What Turns You Off in a Protagonist

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about what turns me on in a protagonist, so it seems only fair to write about what turns me off.

Stupidity

This probably ranks as number one for a lot of readers. So hardly surprising that it makes the top of the list. I think you can forgive a protagonist a lot, but stupidity is a hard one to let go. Characters should be allowed to make mistakes it's one way in which they grow and develop. But there does come a point when (if the character is constantly making mistakes and not learning from them) you begin to question if they don't deserve all the grief they attract. At that point it's usually difficult to regain any empathy you might have had for them at the beginning of the story.


Not Listening

In a way this is linked to stupidity. But when a character doesn't listen to what another character is telling them, or interprets what they are being told in a completely bizarre way it can become annoying - to put it mildly. As the reader you can 'hear' what the other character is saying. And if the character is being told something logical and interpreting it in an illogical way - it's patently obvious. If I as a reader can work out what's happening, then I think the hero/heroine should be able to as well.


I think the stupidity thing and the not listening, mainly happen because the author needs the plot to go in a certain way, so the characters serve the plot rather than the plot serving the characters.


My last turn off is a little hard to describe. But another annoying trait is if a character is 'up themselves'. Lol, I'm not sure that this translates very well. But it's almost a kind of smug vanity - a sense of superiority that isn't justified.

So these are my protagonist turn-offs. What about yours? Is there anything a hero or heroine does that really annoys you? I have a copy of Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair to give to one commenter on this thread. Winner to be chosen by random number at random.org on SAturday.

Hostage to Pleasure - Nalini Singh

Hostage to Pleasure is #5 in the Psy-Changeling series. It ties up some of the plot ends left dangling at the end of Mine to Possess. Ashaya Aleine is a Psy who is desperate to save her son and escape the PsyNet. Dorian Christensen is a DarkRiver Sentinel who hates the Psi. His sister was killed by a Psy sociopath and he hungers for vengeance. Yet when Ashaya makes her break for freedom it is Dorian who helps her. But getting free of the Psynet is not an easy thing and the Psy Council are never more dangerous than when they feel they are losing control.

It's been a while since I read a Psy/Changeling book, for some reason I stalled out on the series. I don't know why because I love Nalini Singh's writing. Maybe part of the reason is that I didn't feel drawn to Dorian as a character. Having finished the book I admit that I didn't quite like it as much as the previous books in the series, but I am sorry that I waited so long to read it.

I don't think this is a story that you can come to without having read the previous books in the series first. The overall arc of the Psy/Changeling series is getting more complex - there are Psy machinations within machinations. Of particular interest to me is how Kaleb Krychek's story moves forward here. I love how even though Nalini Singh reveals more about him, he is still so mysterious. We're not 100% sure whose side he's on - other than his own. My other favourite inscrutable Psy - Vasic - also makes an appearance here. I hope that one day he will have a story of his own.

The story is multi-plotted, alongside the main story there are several other stories ticking along. I wonder if Keenan's comments about who he's going to marry will come true. I find this one of the most rewarding aspects of the Psy-Changeling series the sense that each story takes place in a much larger world.

It would be so easy to unintentionally spoil this book so this review is a little shorter than usual and a little more general.

Of the two main characters I found Ashaya the harder to connect with - though as she's Psy perhaps that's not surprising. What I think will become clearer on a second reading is how fractured her conditioning is. Something which I don't think you're immediately aware of on a first read through. I love books which have high readability.

It's Dorian (I think) who goes on the larger journey. He's at war with himself, drawn to Ashaya but repulsed by the Psy.

Attracted to one of the Silent?
His mouth set in a grim line. He'd cut off his own balls before he accepted that.

Hopefully I'm not giving too much away when I say that he doesn't have to resort to such a drastic option. :) But at the end it's Ashaya who makes the leap of faith to save them both.

I don't think it will be too long before I read the next Psy/Changeling book on my TBR pile. There are some series you shouldn't let stall.

Words, Words, Words

I admit I have started watching Spartacus : Blood and Sand and am quite enjoying it. And when I was reading historicals - several years ago now - one of my favourite eras was Roman Britain. I still have Defy the Eagle by Lynn Bartlett on my bookshelf, not that I read it that often, 'cause it's over 600 pages long and my pback copy is looking a little tatty. And one of my favourite series are the Marcus Falco books by Lindsey Davis.

With 300, Spartacus, Centurion - that time period is obviously coming back into fashion. So when I saw a new romance book set in Roman times I admit I was overcome with a little nostalgia and thought I'd check it out.

I'm not buying books at the moment having made the decision to tackle my TBR pile. But I am adding books to my wishlist after careful research.

So I search out an excerpt and within the first few paragraphs the heroine is talking about her pussy. Now I'm not a prude, I read a hell of a lot of erotic romance both m/m and f/m and probably know more words for genitalia than the average person. But this completely put me off the idea of buying the book.

