Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I deeply regret buying the trilogy. It is offensive on multiple levels but particularly to women. NOT recommended at all but especially not for teenage girls, as it sends the worst message of how women should be treated. The BAD: 1) It has NO STORY or plot. 2) There is NO ORIGINALITY. Everything in this series is stolen from other books, nearly to the point of plagiarism: Twilight (80%), Fifty Shades of Gray(10%), Outlander (7.5%), Harry Potter (2.5%). Stephanie Meyer could file a lawsuit if she wanted to. THE UGLY: 3) The portrayal of PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE AND MANIPULATION as love. Vampire stalker Matthew repeatedly uses intimidation (death threats) to force the woman he "loves", Diana, to do what he wants. It is utterly stomach turning when she says she loves him. 4) The INTENTIONALLY SEXIST messages from the author: Before I get into this, let me say that I have enjoyed many a fantasy romance where the male lead loses control in his ardor for his woman and behaves inappropriately. The thing is, these men are usually called out by their friends, by the woman, or by themselves for losing control and behaving badly. THIS IS NOT WHAT HAPPENS HERE. Unlike in Twilight, where Edward was afraid of accidentally harming Bella with his superior strength, Matthew threatens Diana that if she does not OBEY him, it will induce his blood rage and make him KILL her. Therefore, him killing her will be HER FAULT. This is no idle threat, because he actually killed his former lover. The author, through her characters, makes no apology for this grotesquely abusive and sexist behavior. Astonishingly, she embraces it. She sets up a world in which women are expected to SUBMIT to men. When they don't obey, women are physically harmed. No joke. The moment that Diana embraces her individual strength, things goes wildly wrong and her back is flayed open. Sickeningly, part of her punishment is that she is literally branded like a cow with her husband's sigil. The cycle of female empowerment resulting in catastrophe, and then punishment, repeats over and over, until Diana accepts that any resistance to her husband's will is frivolous and futile. Diana goes from being a successful professor to being married (without her knowledge or consent), branded as property, and ...for the climax of the story... giving birth! THE MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR IS CLEAR: The place of women is in the home, where her highest calling is nurture her husband and children, leaving no trace of her self. Just a few disturbing quotes from the series: "It is for your safety— and his, and everyone else’s— that you must obey." -Matthew's mother Ysabeau, threatening Diana to obey Matthew or risk harm, Book 1 "Eleanor. Could this be how one of Matthew’s great loves had died, trapped between an enraged Matthew and Baldwin in Jerusalem? His repeated warnings about his possessiveness, and the danger that would result, didn’t seem idle anymore." -Book 1 "Matthew’s kiss was hard and demanding. I gave him what he needed, deliberately softening my spine and my mouth so that he could feel, in this moment at least, that he was in charge." -Diana, Book 3 "'Are you ready to give up being Professor Bishop in order to be Mrs. Clairmont?' 'Maybe it’s escaped your attention, but I already have.' Matthew blinked. 'I haven’t advised a student, stood in front of a classroom, read an academic journal, or published an article in more than a year,' I continued. 'That’s temporary,' Matthew said sharply. 'Really?' My eyebrows shot up. 'You’re ready to sacrifice your fellowship at All Souls in order to be Mr. Mom? Or are we going to hire a nanny to take care of our doubtless exceptionally challenging children while I go back to work?' Matthew’s silence was telling." -Book 3