My professor said this was a feminist novel. Even taking into account the time period, he was so so wrong.
341046
This classic tale of girl-seduces-man-by-running from him is an age-old story that Richardson made applicable to his own day. In this stirring novel, Pamela runs from (potentially brutal) rape by her employer (spoiler alert or whatever) and in the course of this, tames him into truly loving her, whereupon marriage is inevitable. Obviously.

All in all, if you're up for something with some good old fashioned sexism, classism, and just all around stupidity, this is the book for you. If you have taste, it probably isn't. Still though, it is free, and that carries some weight around here.
1130259
Having read over 20 biographies of TR over the years, I would have to say that this is the worst. The author utterly fails to assess TR in his "context", though she claims that this is her intent. She judges TR based on modern, "politically correct" sensibilities, and, naturally, finds him wanting. This book is more appropriate as required reading in the Women's Studies department at Wellesley College than for a student of history or devotee of TR.
1517467
I chose this book because I did not know this renowned African writer, but he is no Bessie Head or Marimba Ba. He is writing from a patriarchal perspective and his language is very sexist. He does not distance himself from the sexist customs and the sexist society he describes.

I would not recommend the book but recommend African women writers instead.
3135994
I wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, it isn't merely a problem of the reasoning being flawed, it isn't even, well, reasonable!

Buy this book if you want random stories about how wealthy East Coast women feel about how men are boys. Skip this book if you want a reasoned argument about feminism.
2353911
Feminist propaganda. Yes I read it don't waste your time. Sexism at it worst.
2100481
I managed to get 13% through this book. From the very first page, I started rolling my eyes. It felt as if this book was written by a high school student who was trying to use all their SAT words in novel form. Simple descriptions of surrounding weren't simple. For example, the first page says that the "cavalcade of horsemen rode into the narrow defile," and says that the river "wended its way." The characters felt two-dimensional and too dramatic, again, like the book was written by a high school student. The heroine "knew the ways of the Daunt world . . . knew them but didn't have to accept them." Whenever the author throws in history, they literally throw it in, instead of inserting it naturally into the narrative. For example, a section starts with "It had not always been so," and proceeds to tell us a history lesson that has nothing to do with the scene that is about to occur. It is as if the author couldn't figure out where to put this historical nugget, and awkwardly placed it there.

My particular favorite moment (right before I had to give up reading), was when the heroine (who is, by the way, having sex under a tree with no reservations, despite the time period this book is set in) says that she will "still belong to" her lover, even though she has to marry someone else (the hero), and her lover responds, "I want you for my wife, not my mistress. I could not bear some hole-in-the-corner grubby liaison. I love you." After that, I was done. Unless you like this type of over-the-top jarring language, I do not recommend this book.

This book was provided to be through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
1601531
This may be the worst book I have ever attempted to read. (well, l listened in Audiobook format and returned it!)  DNF. I cannot believe how much misogyny is in a book for women, written by a woman. I don't understand these 4 and 5 star reviews, AT ALL. Women- don't fill your head with such hate and scorn for women. There is much better romance and erotica out there. Lazy writing
1423511
I was horrified by this book, and even more horrified by the glowing reviews that readers gave it.  This book is about a "romance" between two young college students.  As a therapist, I was completely overwhelmed by the level of dysfunction of a relationship that we are supposed to view as ideal.  The man in the relationship is controlling, obsessive, abusive, and violent.  The narrator Abby is just an idiot.  Some people claim that this is a young adult novel, if my child was reading this book I would be very very scared.
2485530
When I read this book I was so disappointed at the author's attempt to paint Patriots as the bad guys!  She has written a "politically correct" story of the Revolutionary War.  Is there anyone out there who actually believes the British should have won, or retained control of the colonies?  When I pointed out to my son's teacher the not-so-subtle message in the book, she removed it from the classroom.  My advice:  READ THESE BOOKS BEFORE YOU BUY THEM.
4217470
Sometimes HATE is such a strong word however I'm leaning toward hate when describing my feelings regarding this book. I was confused, was the novel suppose to be a Christian book or just a regular romance novel. At any rate, this book had me so angry that I wanted to curse everyone out (from the manipulative mother, son, his friend, the heroine's sister, and the heroine). The confusing part is that I kept reading this book even when I knew I DID NOT like anyone in the book.

The hero was verbally abusive and the heroine was an airhead. The dialogue between the characters mad me cringe (plain and simple). There were several comments that seemed politically incorrect (and yes I know romance novels normally don't address PC). There were several times when I thought scenes didn't fit into this novel such as the in emergency room when a gangbanger was brought in and died. Like really, why was that there. To what point did it serve. There were several mentions of GOD however none of these people had a relationship (just because you say GOD doesn't mean you have a relationship). Another example of what annoyed me was when the hero's best friend said that if the hero's father hadn't included him in the will he would be at Burger King flipping burgers instead of owning his own company. I'm still like really, you're smart enough to own your company because you were left with money but you wouldn't be smart enough to go to college if you didn't have money.

On to my next rant, why didn't the heroine just get a job. Almost every paragraph she's complaining about not being able to keep her shop open. I have three words "GET A JOB"  If you're not sure how you are going to eat and pay your rent, it's simple. GET A JOB.