Why?

Because it knocked me out of the time period. I cannot believe that this is set in Roman Britain. If you check the etymology of the word pussy most sources say it wasn't used to describe female genitalia until the mid 19th century. So I get pushed from Roman to Victorian.

I don't think you even need to know that. It just sounds wrong. (Maybe after reading the Falco novels I've been spoiled.)

Does this matter? Well it does to me. If you're going to set your book in a certain period surely you want to make it authentic on at least some level. If not, why bother writing an historical?

What does everyone else think?

DIK Challenge/ M/M Challenge - Camp Hell by Jordan Castillo Price (Psycop 5)

My DIK pick for August is Camp Hell by Jordan Castillo Price, one of Jenre's picks. I think I just made it under the wire.

Camp Hell picks up immediately where Psycop 4 ends. Victor has decided to take the plunge and investigate exactly why Heliotrope Station (Camp Hell) and all mention of its residents has been erased. But when someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to bury the past, is it really safe for him to be poking around?

LOVED THIS!

My favourite of the series. I think perhaps because the characters are so settled in. Both mysteries (Victor's investigation into the La Salle hospital and his investigation into Camp Hell) are completely interwoven into the story.

I very much appreciated Vic's sarcastic humor here, as it balanced out some of the tragic and sad history of Heliotrope Station which we experience firsthand as Vic undergoes hypnotic regression.

If possible the paranoia quotient gets even higher, mainly because it permeates the whole book this time rather than just being a part of it.

"I have to tell you something. But I think they're listening." Which sounded incredibly paranoid, I realized, but only after I'd said it.

And there's also the sense of a conspiracy of silence. It's not 100% clear who the bad guys and good guys are. I'm very, very interested to see where the story goes from here. I don't think we've heard the last of Heliotrope station and the FPMP (Federal Psychic Monitoring Program) it feels like there's more to come.

Victor and Jacob's relationship gets stronger here, but they're still working on it. :) JCP manages to get across in a couple of sentences what takes other authors pages and it makes the story so much stronger.

"...We're both on the same side, right?"
Jacob's gaze had moved from the wall to my eyes. I wanted to squirm. "You've got to start acting like it," he said.

They're still not quite as honest with each other as they could be. As Crash puts it:-

"...You guys think you're so virtuous because you both fall into the same bed every night, but I'll bet you haven't had a single conversation that was a hundred percent honest..."

I think Crash knows exactly how to hit a nerve, but Jacob's and Victor's lies seem mainly to be each of them trying to protect the other. But it's still lying.

Crash makes another welcome appearance. I like how he rubs Victor up the wrong way. (Loved his comment about the fight with a lamprey). In a way it's like they're - Jacob, Victor, Carolyn, Lisa, Crash - this very dysfunctional family.

There's a nice balance of humor and suspense. The pacing of the story is excellent, Jordan Castillo Price knows exactly when to ramp it up and when to tone it down. And the story doesn't exist in a vacuum, their day to day lives and jobs carry on. Even though Vic is trying to find out about Heliotrope Station, he still has a day job and also a life outside that job that he has to deal with.

In Camp Hell a lot of questions have been answered. But I think there are some things that have only just had the surface scratched. (I hope the alcohol being/not being a psyactive is cleared up at some point). I am now in the unfortunate position of having to wait for book 6. :(

Edited to Add, Afterthought - One of the reasons I think I like this one the most is that in a way for me it feels that Jacob and Victor's relationship is the only normality in an increasingly hostile world. Thinking of the other m/m books I've really enoyed - A Strong and Sudden Thaw, Wicked Gentlemen, The Administration series - it's how these relationships develop, survive and grow stronger, even though it seems that the odds are stacked against them. Camp Hell (especially the scenes between Stefan and Victor) had that dystopian feel. I will definitely be re-reading this series again.

M/M Challenge - Secrets by Jordan Castillo Price (Psycop 4)

In Secrets Victor becomes aware that perhaps some of his paranoia is justified. Heliotrope Station (Camp Hell) where he spent two years being 'trained' in his psychic abilities isn't mentioned anywhere on the internet, come to that neither are any of the former inmates...including himself. At the same time Jacob is dealing with a particularly unpleasant case involving sexual abuse at a retirement home, a case he doesn't want to talk about with Victor. Things are starting to unravel.

After the previous book I was a little worried that maybe I was overglomming Psycop in my attempt to get to Camp Hell before the end of August. (Hey there are still a few hours left). But I needn't have worried, Secrets is back on form with a vengeance.

The story opens with a wonderfully domestic scene, Victor and Jacob are moving in together. Which of course involves a little moving day nookie.

"You left a bite mark!"
..."Good thing you don't have to work tomorrow."
"You shit."

Of course everything is down hill from there. Jacob gets called away to deal with a case. And Victor (currently on medical leave) is left trying (and failing) to sort out their new living quarters. The case weighs heavily on Jacob but he doesn't want to talk about it with Victor. And Victor having recently found out about the complete lack of information on Heliotrope Station begins to feel (not unjustifiably) that everyone is keeping secrets from him.

I thought the mystery in this one was much more integrated into the story. Although the mystery itself is a separate thing, it impacts on Jacob and Victor's relationship. Jacob doesn't want to talk to Victor about it because he doesn't want to burden him. But he does feel able to talk to someone else about it - which doesn't really do much for Victor. Victor realizes that Jacob is keeping secrets from him, but doesn't know if that's the only secret he's keeping. And it seems that everybody (bar Victor) knows about the lack of information on Heliotrope Station and doesn't see anything strange about it. Especially towards the beginning of the story you can almost feel Vic's paranoia coming off the page. Everyone (with the possible exception of Carolyn who can't lie) is keeping secrets. And it's only when these secrets come out and are revealed that they can move on. Though as Victor says at the end

"I'm not so sure I like the new, improved, honest you. Let's go back to pretending everything's fine the way it is."

There was a lot more of Crash (Jacob's ex, the empath) in this one, which immediately ramps up the sarcasm quotient. Crash is one of those characters who can't resist metaphorically poking at the sore spot with a stick. He's an empath, so even though Victor doesn't want Crash to know he's attracted to him, Crash knows anyway and takes full advantage. I love Victor's justification to himself that it's Crash's green hair that does it.

I think this is the first time that Victor and Jacob's relationship is put to the test. Which makes for a very realistic read. You don't just ride off into the sunset together and everything's fine from then on. Relationships take work. It's working through the problems that makes them stronger and is far more interesting to read about.

One other thing that's explored here is Jacob's almost fetishistic attraction to Victor's ability. As Carolyn says in her blunt way.

"Victor, you've got to get out of here...Whenever you're in the room, Jacob turns into a walking hard-on. I haven't got the time for it..."

Victor starts to think that maybe they are like opposite ends of a magnet and that's why the attraction is so intence. I wonder if this is a thread that JCP will pursue?

A definite recommendation from me for anyone who hasn't yet read it. Onward and upward to Camp Hell.

M/M Challenge, Body and Soul by Jordan Castillo Price (Psycop 3)

Psycop 3 continues the story of Victor and Jacob. This time in between looking for a new house or apartment where the two of them can live together, sans ghosts. Victor is involved in a case of three missing people. Unfortunately unlike the previous case (in Criss Cross Psycop 2) where he couldn't seem to get away from the dead, this time they are proving very difficult to locate.

I have to be honest I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the previous story. Saying that, this is still some of the best m/m I have read recently. So I almost feel overly picky even mentioning it.

Unlike the previous story which integrated the mystery with the relationship stuff. This one is more of a story of two parts. The mystery (for me) was not as interesting as the interaction between Jacob and Victor. Though it is interesting seeing how Victor handles himself in his job when he's not working with Jacob (as he did in Psycop 1, and in Psycop 2 Jacob was kind of involved as well, where here the two are separate).

What we do get here is a lot of insight into Victor. He's almost painfully honest with himself to the point where he over analyzes, which kind of leads him into assuming what people are either thinking or are going to say or how they'll react and then he bases his responses on these assumptions. It's no wonder he sometimes struggles with what he's going to say.

"I could feel him staring at the side of my face, waiting for me to have a coherent thought and speak it out loud. He'd gotten eerily adept at not filling in any awkward silences with my over the last couple of months. Damn him."

It's these little touches that let you see how their relationship has developed. Jacob doesn't rush Victor to speak, he waits for the words to come.

Ironically you would think that Jacob would be the one who was most secure in himself and the relationship. He's out at work and with his family, whereas every time Victor gets a new partner he struggles with telling them that he's gay. But here I think we see that Jacob is not maybe as sure of Victor's feelings. You could take this back to the first story when you think about what both of them saw the murder suspect as. (Don't want to give away spoilers for book 1)

I like stories which take protagonists out of their comfort zones. And this story opens with Victor and Jacob at Thanksgiving with Jacob's family. And the presence of children is great because it means the protagonists get asked socially inappropriate questions. Which they then have to decide how or if they're going to answer. Something of a minefield for Victor.

I think when I go back to re-read this one, it will be the domestic and house-hunting scenes that draw me. For me the mystery in this one came second place (apart from how it served to see more of Victor) to the developments in the relationship between Jacob and Victor. I think in this story they have moved to a new level. I still think maybe Victor is a little unsure of himself, which leads to Jacob feeling a little unsure of the relationship as well. But that's what makes it interesting.

Onto Psycop 4.

Winner of...

the What Turns You On giveaway is

Jenre

She posted the first comment and the number chosen at random.org was one. I have a copy of Phenomenal Girl 5 waiting for you.