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maddiesbookshelves · 2 years ago

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Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta (August 2022)

The shadow of Godolia's tyrannical rule is spreading, aided by their giant mechanized weapons known as Windups. War and oppression are everyday constants for the people of the Badlands, who live under the thumb of their cruel Godolia overlords.

Eris Shindanai is a Gearbreaker, a brash young rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside. When one of her missions goes awry and she finds herself in a Godolia prison, Eris meets Sona Steelcrest, a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. At first Eris sees Sona as her mortal enemy, but Sona has a secret: She has intentionally infiltrated the Windup program to destroy Godolia from within.

As the clock ticks down to their deadliest mission yet, a direct attack to end Godolia's reign once and for all, Eris and Sona grow closer--as comrades, friends, and perhaps something more...

Would I recommend it to anyone? Not to someone who wants to read SF with a little romance (or with no romance at all). Otherwise, not really, if you want to see mechas I'd rather recommend Iron Widow or the first Pacific Rim movie.

Level of (dis)satisfaction based on the summary and my expectations? Honestly, I was really disappointed. I was expecting action and interesting worldbuilding but, uh... yeah.

My thoughts on it? Celebrating Mia (@yourneighborhoodbibliophile)'s return to booklr with some salt ✨:

I saw this review on Goodreads that sums up what I thought of the first book:

“if I had to read one more version of “you do not have my permission to die” in this book I was legitimately going to gouge my eyes out”

I felt like I was reading a fanfic. And I love reading fanfiction, but this was everything that makes me rage quit a fic condensed into one book. First, there was the found family trope with very "funny" dynamics where people run after each other, pulling dumb pranks, hanging someone from a window on the 5th floor threatening to kill them... It wouldn't have been as much of a problem if it had been contained to the main group, but the few interactions we see between the pilots lead us to think that they also had this dynamic. It didn't make sense to me that EVERYONE behaves the same way and it made me think that the author didn't know how to write anything else.

The fight scenes honestly disappointed me. Everytime there was a fight scene, it would cut in the middle and skip to after the fight. It really gave the impression that the author skipped them thinking "I'll come back to that later" and never did. The first time it happened I was so lost, I thought I had skipped a page or that there were pages missing entirely, but no. It was pretty annoying because it happens a lot so it feels like the book was left unfinished out of laziness. Plus, what's the point of reading about mechas if there's no mecha fight?! I don't know if the author is aware of that but she does say in her acknowledgements that it ended up being more of a love story with mechas in it than mechas with a love story, so...

I feel like we only see glimpses of who the characters are, at least for Jenny. The rest are kinda just... there. We know about Sona and Eris because we're in their heads but the others are quite shallow. I don't even remember all of the names of Eris' crew. I also don't understand the motivations behind one particular character's actions, they just don't add up to what (little) we know of him.

All in all, it was entertaining. It gets the job done and I genuinely liked Sona. It was a story that had potential but it deserved to be edited (better?).

French version under the cut

L’ombre du règne tyrannique de Godolia s’étend, aidée par leurs armes mécanisées appelées Windups. La guerre et l'oppression sont le quotidien des habitants des Badlands vivant sous le joug de leurs cruels dirigeants.

Eris Shindanai est une Gearbreaker, une jeune rebelle effrontée dont la spécialité est de détruire les Windups de l’intérieur. Lorsqu’une de ses mission dérape et qu’elle se retrouve dans une prison de Godolia, Eris rencontre Sona Steercrest, une pilote de Windup améliorée cybernétiquement. Eris voit d’abord Sona comme son ennemie, mais celle-ci a un secret : elle a délibérément infiltré le programme des Windups pour détruire Godolia de l’intérieur.

Tandis que l’heure de leur mission la plus dangereuse approche - une attaque directe pour mettre un terme au règne de Godolia une fois pour toutes - Eris et Sona se rapprochent, en tant que camarades, en tant qu’amies et peut-être un peu plus…

Est-ce que tu le conseillerais à quelqu’un ? Pas à quelqu’un qui veut lire de la SF avec une petite romance (ou carrément sans). Sinon pas vraiment, quitte à avoir des mechas je recommande plus Iron Widow ou le premier film Pacific Rim.

Niveau de déception/satisfaction par rapport au résumé et tes attentes ? Honnêtement, j’ai été très déçue. Je m’attendais à de l’action et un worldbuilding intéressant mais, euh… ouais.

