a one star review of storm front by jim butcher

[@gracedays7443]

“she breasted boobily onto the crime scene, where the victim had breasted boobily to her death. What a shame. She would have made a great cheerleader.”

[@mynameismarines]

Is this Jim Butcher on his burner account?

[@stardroplet9499]

😆

[@israaalkatip9881]

😂

[@bethanychatman9531]

😂😂😂😂

[@aroomofmIOwn]

Ah yes, the pinnacle of "old fashioned values:" refusing to respect a woman's boundaries.

[@WildeBookGarden]

ALSO I feel so blessed for the amount of content you've been giving us lately - I remember you joking about working through some stuff by making things so I just wanted to say that watching your content is also helping me through some stuff! 😅😂 Things have been rough lately and your videos are such a bright spot, Mari! Thank you 💕

[@heysara910]

Marines: *scathingly reviews a book I never intended to read* Me: *sprains something while leaping to hit play*

[@LiteratureScienceAlliance]

I think it was this series that showed me that I had accidentally trained myself to skim misogyny in books cause I missed all of it but then when I tried the audio I could not skim and I just hated the experience so much. Also like you said its not like there were other great hooks in the world building or mystery for me. I gave it four books and not sure if I will ever continue

[@mynameismarines]

Four books is a hell of try. No one can say you didn't give it a fair shot! And yes, something about the audio really facing you to hear every last word made the misogyny just jump right off the page 😅

[@myconfusedmerriment]

I can totally relate to skimming over the misogyny in media…it’s so ubiquitous that I find myself willing to gloss over a certain amount just so I can try to enjoy something lol. But I did DNF this book in particular because it was so frequent that it was DISTRACTING.

[@rose_and_thorns]

"Here's the thing about chivalry: If it's unwanted, it stops being chivalrous and it just becomes creepy." LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK.

[@mynameismarines]

This character was all SUE ME, ARREST ME just because I'm chivalrous and I'm like, no sir, it's because you like to do things against women's wills........

[@rose_and_thorns]

@@mynameismarines "HOW DARE YOU REJECT MY CHIVALRY, YOU HARPY"

[@blakegrubb3091]

That is a laughable statement to say the least.

[@rose_and_thorns]

@@blakegrubb3091 Thanks for letting the world know you're a douchebag!

[@ariellee2329]

Thank you for all your videos lately, I’m not on TikTok so I’m grateful for any videos you upload to KZbin!

[@mynameismarines]

Aw, thank you for watching!! KZbin still hates me and I'm constantly just gaining and losing the same 20 followers, but taking a break helped me try and care less about that and just come back to making things that make me happy.

[@ew6790]

Younger me didn't notice the flaws, and I read all the way through book 12 - waiting for the next book to come out, etc. (In fact, I recall crying SO HARD in book 12) and then I couldn't really get into book 13. After a few years, I decided to try again, starting from the beginning, and my reaction was similar to yours. Why did I ever enjoy Harry? He is an awful whiny, misogynistic character. I don't know why I was ever super into those books. They annoy me so much now. And I also agree with you about the Kate Daniels books, the first one isn't the best, but I was intrigued enough to keep going. I think Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh, Kit Rocha and Seanan McGuire are some of the best world builders because the worlds they craft are so detailed and internally consistent - AND, sometimes I want to keep reading in the series because I want to find out how the events I have just read will impact the world building. If that makes sense? Loved your review. :D

[@mynameismarines]

It's wild the way we can revisit a work like that and just see it completely differently. The great news is that it means you've grown as a person? Like sometimes books serve us in a past, and that's fine, but it's even better when we can grow and move on. I've started with my first Nalini Singh because I've heard such great things and Rosemary and Rue is also on my extended list to get to. I love when a series ultimately feels greater than the sum of its parts. Thanks for watching! ♥️

[@fourthofthesky]

I kept on hearing about the misogyny but everyone kept saying it was "self aware" and it's well written, but I wasn't sure. I'm happy u read it so I'd didn't have to lol

[@mynameismarines]

I guess it’s self-aware in that Harry does like to say he’s an old fashioned gentleman and one person called him a pig in this book but… I don’t actually think this is a good thing? It’s not funny, it’s not making commentary, it’s actually making the rest of the story worse so 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

[@Dude62687]

thank you for making this! when reading it i felt like i was going insane. The overwhelming misogyny was unbearable for me as a man, so i can imagine it was a whole lot worse for you. My grandma of all people hyped this series up for me for so long so i finally decided to pick it up. God, the fucking cheerleader shit. The way i described it to friends was a story that was an incel, neckbeard power fantasy.

[@timetoread1795]

I have never had the urge to read these books and I never knew I needed to watch a one star review of this book, but thank you. This was so entertaining.

[@mynameismarines]

I’m happy to be of service 😂 Thanks for watching!

[@rachelmeans9508]

I tried this series last year and had essentially the same reaction to it as you did. After that I had multiple people tell me to try The iron druid Chronicles because it was "Dresden vibes without Harry Dresden". I just finished reading the first book, Hounded, and believe it or not I think it's worse. At this point I just don't trust men with urban fantasy.

[@mynameismarines]

I'm sorry, but my brain short-circuited at something being WORSE. I got some fans excusing the Dresden Files in my TikTok comments and the thing I can't abide is "oh, well Butcher wrote it that way because he was mimicking other urban fantasies or noir." As if you can't help but write misogyny into these works and it isn't an active choice...

[@kennashan]

I tried the Iron Druid series. Couldn't do it. The scene where he rewards his dog companion with a yard full of poodles in heat......yeah, nah.

