she likes to call Urbane Fantasy. The Victorian and steampunk elements really help drive this book for me; although I’m sure Jane Austin would be shocked to read this book.

Then you have the werewolves, vampires and the soulless which I really did hate, I would have much rather read a book like this without paranormal elements and maybe replacing it with a mystery element. That way everything plot wise could still work barring some minor changes. But I have to accept paranormal novels are big sellers and they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. It just doesn’t work for me; I don’t think I can continue the series.

Overall this book felt too predictable with the romance and the rest was just too cutesy. I like that this novel had a strong heroine like Alexia but there was too much of a struggle between what I liked and hated to really enjoy this book in any form. I know there is a lot of love for this series out there and I’m sorry to say I wasn’t able to love this book. I was glad it was a quick read. There is a lot of wit and humour in this novel but it wasn’t enough. I’m not going to continue this series but I might give one of Gail Carriger’s Etiquette and Espionage a go, even if it is set in the same universe, it does look interesting.

This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

Posted October 20, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Young Adult / 0 Comments

Title: This Dark Endeavour (Goodreads)
Author: Kenneth Oppel
Series: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein #1
Published: Simon & Schuster, 2011
Pages: 304
Genres: Young Adult
My Copy: Audiobook

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Most people know my obsession with Frankenstein so I wanted to give This Dark Endeavour a go; since the author Kenneth Oppel calls this a prequel. Victor’s brother, Konrad, has fallen ill and no doctor has been able to cure him. Victor’s determination to save his brother has turned to alchemy to find the forbidden Elixir of Life and save his twin brother. With the help of his beautiful cousin Elizabeth and best friend Henry, Victor pushes the boundaries of nature and science in a treacherous search for the ingredients to help Konrad.

This is book one in The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein series which I believe is being made into a trilogy. My first thoughts were that a YA novel about Victor Frankenstein was never going to work, but then after a bit of a look at the book I decided to give it a go anyway. I thought maybe if his research of Frankenstein is in-depth enough and he keeps to the dark and gothic elements of the original classic it might work. I really should have stuck to my first thoughts because from the very start I hated this book.

First of all this book follows the same old paranormal young adult formula which means not so much dark and gothic elements but lots and lots to do with a love triangle. I really hate love triangles in books and this novel felt like the entire plot was centred around the love triangle. Sure, they search for the Elixir of Life but there was more to do with Victor’s feelings toward Elizabeth than the actual alchemy.

Personally I wish I never read this book, it really did nothing for the Frankenstein story and love triangles are always annoying. There is a small steampunk element in this book but that felt like the author was jumping on the bandwagon to help market this book to the readers that want Steampunk, Paranormal, Love Triangle filled Young Adult romance. If you want gothic and dark YA like I do, then this book is not for you. But if you like the idea of a romance with paranormal elements in it, then maybe give this book a go.

Confessions of a Reader

Posted May 4, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 6 Comments

While most people know my story, I wasn’t much of a reader until a few years ago when something clicked and I started reading and wanting to read almost everything in sight. I’ve been playing catch up with everyone else for the past few years. While I claim to be a bibliophile, I’ve still got a lot to catch up on. My name is Michael and these are by reading confessions:

I haven’t borrowed a book from the library in about a year While I love libraries and my local librarians are awesome people, I think I like books too much to borrow them. I don’t think I would want to return them. Plus I’m now more of an e-reader and still waiting for a digital local library.

Short story collections often bore me: While it’s great to read some quick stories, when reading a whole book full of short stories – especially on the one topic – it often gets boring and becomes a struggle. I think the fact that I read it straight through instead of a little at a time is my main problem.

I still groan at the thought of reading some genres: While I do try to keep an open mind to new and recommended book, I tend to avoid or put off reading some genres. I’m not sure if this is simply because I haven’t experienced enough good books in these genres but fantasy, magic realism, romance and paranormal romance novels never seem appealing.

Large books often scare me: I will try to read them but I don’t like the idea of investing in a long story when I can read two or three books instead. I’ve written a post previously about this same issue.

I’ve never read Jane Austin: I probably should. I know she is one of the most famous writers but I have so many other books to read and none of her books really interest me.

I read literary books with the hope to look cool: Even though I’ve realised that I’ve enjoyed most of them. My main motivations for reading books like 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan and The Shipping News by Annie Proulx in an effort to look more like a literary elitist.

I rarely complete a book series: I can only think of two book series that I’ve read completely through, most of the time I read one of the books just to test the series out and move onto more interesting novels. I haven’t finished The Hunger Game series and I only read the first two books from the Song of Ice and Fire series to keep in front of the Game of Thrones TV series.

Audiobooks have replaced my music in the car and while I do work or exercise. I like being able to listen through a novel during those times where I’m doing mundane tasks. I often have an audiobook and an ebook on the go at the same time. It’s surprisingly easy to read two books at the same times if one of them is an audiobook.

I’m addicted to Goodreads: This is an effect of my reading and a need to keep a record of all the books I’ve read and want to read. I’m now part of a few groups on Goodreads and spend most of my work day on the site.

I own multiple copies of Frankenstein and even a few other books. I love Frankenstein and I need more copies of it, so I can have a copy of the book in every part of the house. Most multiple copies of books are by accident but when it comes to Frankenstein it was intentional.

I’m sure I can keep going with my confessions but I think I will stop with those ten. I would love to know what you would confess about your reading habits.