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jmc_bksI'm not going to do a full blown review of Born in Death, since I'm sure other readers are writing in depth reviews. My thumb-nail review: the mystery would've been much better without the coincidence of Mavis's friend Tandy; I'm surprised the issue/conflict with Roarke as a Civilian Consultant hasn't come up before; I like the continued personal development. Not bad, but not going to become my favorite Eve Dallas book. Grade from me: B.
More interesting to me was to re-read Naked in Death and compare it to BID. [NID is the book for discussion this month for a group that I subscribe to.] It is fascinating to see how Eve has developed as a person. One poster pointed out the use of the cat as a mechanism, how it went from being something she was stuck with b/c its owner was killed to being a creature she named and is now a part of her daily life. That's an excellent example. But I'm also thinking of Mavis and Feeney. They are her only friends in NID, and she doesn't really feel the lack of humanity in her life. By BID, she has expanded her circle to include Peabody, MacNab, Mira, Charles, Louise, Nadine, Crack, Morris, etc. While she complains about the buying of gifts, she doesn't mind the giving as much as awkwardness of the exchange.
I know lots of readers think Roarke is overrated and too good to be true. As a hero, he is very much a typical Nora Roberts hero: tall, dark, handsome, dangerous, wealthy, utterly gone on his heroine. That's nice, I guess, but not what I find interesting about him. My thing: the flipping of gender roles for Roarke and Eve. Yes, he can buy anything and has high levels of testosterone, but he's the caretaker in their relationship. He is the one who cares for Eve when she works too hard; he is the person who makes the home, even he isn't actually a housewife or homemaker; he arranges their social lives; he is the one more often waiting for her to come home to him, even though he is occupied with work of his own. Eve plays the role of man: she takes little interest in the running of their household; she relies on him to take care of things like their social calendar and her wardrobe; while her work doesn't come before him necessarily, it interrupts their personal lives regularly. There's no question that Eve and Roarke love each other, but clearly Roarke is the one who can more easily show it, in both large and small ways.
More interesting to me was to re-read Naked in Death and compare it to BID. [NID is the book for discussion this month for a group that I subscribe to.] It is fascinating to see how Eve has developed as a person. One poster pointed out the use of the cat as a mechanism, how it went from being something she was stuck with b/c its owner was killed to being a creature she named and is now a part of her daily life. That's an excellent example. But I'm also thinking of Mavis and Feeney. They are her only friends in NID, and she doesn't really feel the lack of humanity in her life. By BID, she has expanded her circle to include Peabody, MacNab, Mira, Charles, Louise, Nadine, Crack, Morris, etc. While she complains about the buying of gifts, she doesn't mind the giving as much as awkwardness of the exchange.
I know lots of readers think Roarke is overrated and too good to be true. As a hero, he is very much a typical Nora Roberts hero: tall, dark, handsome, dangerous, wealthy, utterly gone on his heroine. That's nice, I guess, but not what I find interesting about him. My thing: the flipping of gender roles for Roarke and Eve. Yes, he can buy anything and has high levels of testosterone, but he's the caretaker in their relationship. He is the one who cares for Eve when she works too hard; he is the person who makes the home, even he isn't actually a housewife or homemaker; he arranges their social lives; he is the one more often waiting for her to come home to him, even though he is occupied with work of his own. Eve plays the role of man: she takes little interest in the running of their household; she relies on him to take care of things like their social calendar and her wardrobe; while her work doesn't come before him necessarily, it interrupts their personal lives regularly. There's no question that Eve and Roarke love each other, but clearly Roarke is the one who can more easily show it, in both large and small ways.
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Date: 2006-11-13 09:44 am (UTC)The only other books I could think of are Evanovich (where I dare anyone to tell me Joe isn't much more mature and in charge than the heroine) and LKH up to Obsidian Butterfly. Anita was kick-ass all the way and her one hero was the nurturing one while the other would like to nurture her but can't.
Okay, that's all I got ;)
Cindy
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Date: 2006-11-13 01:54 pm (UTC)Joe Morelli. Yep, he's definitely the more mature one of that couple. But even as I type that agreement, I still prefer Ranger.
I only vaguely remember Anita in the pre-hoochie days. I remember Jean Claude picking out outfits for her, though. Richard? Don't remember much.