[@sherilynm9271]

Funny you should say this because I just finished talking about how bad Storm Front was to me; the same friend who recc'd Dresden Files is the same one who bought me the first book of the Iron Druid series because it's "sooo good" and I'm like...mate, I'm pretty sure we read different books.

[@Contrarian-v7p]

I read that book when I was a teenager and while I loved the world building, the main character is very obviously a self insert living out the gross fantasies of its author and it made my skin crawl.

[@exomake_mehorololo]

​@@kennashan 😵🥴that's disgusting OMG

[@sandras2102]

I started reading this series in my tweens and stuck with it for a long time, I made excuses for it, made excuses for the author--and then Jim goes and fridges my favorite character in the latest book for no good reason than to provide more motivation for Harry, the same way he's fridged so many other female characters. That sort of shattered the illusion and I wish I hadn't invested so much in it over the years. You're right to drop it now and I hope other people looking to start the series find this video.

[@ledafrost]

This is such a good review. You are stronger than me for being able to finish it!

[@sardonisms]

I'M NOT ALONE!!!! I kind of felt like I was going crazy reading Dresden's point of view and thinking what a chauvinist he was. Is the comment about how women like motorcycles because they feel like vibrators in book one, or is that later? Because that's a comment he makes. To Murphy. And she later tells him he was right. I didn't totally grasp what a vibrator was when I read that (I was a very sheltered young adult) or I'd have been a lot more grossed out by that. And I already thought it was pretty gross.

[@coffeecats5442]

!!CONGRATS on( quitenearly) 30K!!!

[@MaryaHach]

Oh no. I heard so many great things about this series. What a shame. Not urban fantasy, but have you read the Discworld series? It's long-running but I think most of the books are auto-conclusive. I'm currently on the first entry (in order of publication). Maybe it could scratch the itch, since Dresden clearly wasn't it.

[@themusicsnob]

Lol, I always appreciate your reviews. I think I read the first three Dresden files books when I was in high school, but honestly cannot remember anything about them. There is probably a reason I didn’t continue, even if I didn’t realize it at the time

[@mynameismarines]

I can only hope to one day completely forget about everything I've read in this book lol. Thanks for watching! ♥️

[@libraryofjonna]

thank you for this! I read this a couple of years ago and felt the exact same, the misogyny was just way over the top.

[@zezeest.9744]

I just finished reading this book this morning and am so happy to find you’ve reviewed it. I agree with everything you said. I cringed at every part that involves a woman. I also didn’t get why he always has to describe how a woman’s makeup is applied. I thought that was weird in addition to everything else. And certainly didn’t like how he refers to Murphy. I got the impression that because she is in a position of authority, he has to lessen her somehow by always mentioning how short she is, her golden hair, and all that.

[@josephfernandez8015]

When I first read Storm Front, it was literally my first urban fantasy book. At the time I was huge into Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and I wanted more of the same thing and Dresden was the popular thing. I ended up continuing with the series but looking back I agree with mostly everything you said. I never really liked Harry at all, and as the series went on it was the supporting cast (who do get better IMO) that kept me going. As far as the magic system goes, looking at it with the lens of fantasy in 2022, I agree that it tries to be hard and soft at the same time, and it falls flat for the most part. Since then I’ve discovered much better UF and SFF in general mostly thanks to booktube.

[@mynameismarines]

I definitely can get the nostalgia for this series and then the first investment into a long running series. Coming to it as an adult in 2022 was WILD though 😅

[@SpookiestAlice]

I read these when i was waaaaay too young after finding my dads paperbacks (like, fifth/sixth grade) so a lot of this stuff completely flew over my head. I have tried to reread it and could never manage to get back into it despite the weird kind of nostalgia I have. I think these are like. Of Their Time. Which is not to say the content is okay or was when they cme out, but Butcher exists in my mind in the same realm as someone like joss whedon. Took the scene when they were coming out nd before nerd stuff really hit the mainstream, stuff like that. I can't even say I'm still fond of the worldbuilding because even when I was a kid I found it bit of a mess.

[@mynameismarines]

This one felt of it's time, but hearing people say that even the newer books have the same problem I'm like... sooooo...?? I can see these holding nostalgia, though, and Joss Whedon is a good comparison to the space these books take up.

[@SpookiestAlice]

Yeah it sounds like, much like joss whedon, he never felt the need to improve how he wrote woman (or thought he was clever/self aware enough to get away with it). It has the vibe of "I want to talk about hot, sexy woman but it's not ME it's the character" and it's a lesser point but I do remember hearing that people from Chicago hate how the book depicts it because it's obvious butcher has no connection to the city

[@powerpufffan]

LMAO thank you for reminding me of my first boyfriend’s favorite book series. Feel like I would’ve noticed more warning signs if I tried reading this back then.

[@Frenzywonder]

One thing that DOES get better is by book four or five, I think they changed audiobook editors because the mouth noises (which were driving me crazy) stopped so there's that. 😬 A few male characters get introduced so it kind of makes him more tolerable? Honestly I don't understand how people (guys) will call any powerful female character a Mary Sue when Henry Desden exists.

[@mynameismarines]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who was struggling with the mouth noises. It just felt like he was breathing in my ear as much as he was reading to me. "Self-insert" gets used so often against women but I have never read a more self insert self insert in my life.

[@exomake_mehorololo]

Aren't most classic noir, Western, adventure and such books full of male Mary Sue's? They're all self insert for sure

[@KnittingKelsey]

I read sooooo many of these in high school and back then most of my (non ya) Sci-fi and fantasy reads were my dad's books that he held onto for decades or bought to read for himself. Coming back to those books as an adult I'm super surprised at all the stuff I blocked out or forgot.

