I sent the author an email asking if she knew if her publishers would release the YA version of FIRE STUDY (in hopes it'd have a matching cover). I haven't heard back yet, but when I do, I'll let you know!
But yes, I love her covers. She has the BEST LUCK. Have you seen the ORIGINAL covers for POISON STUDY and MAGIC STUDY, before Snyder was moved to Mira from Luna? Oh, they're BEAUTIFUL. Here's her cover art gallery (the ones I'm referring to are the Original US Hardcovers): http://www.mariavsnyder.com/covergallery.php
I totally agree with you on the romance factor. Pairing Opal with Devlin is thisclose to squick territory, but Snyder works hard to earn it. I like Kade a lot better than Devlin, but even I have to admit they're too different to work long term. I felt, though, that ending things with Kade was too easy, too clean. He comes to her and says "btw, this isn't going to work so go have fun with that other guy?" Hmm.
Yeah, it was a little easy, wasn't it? When Opal's death was faked, I'd hoped that Snyder would use that to have Kade turn to Helen (or whatever her name was) and become attached there and realize Opal wouldn't have worked anyway. That way, when Opal was brought back, there'd be a bigger wedge between them, you know?
When I sensed that pairing was the direction the story was heading, I admit it: I stopped reading it, and now that you confirmed it I don't think I'll pick the last book up. It makes me feel like I need a shower just to think about.
It's asking me to stretch willing suspension of belief too far, and I've done too much work with DV clinics and battered women's outreach to not feel sick to my stomach about it. Yes, yes, "BUT THIS IS A MAGIC STORY WHERE PEOPLE CAN BE REFORMED!!!!" I get it. There are "BUT THIS IS A MAGIC STORY WHERE UNLIKELY THINGS CAN HAPPEN!" plots that I forgive. This just isn't one of them, not for me.
Sadly, I'm not just worried about the effect this trope has on young girls. i'm worried about the effect it has on adult women, too.
However, I would say that I don't think fantasy and sci fi are generally big offenders here in the "I CAN REFORM HIM!!!" and "I KNOW HE HIT ME BUT IT'S TRUUU LUUUV" issue.
When did you stop reading the series? Was it after SEA GLASS?
I think Snyder earns the pairing, but it is squicky. Opal, to her credit, doesn't just fall in love with him. She refuses to believe in his reform for a while, and Devlin has to prove himself. One thing Devlin does tell her, at one point, is about the time when he was a Warper and what blood magic did to him. How when he tortured her, he never got any joy out of it. So I think Snyder was trying to handle him from an addict standpoint (and addicts can change) rather than an abuser standpoint. Does that make sense?
It doesn't. Not really. It's an excuse. Most batterers don't exactly enjoy battering. They think they're justified, but my experience working with them is that they don't usually enjoy it precisely.
And it plays into the warped thinking that "he's really a good person under the bad behavior. I just have to reach out and find the better person again. I have to make him not the bad thing. I MUST SAVE HEEEEM FROM HEEEMSELLLLFFF!!!!!!!" and that's sort of Opal's thing. She's saving him.
I put Sea Glass down when I started to get the feeling she wasn't going to stick the Kade/Opal pairing, because I knew that left Opal/Devlin and one of my few "this absolutely disgusts me" pairings is abuser/abusee.
My tolerance for it is shorter, probably, than most people's. I admit this, but it is what it is.
:sigh: I was a firm Opal/Kade fan (because I like Kade), and I was never an Opal/Devlin fan, but by Book 3 I would have been happier if Opal had remained alone, or at the very very least, not jumped straight into a relationship with Devlin
( ... )
There's definitely a weird line, and my fuzzy memory as well as my bias in knowing the author may make me more okay with this than I would be if I didn't know the author at all. :)
heh yeah I've met and talked with Maria a lot in the last four years (she signs so close by!) so when I first finished the book I was like 'oh god oh god' and I couldn't even begin to form an opinion on it. My one side of my brain kept screaming 'But its MARIA V SNYDER. YOU LOVE HER.' and my other side kept saying 'OMG GET IT AWAY WTH'.
If this had been another author, as soon as I knew it was heading in that direction (which upon the second re-read I realized the groundwork was there as soon as she thought Devlin was attractive without cringing in shame) I would have dropped the book and ran far far away. Its because I like MVS so much and I enjoy her writing so much that I powered through and gave myself some time to really think before writing my review.
Which still almost borders on ranty after seven re-writes ::sigh::
Hey, ranty isn't bad. If an author knows how much the reviewer likes their work as a whole but said reviewer still has a problem, it can be seen as a teaching tool. A smart author (and Snyder's smart) is going to see those comments and most likely incorporate those issues into future books. It's not saying she would've changed her pairing of Opal and Devlin, but she may have addressed it in a different way, you know?
I never even knew she had any books other than the Poison Study series. Which means that odds are my library doesn't have them. And now I really want to read them. :(
Comments 41
(The comment has been removed)
But yes, I love her covers. She has the BEST LUCK. Have you seen the ORIGINAL covers for POISON STUDY and MAGIC STUDY, before Snyder was moved to Mira from Luna? Oh, they're BEAUTIFUL. Here's her cover art gallery (the ones I'm referring to are the Original US Hardcovers): http://www.mariavsnyder.com/covergallery.php
Reply
Also, reviewed here.
Reply
Yeah, it was a little easy, wasn't it? When Opal's death was faked, I'd hoped that Snyder would use that to have Kade turn to Helen (or whatever her name was) and become attached there and realize Opal wouldn't have worked anyway. That way, when Opal was brought back, there'd be a bigger wedge between them, you know?
Reply
It's asking me to stretch willing suspension of belief too far, and I've done too much work with DV clinics and battered women's outreach to not feel sick to my stomach about it. Yes, yes, "BUT THIS IS A MAGIC STORY WHERE PEOPLE CAN BE REFORMED!!!!" I get it. There are "BUT THIS IS A MAGIC STORY WHERE UNLIKELY THINGS CAN HAPPEN!" plots that I forgive. This just isn't one of them, not for me.
Reply
However, I would say that I don't think fantasy and sci fi are generally big offenders here in the "I CAN REFORM HIM!!!" and "I KNOW HE HIT ME BUT IT'S TRUUU LUUUV" issue.
Reply
I think Snyder earns the pairing, but it is squicky. Opal, to her credit, doesn't just fall in love with him. She refuses to believe in his reform for a while, and Devlin has to prove himself. One thing Devlin does tell her, at one point, is about the time when he was a Warper and what blood magic did to him. How when he tortured her, he never got any joy out of it. So I think Snyder was trying to handle him from an addict standpoint (and addicts can change) rather than an abuser standpoint. Does that make sense?
Reply
And it plays into the warped thinking that "he's really a good person under the bad behavior. I just have to reach out and find the better person again. I have to make him not the bad thing. I MUST SAVE HEEEEM FROM HEEEMSELLLLFFF!!!!!!!" and that's sort of Opal's thing. She's saving him.
I put Sea Glass down when I started to get the feeling she wasn't going to stick the Kade/Opal pairing, because I knew that left Opal/Devlin and one of my few "this absolutely disgusts me" pairings is abuser/abusee.
My tolerance for it is shorter, probably, than most people's. I admit this, but it is what it is.
Reply
Reply
Reply
If this had been another author, as soon as I knew it was heading in that direction (which upon the second re-read I realized the groundwork was there as soon as she thought Devlin was attractive without cringing in shame) I would have dropped the book and ran far far away. Its because I like MVS so much and I enjoy her writing so much that I powered through and gave myself some time to really think before writing my review.
Which still almost borders on ranty after seven re-writes ::sigh::
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment