Customer Reviews

Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a regular reader of the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog, I was happy to buy this book. Having read it, I found myself wishing it had been better. A blog of its nature - and quite reasonably - is a bitsy beast and can, like the curate's egg, be good in parts, because tomorrow is another entry: a book needs greater cohesion, particularly if the publisher describes it as a 'guide', with all that implies.

In some ways, I'm not sure if the book quite knows what it's trying to do: raise a snicker with uninhibited language, amusing observations and romance-related games? analyse a best-selling but often disregarded genre with academic language and reference to research/surveys/articles? share the passion of the authors as readers of this hugely-popular genre? All of the above, even if the combination doesn't quite hold together?

The chapters cover some main features of the romance genre - heroes, heroines, plot devices and so forth; and yet I felt that there were assumptions about the readership of the book which might limit its audience. Perhaps this is something carried over from the blog, which has its own distinct community, which will no doubt embrace this book as a continuation of something they already know and love. Sarah and Candy have engaging and distinctive voices and opinions, and the comments on their blog entries are entertaining and informative discussions too.

I wondered about the assumption that 'Old Skool' romance meant old like, the 1970s. The genre has existed for far longer - Mills and Boon/Harlequin's publishing history goes back further, even if you step away from the 'romance is as old as stories' argument. Perhaps the focus on the more recent years of the genre accounts for odd factual errors/sweeping assumptions. I am a dabbler-reader in the genre, rather than any sort of expert, but found myself disagreeing with some statements/assumptions, even with my limited knowledge. I'm sure I didn't get all the in-jokes in the book, either; entertaining for the cognescenti, but excluding others from sharing the hilarity.

I wondered about the assumption that readers would know the whole genre - a guide to its main strands would seem a likely inclusion to a, well, guide to the romance genre, from category romances to Regencies to paranormal to the rest, with reading recommendations for each. While any such lists would, by their nature, be subjective, the point is of course that if you respect the authors, you're happy to be informed by their recommendations/opinions on the books they review/suggest.

There are recommendations within the text, but one of my frustrations, having read the book, was my difficulty in finding sections again to which I wished to refer - what was that recommended author/title? Where was that list of authors' favourites? There is a list of works cited at the end of the book, but this is a list of works about romance novels; there is no list or index covering romance titles or romance authors mentioned in the text. This is something the publishers should have seen as being necessary/important. I have found myself skidding through the text, looking for this mention or that, a search not facilitated by the structure the publisher/editors have chosen for the book.

There are some important issues covered, such as plagiarism, and race (where to shelve the African-American romances, the for and against of various options). The book also includes some games/choose-your-own romance sections which I found not especially engaging - I flicked through them; devoting about a third of the book to these seemed indulgent for a 'guide'.

There are some hilarious issues covered, such as snarkable cover cliches - the authors are undoubtedly witty and observant, and the covers are ripe for their style of ribald analysis. I don't think the authors have been well-served by the illustrations, which I found banal and not especially well-done.

Sarah and Candy have, through their blog, done much to raise the profile of the romance genre, raise awareness of issues, authors, books; and have provided a lively and amusing focus for a diverse and intelligent community of readers.

I wish I had enjoyed this book as much as I enjoy the blog.

Before purchasing this book I can not suggest strongly enough that you go visit www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com and get a feel for the authors. I've been a big fan of the bitches since discovering them earlier this year, and I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this book for several weeks now. They have good snippets of material + bonus 'outtakes' on their site that you can look at.

Like another reader mentioned, this book seemed to have a confused identity. Chapters that break downs of heros, heroines, common plots, and more were mixed in with snarky, poke fun at the romance lists and jokes. Is this a book for or against romance, remind me?

I didn't find it a useful guide to romance novels, so much as a snark-tastic journey through the eyes of Sarah and Candy. Was it fun and fabulous? Sure! The 'make your own hero' stories at the end had me hooting, I loved the breakdown of the heroine, the author interviews were insightful, and goodness abounded.

I had expected a more comprehensive guide to great romances of all sub-genres. Instead there's a heavy lean towards historical romances (sigh, groan) and never did I find a good resource guide or listing of great novels to read or anything. I'd hoped that some 'all time greats' would be looked at, talked about, and listed to show off the greatness of this, my favorite genre. I wanted to know more about specific examples of awesomeness that I should be aware of and read to be more educated as a fan... I didn't feel satisfied. Paranormal, suspense, contemporary, and other genres within romance were mentioned but not given equal billing compared to the heavy handed historical mentions.

As I closed the last page, it just wasn't all I'd hoped for and now I've shared why. Will I keep visiting the bitches daily and loving them? You bet.

I am a relatively new convert to SBTB followers. I only picked up on the site about a year ago and wasn't sure what to make of it. I wasn't a closet romance reader--I've always been very open about reading romances, even when I was thirteen years old toting around a bag full of 80's Harlequin titles with subject matter most 13 year olds wouldn't think about in relation to 'romance' (like revenge sex, never heard of that until I read Harlequin). When my friends would deride me for my tastes in reading material (amongst everything else they chided me about) I'd just shrug and ask them what they knew about romance.

To say I enjoyed reading this book is an understatement. When I picked it up at the bookstore to flip through a few months ago I was texting my twilight friends the definition for 'vampire' before I got to the last word, storing away information about the various archetypes of heroine to compare against my favorites and thanking god that I knew enough about the female anatomy before I read my first romance that I never believed in the magical hymen that every romance heroine has.

There were some portions that I skimmed over quickly--parts of the chapters labeled 'Corset' (about heroines) and 'Codpiece' (about heroes), 'Bad Sex' (about rape in romance) and 'Love Grotto' (about sex scenes) had sections where I just skipped them to the next header for whatever reason. Like any other Fandom meta-essay analysis book (which if you're into the Buffy, Battlestar Galactica, or Star Trek fandoms you will have read at LEAST one meta-essay book, in my case I read them like a thirsty man needs water) some of it can just be very dry and 'well I knew that'.

This book though I think is good for anyone who has a friend (male or female) who constantly teases them for liking books about 'women who swoon at men's feet and have sex willy-nilly' (I hear this a lot). Now you can pull this book out, flip to the section they just accused you of enjoying and have them read just how wrong they are. This isn't a comprehensive guide to romance books, this is a guide for the genre itself told in a witty, intelligent and easily understandable way. There's illustrations (of Mavis, the romance reader stereotype), ridiculous 'Create the Perfect Title for Your Lordly Hero' (because every historical hero needs a title that conveys his dark, brooding self) and the 'Oh Honey What's Your Problem?' (involving some of the more ridiculous reasons heroines are still virgins) games and best of all--its funny. It takes its subject matter seriously, but makes fun of all the tropes, stereotypes and plots that make the genre hard for outsiders to swallow.

Warning. Petty complaint coming up. OK, when I first saw this book on the shelf at my local book store, I thought - wow, finally, a tongue in cheek look at our favourite genre of fiction. Whoopee! Then, not too far into the book, which I admit, I had enjoyed a bit so far, the authors misused the word "erstwhile". OK, so no biggie. Not everyone who writes knows or understands the definitions of all words, but, this word, along with "wizened" is one of the most misused words in fiction today, at in least romantic fiction. And these women, unlike the author (one of my favourites, I have say, who misused wizened), are in a position of criticizing other authors. Caesar's wife, and all that, ya know? If these women, the "Bitches," aren't educated enough to use words correctly, perhaps some of their other observations are also suspect. Dictionaries exist for a reason, people.

I find a lot of critics of many subjects, wine, food, books, etc., sometimes seem to write critiques which are written to make the critic look good, rather than just giving an objective review of whatever the subject of the critique is. It is as if the critic HAS to make a bigger splash than the author (or cook, or house, or whatever), and they must use language which makes the reviewer/critic be more important than what, or whom, is being criticized.

I find this has happened with Beyond Heaving Bosoms. I did agree with a lot of what the "Bitches" wrote. I enjoyed some of the chapters, to the point where I laughed out loud (and reading in bed, next to my husband, at 2:30 a.m., is not necessarily a good thing, although enjoyable), but, I also disagreed violently with their attacks on certain authors, just as I was completely unaware of several authors they recommended. It would seem that the "Bitches" favourites are in many cases, completely different from mine. Which is fine. However, they don't seem to realize that comparing Georgette Heyer to today's romance/erotica/romatica authors is comparing apples and oranges. However, that is OK if they want to do that. That is fine. It is their choice. However, it shows a bit of blindness to what true educated criticism is about. OK, I'm getting off specific topic here, I will admit. Mea culpa.

Getting back to my main, excuse the word, bitch, about this book, is that I still think one should take their book of reviews and comments with a grain of salt. If one is to be either an author, or MORE especially, a critic, one should be beyond simple word mistakes. It makes all the words written after that mistake, suspect, both to meaning, usage, concept and believability.

I bought this book hoping for some interesting discussions of the romance genre. Sadly this book is just like the blog, which is good for some fun, but it isn't good for in depth thoughts on this hugely diverse topic. This book doesn't reach its full potential.

The book is funny in parts with the humor of the blog (smartbitchestrashybooks)within the pages. Silly? Yes, to a point. Too bad the authors didn't give a real look into romance novels and leave behind their "snarky" humor. Possibly, they may have enlightened others that don't frequent their blog. Too much emphasis on Cassie Edwards and the games, oh, the games that are ridiculous. Save your money if you are not friends with the authors. Waste of time and $$$. Just read a romance novel and take your chances. It's cheaper.

I was really looking forward to this book as a discussion on the romance genre by two people with social credibility. Unfortunately, what I found was that the book seemed to be a bashing session against those authors who kick-started the modern romance genre, and against Harlequin authors. I was disappointed that instead of discussing plagiarism as an issue in fiction writing, they dedicated that segment to Cassie Edwards, who was merely one example of this growing problem.
As a non-fiction discussion of the romance genre, this book failed. Instead it's an editorial and a plug for the Smart Bitches Blog. I was very disappointed.

I can handle some of the sub-genres, but as a whole romance doesn't work for me. Not just because of the books, but also because of some of its Special Snowflake fans who like to play victim about how the romance genre is persecuted, or prejudiced against, or whatever. And thus they get so defensive. CHILLAX, PEOPLE!

I like the Smart Bitches, Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan, because unlike a lot of romance bloggers they don't absolutely fangirl over every romance book they read. They're quite forthcoming when they don't like characters or their motives, or the author's purple prose, etc. These ladies are awesome because they don't act so precious.

That said, this book is probably strictly for romance fans to celebrate with their fellow kin. But for non-fans, there's plenty of comic fodder. I don't really care for the "why we love it" bits, but the snark is brilliant. And the best of it comes when discussing paranormals. Never encountered "hemipenes" before? There are example books on page 113.

Personally, I'm looking for more great novels in the m/m or f/m/m sub-genre (pages 114-115): "For a variety of reasons, many romance readers love romances wherein the protagonists are both men." If you can recommend some great ones published by the major print publishers, please do!

I'm a bit of a newb to the Romance genre, though I will I admit I had my own prejudices and preconceptions as a result of reading one really bad Romance novel. I will say that Beyond Heaving Bosoms really piqued my interest in Romance novels in that it handled the genre as a viable source of academic and cultural debate. The humor is always a great relief if the essays become a bit too dry, and I really appreciated the recommendations that were included.

When you love and care about something enough, you want to assess and understand every aspect of the subject: the good, the bad, and the ugly, and that is what this book seems to be about. Yes, the book is critical of the Romance genre, but it's just as celebratory, and I really appreciate the respect and love of the subject that the authors have demonstrated here.

I really enjoyed this book. As an avid reader of romance novels, I really appreciated how in depth the information was. Sarah and Candy presented the history in a fun yet memorable manor. After reading this book I feel as if I can take on anyone who dare snark my romance novels!