[@Jessica-sh1js]

I have DNFd this book like 3 times. I could just never get into it. glad to know that I wasn't missing much and it make sense given the person who first recommended it to me.

[@allison5234]

Hi! I read this book in high school. I gave it one star and while I don’t remember much of anything (I think I blocked it out tbh), I remember feeling not only bored but massively uncomfortable with how women were treated in the story. I hated the main character and even though my school had the next two books, I decided this was a series I could give a miss to. Weirdly, I knew someone else who read this series and loved it??? I can’t imagine. Thank you for your amazing content! I’m a pretty new viewer and love rants like this.

[@friendlylouie8683]

Great review!! You hit the nail on the head with how the main problem is the “casual sexism that bleeds into every part of the story”, and the way that female characters are used by the narrative. A lot of people will tell you that this series gets good, maybe by book 3, maybe by book 6. But, as someone who also gave the first book one star, I have to say that Jim Butcher has yet to introduce a single decent female character, Harry Dresden is still a misogynistic asshole, and every female character is still hypersexualised. I think if I was a lot younger, I probably could have ignored these problems and enjoyed some of the worldbuilding and pulpy detective elements present here. But the misogynistic nature of these books is so bad that it actually ruins any part of them I might have otherwise enjoyed

[@Chronos341]

Ooof. This is a book series that I really enjoyed. The first time through, I think I missed a lot of the casual misogyny. I even named my cat after the main character. My second read through, I still didn't pick up a lot of it, but some of the more graphic sex scenes made me cringe. I think all of your points are totally valid and I agree with them. The only weak defense that I can offer is that the book was written in 2000 and it was the first book Butcher ever wrote, so his writing did get better and I feel like a lot of the casual misogyny fell away, but I'm still trepidations to recommend this to any one else. I like watching these low score reviews for a series I am this invested in, because it can bring to light flaws that I didn't realize existed. It lets me re-examine the art I like and grow. So, thank you!

[@hedgers2005]

A year late, but you’ve finally explained why I've bounced off this series multiple times. Which is annoying because I quite enjoy the Codex Alera by the same author.

[@887frodo]

I have the Grim Oak special edition by the way (which sold out) and now I’m wondering if getting the rest of it… I read on Butcher is prominently featured in r/menwritingwomen and someone there said that he recently got a divorce and they were theorizing it might have been for his real life misogyny lmao. The chisme in book Reddit is thicc

[@mynameismarines]

You know I don’t like to speculate over what in an authors work reflects the author in real life… but that was some good misogyny Mr. Butcher wrote.

[@amandaidange4981]

I love your review. For years I said that they got better. But they dont. And the newest ones get worse. He "notes the adult hips" of teens. An stuff like that.

[@amandaidange4981]

He is just a magical incell gary stue.

[@amandaidange4981]

Im the latest book. And he notes how "much he isbt thinking of having sex" with his Goth girl apprentice he met when she was 14 and alone in her treehouse. He observed her vrah at the time. Then she turns 16, and is of course into him. "Bc he is so cool n alone n dangerous"..... Sigh. Rereading these was... Not good.

[@alyrica0505]

I read books 1 thru 8 a long time ago. I didn't love book 1 but I was in love with the series by the end. I am not sure if I would like it now though since I am less tolerant of annoying MCs than I used to be. I tried to do a re-read about a year ago but quickly lost interest.I think that was less about Harry and more about my fickle moods.

[@TinyNDangerous]

When you said how many pages that all had been I was speechless... My tolerance for misogyny and weird sexual stuff in books is so low, thank you for saving my time.

[@myconfusedmerriment]

I tried reading it a few years ago and I remember most of the parts that were mentioned, and when I heard all that was in 24 pages I was screaming internally…like, you have to be TRYING to be a misogynist at that point. That takes EFFORT.

[@mynameismarines]

Right, like this is CONCENTRATED misogyny and I have a limit. It was like a constant slap to the face as I was reading.

[@LumiImp]

In retrospect, I agree with him on the "women are better at hating" line 'cause I read this years ago and maaan, do I still hate this character. For what it's worth, I tried the second book in the hopes that 'it would get better' and it was a hard DNF at about 25%. Not better. So much not better.

[@mynameismarines]

Way to trap us with that line, right? Now I, as a woman, have no choice but to hate it so hard, I prove the line. I put a hold on the second book out of morbid curiosity because people have told me that Dresden does get better. Color me skeptical.

[@suzannewdowik]

Back in college, I read and really enjoyed a couple of books by an author named R. R. Virdi, and after learning he was GREATLY influenced by The Dresden Files, I decided to pick up Stormfront. I got through......maybe half of it? It's been about 6 or maybe 7 years since then and I still haven't tried continuing with Dresden Files even though I still own the first book 😅

[@moustik31]

I used to be a huge fan of the series and of James Marsters (Spike in Buffy)'s narration in the audiobooks. I dont think, these books aged well. There are not many urban fantasy series I havent read and loved in my early 20s. It's one of my favorite genre. Last Fall, I made the decision to stop reading it after Book #15 bec. SPOILERS: Harry had started to lust after Molly, the YA daughter of his best friend (the things Micheal has sacrificed/lost for Harry). A daughter Harry used to be babysit and for which he was as an uncle growing out. 🙅🏾‍♀️🙅🏾‍♀️🙅🏾‍♀️

[@mynameismarines]

Someone else brought up to me the whole lusting after a young girl thing. I was shocked but not surprised. I mean, the man who spent this entire first book comparing women he found attractive to TEENS and CHEERLEADERS finds a very young woman sexually attractive? CHECKS OUT.