Avis sans spoiler ? On célèbre de retour de Mia sur booklr avec du sel ✨ :

J’ai vu ce commentaire sur Goodreads et ça résume assez bien ce que j’ai pensé du premier tome :

“if I had to read one more version of “you do not have my permission to die” in this book I was legitimately going to gouge my eyes out”

J’ai vraiment eu l’impression de lire une fanfiction en lisant ce roman. Pourtant j’adore lire des fanfic, mais là c’était un concentré de tout ce qui me fait rage quit une fic. Déjà y’avait la found family avec une dynamique “drôle” où les gens se courent après, font des farces stupides, font pendre les gens du 5ème étage d’un bâtiment et menacent de s’entretuer… Ça aurait pas été un aussi gros problème si ça avait été contenu au groupe principal, mais les quelques interactions des pilotes entre eux laissaient croire qu’ils avaient aussi ce genre de dynamique. Ça me paraissait pas logique que TOUT LE MONDE ait la même attitude et ça m’a donné l’impression que l’autrice savait pas écrire autre chose.

Les scènes de combat m’ont vraiment déçues. A chaque fois qu’y avait une scène de combat, elle était coupée et on avait une ellipse. Ça m’a vraiment donné l’impression que l’autrice les a sautées en se disant “j’y reviendrai plus tard” mais n’est jamais revenue en arrière pour les écrire. La première fois que c’est arrivé j’étais perdue, je pensais que j’avais sauté des pages ou qu’il en manquait carrément, mais non. C’est énervant parce que ça arrive souvent donc on a l’impression que le livre a pas été finit par flemme. Puis quel est l’intérêt de lire une histoire avec des mechas si on a pas des combats de mechas !? Je sais pas si l’autrice a conscience de ça mais elle dit dans ses remerciements que c’est devenu plus une histoire d’amour avec des mechas que des mechas avec une histoire d’amour, donc bon.

J’ai l’impression qu’on a eu quelques aperçus de qui sont les personnages, du moins pour Jenny. Les autres sont juste… là. On connaît Sona et Eris parce qu’on est dans leurs têtes mais les autres sont pas approfondis. Je me rappelle même pas des prénoms de toute l’équipe d’Eris. Y’a aussi un personnage dont je comprends pas les actions parce que c’est pas en accord avec le peu qu’on sait de lui.

De manière générale, c’était divertissant. Ça fait le taff et j’ai vraiment aimé Sona. C’est une histoire qui a du potentiel mais ça aurait mérité d’être (mieux ?) édité.

#gearbreakers #zoe hana mikuta #i dnfed book 2 btw #i tried but i couldn't handle it anymore #it was too much stupidity #book reviews #books #books to avoid #unfortunately #book rant #2023 dnf #booklr #booklr community #french

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mj-dev · 2 months ago

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(LONG POST)

I recently read the entire ACOTAR and the first book in CC. Both series are praised for their strong female leads and the feminist characters which is the sole reason I picked these up. And now I have opinions.

Here’s my take on the female characters, mostly ACOTAR.

Feyre

In the beginning, Feyre heavily radiates masculine energy from her choice of hunting as occupation to the tired breadwinner mentality. She lacks empathy for her sisters and expresses her disdain clearly in her attitude and inner monologues, though it’s clear they do the household chores, which translates to her disregard for the ‘feminine’ work. She falls under the ‘not your typical girl’ archetype with her preference of pants over dresses and apathy towards her appearance. She makes an exception when she intends to please Tamlin. In the first book, it’s a one-time occurrence but over the course of the series, this becomes more prominent once Rhysand enters her life.

A woman, who refuses to be controlled, willingly plays Rhysand’s whore, wearing the same dress he forced her into UtM as he SA’d her. In SC, Feyre expresses her hatred towards getting dolled up and reduced to a breeding mare. While in CoN, she takes pleasure in flaunting her body and putting on a sex act in front of an entire court. This transition apparently marks her taking back her power. She describes in great detail in her inner thoughts how she enjoyed kneeling to Rhysand as part of the act and the power he held over her and the room. This is the same woman who refused to bow to any fae in the first book. She feels empowered being reduced to a sex object for Rhysand and enjoys the discomfort it causes to the court, which she radiates as she walks down from the throne. Moreover when Keir disrespects her for it, she is angry at the insult but not for being put in the position. She even enjoys how Rhysand violently punishes him for it. This becomes a role she actively and pleasurably plays in CoN for the rest of the series.

