Feminista
Hi everyone! I used to be a former Goodreads lover. Who has decided to move to BookLikes due to the recent changes to the GR site: that is, the decision of the management to delete reviews that talk about bad author behaviour.
It is important that we know of bad author behaviour and actions. We buy their books. I want to know whether Author A has decided to harass Reviewer A or encouraged fans to stalk Reviewer B.
I want to know this, the same way I wanted to know that a well known sporting good company had been using child labour in the production of some of its products. The same way the WHOLE WORLD wanted to know.
It is irrelevant that the author writes well, or that the said sporting good company produces good quality sporting goods. Our ethics and morals MATTER!
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Now to discuss my reading habits:
I am very picky when it comes to books. I am a feminist and I think that shows in my reading list.
There are many things that bug me to death. But I'll always make an exception if the boy-girl standard is reversed. Dear world, that is MY double standard. I respect and champion authors who have the guts to do something different.
Firstly, I hate infidelity in novels.
Secondly, I hate it when the heroine is a virgin and the guy is an expert and skilled lover. I hate it when the heroine, for fated reasons, saves herself for someone who has been sowing his oats. It's not only overdone, old-fashioned and pathetic, but it also grosses me out like he is violating something so sacrosanct.
Thirdly, I might enjoy the occasional alpha-hero tendencies, but my true love lies with beta-heroes. Guys who are loving and sweet. Who don't feel the need to push around their women to make themselves feel more manly.
Feminista's bookshelf: read
I have mixed feelings about this book. There were certain parts that were dubious. I for one, thought that the hero had forced the heroine the first time they were together. But I kept in mind, that the heroine and people in the past have repeatedly thought that forcing intercourse in marriage was not rape. That is not the case any more - if it had ever been - but this novel was published little over 20 years ago. I know that at that time there were still people who thought so, having read an Australian judge's judgement whereby he stated that a husband was allowed to use force to coerce the wife. This then received nation-wide criticisms and his judgement was reversed in the higher courts, but it didn't change his verdict.Moreover, there was another scene where he is sick of his wife teasing him and he thinks that he will rape her continuously until she forgets all about her brother's wife. I couldn't stomach that. Yes, some might say that he would never have gone through with it, but the fact remains that he thought it and made to go to her room, but only stopped when he heard her crying from outside her room.There were other times, before they were married, when he kept on thinking cruel thoughts, like when he saw how frightened and unsure she was of him, he wanted to hurt her. Of course, that was overwhelmed later by his devotion to her, and I think the author might have wanted to show how she had tamed him of his violent urges, but the fact still remains.