[@elizabethnutley8841]

I read your GR review, but having a similar overview with your incredulous facial expressions and those cringeworthy highlight quotes was great. 😄 A meta thing about this series that really burns me is that even now it keeps finding its way onto "best of UF" lists, like one of the few men who wrote it in the early aughts was, of course, doing the genre right, unlike all the women who built and popularized it in the '90s.

[@mynameismarines]

That's how I really found my way to it-- searching lists for like the essential UF reading. And there was Storm Front every time. Burns me too, now.

[@cj1986x]

I appreciate this review. I read this book after watching the TV series based on it. I liked this TV series. Hated the book. It's been so long since I read it that I don't remember specifics of why I didn't like but that I really didn't like it definitely stayed with me!

[@bettyf4140]

I would recommend The Rook by Daniel O'Malley or Kraken by China Miéille for urban fantasy books that are written by men that are void of this level of sexism that a lot of urban fantasy books, like Storm Front (or Rivers of London even), seem to feature an absolute excess of. I might just be biased as I'm talking about two of my favourite books of all time, The Rook has some of the coolest body horror I've ever read, and is honestly pretty funny too, it's got a lot of exposition, but to be honest I think it adds a lot to the world building, and Kraken is just a really cool story, that deals a lot with unusual depictions of religion, and uses the city of London as sort of a setting and a character in a really interesting way, Miéille's writing style is kind of an acquired taste for a lot of people, but I really like it personally. Its such a shame no one really talks about either book because they're so much more fascinating than a lot of other urban fantasy in my opinion. Sorry this is probably way too much information, I just get a bit excited when I hear people talk about urban fantasy😅

[@Neverrgreen]

I find the only thing that gets better about the books is that Marsters narration is rough in the first book but he grows into it.

[@mynameismarines]

The cadence, the sighing, the heavy breathing- I did NOT have a good time listening to this.

[@moustik31]

Yes, he has become very talented!

[@eldrichnemo9312]

I DNF'd this book FAST and will never forget getting to the crime scene, uh, scene you talked about and resisting throwing the book against the wall because I'd borrowed it from a friend who talked up the series constantly (I think the fifth? book had come out by that point?). I had to settle for a soft toss on my couch and I am NOT a book-thrower by nature!. It made me question the kind of person my friend was because he was a self-proclaimed feminist. The misogyny was so strong! After reading that small bit I researched book blogs and even back then readers discussed how despite improvement in writing and plot, the misogyny persisted. If Dresden was written with his misogyny as a flaw that he works over several books to improve, still making poor decisions time to time (ie the door holding thing) but acknowledging his errors and we see that slow change, that'd be one thing, but that's not my impression of the character or series, and based on other comments here alone it got a LOT worse. I won't touch Butcher's work with a ten foot pole and tbh learning someone is an *uncritical* fan of the series sends up red flags for me.

[@GM-vr4eb]

Someone shared a tiktok of you reading this and I knew oh she's gonna hate this.

[@mynameismarines]

Your prediction was indeed correct. I hated it.

[@GM-vr4eb]

@@mynameismarines if you ever get around to it, you're gonna hate the second book of the Kingkiller Chronicles

[@chapterandclawstudio]

My husband has dyslexia and he’s never been into reading much but recently, he’s gotten into audiobooks and someone recommended The Dresden Files to him and he loves them. I was considering reading the first one but after listening to this review I’m not sure I want to 😅 I don’t think I’d have the heart to tell him I didn’t like a book that sparked a love of reading in him. Maybe I’ll just suggest some other books for him to read 😂

[@mynameismarines]

Yeah, best not to tell him 😂

[@WildeBookGarden]

THE FACT THAT IT'S ALREADY SO BAD AND THE LINE NOTES STILL SAY "PAGE 14". OOF.

[@safaiaryu12]

OH MY GOD. I forgot that I tried to read this! You started to describe the murder scene and I was like /holy shit/. This book was such a shitshow that I gave up on it a few chapters in. My friend gave it to me and I have to avoid talking about it...

[@mynameismarines]

I'm sorry I brought back this memory for you and can only hope that you and I both forget it again soon.

[@bookishcreature8907]

I already don’t like urban fantasy, but I heard so many good things about this series that I added it to my TBR. Now I’m taking it off, I have no time for misogyny in my books, so thanks 😁

[@blakegrubb3091]

It’s really not though. Misogyny is hating women… “chivalrous” behavior is pretty accurately the opposite…

[@exomake_mehorololo]

​@@blakegrubb3091 but there is no actual chivalry here? Chivalry is not empty gestures fueled by questionable morals and contempt for women. misogyny is also disrespecting women, seeing them as less and objectifying them all of which is plain obvious just from the excerpts....ignoring how someone wants to be treated is disrespectful, talking about pretty boobs in a brutal crime screen? Comparing everyone to cheerleaders, being too focused on how women look... That's objectifying. And saying that women hate more than men? That they do worse crimes out of hate.... That's a very negative and also ridiculous prejudice alone not supported by reality and definitely not something to come from a chivalrous men who respects and likes women. Nothing this creep says or does reflects proper chivalry.

[@TheSilentScreamX]

I don't think you know what that word means, but you do you.

[@hostofwords]

Many of my friends are big into Dresden books, I finished the first and never went back, I'm pretty sure that the gross vibe was a reason why, though I remember nothing specific about it at all.

[@mynameismarines]

I hope to one day forget the specifics of this book, too.