Her femininity never translates to her emotional state. Except for the one scene in the mountain cabin where she heats a soup for Rhysand, she’s not portrayed indulging in ‘womanly’ activities or mannerisms. Moreover, Feyre only embraces this side when she pleases a man. Tamlin, Rhysand, Tarquin. Despite her overtly masculine traits, she is equated to a goddess in Cassian’s monologue the moment she’s pregnant and paraded like a ‘breeding mare’ in CoN.

Feyre’s story heavily pushes the idea that being feminine is only acceptable when it satisfies a man and his desires. Over and over again, a woman who doesn’t appreciate this way of living only ever embodies it to please her partner.

Nesta

Nesta is raised and groomed to be a housewife. But she sheds that part of her life to become a warrior. This isn’t a choice of hers but thrusted onto her by the ones, mostly men, around her as this is seen as the most contributing or ‘healthy’ way of living. Where healing through softness and compassion is an option and most needed given Nesta’s trauma and history, she’s subjected to more and more violence.

Nesta begins as someone bound to be a lady, using her wits and charms as her weapons. But as the story progresses, she becomes a sword swinging warrior who becomes a close-enough reflection of Feyre. A woman who won’t wear anything but dresses as it’s not lady-like becomes someone who only wears pants and slays demons for a man. A woman who wants to travel and read and enjoy simple life with her girl friends finds purpose becoming a weapon.

A woman who’s taught to treasure her body and never has sex for the same reason until she’s into her mid-twenties turns to it when she’s hurting and becomes sexually hyperactive to the point it’s considered an ‘embarrassment’. What’s interesting here is that she’s forgiven for this when this sexual energy is focused towards the man(Cassian) everyone approves of.

Nesta enjoys reading romances, a classic hobby associated with women, which is either dismissed or joked about by Cassian. But the moment she trains to fight, he starts appreciating her. The same is seen during Eris’s seduction. Nesta’s dancing skills are known even before that and Cassian doesn’t acknowledge it until he sees her dancing with another man. Everything Nesta does or indulges in are somehow appreciated when they align with Cassian’s interests or what he desires in a woman.

Elain

The one character who is highly feminised in the series is Elain. She loves gardening, small talks and connecting with people, surrounds herself with beauty. She learns to cook and enjoys feeding/nurturing her family. She’s often described as ‘kind’ and ‘delicate’. Even in Feyre’s POV, her body is sensualised and described in ways that imply sexual allure while her emotional traits are equated to child-like innocence. She’s the epitome of femininity and she’s the damsel that needs to be saved and protected by everyone at the end of the day. Sure, this could change in her book but the bottom line is her womanliness is very much in parallel with the misogynistic standards of what and how an ideal woman should be.

Morrigan

Morrigan is very in touch with her feminine side as her interests are wearing red dresses and painting her lips red and having sex. (please hear my sarcasm) She uses men to hide her true sexuality to the point of using one of her close friends as her personal flirting companion and leading the other on who’s been pining over her for five centuries. She also enjoys to lord this over her parents and everyone in her court by wearing provocative dresses and this is her ‘expression’ of her liberation.

Amren

Throughout the series, Amren is more masculine than the male characters in some ways from the way she talks and behaves. She’s an ancient creature trapped in a fae body. She’s so disgusted by it that she can’t even grasp the need for eating specific food or relieving oneself. But the one thing she truly understands and embraces is having sex. It is ultimately the one thing that helps her to bond with another person in her long life. Even if sex is considered as a universal act among all creatures or whatever, she should feel the same about eating and shitting which she doesn’t.

Bryce

Though she fares better than the ACOTAR (except SF) women, Bryce still falls victim to this pattern. She’s introduced as someone who parties and has sex, her entire personality revolves around it that everyone perceives her as such. This soon changes but the idea often lingers. She’s always found in her underwear (which could be considered a character quirk but I highly doubt that was SJM’s intentions given everything in ACOTAR) and all the male characters tend to love her or be attracted to her body at first sight. Over and over again, her sex appeal is brought to reader’s attention and one of the ways Bryce claims her feminine nature is being very confident with her sexual prowess.

Here are some common themes which heavily contradict the foundation of feminism.

Equality & Strength

Feminism in simple terms is equality of genders. In this series, it’s anything but that. Again and again, the words are mentioned but there’s simply not much proof of that.

Feyre and Nesta have no true autonomy. Rhysand and Feyre share three different connections with each other the majority of the time which gives him control over her to some extent. In Nesta’s case, Cassian transforms her into his ideal partner when she’s at the lowest in the name of healing. He often sees her as an animal to be tamed, and so far, he’s succeeded. Not to mention, Nesta has no financial independence or agency to choose how to live.