I so dislike this book and WOULD NOT advise anyone to read. I should've paid attention to the reviewer on Amazon who said don't buy unless your into abuse. Did I listen, no but hopefully someone will learn from my mistake.
If I could give negative this would be negative to the nth degree.
281299
Les Guerilleres in my opinion is outdated and boring and probably never was much more than a radical feminist fantasy albeit composed when it really did take more than a little courage to crank out such a thing. Might make a good graphic novel but as a stand alone piece? You could probably do better wandering into a feminist, anarchist or lesbian run bookstore and having a conversation. It's probably historically noteworthy as literature because it is certainly well and clearly written and a slap to smug Euro-faces.  Wittig comes off as completely unaware of previous radical, revolutionary writing or of actual women warrior/soldiers as, for example, were critical to many African and South American revolutions.
631306
I like steamy historicals, but this was too much.  It's wrongly classified as historical romance - it should be classified as erotica.  It's laughable to have the "hero" wax on about morality in the case of his mother, when he accosts and fondles and then repeatedly screws the heroine, a supposed lady, in public against a wall behind a screen.  And the scripture reading before they copulate is more than I can stomach. It was offensive to me. I generally trust RT Reviews, which gave it 4 1/2 stars, but this time I'm disappointed.  I could not finish this book and am sorry I actually paid for it instead of trying the library.
20782
As a fan of the Immortal Rogues series, I was disappointed.  It was apparently set in Victorian England, and Ms. Ivy was obviously uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the time period.  The heroine was a caricature - a Victorian do-gooder - not a character, and the hero was a fun-loving vampire.  If I wanted "fun-loving" heroes, I think I'd choose a different genre.  Worse, every young woman in the story, most of whom were prostitutes, was referred to as a "maiden," as though this were a medieval romance, and the sheer incongruity kept jerking me out of the story to grit my teeth and wonder what in the world Ms. Ivy and her editor were thinking.
3296511
I know it's hard to write how men are different from women. Maybe the writer tried to show us how all of us are equal. BUT - based on stereotypes - I could say the men on this book (Paul manly) have the behaviour of women (shyness, love for details and convoluted dialogs instead of action and pragmatism). It is like the writer was trying to project herself on the characters and have portrayed womanish traits on men. Maybe she is right and in the real world there are no differences between men and women, but absolutely the characters sound wrong in the literary world.
487225
This Lips woman must have a chip on her shoulder the size of Maine.  I have no idea what caused her to hate men and any kind of heterosexual relationship, but her agenda is overwhelmingly evident in this "textbook."  When asked why the professor at my very Conservative university chose this as text for her class, she responded that it's unfortunately the "most balanced textbook on the subject."  If that is true, I weep for the study, as this book is extremely slanted against men and heterosexuals, as well as any kind of majority.  The facts were skewed, the writing was dripping with poorly-masked disdain and the style and format made the subject tedious and frustrating.  I quite enjoyed the class and discussions involved, but our chats regularly included bashing of Hilary Lips and her rubbish text.  With each chapter, I found myself more and more annoyed and often finished off my reading by throwing the book across the room.

If this is an absolutely required text for a class you're taking, find it for as cheap as you possibly can.  Otherwise, steer clear of this horrible rag.  You could easily learn more, and more accurately, from doing independent research or from another author.
2883437
I was disappointed. Chesler is an annoying woman, and that in more than one respect. A founding mother of second-wave feminism, she is not just a man-hater and sloppy researcher if it suits her agenda (in her 1986 book Mothers on Trial she stated that 70 percent of mothers in custody battles lost, which was based on an extremely non-random sample of 60 women, but frequently used as a feminist mantra) and, even worse, one of those irritating women who send their dignity, education and brain flying when they marry a Western-educated Muslim, follow him to his native country, find it -- surprise, surprise -- less than accomodating there and are then jumping on the victim-bandwagon.

Chesler doesn't mingle words when it comes to the hypocrisy of the left, but the overall hysterical pitch of the book gets seriously on my nerves and the thought that this is what one probably has to expect from a female - and feminist, mind you - author, is of little comfort. However, what really puts me off is that Chesler clearly misses the historical opportunity to settle her score with feminism, which would have made the book more than just another one among those ex-leftists who saw the light recently. But she obviously didn't want to do that. As it is, it leaves the impression that the left, including feminism, are just suffering from a temporary moral and ethical blackout and not from a basic problem of legitimacy and lack of truthfulness.

That woman has destroyed more families than an average post-WWII war. An "academic" who writes, as Chesler does in "Women and Madness", that "mother-women give up whatever ghost of a unique and human self they may have when they 'marry' and raise children" (inverted commas by the author!) has lost any right to have her say on any conservative cause. Correction: On ANYthing.

This book is an annoying waste of a damn good opportunity and I'm even trying to be kind here.
3340916
This review is regarding "The Boleyn Bride". To be honest I didn't even finish it. Absolute nonsense, the term "bodice ripper" comes to mind. If you're looking for a historical novel- look elsewhere!