[@sarcasmpersuasion]

Big lol that this series was my ex’s favorite!!!!!! They read like 8 of these books, and I somehow then knew the vibes would be off back then. ALSO thank you for your service with all of those highlights 🫡

[@laurenmiller2841]

Oh god, my father had been trying to get me to read this series for yearsss, I was always afraid to look into it because I know the phrase "storm front" can be a racist dog whistle, great to know I have an entirely different reason to avoid it smh

[@sherilynm9271]

I DNF'd this years ago because it was so damn terrible in the first few pages, yet a guy friend of mine RAVED about them. I don't understand why. I hated how he talked about women, and then it just got so angsty with whatever the fuck the whole "he who walks behind" or something...dark spirit....thing that follows him....???? I dunno. It was stupid and angsty. I'd rather read fantasy written by women, honestly.

[@bookwanderingstitcher]

I wanted to like this series since it was really reccomended by a lot of friends. I didn't like the first book very much and was told it gets better after the first three. I made it half way through the second book before abandoning it. I found an audio book for a book that comes much later in the series in a discount bin at my local bookstore so I picked it up figuring I would just skip ahead to what I was told is the good part. My husband was in the car with me the book was playing, and he had to turn it off because he was too disgusted. And it really was bad, basically an angel saying look this man in the deep depression and grief will be fine because look at his hot gf and the hot girl she is having an intimate moment with to take care of him and help him feel better, and if I had the anatomy I would be super aroused right now. In that book the gross views on women basically had moved from Harry's pov to just male characters in general which makes it feel more like the view of the author and less of a single character having a flaw. So I don't recommend carrying on with the series to see if it gets better, because it doesn't get better.

[@mithrenriene979]

Have you tried Rivers of London? It's like a significantly better version of this but also uh. Not really like this?

[@mynameismarines]

I've heard good things and it's definitely on my list of series to check out!

[@harisa-esquiredtoread7367]

I didn't make it even 25 pages in before dnfing so I'm proud of you. Highly recommend his ex wife's novels though.... Shannon k butcher

[@mynameismarines]

I finished fueled by hate. And thank you! I didn’t know his wife was an author

[@eneyavorodecky]

You may like October Daye by Seanan McGuire!! It's a long running series. Fae (not horny), urban fantasy.

[@theta385]

if you want urban fantasy I suggest you try the Alex Verus series my Benedict Jacka! the series is completed with 12 books and I really liked it

[@Xandycane]

Lol. That was awesome. Murphy sadly, is super one dimensional throughout the beginning. I did like it but getting through the beginning was rough. I'd say, don't keep reading. His respect for women and for Murphy does improve but I finally gave up when I realized Murphy was never going to be a fully fleshed out character thus making the main never really grow relationship-wise. Ilona Andrews... I was hooked when she threw the dagger at the vampire. 🙂

[@mynameismarines]

I think I'm going to try really hard to get up to book 4 when everyone says it gets better. I'm not hopeful, to be honest, but I am very curious to see why people say it improves! Kate is the best and I love her.

[@Xandycane]

@@mynameismarines Don't try with it. There are so many wonderful UF series out there. If you hate the first book this much, just find a better series. 🙂 Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson is good. I prefer the spin-off Alpha and Omega series because the relationship between Charles and Anna is such great partnership. Also I love how Anna shows strength not by kicking butt (though learning how is part of her arc) but by using her brain and inner strength to win in most situations. If you read those Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series. Great action, a relationship that, after the first half of the first book, is a true, equal partnership, good mysteries, great side characters... everything I love in fiction. 🙂

[@coin2039]

Lol these videos lately 😂🔥

[@israaalkatip9881]

Haven't seen the review yet, but bruh.. you are a savage

[@israaalkatip9881]

I'm at book 4, and I'm still waiting to be charmed by it 😔

[@mynameismarines]

I've heard so many people say it gets better at book 4 or 5 so good luck 😅

[@israaalkatip9881]

@@mynameismarines Honestly, after hearing your opinion, I'm not going to force myself to finish it, I'll see how I feel. I had similar feelings about the narrative voice and hummer, but I kept telling myself: don’t be weird everyone likes it. What helped a lot is imagining the story as an 80's cheap detective story where all the misogyny fits easily, or something like Garth marenghi's Darkplace, that made it more fun to read. Heads up, by the way. The second book was significantly worse than the first, with a lot of new characters introduced and very poor plot. Also, there is a sex scene in it I had to skip, it made me cringe so bad it hurt.

[@shioramenrabbit]

Jim Butcher was one of my first introductions to urban dark fantasy on a popular scale (Simon R Green and Mercedes Lackey both came first for me and had him beat, but at the time were not widely talked about) and of them all he's aged the worst. There was a lot of cool stuff and cool ideas he introduced to my brain, but even at the time he was overplaying the stereotype and it didn't improve with time.

[@gordonburroughs2474]

Overall, I have enjoyed the series, though I do remember books 1-3 being written relatively poorly. I’ll admit that, while I did notice some of the misogyny, I didn’t catch all of this - I don’t know if that is years of social conditioning or just my own blinders or what. Thank you for pointing this out - I’ll need to be a more careful reader.

[@mynameismarines]

I always say that no one reader can catch everything. I'm certain I've missed things in books I've enjoyed! I think the important thing is exactly what you've done-- hearing critiques out and keeping your eyes peeled going forward. Thank you so much for watching! ❤️

[@angelamccollister]

I love Butcher's Codex Alera but have absolutely no desire to read Dresden. And that was before I learned about booktube and saw all the reviews and comments.