In SC, Feyre who explicitly expresses her desires to be an equal to Tamlin complains when the opportunity is given to her to shoulder the responsibilities—socialising with the people serving her, dressing to be part of her court, sitting through a tax collecting ceremony. In NC, she becomes Rhysand’s soldier and goes on missions where she kills and maims in the most brutal ways possible. Though she is a ruler, her training and life is always focused on the arts of warring rather than administration which was what she was requested to do in SC. And once the wars are over, she complains about answering letters which are again tasks expected of a ruler. Which shows what Feyre truly sees as equality is the chance to be violent.

Also, these female characters are considered equal to male counterparts only when they are progressively aggressive. Except for some side characters, almost all women prove their strength through their fighting abilities—Feyre, Nesta, Bryce, Morrigan, Amren. (If Elain gets her own book, she will possibly perpetuate this too because SJM literally thrives on writing violence in her fantasy books. And she already did it with Hybern’s death.)

Also Feyre is only considered an equal to Rhysand after she inherits the powers of other HLs. The same is seen in Nesta’s relationship with Cassian when everyone sees her as an equal of him after she trains to be a warrior. All this implies the strength of the men is the standard to which these women have to aspire to be. None of the men are expected to change or challenge themselves to reach the level of their partners’.

Appearance

They all possess extraordinary beauty that every male character is charmed with at the first sight and they either directly pursue these women or it’s implied. And at some point or the other, their partner relish or wield this desirability against the said men—Rhysand with Tarquin, Cassian with Eris. This is prominent in SF as we don’t get much of Rhysand’s inner thoughts in the first books. Cassian objectifies Nesta even when she’s emaciated, when’s not fit—physically or mentally. The value of these women are reduced to how appealing they are to the male gaze.

Sexuality

Most of these characters come with a sheltered view of world about how a woman should be or behave. And when they finally come out of that bubble and embrace themselves and their new world view, they also become sexually proactive.

Every female character at least at one point describes being seen as a prey by their male partners. This can be attributed as the fae’s ‘primal nature’ although it is a recurring theme in every relationship. Especially for Feyre (she’s got the most books), where she describes Rhysand’s gaze as predatory. She revels in this objectification to the point she derives pleasure by entertaining and putting on a show for him.

All these women exhibit hyperactive sex drive and have multiple partners with no emotional attachment and this is seen as a sign of their empowerment. They also always use sex as a means to ease their emotional trauma, including sexual abuse. And they all have endured one variation of trauma at the hands of a man, mostly sexual, which they eventually explore and overcome being sexually active. Feyre and Rhysand. Nesta and Cassian. Morrigan with her multiple partners. (I wouldn’t be surprised if Elain’s attraction towards Azriel also falls under this category somehow with her struggle to accept her fae life and mating bond with Lucien, and SJM loves trauma dumping.)

There’s nothing wrong with owning one’s sexuality and putting one’s pleasure first, but seeing it as the only path to empowerment is absurd, which is common theme in all theses women’s growth.

Life outside their romantic relationships

The female characters either come with a set of girl friends who are her ‘ride or die’ as in case of Bryce, or bond without much depth like in case of Feyre/Morrigan/Amren. The Valkriyes are the only exception to this where the women organically grow and build genuine friendships. Given the 4.5 books are dedicated to the Archeron sisters, there is no bonding among the three except for the blame shifting and one minute heartfelt conversation where their life-long trauma is erased and forgotten.

These women have hobbies which only exist to offer that touch of femininity to them—painting, gardening, reading smut, dancing, dressing themselves in pretty clothes (while male characters have no hobbies except for Tamlin and Lucien, and in case of CC, all those men are into the same sport). Their ‘softer’ traits only rear its head when the narrative calls for proof of their kindness or empathy or reserved for their partners but not in the way of living or their character itself.

Here's the bottom line. Feminism in these books is masculinity masquerading as female empowerment. Throughout the series, what makes these women powerful is their ability to match the men in their lives. They are equal because of the brute force they embody on par with them which is basically the masculine ideal of strength. The faux feminism propaganda is blatantly obvious with the woman’s value constantly reduced to how much she is desired by men and her hyperactive sex life. These books are nothing but a mockery of feminism.

#this was a fucking trip!#book analysis #character analysis #long post #reading #bookblr #I am more critical of the author than the characters #but adding tags to avoid pros/stans #acotar critical #sjm critical #rhysand critical #feyre critical #cassian critical

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