Synopsis:
Jack Fletcher’s heart is about to get punked.
Computer technician Jack Fletcher is no hero, despite his unwelcome reputation as one. In fact, he’s just been the victim of bizarre circumstances. Like now. His sister happens to disturb one of his nanoelectromechanical system experiments, and now they aren’t where they’re supposed to be. In fact, they’re not sure where they are when…
…they wake up to see a woman with the reddest hair Jack has ever seen—and a gun. Octavia Pye is an Aerocorps captain with a whole lot of secrets, and she’s not about to see her maiden voyage ruined by stowaways. But the sparks flying between her and Jack just may cause her airship to combust and ignite a passion that will forever change the world as she knows it…
Review/Gripe:
This is not a slam on the author. I've read and enjoyed her different dragon shifter series. There are hints in those series of what I find problematic with this book, but it's kinda built into the genre and the male shifter-female human dynamic, so you expect manly men and the women who appease/befuddle them. This, however, doesn't involve males with instincts that drive them to be more dominating; this involves a man who should know better and a woman who knows her mind and isn't confused about what she wants, but still ends up an repressed Victorian miss who just needs someone to set her free.
The premise is promising: Because of a science experiment gone wrong, Man is blown into an alternate steampunk universe. Woman is competent and smarter than most but gets dismissed because she lacks a Y chromosome. It’s supposed to be a match made by the stars. And look at that cover for the audiobook! Fantastic.
I’m sure they end up together but I'm not going to confirm that by reading any further. I’ll always feel the cruel disappointment of potential wasted. Instead of it being a tale where the hero incorporates modern values into a Victorian steampunk world, ones that respect the woman’s intellect etc, we’ve got several tropes that need to go in the trash:
- The trope of the man knowing better. Of the 2 main females that we meet -- Octavia and Jack's sister -- neither are treated as though they have any real intelligence when compared to the hero, Jack. Jack's sister is just shallow and it's her incompetence that gets them blown into Octavia's reality. Even though Octavia shows herself to be competent and Jack's from another reality, who takes the lead? Jack.
- The trope of the hero being so attractive that the woman's thinking turns to mush. I mean, who doesn't get so overcome with desire that they lose all ability to reason and make rational decisions?
- The trope of the maiden who is saying no, but she's just repressed, so it's okay for the hero to kiss/fondle her anyway. He knows she's really yearning for someone to free her from her values so she can revel in coitus. I know some people find this sort of thing titillating but I am not one of them. All this trope does is perpetuate attitudes that denigrate women and make things like sexual assault be the woman's fault for enticing the man rather than it being about the feeling of power that a man gets in dominating a woman. (And before anyone gets wound up, I'm *not* saying that what happened between Jack and Octavia is assault. But it's a slippery slope from this kind of thing to perpetuating the attitude that blames the victim, since the victim should have dressed differently, not flirted, not drunk so much, etc.) In the age of #metoo, this kind of narrative needs to be recognized for what it is and get dumped for good.
Like I said, I really wish that the book was different. I think about what the story could have been and I feel excited to read it, only to then immediately remind myself of what it really is. I'm not even giving this a rating because what's the point of zero stars?
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