[@ThoughtsOnTomes]

I both want you and don’t want you to read the Anita Blake books lol

[@thelakai7960]

When i read this book my life was kinda chaotic so didn't pay much attention so the whole sexism thing went unnoticed. But even without this the book was just bad: Harry saying about himself being trained as a investigator is contradicted in every scene, the magic always works when it has to and always doesn't work when a "dramatic" scene has to happen, the crime aspect doesn't work bc from page one it is clear who is the Killer. I am so lucky that i only heard about dresden files years after i was into the whole urban fantasy genre. So happy i started my journey with Kate Daniels back in 2012 (there are a few scenes where the romantic relationships are kinda toxic but at least sometimes the characters are called out for their bullshit)

[@thelmaviraize2217]

I read this book about 4 years ago and my hate is still strong. There are stuffs in there I will never get out of my brain saddly. However, as a big fan of UF I had to check if maybe I should apply the UF treatment to this (reading up to book 3/4 which is usually when things settled). BUT people say this serie improve either at book 4, or 7... Apparently he fridges a woman in book 17 (which is the latest one out) and women are still described on a "does Harry want to have sex with them? y/Y" scale. I would highly recommend reading spoiler reviews before launching into the sequels and wasting time. My theory is that a lot of fans gloss over the awful treatment of women in the first few books (they say it's because Harry is young, that it's just a bit "male gazey", it's part of the humour...) and then by book 4 the fans decide that the issue has been talked about enough and don't bother to mention it even though it's still very much there. The fact that this serie is held up as one of the best in fantasy and the best UF serie there is makes me very mad and will be my vilain origin story. I guess women really are hateful... (I'm kidding, please Dresden fans do not come for me. I don't want to interact with this serie anymore)

[@mynameismarines]

I had a suspicion that when people say it "improves" it might just mean it happens less frequently or they got used to reading it. Mostly that's because I have a hard time believing that the same author who wrote this one would just suddenly be misogyny free. You know us women, we know how to HATE more than men must explain why I hated this book for SURE.

[@thelmaviraize2217]

@@mynameismarines I think people got used to the misoginy because I have seen things in reviews about the author that don't make me optimistic about his growth (I didn't go digging because I'm a coward) I hope your hate for this book will still allow you to forget the more disturbing details 😅 If you're looking for long series to try out still, maybe October Daye could do? I've also seen Rivers of London suggested a lot (but I haven't had time to try it) and Nalini Singh has an UF serie I think (but I'm primarly a Psy Changeling fan 😅)

[@strangegirl440]

I read the first one a long time, didn't like it and definitely didn't understand the hype around back then. Because yes, it was quite a hyped series for a while and I was always told by the fans of the series that I gets better in volume 5. Never picked it up again.

[@mynameismarines]

I've hard this over and over as well that it improves around book 4 or 5. Besides that really pointing to a HUGE FLAW in the series, it's also a pretty big investment of resources to get to something that might be an improvement.

[@drewastolfi6840]

I think the things you dont like are also things I dont like...but I do like this series a lot.

[@stardroplet9499]

Oh no, this is the Dresden files series? Ugh, I didn’t know it was like this and I was gonna check out the audiobook but I’ve have similar tastes and this might not be enjoyable enough for me either.

[@tealorturquoise]

I don't know how you got through the whole book. I would've thrown it out the window.

[@mynameismarines]

Honestly, I was about to DNF it but then I was so mad, I wanted to make a review and let that anger fuel me to the end.

[@KittyAndTheBooks]

All the recent reviews I have seen of this book are literally this. Nope nope nope.

[@mynameismarines]

I wish I had seen those first.

[@Latriise]

I forgot how bad Storm Front was. I read it and dropped the series. But, as you mentioned, many people online said to give the series until book 4 or 5. So a long time later I picked up book 2 (which I think had the same issues as book one, in regards to Harry's personality, but less so). And I ended up giving it until book 5 or 6. I don't think I hated the series, but it just wasn't grabbing me. I've found that with most urban fantasy series though. I get to book 5-6 and just kinda lose interest. So maybe it's me. What I will say is, that I've read some great Dresden Files fanfiction (which I've enjoyed reading more than the series). Most filter out the misogyny, and without that Harry's personality type is much more tolerable. Also, James Marsten's audiobook performance does improve with later books, in my opinion.

[@mynameismarines]

I've placed a hold on book 2 from the library and when it comes in, I'll decide what kind of mood I'm in. I'm so curious about how this might "improve" that I might subject myself to it.

[@ianlandseadel9989]

I know this is a year old, but as a fan, book two is even worse than book one. While it does some good things for the world-building, it is messier and has some of the bigger plot holes in the series. I also fully agree that misogyny is 100% an issue in this series, especially in the early books. I feel that it does both lessen from the author AND Harry exhibits some growth on this front as the series continues. Especially as he has to deal with the consequences his actions and beliefs cause for people he cares about. But Harry is dense in this regard and takes his sweet time getting to those small moments of growth. I also have to admit that as a guy, there could be more issues on that front that I'm just missing.

[@moustik31]

Omg, I expected it to be bad but not that bad! The internalised misogyny in my early 20s was loud and strong. I dont even remember being shocked by any of this. 😳 Thank God intersectional feminism rescued me from books like these. I'm happy, I'm over the Dresden Files, True Blood, etc. 😂

[@mynameismarines]

It's wild the things we were trained to accept as normal if we wanted to read in certain genres. Even wilder, though, is to keep recommending this in the year 2022....

[@moustik31]

@@mynameismarines Yes, that's true. Maybe people, who still recommend the Dresden Files, remember how the series overall made them happy and not the specific aspects of each book.

[@caitht9910]

I hated this book so much. On another note since u r into series, is there any space opera series u rly like?

