The Issue(s) With Sarah J. Mass

Sarah J. Mass, Best known for her ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses) book series, began exponentially growing in popularity shortly after the creation of the “BookTok” hashtag (see my previous post), with an increase in 86% more purchases. Her career as an author began in 2012, when she published “Throne of Glass,” (TOG) a romantical fantasy which, as of 2024, has over 40 million copies sold worldwide in over 38 languages. Typically, her books include a relatively standard plotline featuring female heroines with copious amounts of trauma as they fight their way through wars and relationships, and are primarily intended for entertainment. Her books have set a sort of standard for other similar YA or even NA (young adult or new adult) novels, and have therefore contributed to the issue of an increasing number of copy-paste books (again, see my previous post). While I believe there is nothing wholly wrong with capitalizing upon something clearly favored by a certain audience, it could be argued that it’s not really doing anything ‘good’ for the book community either. Furthermore, her three series contain many of the same elements as each other, following similar plot twists and even character development. And lastly, there have been huge online debates about the lacking inclusivity of race or poor representation within her novels.

 

While there is nothing to do about her influencing other authors to create similar books (cus like- she can’t dictate their choices and it's not as if what she’s doing can even be considered genuinely wrong- like she’s just writing books- and arguably good ones considering how many have purchased them (myself included)), I do find it odd how each of her series follows the same primary themes, and nearly identical or elementary characters. For example, when comparing the main characters of her three series, there are stark similarities. Celaena from TOG likes music and is a rambunctious assassin raised by the cruel King of Assassins. Feyre from ACOTAR likes painting and is a rambunctious self-taught hunter trying to support her family in poverty. Bryce from Crescent City likes dancing and used to be rambunctious until she had to navigate her new dysfunctional family dynamic and recent death of her best friend. *SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT* Towards the end of ACOTAR and TOG, both main characters also decide to settle down, despite their fighting for the right to fight for the past 5-8 books (there’s also the issue of the main character in TOG losing her powers at the end, which also began a large debate, but this could take up an entire blog post so I’m only briefly mentioning it) *END OF SPOILER*. But anyway, see what I mean? They all have a relatively common hobby and some sort of trauma alongside a rambunctious personality. But what’s wrong with this? Isn’t this what other books do as well? Well, yeah. Practically all books contain some sort of conflict and defining characteristic for a character. But what annoys me about her books is that when consecutively reading her series, there’s no getting around the similarities—the same applies for her mmcs (male main characters). (Theoretically, it could also be intentional considering her last few books have been aimed towards connecting the ACOTAR and Crescent City universes, also hinting at bringing in TOG into the mix- but I still stand by my opinion that she could do slightly better at making more individually unique characters).

 

And not only are her characters so similar to one another, but some aren’t entirely developed. For example, Morrigan from ACOTAR is arguably one of the most important characters in the series when considering her position in the “inner circle” (basically a group containing the most influential and powerful ‘people’ of the most powerful region, (they’re not people but I’m not gonna get into describing fae or illyrians) her vital role in politics, wars, and so much more. She’s also largely why Feyre (the mc) is able to overcome her fears and trauma (won't be specified bc of spoilers), and helps transform Feyre into the powerful character she becomes in the third book/ end of second book. However, despite her essential contributions to other characters and the plot, she's incredibly underdeveloped. Her powers being the main example. They’re said to be incredibly powerful and deadly “truth” abilities, but are never exhibited or further described. Even her backstory has less focus than other similar characters, such as Cassian and Azriel (other inner circle members). But Morrigan is not the only character lacking these details. In Crescent City, most characters are just as underdeveloped as Morrigan (in my opinion), but honestly, I think that series is another mess, which I won’t get into.

 

Anyway! Online discussions concerning Sarah J. Mass’ lacking inclusivity of race or proper representation surfaced around 2021/2022. Around that time, readers began pointing out that one of the only primary non-white characters within her TOG series was murdered, therefore removing some of the only racial representation. Many individuals then brought up how they felt her books having the large majority of characters be described as white (I’d say about 95% of characters were described as having traditionally white features (eg: red hair, blond hair, light skin, blue eyes, etc.)) was an issue; others argued back, saying the fact had no matter when considering her books took place in a purely fantasy world without any real-life racial constructs or negative stigma concerning race. As response to these critiques and backlash, Mass made more of an effort to include racially diverse characters within her newer novels (Crescent City), but has overall kept racial discussions out of her books, likely because the worlds within those books don’t contain the same historical context as real-life. But, should that mean it’s unnecessary to ensure characters reference all real-life races when you’re already clearly using one as reference? Is it possible to completely remove any traces of real-life influence from books? Mass also already uses social structures and social norms based on real-life, and many of her wars or societal issues largely reflect those in real history (eg: the slave camps  and colonization in TOG (based on citizenship/ species), the politics in Crescent City, the prejudice and subjugation of humans in ACOTAR, etc). So, with everything mentioned in mind, it’s quite unclear where Sarah J. Mass is drawing the lines between what she will include from real life, and what she won’t. But, based on how much she’s already drawn from (mainly Western) history, I’d say she should broaden her character’s cultural backgrounds to incorporate more than just Western influences. For example, The Cruel Prince too draws from real historical contexts, yet manages to incorporate different races without drawing away focus from both plot and the absence of real-world racial ideologies, showcasing exactly how possible it is to simply include more representation within a series.

