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Jul. 12th, 2023 08:50 pmI just finished re-reading number 6 in the Frey and McGray series and reading them all together is making me realise something else that's kind of rubbing me the wrong way about them and that is that almost all the 'bad guys' in them are women? And usually very cruel and manipulative women who have men, even really strong/powerful men, completely under their thumb somehow. We have a fuck load of 'Evil Witches' (where the men are just dim thugs who are disposable), Queen Victoria, 'Lady Glass', the murderous family who may or may not (spoiler: not) be vampires where though there are a couple of men it's the women who seem to be centred most of the time, the two different women who engineered killing the whole family with poisoned candles, the manipulative 'Angry Bitch' of a wife. Even the 'celebrity' murderer Frey caught pre-series was a woman.
The only time there are male 'bad guys' they are either usually supposedly powerful privileged men but who are actually being completely manipulated by women or they're disabled or gay (and the gay one is the one who got killed too. Most of the others didn't die in that story but the gay guy does. Also even the guy with the disability in the first one has seemingly been fucked up massively by women so even that is basically largely women's fault too apparently).
And OK fuck the monarchy but why did the portrayal of Queen Victoria need all the 'fat and greedy' stuff? Like her shoving food into her mouth in a 'disgusting' way even while meeting people?
Also another horse related irritation again, he used percheron and shire to refer to the same horse in the sixth book. They're two different breeds from two different countries! And then he calls a riding horse (pony?) a foal in this one. A foal is a baby!
And this tedious het relationship in the seventh one (which I'm now re-reading) really does come out of nowhere huh. I didn't remember there being any kind of build up before for that and no there really wasn't anything. The characters who actually have chemistry throughout are Frey and McGray but the author seems to forget about that a lot?
I still do not know how to feel about them because they are one of those things with certain elements I really like, I do really like Frey and McGray when they actually get proper interaction (and are not drugged/cursed/whatever and treating each other really badly) but overall I did not like 2, 6 and 7; I very much disliked a key thing that happened in... 4? And I still think the series ending was kind of shit sorry and I can't see my mind being changed upon re-reading 7 again. Overall I just want stories about them investigating mysteries and bickering like an old married couple, I don't want.. what the series actually ended up being most of the time.
The only time there are male 'bad guys' they are either usually supposedly powerful privileged men but who are actually being completely manipulated by women or they're disabled or gay (and the gay one is the one who got killed too. Most of the others didn't die in that story but the gay guy does. Also even the guy with the disability in the first one has seemingly been fucked up massively by women so even that is basically largely women's fault too apparently).
And OK fuck the monarchy but why did the portrayal of Queen Victoria need all the 'fat and greedy' stuff? Like her shoving food into her mouth in a 'disgusting' way even while meeting people?
Also another horse related irritation again, he used percheron and shire to refer to the same horse in the sixth book. They're two different breeds from two different countries! And then he calls a riding horse (pony?) a foal in this one. A foal is a baby!
And this tedious het relationship in the seventh one (which I'm now re-reading) really does come out of nowhere huh. I didn't remember there being any kind of build up before for that and no there really wasn't anything. The characters who actually have chemistry throughout are Frey and McGray but the author seems to forget about that a lot?
I still do not know how to feel about them because they are one of those things with certain elements I really like, I do really like Frey and McGray when they actually get proper interaction (and are not drugged/cursed/whatever and treating each other really badly) but overall I did not like 2, 6 and 7; I very much disliked a key thing that happened in... 4? And I still think the series ending was kind of shit sorry and I can't see my mind being changed upon re-reading 7 again. Overall I just want stories about them investigating mysteries and bickering like an old married couple, I don't want.. what the series actually ended up being most of the time.
