well behaved women

After all the bad stuff I heard about Tangled Webs, I was expecting something awful--but overall I loved it. Not the total adoration I have for some books, but I found it scary and engrossing.

I still find the transition between normal life and private-life Daemon, Saetan and Lucivar not quite as smooth as it could be, but I still enjoy the characters. And I still love Surreal--she makes almost anything worth it--and, yes, Jaenelle, and I still enjoy the world Anne Bishop has created, as odd, indulgent and occasionally quite flawed as it is.

I've never had the problem with Jaenelle that others seem to have had. Having monumental powers doesn't bother me, and I think it makes some people quick to slap a 'Mary-Sue' label on. There are certainly other reasons to call her a Mary Sue, but what it's always hinged on for me is the characters' reactions, and while they have unusual reactions to her, those reactions are repeated with other characters. Saetan gets soft around Daemon, too, and Daemon turns fluffy at Lucivar's son. Jaenelle's experiences are not unique; other children suffered them, other woman, the difference being that she has so much power she is the catalyst and the focal point of the story.

So for my definition of a Mary Sue--a character that is so ridiculous and unconvincing, even caricaturized, through power and the reactions of characters to her or her to the world--Jaenelle doesn't qualify. I'm awful fond of her. And I think that her trauma was actually treated with some respect, which after too much fanfiction makes me want to clutch at Anne Bishop's feet in gratitude.

There are enough things that exasperate me about the Jewels books. She is not one of them, though I will readily say I was happy to see some of her actions sincerely rejected for a serious reason and with emotional conflict. Despite the fact that she doesn't quite fit 'Mary-Sue' in my book, it's nice to see her actions treated like an honest screw-up.