Tag: fantasy

Title: Red Hood’s Revenge
Author: Jim C. Hines
Book in the Series: Book 3 in the Princess Series
Page Number: pg 243, first bang in the present tense by a main character and it’s gay so that’s a thing
Scale Of Realistic Detail: 2, as is usual with this author there is no real description of the sex itself, just a statement that it’s happening and that one of the other characters can smell it which is kinda weird.
Is Anyone Involved A Virgin?: No, they’re reunited lovers so even though we don’t know anything else we know they’ve been banging before.
Is Anyone Involved A Magical Creature?: No. One is a fairy cursed human which is pretty close but no dice.
Is It Consensual: Yep, although it’s kinda awkward since one of them is gravely injured. Like seriously, you couldn’t wait until other characters stopped commenting on whether or not the injured one might die to bang?
Is It A Plot Device: No, just a dirty little footnote. The closest it gets to plot is trying to add some drama into the mix by hinting at jealousy by a straight character at the lesbian couple who are banging.
Kinks Involved: Lesbians (note: I’m counting this as a kink specifically because of how the author frames it. I seriously think he’s got something since he keeps putting lesbians in everything but he seems to not understand how to write them as anything other than a gimmick)
Bangs Per Book: 1
Did You Feel Dirty For Reading This?: Yep. It’s just getting worse. I’ve enjoyed other books by Jim C. Hines but this series is killing me. The problems with awkward lesbian tropes are getting worse and the potential jealousy subplot is really cringey. The author has noted in exposition that the country that the “jealous” straight friend comes from is homophobic which would be something that you could build a deeper emotional story off of if this was actually leading toward her examining her own sexuality but, sadly we just get a lot of drama with no substance and a quick “it’s totally not like that I just don’t want to be the only single one in the group”. I don’t expect depth from this author, his books are fun, fast, and very fantastical (realism has to go sit on the bench while the characters play which is great in fantasy but even the relationships between the characters are unrealistic), I just wish there was some because with even a little bit more understanding on the author’s part the pieces that are making me uncomfortable with how exploitive they feel could be used to examine the world and the characters more and raise the work up as a whole. But what do I know? I’m just a weirdo who’s counting how much they bang.