Comments on: Smugglivus: Airing of Grievances

By: Rhiannon Hart

Rhiannon Hart — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:53:53 +0000

Lost never grabbed me, and what do you know–I love Flash Forward, ha!

Thank you for pushing the “NO BLAND HEROINES” stance once more. PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW. Also, ROLF at clumsiness being Bella’s “hobby”, hehe. I am steering way clear of YA PNR for a while as it fails to fulfill me. One more bland heroine in a love triangle and I will SCREAM.

By: SonomaLass

SonomaLass — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:30:40 +0000

The marketing/labeling issue is a pet peeve of mine, too. But I didn’t think Soulless was a particularly egregious example. My understanding is that they are marketing the trilogy, which is set in a steampunk world and is definitely fantasy. They can’t really market it as romance, because apparently the second book isn’t romance. I thought the horror designation was odd, but not the fantasy — and honestly, when they put Robin McKinley’s Sunshine in horror, I had to admit that I must have NO idea what that classification means to publishers/booksellers. “Contains vampires”?

By: Tiah

Tiah — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:08:07 +0000

I have had it with the Twilight series. I like Twilight, it was a good book and got me reading again. But I have had enough. Enough of going into my local bookstore and seeing the HUGE display for New Moon merchandise. Enough of my neices running around in their “Team Jacob” t-shirts comparing boys from their school to Edward and Jacob. Enough of my friends sending me “I like my men sparkly” flair on FB. Enough! Two more movies and it will be over. Two more movies and it will be over. *rocks back and forth*

I also have a grievance about embarrassing book covers. Why do books have half naked people on the cover? Do they know the crap my husband gives me when he sees them? Please book cover gods, do me a solid and give books different covers. People are starting to think I am turning into a horny housewife reading chick porn.
Okay, I’m done. Thanks guys, I feel better!

By: orannia

orannia — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:53:28 +0000

… with the heroine running around with “cream” pouring down her legs…

*snort* I agree with you on the labelling. Actually, perhaps publishers and TV networks alike should read their memos, particularly the one that states that readers/viewers are not idiots!

As for Twilight – I’m still confused about why Bella hasn’t left Edward for Jacob. And while I’ve only read Twilight and New Moon I’m not holding out any hope that she’ll come to her senses!

By: Danielle

Danielle — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:23:43 +0000

What is with that SciFi/ScyFy/Scyclopes/whatever anyway?

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:14:24 +0000

damn it, my post cut off whose DEAD.. he is DEAD…DEAD how can this happen??? UGHHGGG!!

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:10:21 +0000

Oh Snap! I forgot about that book and the “cream”. That was probably my favorite review you did; not for the book but holy shit, it makes me laugh every time I read it. When I first read Twilight and New Moon (eons ago, before it was popular and NO one had read it) I didn’t think of Bella as “blank” but now looking back, I have to agree. Some of what she does is so not cool; pining for a boy, jumping off cliffs, giving up her whole life, having a baby with someone

By: katiebabs

katiebabs — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:51:43 +0000

Thea: My mom is now reading the Twilight series and in the middle of New Moon. You should see the discussion we have! LOL.

Everyone thinks Bella jumped off the cliff because she couldn’t live without sparkle boy. She did it because Edward couldn’t leave her alone and haunted her ever minute anytime she tried to do something on her own without him. He was supposed to vanish forever so she could be with a healthier person- Jacob.

I can go on and on about this…

By: Thea

Thea — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:48:59 +0000

Thanks for all the comments, everyone! We’re glad you enjoyed the “Airing” :LOL:

KB – Exactly who or what constitutes a no-girl/blank page/TSTL heroine is definitely a subjective thing. In my opinion, Bella falls into this category not because she makes mistakes – which I actually think is a good thing – but because there’s a refusal to LEARN from them. Add to that the message from Breaking Dawn in which Bella essentially gives up EVERYTHING that she is without ANY consequences. It’s infuriating. It’s cool if Bella chooses to be with Edward for eternity (thereby severing all ties to her friends and family) – but it’s NOT cool that she makes this decision and magically gets everything.

And it’s also not cool to go catatonic, jump off cliffs and crash motorbikes when a guy leaves you. Or at least, let there be some acknowledgement that this behavior is stupid and not cool and LEARN from it. Being rewarded for that kind of behavior…it’s a little insulting.

Of course, that is just my opinion! And I can appreciate your POV as it concerns Bella (heck, most of the world agrees with you!). That’s your right

Diana – Wait, was it the RSS feed that was screwing up (because we are geting a ton of problems with that, thanks to hackers *shakes fist*) or the actual blog page? Gaaaaaah!

By: MaryK

MaryK — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:48:29 +0000

I agree about Soulless. I saw the Horror/Fantasy classification and refused to read it. Then the reviews started saying it was mislabeled so I checked it out and ended up loving it. It was NOT Horror/Fantasy. Misleading genre labeling is one of my pet peeves.