 

ANYWAY GUYS I THINK THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY THANKS FOR READING!! BYE BYE NOWWWWW

-Karina

Death and Survival in Glacier National Park: a Review

Spoilers!

Hello everyone,

I just finished the book I’ve been reading since the end of summer, Death & Survival in Glacier National Park: True Tales of Tragedy, Courage, and Misadventure. This is a nonfiction book narrating countless stories of deaths in Glacier, where I went over the summer. It’s been cool seeing all the places I was just at in the book’s stories, such as Granite Park Chalet, a backcountry hotel where my family and I hiked one day. Another pro was the excitement some of the stories held, such as the many bear encounters and deaths in the book. One example was of a boy in a group who was attacked by a bear and had to be driven out up to a Canadian hospital where he barely (haha) survived. This book also gave me knowledge on how to defend myself from attacks and gave me caution to use while in a national park. A national park is a wild, uncontrolled place where help can be hours, even days away if you get into trouble. It’s necessary to proceed with extreme caution while hiking, especially on backcountry trails.

Some cons of this book include repetition, a little bit boring, and more. Considering Glacier National Park has had over 200 deaths, and over 50 alone were falling, this book is bound to get repetitive. I should’ve realized this before begging my parents to buy it for me. While entertaining in some parts such as the against-all-odds survival stories, the book provides little entertainment while it accounts for the falling and drowning (over 60) deaths. This can lead to the book becoming boring in certain sections. Another issue I had with this book is it could be a little too good at its job. The death stories over and over again, even though stretched over 100 years, make it seem as if there are very many deaths every season. Though this is not the case (roughly 2 deaths per year) it has instilled at least a tiny bit of fear over returning to a National Park with my family someday, which is the opposite of the book’s purpose. Now, I’m not known for my bravery, so if you’re a pretty courageous person, I’d consider giving this book a shot. I’d also suggest visiting Glacier before picking up this book because it gave me a better idea of the actual death locations. 

Thanks for reading, cya next time,

Luke

The Joker: Folie à Deux Review - Brandon Lee

 
Spoilers!

 

  Following the masterful movie Joker the second movie of the series, The Joker: Folie à Deux, has finally been released in theaters. This sequel of the first movie had fans highly anticipating and exited thanks to the masterful execution of the first recreation of the story of Joker. Jack Napier, aka Joker, is a fictional character mainly introduced as the antagonist of batman and is well known to reign havoc among the citizens of Gotham. However, this movie introduces a more realistic view of the Joker. In this film, the Joker is set into motion as Arthur Fleck, a normal comedian struggling to start up his career. Arthur struggles with phycological damage from depression and his special condition called PBA which causes him to have uncontrollable episodes of laughter and crying in uncomfortable situations. However, after years of bullying and discrimination, Arthur ends up committing a total of 6 murders over the time span of a few weeks. Eventually, Arthur gets arrested and lands in a prison where he is being treated at a phycological ward. There, he meets a new woman named Lee Quinzel  and begins to fall in love with her over time. They bond over the similarities they share about their childhood trauma. This sparks a burning passion for Arthur as he has now set a new goal to legally escape the prison through trial and rule get a taste of freedom with his new found partner. They share the hope of being released into the public and to descend into chaos together.   

    I personally really enjoyed this movie, partially because I had the whole movie theater to myself, but also because of the unique characteristics of the characters. There is a mix on mystery and unknown struggle within all of these characters which we can see very well. especially for Arthur. Joaquin Phoenix really does a great job breaking down the complex characteristics of this version of the Joker. After seeing multiple different Jokers with very little character development over the movies, It was really refreshing to see a new type of joker hit the DC universe. One of the main differences of this character is the difference in characteristics compared to the other Jokers. In most of the other films, Joker is portrayed as a strong supervillain that causes mass destruction and is also view as an evil character in the citizen's eyes. Arthur on the other hand, is represented as a frail, weak, and quiet person. He is a very influential figure that delivers a sense of freedom and rebelling against the government. I thought it was very interesting how these two characters are almost polar opposites but also end up causing chaos and a change in how the city of Gotham runs. I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it to people who love deep dark phycological movies.