[@UdyKumra]

This is one of my favorite series, but I completely get why someone would not enjoy it. The male gaze and sexism is 100% terrible, especially for the whole first 9 books of the series (and you thought this was bad-my least favorite scene re: sexism IN ALL LITERATURE, though admittedly I haven't yet Murakami, is at the end of book 8). I enjoy the series because Harry's character growth over the course of the series is hands down some of the best I've ever read outside of Hobb and Wheel of Time, but even that doesn't start until book 3, really. It's one that I find extraordinarily hard to recommend despite its ranking in my top 5 series of all time.

[@mynameismarines]

I get that! I just don't know like how amazing the character growth would need to be in order to balance out the terrible sexism for me personally to net out to an enjoyable experience, you know? I think I might keep reading though because I'm just so curious since so many people do say it improves.

[@thebardslament5337]

I read the first 10 as a teen and I adored them. Then I lost interest. I didn't notice the misogyny but those were also the years I really liked bodice ripper romances lmao. Teen me was very into that. Now my taste has matured and changed so I honestly have no idea if I would still like the series or not. I do remember he was good at action scenes and witty dialogue.

[@mynameismarines]

I definitely get why people got into the series when they were younger because it was probably easier not to see all the red flags. Reading this in the year of our Lord 2022, though. What a trial.

[@andrewannotates]

I just read the 3rd book bc I was ok with book 1, book 2 was not as entertaining for me. Then book 3 I feel like was just boring and full of everything you’ve already stated here! Don’t recommend continuing. I love your reviews I wish I was this eloquent.

[@ljcarey011]

Wow... I rarely want to punch a character as badly as I did over the very few lines you read. That went beyond terrible. Bet Butcher is a real swell dude... I don't think I ever tried Dresden, in part bc I tried "Hounded" first, which was strongly comped to it - that was literally the fastest I ever DNFed a book and it left me with a very bad taste in my mouth when it came to men writing UF. I think they want to write noir, but it comes off as very "why are women so broken that they won't let me hold doors for them?!"

[@mynameismarines]

People have brought up Hounded a few times to me, also as a comparison, and never with any good things to say. I can't say that it was on my radar and now it SUPER ISN'T. I really hate any argument that says that it's sexist because it's UF or noir, as if it is impossible to write those things without flattening and objectifying the women. 🙄

[@ljcarey011]

@@mynameismarines Yup! If you can't write noir or UF without sexism, then don't write them. The way people act like tropes "just happen" to them and they can't imagine the genre without sexism sure is telling...

[@noonlemur]

IT'S HERE lol i've been waiting for this!! bless you for actually putting yourself through this book....remembered the way this book hates women but forgot how sloppy the worldbuilding is, just realizing it was this series that made high school me lose all interest in Chicago....(sorry Chicago)

[@mynameismarines]

I love Chicago! In this first book, though, the city could be literally any city. It felt like there are no defining characteristics and the most memorable sets are his dingy basement and the magic bar, which again, could be anywhere.

[@Innery]

I was laughing while watching this. Was trying to love this book so much, didn't work 😅

[@cierrakoverman6826]

I 100% agree with your assessment. This book was incredibly hard for me to get through. I was immediately turned off from the sexualization of the woman in the very first murder scene. 🤢

[@mynameismarines]

The scene was so gross he literally voms AND YET he takes a moment to be like "boobies, heh." Okay.

[@snowman9631]

the author intentionally makes the main character overtly chivalrous and its pointed out within the narrative itself... BUT none of the female characters really enjoy it or care much for that part of his personality and actively call him out on it... the women are depicted as competent, strong and just like any normal person.... I really fail to see how its such a big deal that its automatically off their reading list or deserve 1 star just for that and the parts where female characters are described is actually prtty natural. Those thoughts go through everyone's heads when you see someone you trully find attractive AND Harry is surrounded by supernaturally beautiful creatures the series even does the inverse for men that are introduced, Harry is a guy tho so it comes up less often.

[@vaylianne]

I read up to Ghost Story a long time ago and enjoyed them well enough, but there were definitely parts that made me super uncomfortable even then. The storytelling and characters get a little more interesting by the 3rd or 4th book, but the misogyny and general creepiness toward women doesn't go away so much as it becomes clear the author has heard enough criticism about it that he makes an attempt to do better... and it keeps leaking into the story anyway. KZbin actually deleted my first comment because I very mildly described the way Harry treats his female apprentice Molly in later books which probably tells you all you need to know about that! Without getting into the details, Molly is (of course) in love with Harry, and he's written as a martyr for the way he ignores his attraction to her. I'm actually kind of horrified I completely overlooked things like Harry's reasoning for believing a woman committed the murder and only rolled my eyes at his idea of chivalry at the time. I do remember liking Harry's sense of humor and voice (when he wasn't objectifying women), so a bad audiobook probably would have ruined the main thing I enjoyed about the series.

[@shojodraws3399]

THANK YOU I could not finish this book because of the really gross misogyny and sexism that the book tried to portray as quirky. It's infuriating and demeaning and when the rest of the story is so bland, I don't know why anyone would continue reading it.

[@C-Locke]

Harry never gets better. Eventually, he's the mentor for his best friend's daughter in magic, a young girl literally young enough to be his daughter, who then Harry ends up SHOCKED feels very differently towards him than a "daughter". Yeah, he writes Molly to be in love with Harry, and Harry manfully resists, even though OF COURSE he's attracted to her nubile young body...because what man wouldn't be? Super creepy and finally what turned me completely off the series.

[@marianamauricio]

this book seems straight out of *r/menwritingwomen*

[@mynameismarines]

Indeed. I kept doing double takes on lines like "...did I just read that."

[@WildeBookGarden]

I'd heard this series is super sexist, especially the first few books, but this is just....sickeningly awful????? I can't imagine an improvement good enough to make this first book worth it. Yikes. I've never had any interest in this series but for a while I was interested in Butcher's Furies of Calderon series. I read like the first chapter (or maybe even less), and noped out immediately just from the way he was describing the body of a female character. It was immediately clear what kind of male-authored fantasy this would be and I knew it was Not For Me. I knew about how misogynist the Harry Dresden series was so that was probably giving me extra context, but there was just this really unpleasant, uncomfortable vibe there even on its own, and hearing your review has really confirmed I made the right choice!! I say again, Y I K E S.

[@erinraewatson]

The comments that the misogyny "got better" after book 4 is sort of funny to hear, because I'm fairly certain book 4 is what finally made me so disgusted (by the author's decisions regarding the journalist/love interest character) that I quit the series entirely. This little look back at book 1 has me in disbelief of everything that I was willing to overlook as a 19/20 year-old.

[@kimberlybea2885]

I read the first four books in this series (I think! I remember very little about them) and I just couldn't handle the sexism anymore. I feel like the excuses for the misogyny were as bad as the misogyny itself. Only endured it as long as I did because I thought Murphy was kind of kickass--but that just made the sexism even worse. Still have a lot of friends who love this series, though.

[@mynameismarines]

Mostly comments have been open and respectful and either agreeing with me or seeing my point. There have been just a couple though that excuse the misogyny in really weird ways. My favorite might be that you needed to start this bad so you can see growth in the character. Like, okay, sure... hard pass.

[@shelliingle571]

Marines, I did read Storm Front in May. I thought it was okay,but I thought Harry was so annoying in Storm Front when he flirted every womans in the book. 😑 I think you should like the second book Fool Moon better,because I thought Fool Moon is so much better than Storm Front. 🙂 Fool Moon is cute but it's sad at the end.😞 I highly recommend you should give Dresden books another chance with Fool Moon.

[@HSPaisley]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@chickenpermission4705]

I wanted to read this because it's a "classic" but god the sexism was so much that I just couldn't.

[@mynameismarines]

And I didn’t even cover half my examples.

[@yapdog]

Oh, how I've missed thee, Mari 😊

[@zbabyg6998]

The misogyny is absolute in place, but I didn't understand any of the other points. The threshold is very clearly stated, the energy to use magic is self explanatory, the threshold diminishes magical ability, etc. The supporting cast in fantastic and diverse as well. Misogyny probably gave you a negative attitude toward the rest of the book. That being said, it can easily ruin the book for some.

[@mynameismarines]

Even the rules started were wishy washy or contradictory. He had multiple moments where he was like oh no magic is running out then he would just keep doing magic as if nothing. It kept calling attention to places it didn’t have a well defined magic system and it highlighted that none of this was well developed. No sense of place, a weak sense of world, and I’m astounded that you can read book 1 and say that’s a wonderful and diverse cast. The central mystery was weak and almost painfully contrivant. If this had 0 misogyny, it would be a 2-3 star book at best.

[@pinpilinpaux]

I can put up with one sexist pov as long as it’s not the only one because I understand some characters are sexist, but I doubt I’d be able to read these books either.

[@mynameismarines]

That was the thing! There was no escaping it. There was no way to temper it. We were just STUCK in his head and his sexism was so rampant that it colored everything about the story. Someone told me they ignore Harry and just enjoy the plot and I honestly can't understand HOW.

[@pinpilinpaux]

@@mynameismarines yeah, I don’t know how you’d be able to ignore the main character whose head you’re in 😂

[@lz7926]

🖤

[@NoOrdinaryScholar]

At what point is unwanted "chivalry" just attention seeking?

[@robgst100]

Def gets worse as it goes on. I somehow made it to the book where Harry gets involved with a pornography shoot. It’s…it’s not good.

[@mynameismarines]

this sounds like a joke and yet I know it isn't. ...a pornography shoot???

[@robgst100]

Oh yeah..it’s so cringe, I don’t know how I made it through. The way he characterizes women, and talks about their bodies is so incredible juvenile, it seems like the writing of a teenager. I do not get the popularity.

[@a.m.pietroschek1972]

When I encountered Harry Dresden, it was not by Jim Butcher, but by a web-based gay having rewritten certain stories into a lovingly modern, urban Gandalf McFeggot. Back then, I was a bit homophobe on it, but then I watched the underfunded Jim Butcher ``TV series originals´´, listened to his audiobooks, and since then: I try to find that gay-fanatic author again, so I can at least `hate´ Harry Dresden, instead of being bored to death by that predictable copycat puke by Jim Butcher. 🤔

[@ChloeFrizzle]

I seriously love the Dresden Files series, but I get why you don't. Thanks for your review.

[@mynameismarines]

Thanks for watching! Curious about what the draw is for you in the series, if you don’t mind sharing ❤️

[@ChloeFrizzle]

@@mynameismarines I love the pacing! I enjoy the snarkiness of Dresden, and I ADORE the audiobook narration. I love the chaotic and pulpy tone of the series. I love the way the books develop as the series goes on. Here's my playlist of videos on the Dresden Files, if you're interested. kzbin.info/aero/PLzKif11L57efHmw_dkzYBu6dz0iPRPJwd I'm actually planning a video right now on the sexism of the series! I loved your take on it, even if I didn't agree with all of your points 😄.

[@frogggirl2]

Thank you everyone loves this book except me, or so I thought. Hated the sexism.

[@mynameismarines]

You are not alone. I struggled.